March update

So, I haven't worked on this for quite a while.  I think mostly because the newness of everything has worn off.  I'm mostly confined to this base where I think I've seen everything there is to see.  Megan tells me that I should take pictures anyway and keep sending them.  So here goes.

The above picture is of one of the helicopters that flies around all the time.  I just think it's cool.  It's like the helicopter on Magnum PI.  This picture also demonstrates my picture taking prowess, notice how I managed to catch the helo at the exact moment it crossed behind a powerline.  Genius!

This is some great marksmanship on my part.  This is not staged. . .I'm really that good.

Here are a few shots of the tree that fell over on my front door one night.  The next morning the grounds crew cut it up and hauled it away before I could get a picture in the light.

This is some of my co-worker's idea of a joke.  Apparently they see me as a fat, angry baby.

This is me humoring them.

A few shots of some Kiowas that were flying around.

One day I came out of my office for lunch and the treehouse was in a pile.

By that evening the tree house was vanquished and the tree was free to live it's treeful life.

Here's (left to right) CPT Orcutt, 1LT Seckel and 1LT Hodgkinson sucking on some hookah pipes in a back-alley hookah den.

CPT Johnson was there too and in addition to the pipe he was getting smashed on near-beer.

This is the dinner I had in the back-alley hookah den.  Some traditional Iraqi food.  They use a lot of oil and vinegar in their cooking.

A couple of pictures of me in said back-alley kookah den. . . I didn't inhale.

This is what happens when you hit a stationary concrete barrier that sits about 3 feet high at high speed in an armored truck.  I can't really say anymore, the pictures say a lot.

A whole lot of sandbags.

Some shots of a couple Blackhawks that landed on base taking off.

Footprints on the toilet seat.  You can take the Iraqi out of the Red Zone but he still squats on the toilet seat.  This is why the West is technologically superior.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  This is Samir.  He's the guy that found Saddam Hussein in the spider hole.  You can google his name and the incident and find pictures of him with the dictator.  Apparently he gave Saddam a pretty good beating.  Anyway, he lives here on this post.

I recently informed all of the Local National Vendors on the FOB that they have to leave in June.  This sparked some promotions, like the tailor is having a big close out seal.  I'm not sure if seals can survive in this climate.  I'm going to buy everyone t-shirts from this guy that say "who's your baghdaddy" by the way.  Lame.

We found a couple of hours to go to the range the other day.  Here's Mike Wigen loading up.

Here's Wigen slinging lead.

The victims of our rage.

I'm not sure where the Mickey Mouse target came from.  It's really sort of sick.

We borrowed an AK-47 for fun. . . and it was.

Say what you want, this is tax dollars well spent.

The most widely proliferated weapon in the world ladies and gentlemen!  For revolutions, jihads, peasant uprisings, and full on terrorism, this little dandy is easy to produce and even the illiterate can learn to use it in a couple of minutes!  Accept no substitute!  Thanks Russia. . .

Oh well, it was a good time.

Christmas and USO

 The "tree house"

This is where you can buy every think.

 One of many indirect fire (IDF) bunkers

 SSG (staff sergeant) Frasure.  He's my all around do everything guy.  He hates getting his picture taken, so I had to surprise him.

 "Anti-stress Kit:  Bang head here"

 Hanging the Justin Beiber poster Megan sent for Christmas.  It was definately a funny joke, but I took a lot of razzing and accusations of being a fan.  This is SSG Peterson, he does administrative work for me.

 SGT Piper impersonating Justin.  I'm pretty sure he's a fan.  He also manages our interpretors.

 Words of wisdom from Dwight Schrute, another poster sent by Megan.

 SSG Peterson impersonating comedian Zach Glifianakis.  Peterson is a one man wolfpack.

 My major award is a big hit.  Everyone is jealous.

 Amnesty ammunition.

 A comparison of bullets.  The left on is a 7.62 mm as fired by the AK-47.  The center one is a 5.56 mm (.223) as used in the M-16 family of weapons.  On the right is the .50 caliber as fired from the Browning machine gun.  It's a little more powerful. . .

 All live rounds turned in and waiting for me to dispose of them at the range.

 Justin hit puberty

 Another uparmored vehicle, but this is the first one like this that I've seen.  It's a Ford and looks like an Expedition tank-ified.

 Not to be confused with entrance.

 We had the USO holiday tour pass through camp and got to meet a bunch of famous people I'd never heard of.  This is SGT Casper gone cross-eyed after meeting some real life Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

 Here is SFC (sergeant first class) Miller.  We call him Elfboy.

 SGT Thornley with country singer Emily West.

 Country singer Buddy Jewell.

 Me and SGM Preston, the Sergeant Major of the Army

 My first sergeant and friend 1SG Mike Wigen with Leeann Tweeden, a model of some sort.

 This is rock singer Alana Grace performing.

 Buddy Jewell singing his version of the apparently mandatory country singer pro america song.

 Country comdeiane Chonda Pierce.  She was really very good.

 This is Kenni Thomas, another country singer.  He is a former Army Ranger who fought in the Battle of Mogadishu and imortalized in the book and movie Black Hawk Down.

 He and his band with some help sang a song about getting drunk in Mexico and dealing with the results.  It was pretty funny and a lot of fun.

It was Alana Grace's birthday so this Soldier gave her a breakfast pastry with chem-lights (glow sticks) as candles.

All in all the event was a lot of fun and, though we haven't been here too long, it was nice to be distracted for a minute.  I didn't get my picture taken with anyone besides the SMA, mostly because I hate asking people to take my picture.  Instead I kept my distance and played the creepy guy taking pictures from afar.