End of Iraq TR

[AKPogue]

Hello all,
Here is my long awaited final report of my Iraq deployment. I know it has
been over a month since I have been back, but I have been really busy
visiting friends and family, jumping out of airplanes, a tour of the white
house, driving down the AK CA highway, and a lot of other stuff. I am
having a lot of fun and am taking some more time off til probably the end of
Jan. After that I am probably going to have to go to work again, which I am
trying to avoid!

You are probably wondering where I went for the last five weeks of my
deployment. Some of you probably might be thinking that I went on some
super secret dangerous mission. Well, it definitely wasn't that. All that
really happened is that we changed our area that we were operating in. I
couldn't tell anyone because we wanted to try and surprise the dirtbags as
to what we were doing. Also unlike before we stayed out of Camp Fallujah
for the whole 5 weeks and so I didn't have any access to email. I was able
to call some friends and family a few times, but not really that much.

The new area that we were operating in was supposed to be dangerous. The
place is called Ferris. The other marine units in the area had been getting
suicide bombers, roadside bombs, and getting shot at. So we were expecting
the worst and hoping for the best. Our unit was not all that happy about
moving to Ferris as we had worked hard and gotten some good contacts in the area we had been in. So some brilliant officer(noticing a trend here, all
officers seem to do is screw everything up, and then us enlisted pukes have
to fix all there mistakes) thought it would be a good idea to move us. I
learned afterwards that 2 other battalions turned down this mission before
we accepted it.

Just before we are going to move to Ferris we get a mission to go get some
suicide bombers that are in this house. Apparently 3 suicide bombers had
come over from Syria. One of them had already blown himself up and the
other 2 were in this house that Military Intelligence(Oxymoron as usual) had
gotten information from an informant. So we go and raid the house. We
round up all the males and what do we find! That Military Intelligence had
given us the location of there informants house, not the suicide bombers
house. We were dumbstuck, but not surprised that Military Intelligence had
lived up to there name. It definitely got a good laugh and that later on
one of the other platoons went and did get the bombers.

So after that debacle we moved in to Ferris. We eventually gave this town
the nickname Pleasantville as almost nothing at all happened there. The
dirtbags that are still around aren't completely stupid. They know that the
unit that I am in is different from the rest. That we are a special forces
type unit and are better trained and equipped than most of the marine units
there. So they try to avoid us. As after being there a week, the officers
in charge had to change everything and totally spread us out as the area
that we had been operating all of the sudden got a whole lot more active
than it ever was when we were there. The main highway that goes through are previous area of operations was getting a lot of roadside bombs that they
hadn't been getting when we were there. So after the shuffle of platoons,
we set in for a 4 weeks of for the most part of boredom. The movie
Groundhog day brings an example of what we went through as nothing seemed to change to the whole time we were there.

After an uneventful 4 weeks(which we really didn't complain about) it was
time to get relieved by 1st Recon BN. That was definitely a happy time for
us all. We gave them as much info on what we had been doing as we had.
Turned over our gear and got the hell out of dodge. It was a welcomed trip
out of there. I got to go through Fallujah and was impressed at how much it
has recovered since the big battle a year ago. It took us some time to get
back to the states. We flew out of Iraq to Kuwait. We had to fly out on a
757 which is a small plane. So we had a long flight back. We had a
headwind over the Atlantic so we had to make another stop because of that.
Our flight went from Kuwait to Frankfurt, Germany to Iceland to
Newoundland(where we got to drink our first beer) to North Carolina. Even
though it was long I didn't hear any complaints.

As I have been back for over a month I have definitely felt as I have felt
during my deployment. We are doing over there what needs to be done. I
definitely think we could be doing some things better, but that is because
of the training that the US Military has done over the years is totally
different than what we are doing over there. So it takes time for an
organization as big as the US Military to adapt to the different
circumstances. What I do know is that anyone who hasn't actually been over operating in combat operations(definitely not in some congress fact finding mission) has pretty much no idea what they are talking about as to how and what we should be doing over there. The military is no different than anything else in the world and people do make mistakes even though we wish they wouldn't. Mistakes have been made over there and they will continue to be made. It is a fact of life. All this country needs is patience to let the people in charge do what they have been doing.

I would like to thank all of you again for your support. I can't tell you
how much it is appreciated over there by everyone. It is so apparent and it
helps a lot.

Hope you guys enjoy the read and the pics. I wasn't able to put all the stickers up as I didn't want to make more work for the marines that would have to pull them off. The M4 is my weapon and as you can see I had a TGR sticker on it and what my be hard to see is the powder sticker on the exact opposite side. The powder stickers in my helmet definitely brought some much needed mental relief when I would take my helmet off when it was 123deg F!

I have no idea on why my text goes on the whole page some of the time and not on the rest

[AKPogue]

Helmet pic.

[AKPogue]

Can anyone tell me why my pics don't show up like my helmet pic did and can I change it?

[Mcwop]

...and he ain't doing avy control:

[Creeker]

...and he ain't doing avy control:

I think this wins the contest. I demand a recount. Glad you're back safe and sound.

[PulverSchwein]

nice TR AK, hope it's a fun winter for you. FYI Single attachments show up automatically, you have to copy links and wrap img tags arounds multiple pics.

[ak_powder_monkey]

I think when you attach more then one image you have to copy paste links in like biglines...

thanks for you service, but KBear???

[AKPogue]

I think when you attach more then one image you have to copy paste links in like biglines...

thanks for you service, but KBear???

That KBear sticker is not my mine. There were 3 other guys in the Humvee and they got to put their stickers on too.

[tranzformer]

Great post, thanks for your service to our country.

[Core Shot]

Glad you made it home safe.
Thanks again for your service.

You definitely win the contest for best TGR sticker location.

The tank shot should be your new avatar.

Now go get some pow, son! You earned it!

[ak_powder_monkey]

That KBear sticker is not my mine. There were 3 other guys in the Humvee and they got to put their stickers on too.

fair enough

[Dr. Gaper]

Thanks for that!

I wish we ALL could hear more firsthand reports of what is going on over there.

[gonzo]

paging tate! you win the sticker contest! that gun is fucking heeeeuge!

sweet 'stache to mang.

[skideeppow]

Love that .50 cal.. You the man. If you make it aspen gives us a holler, we can take care of your tickets and give you a tour.
Where you in a marine recon unit?

[DaveTV]

Good job, thanx for your service! But..

What I do know is that anyone who hasn't actually been over operating in combat operations(definitely not in some congress fact finding mission) has pretty much no idea what they are talking about as to how and what we should be doing over there.

You are saying that no one who hasn't been there should have any input as to what is going on and what needs to be done?

[A-wreck]

TGR represented in Iraq?

Kick ass.

I'm going to put TGR stickers on all my guns now.

[summit]

Thanks for your service.
Great report and pics.

[mr_gyptian]

Good job, thanx for your service! But..

You are saying that no one who hasn't been there should have any input as to what is going on and what needs to be done?

how is this different than you constantly saying that the only legitimate support for the war can only come from people in the fight?

just curious.

once again, AK. glad you're back in one piece and thank you for your service.

[Buster Highmen]

What I do know is that anyone who hasn't actually been over operating in combat operations(definitely not in some congress fact finding mission) has pretty much no idea what they are talking about as to how and what we should be doing over there.

0) You couldn't possibly be referring to the current administration?
1) As an individual, I'm glad you're safe.
2) The Iraq war is an ill founded mistake based on lies and misinformation. We've always had that difference.

[Showtime06]

glad you had an "uneventful" trip...glad we have some maggs out there representing

[DaveTV]

how is this different than you constantly saying that the only legitimate support for the war can only come from people in the fight?

just curious.

Show me where I said anything resembling that. And BTW I am an honorably-discharged veteran. You..?

[Powder Seeker]

Thank you for your service to this country and way to represent in Iraq!!

[natty dread]

What I do know is that anyone who hasn't actually been over operating in combat operations(definitely not in some congress fact finding mission) has pretty much no idea what they are talking about as to how and what we should be doing over there.
All this country needs is patience to let the people in charge do what they have been doing.

As I've said before, I appreciate your service to our country.
But I disagree with you--what a surprise.

By "people in charge" do you mean we should trust shrub, cheney, perle, wolfie, et al with their vast combat experience? Cheney btw was the one who vehemently defended george h.w. bush's decision NOT to go into bagdad in the first gulf war because of the potential for "quagmire." But now, after Iraq had a hand in 9/11 (wait a minute, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11), things have changed I guess, a quagmire is just what we need to "keep us safe." People with a lot of combat experience disagree with what we are doing in Iraq and how we do it. Unfortunately, the adminstration has a nasty habit of firing those with dissenting opinions and viciously attacking dissenters who they can't fire.

Mistakes happen, I know, especially in any large government entity (as a government employee, I see it first hand), but rummy said we went to war with the army we had, not the army we wish we had. Sure, if you are attacked, but this was a war of choice and rummy's attitude/rationale led to the deaths and dismemberment of many brave americans. For this I am ashamed and angry. Some mistakes are excuseable. Many of this administration's mistakes regarding Iraq are not.

[Benny Profane]

yeah, thanx for the sacrifice, but, sorry, you must first realize that a lot of the people in charge, expecially the top boss, commander in chief, have never experienced your fear, and their children won't, either. Shit, he was drunk and coked up when my brother and friends were being shipped off to southeast asia.

I don't usually do this, but I recommend that you read some Marx during the boredom. This is a clear case of exploitation of the lower classes to profit the rich and powerful. In the most gruesome way.

[AKPogue]

Love that .50 cal.. You the man. If you make it aspen gives us a holler, we can take care of your tickets and give you a tour.
Where you in a marine recon unit?

Yeah I am in E Co 4th Recon, but in Iraq I was attached to 3rd Recon.