031208 Chuck Norris can count to infinity, twice!

Don't ask me why or how but Chuck Norris 'facts' (http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/) are pretty populat in the Army. While personally I somewhat enjoyed the series Texas Rangers and really don't have anything in common with his politics (he was Huckabee's sidekick) I do find the jokes pretty amusing. The pics below are from the bday celebration that that was held at the DFAC here. In case you'd rather not go to the site listed above, I've list 8 'Facts' about Chuck Norris below.

1. If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
2. There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.
3. Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
4. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
5. Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.
6. Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you. 7. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
8. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

R/Chris

031108 Cinnabon is now on base

Below are three pics. One is a updated pic of 'the lawn'. It's actually coming along very nicely as you can see from the green. The birds ate a bit of the seed but it's growing well.

The second pic is a new Ford Explorer. It sure seems like every other car on this base is a new damn vehicle. We (our group) used to have a newer Nissan but when our boss left we turned it in for a older stick small truck. I always felt a little guilty driving a newer vehicle than our customers. Needless to say, there is no shortage of new vehicles on this base. Enough said.

The last pic is the new Cinnabon here at Balad. They've been open for a whole week now. There is also a Burger King here, Green Beans Coffee, Popeyes, Pizza Hut and Subway here. But with the Cinnabon here, a little of the whole war-zone ambiance is lost! I kinda miss it.

R/Chris

030808 Guns, guns, guns!

Sadaam had guns, lots of them. The gold plated AK-47 'supposidly' was Sadaam's but who really knows. The small one is a derringer and the long rifle is a WWI German Mauser. And the pic where I look like a lunatic is an AK-47 as well. Most of these weapons were just shipped to a museum in the US at Rock Island.

R/Chris

030708 Good running day...

Today I went for a quick run. This was the first 'warm' day of the year and it was really nice.
Below is a link to a site where some soldiers throw a puppy off a cliff. Yes, what the soldiers did was wrong and hopefully he'll be prosecuted.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/throwpuppy.asp

Recently in some conversations I've found myself defending soldiers, the military, recruiters and it seems indirectly, I'm defending me. I work for the Army here in Iraq and there are some great men and women in the military. And (as in any organization) there are also some bad apples. Soldiers and Airmen over here are doing the job they've trained and are paid to do. I'm very much in the same boat. What I put in this blog certainly is not representative of everything that happens in Iraq. It is simply a little information from my limited experience and perspective in Iraq. In short, it's a job, that's also an adventure.

030608 Running to the bunkers...again

The last few days we've been running to bunkers at least once a day. Fortunately the alerts have been called off prety quickly but we really never get confirmation what happened. The military considers a 'need to know' and all that we needed to know was at the time, you 'needed' to head to the bunkers. Even though we (civilians) live on the base, we really don't 'need' to know what always happens. I have to agree with the logic, even though I'm 'curious' to know.

Also the C-RAM has been going off alot as well and whether it's an incoming mortar or just a duck flying north, something has been causing the C-RAM to go off. Actually the weapon won't pick up a bird as they're too slow. In my 7 years in the Navy, I saw the CIWS fire once. Here, it fires about once a month or so and its LOUD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS

R/Chris

030108 Hey! I made it into the Army Times (er, at least a 1/2 pic of me did)

March is spring in Iraq and a coat isn't really needed at night anymore. The first 'hot' day probably won't come for another month or so but by June every day will be a 'hot' day (here in HELL!) The Combat Lifesaving Course I took made it to the Army.mil web site and there's a partial pic of me (I'm the one in jeans). The link is below.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/02/29/7694-1-402nd-afsb-civilians-in-iraq-become-combat-lifesavers/index.html

The article says that the mix of mil to civ is 1-1 but when I'm in the DFAC at lunch, it sure looks like the ratio is more like 3-1 (mil to civ).

Many who wear uniforms here are actually Army civilians. So if you see no insignia on someone wearing a uniform it's not SGT or Major X but rather 'Mr.' or 'Ms.' There are quite a few Army female civlians. With insignia rank I know whose ass I need to kiss but not so much so with Army civilians. With them I have to note their name and then do some research should I ever meet them again (and kiss their ass). The pics below are general pics of the farewell of the old Deputy Commander (DCO) (top Army Civilian) here at this command (and whose ass I kiss alot!) I called him 'Mr. Gallagher' but the new DCO I call him 'Mike'! Ahh, less ass kissing there!

Also today we received an 'UPDATED' General Order 1A. It now SPECIFICALLY says there'll be no male/female cohabitation with the exception of legally married husband wife. This was done since after the last housing inspection (aka 5 AM wake up surprise) there were many 'sleepovers' and evidently someone who wasn't getting any thought those who were getting some should not get any like they we're getting any (did you follow that?) SO....no male/female cohabitation. This of course has made us ponder the following questions:
1. What if he/she leaves by 2 AM or 3 AM or 4 AM?
2. What if the he/she is he/he or she/she?
3. What if there is no 'sleeping'?
4. What if neither 'lives' there?

Eh, I suspect nothing will really change.