Post by Update 2 on Mar 1, 2008 11:51:14 GMT -5
It’s official, we are now the only Civil Affairs team left in Jazeera. We learned a lot from the 5/10 team, but it is definitely nice to be on our own. They have all left and we are settling in to their old rooms quite nicely. The rooms have gotten much better, but if we weren’t feeling like we were deployed before, we sure are now. The supply of water for use in the bathrooms isn’t enough, so showers are only allowed once a week. Needless to say, we make a lot of trips to Camp Ramadi.
Things are going well for the team. We are becoming pretty accustomed to life out in town. Lots of Sheiks want to meet us and have us over for lunch, so we eat with them a lot. Not a bad deal at all. Cpl. Mia and Doc even decided to test their soccer skills out against a bunch of children. There is a running joke about when the Iraqi’s played some Marines in soccer. It turns out that Iraqi’s are pretty darn good soccer players, or at least that’s what the losing Marine team is telling people.
We are closing on a school and a clinic soon, so improvements are being made for the Iraqis. At a different school we made the mistake of going to it when school was just starting. Because of this, we were mobbed by over 100 5-12 year olds. They were especially excited when Cpl. Johnson gave them pencils and LCpl. Ebeling put a band-aid on a child’s cut hand. Even the simplest things make their day, and boy can they be persistent.
One thing I’ve learned over the last week is that even though Cpl. Cruz is good at being a turret gunner, his true calling is the Power Point slide. Not sure where he learned it but Cpl. Cruz is a certified Power point ninja. With all the office work we do these days, it seems like this skill should be taught at boot camp. Luckily, things haven’t come to that.
Doc is still trying to master the art of backing up a HMMWV, but he is getting better everyday. Not much, but still better everyday.
SSgt. Lee has found his favorite Iraqi past time…Burning things! He was in charge of the burn pit and did, in fact, burn just about everything that was combustible on our camp. And when the winds shifted, almost smoked the team out of their old room. Oh, also he never found his pen, but hasn’t given up hope.
Sand storms have shown themselves a few times now. The sky gets an eerie orange color, and visibility gets cut down to only about 40 meters. A couple of times now we have had to stay in because of this. Everything gets covered in dust anyway, so it doesn’t change much.
The team has to stand post every night, so that situation is less than ideal. Imagine staring into the darkness for 4hrs straight, without eating or reading anything. It takes a lot of discipline to stay attentive. It’s not exactly fun, but necessary. They are doing a good job with it and haven’t complained all that much either. The one with the late night post gets the next day off and with the 4 Xbox’s, and a PS2, they are able to stay occupied.
We’ll have pictures up soon and please leave any questions you have in the forum. I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Continue to support your Marines and know that we are thinking of you all back home as much as you are thinking about us.
Things are going well for the team. We are becoming pretty accustomed to life out in town. Lots of Sheiks want to meet us and have us over for lunch, so we eat with them a lot. Not a bad deal at all. Cpl. Mia and Doc even decided to test their soccer skills out against a bunch of children. There is a running joke about when the Iraqi’s played some Marines in soccer. It turns out that Iraqi’s are pretty darn good soccer players, or at least that’s what the losing Marine team is telling people.
We are closing on a school and a clinic soon, so improvements are being made for the Iraqis. At a different school we made the mistake of going to it when school was just starting. Because of this, we were mobbed by over 100 5-12 year olds. They were especially excited when Cpl. Johnson gave them pencils and LCpl. Ebeling put a band-aid on a child’s cut hand. Even the simplest things make their day, and boy can they be persistent.
One thing I’ve learned over the last week is that even though Cpl. Cruz is good at being a turret gunner, his true calling is the Power Point slide. Not sure where he learned it but Cpl. Cruz is a certified Power point ninja. With all the office work we do these days, it seems like this skill should be taught at boot camp. Luckily, things haven’t come to that.
Doc is still trying to master the art of backing up a HMMWV, but he is getting better everyday. Not much, but still better everyday.
SSgt. Lee has found his favorite Iraqi past time…Burning things! He was in charge of the burn pit and did, in fact, burn just about everything that was combustible on our camp. And when the winds shifted, almost smoked the team out of their old room. Oh, also he never found his pen, but hasn’t given up hope.
Sand storms have shown themselves a few times now. The sky gets an eerie orange color, and visibility gets cut down to only about 40 meters. A couple of times now we have had to stay in because of this. Everything gets covered in dust anyway, so it doesn’t change much.
The team has to stand post every night, so that situation is less than ideal. Imagine staring into the darkness for 4hrs straight, without eating or reading anything. It takes a lot of discipline to stay attentive. It’s not exactly fun, but necessary. They are doing a good job with it and haven’t complained all that much either. The one with the late night post gets the next day off and with the 4 Xbox’s, and a PS2, they are able to stay occupied.
We’ll have pictures up soon and please leave any questions you have in the forum. I’ll do my best to answer what I can. Continue to support your Marines and know that we are thinking of you all back home as much as you are thinking about us.