Hillah, Iraq. I heard one of the KBR employees called life in Camp Charlie “Groundhog Day”, referencing the Bill Murray movie. This is a perfect term. The personnel that don’t go outside the wire wake up at the same time every day, use the same shower and bathroom, eat at the same time (often at […]

Hillah, Iraq. Tragedy of tragedies: the pool is leaking. Now, before you write your electedofficials, understand that this is a small leak. And we are commandos, so weare trained for this sort of thing. We are adaptable.Actually, the liner has merely developed some pinhole leaks from where theplastic was pressed up against the Hescos as […]

Hillah, Iraq. True to his word, the Team Sergeant had a team meeting at 0400. He begins virtually every meeting the same way: “Is everybody here? Okay, let’s have a meeting.” I was really tired, but went anyway as a show of team spirit. However, not many others were there. The race was delayed for […]

Hillah, Iraq. Whew. What a party. Really, the party was not all that spectacular by North American standards. It was just loud music, grilled meat, and a pool, which constitutes all the ingredients for a successful if not pedestrian weekend barbecue. But you have to understand this party in the proper context. When we are […]

Hillah, Iraq. Slow day today, and not for the reason that one might guess easily. Of course, twenty two commandos that drink seventeen cases of nonalcoholic Corona and the like should expect to have some of the spring taken out of their step in the morning. We were unsprung. But there is also a certain […]

Hillah, Iraq. We mostly went out for something to do. We decided to go out on a recon mission to positively identify a target we wanted to hit. Towards sunset, we briefed, then put on our war gear and mounted up. The house looked pretty easy to find on the map and the photos, but […]

Hillah, Iraq. Today, we had adventures that involved over 2000 rounds of ammunition, 2 Apache helicopters, a 50 caliber sniper rifle, and the detonation of over 200 pounds of TNT. Regrettably, only 4 of the 2000 rounds were in the ‘gunfight’. But I don’t want to give away the ending. We went out to the […]

Hillah, Iraq. Tonight’s mission was brought to you by Hillah SWAT! SWAT has been through enough training and practical application that they are able to plan and execute a mission. Honestly, they did a good job. They showed up on time, and had a plan ready to go. Additionally, we had some combat photographers with […]

Baghdad, Iraq. The advance party for the Green Berets’ replacement team is going to arrive in Baghdad today. This advance team is going to be with us for a week or so, getting a feel for the operation, and gathering any information they can to help them when they show up later in the year. […]

Baghdad, Iraq. Always know your audience, and be able to play to the room. I had warned my audience, and the empty ball room we slept in had particularly favorable acoustics. Yet even fairly warned, they were not happy about my snoring. My Beautiful Bride claims that she misses me, but I am reasonably sure […]