Update

Well, it’s been a while since my last update, so I thought I’d post a quick one. Around Christmas, 5-7 Cavalry got orders to move to a new location in Iraq. Unfortunately, these orders took them outside of Al Anbar province, and II MEF wouldn’t let the squadron take their ANGLICO teams with them. It was a disappointing decision, as my team had grown to like working with Apache Troop.

So, we were out of job shortly after New Years. My team spent about a week and a half on Camp Fallujah cooling our heels, before we got orders to head west. We’re now living at Hadithah Dam, and once again I find myself supporting the Iraqi Army. We’re still getting settled in, but so far things seem pretty good out here. Of course, it’s quiet like the rest of Al Anbar. Remember the old saying, popular in the ’60s, “What if they threw a war and nobody came?” Well, that’s kind of what it feels like. Like I told my wife, if I’ve got to spend 7 months in Iraq, I expect somebody to have the common decency to crank off a round in my direction from time to time. To keep it interesting, like.

In other news, we now have a Tactical Escalade (MRAP). It’s a pretty nice ride if you’re road-bound, but the suspension is extremely stiff, so off-road or even just a road with a lot of pot holes (like many in Iraq) gets pretty rough. I’ll do a longer post on it later. It was obviously designed by engineers, without sufficient input from the guys who would be operating it on the roads. I’m certainly a fan of the comfort, but these things will be of extremely limited utility down the road. Typical stop-gap solution, in my opinion.

More to come later.