Iraq

Yep, it was a six month deployment but turned out to be roughly eight months with 6 weeks of combat skills training at Fort Dix, NJ and a special training class in Maryland.

You won’t ever hear me complain a thing about how long it was or the conditions I lived/worked in.  After working closely with the Army who are deployed for roughly 15 months at a time there’s no room for ANY of that nonsense.  Much respect to all the service members who have served, deployed and made the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation.

Quick Deployment Recap:

I flew into Kuwait at the stroke of midnight on 01 Jan 08 and was the first rotator of the year into theater.  Over the course of the next six months  I spent my time in southern Baghdad at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon.  Falcon is pretty small; roughly one mile by one mile.

Half of my time I worked with the 4th Brigade Combat Team “Dragon Brigade” before they ripped out and were replaced by the 1st Brigade - 4th Infantry Division (Mech) “Raider”.  Both brigades were squared away and were a pleasure to work with.

Days were pretty long (16+) since I was filling a Captains position and did not receive a co-worker as billeted due to manning shortfalls.  That turned out to be a blessing though because I really didn’t have anyone to answer to and ran my office of four exactly how I wanted to.

Most of the time I spent on Falcon except for the last 3 weeks of my tour when my OIC, seated at Victory Base Complex (VBC), brought me up to travel around the Area of Operation to conduct some best practices training at: FOB Rustimiyah, FOB Prosperity and Camp Taji.  Traveling around Baghdad in UH-60 Black Hawks and armored buses was definitely one of the highlights of this deployment.

During the course of the deployment I meant countless quality people and made some good new friends.  Always on top of my “A game” I also did some substantial networking with contractors in my area of expertise as my separation date is drawing near.  =)

All in all it was a good deployment.  The mission was viable and it directly impacted the battle space.  Time permitting, I’d do it again but not the same mission.  After working very closely with a great Air Force Weapons Intelligence Team (WIT) at my location that’s definitely something I would go back for.

Photos coming soon, setting up the gallery now!