Book Groups

Tonight it occurred to me (I don't know why it took so long.) that the book groups here are almost done. Depending on when we leave we will meet just two or three more times then I will be either on the way home or caught in something I can't get out of. It also occurred to me that I have not missed a meeting since the groups started. I really wanted them to continue and I managed to keep from flying anywhere or doing anything that would keep me from the book groups. I think we will finish both Purgatorio and the Screwtape Letters or get very close before we are wheels up and on the way home.

This year was supposed to be a year I would do more reading, but it was less. By the time I started doing the weekly newsletter I was already overcommitted. When the newsletter began I was buried. If it weren't for the book groups I would not be reading much of anything. Although I am still dawdling along in Les Trois Mousquetaires. If we get stuck in Kuwait, I should finish it. I read a very old simplified edition in Fort Sill. This one is newer, easier and flatter than the 70-year-old one. The ardent love of The Duke of Buckingham for Anne of Austria is very subdued in this one--as is the confrontation between the Musketeers and the Cardinal's men, the key scenes of the book.

Newsletter 11

Today I sent my 11th newsletter in as many weeks. Actually it's 12 in eleven weeks because I also did an Echo Company newsletter in the past 11 weeks. I will do three or four more in Iraq, then one in Kuwait (maybe) then the last one in America--or maybe two. Many things could still change about our trip home. But I am planning for about 16 issues before my newsletter goes into electronic storage, just a memory of being in Iraq. Every time I think about going home the idea is more real, but I just cannot quite believe it. My world is trailers on rocks. I ride an endless circle on my bike. There are so many things I repeat dozens of times that being here has a permanence that is spooky.

Even though I have ridden hundreds of times with Scott Haverstick on the same daily ride, I have ridden more than three thousand miles just on Perimeter Road, Tallil Ali Air Base. There is no single road on the daily ride, not even River Road, that I have so many miles on,in such a short time. When I get back to America, I will be able to ride on just about any road I want to. And I won't have to carry a rifle.

For Nigel--MEDEVAC Trip to Bases at Al Kut and Garry Owen

Today I flew with the new MEDEVAC unit to Al Kut (FOB Delta) and Garry Owen. The trip was routine, the weather was good and I got some pictures of Blackhawks flying, getting fuel and landing. Here's pictures for Nigel--and anyone else who likes helicopter pictures.

Who Fights This War?--The Construction Boss

Staff Sgt. Elisa Long, 27, of Selingsgrove, Pa., builds, repairs, and improves offices, workshops, containers, hangars and other structures wherever the 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion has soldiers and facilities. Long is the NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) of special projects for the battalion. Anywhere a pile of lumber is becoming a deck or a new CHU (Containerized Housing Unit) is being fitted with electrical wiring and air conditioning to serve as offices, Long is likely to be there with a hammer, saw and drill.
"Construction is kind of a hobby for me. A few years ago I helped one of my friends renovate a huge old farm house in Beaver Springs," she said. "When I was in junior high, my Mom and I built a deck on our hunting lodge in Potter County."
Long has served for nine years in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, serving first as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. She volunteered to join the 755th Chemical (Nebraska) in 2007 for her first deployment, serving at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The unit was assigned to convoy operations with Long serving as the wrecker operator on convoy security missions.
In addition to her role in special projects, Long is NCOIC of Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) Warfare for the battalion. While in Iraq, Long completed four college courses for 12 credit hours toward a bachelor of science degree in biology. She plans to work in a medical field, but has not decided on a specialty yet.

Getting Ready to Go Home

In a week we will turn in a footlocker, a duffel bag and a rucksack (big backpack) to begin the process of loading them in containers for shipping home. On the same day I will be packing the Trek T-1 Single speed. I thought it was going to be a tough decision which bike to keep, but the right crank and chain ring worked loose from the shaft that connects the two cranks through the bottom bracket. I can't tighten it, Larry the bike guy is still on R&R leave, so I will box the bike up and send it back home for the Bike Line guys to fix.
The other bike I will probably sell cheap or maybe mail it back. Not sure yet. I would have sold the roadie bike, but I don't want to sell a damaged bike in a place where there are no shops.
I filled the footlocker this morning--mostly books and boots. I will fill a duffel bag next week before turn in. I will also mail a box or two home. I can bring a duffel bag and a half with me on the plane--we need half of one bag for the bulletproof vest and helmet.
In the afternoon and evening I was worn out with two really good interviews. I got to interview our brigade commander--the first woman to command a combat brigade in Iraq. Other women have commanded support brigades. She is the first to be the top officer in a combat aviation unit. In the evening I thought I was talking to a Blackhawk company commander about a routine part of his mission, but it turned out 1/3rd of his soldiers were here to support operations in the battle for Fallujah five years ago and the Armored Brigade commander here was a battalion commander in that battle. So the pilots and the ground commander were reiunited after five years. It shoudl be a good story.

Thanksgiving--168 Hours Later

Last week we ate Thanksgiving dinner which was opulent by any buffet standards and was free--except to tax payers. But even with shrimp cocktail, ham, turkey and every kind of fruit and vegetable you could want, it really wasn't much better than every day fare here. Last night there was a huge line at all four main serving lines when I walked in the chow hall. Wednesday night is surf and turf night. Last night was king crab legs, fried shrimp and prime rib. I was meeting some friends who were already at the chow hall, so I went to the wings line, got lemon pepper wings--my favorite here--fresh cut watermelon, celery sticks, and fruit salad--apples, kiwi, pineapple, melon in yogurt. 20 minutes later the line went down so I got fried shrimp and a chocolate milkshake. I also had orange juice.

Tonight, I had shrimp scampi and everything else I had last night. The food here is the best I EVER ate in the Army and for sheer ridiculous opulence, the only time I eat better is at expense account dinners.

Who Fights This War? -- All Female MEDEVAC Crew

“Charlie’s Angels” Fly First Mission as All-Female Crew
For the three days before Thanksgiving, one of the on-alert crews for Charlie Company, 3-238th MEDEVAC, is the first all-female MEDEVAC crew to fly in this company’s history. “This is the first time an all-female crew has come up in the rotation for us,” said Maj. David Mattimore, 38, of Hampton, N. H., the Charlie Company Commander. “And it would not have been possible until one of our avionics sergeants became a crew chief.”
The four women that comprise this crew have a total of nine deployments and each has between eight and twelve years of service. “This is the first all-female crew any of us have flown with,” said Capt. Trish “Cocaine” Barker, operations officer. According to the other members of the crew, Barker got her nickname because she is high energy and addictive. She has ten years service enlisting in 1999 as an aircraft fueler. Barker, 30, went to Officer’s Candidate School in 2003 and Flight School in 2004. A native of Menominee, Michigan, she was deployed to Bosnia in 2005 as a MEDEVAC section leader.
When she returns from this deployment she will return to her job as the State Occupational Health Specialist for the Michigan Army National Guard.
“Same for me. Never flew with an all-girl crew,” said Staff Sgt. Misty “Monkey” Seward, 30, of Owosso, Michigan. Seward enlisted in 1998 and has severed as a medic for a total of eleven years. She has four years as a flight medic and seven years on the ground. She deployed to Kuwait in 2001-2 and to Baghdad in 2006-7, both tours as a ground medic. When she returns from serving as a flight medic in a war zone, she will resume her job as a security officer at a Level One Trauma Clinic in Lansing, part of Sparrow Health Systems.
The Pilot in Command for the crew is Chief Warrant Officer Three Andrea “Anddie” Galatian, 31, of Lansing, Michigan. “There must have been another all-female MEDEVAC crew somewhere, but I haven’t seen one,” she said. Galatian enlisted in 1997 and served five years as an administrative clerk before going to flight school in 2002. She has served seven years as a pilot including a deployment to Bosnia in 2005. As a civilian, Galatian is the business analyst for the Real Eastate Division of the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The newest name on the flight roster is Sgt. Debra “Guns and Knives” Lukan, 43, of Keene, New Hampshire. She enlisted just after 9/11. “I just barely made the age cutoff,” said Lukan. She trained as an avionics mechanic and just recently switched from the shop to flight crewmember. Lukan deployed to Camp Spyker and Tikrit in 2005-6 in avionics and is happy to be on the flight rotation this time. “My family doesn’t know I’m flying,” said Lukan. “They worry a lot, but I suppose I’ll have to tell them eventually.” Lukan is a federal technician working in avionics in the New Hampshire National Guard.
“It may be months before this crew comes up in the rotation again,” said Mattimore. “We only have nine female flight crew members and everyone rotates to our remote bases, so the odds of them being back together again are low.”
“I’m glad we got a chance to be first even if it is just first for us,” said Barker.