Finally on the streets!

Welcome From Iraq,

So after all the years of waiting I am finally roaming the streets of Iraq. It has been a long time coming, over 6 years of training and I am finally puting my skills to good use. The anticipation is over and that is quite a relief.

We have been so busy lately it has been hard to spend any leisure time to communicate back home. It is a steep learning curve getting to know the area as well as the outgoing unit. I feel like I will never know the area as much as the outgoing Lieutenant. He is quite an impressive guy, a West Point Grad and a very street smart people person. He knows Arabic fluently and the locals here love him, his Arabic nickname is close to being know as "The Great One".

So I have some big shoes to fill. I've started arabic lessons with my interpreter, Tom. They say if I spend half an hour to an hour a day at it, I should pick it up fast. Hopefully I will get pretty good at it by this Summer. The interpreters here are very helpful, most of them are from different areas of Iraq and we like to hide their identity for their safety.

Being outside the "wire" has been pretty exciting. We have some guys who are scared to death and some who thrive on doing this work. I feel like I am at my best when conducting missions and interacting with the locals. You forget about everything else in the world and completely focus on what needs to be done, how you can help these people, and how to make sure everyone makes it home un-harmed. I can already tell my character is developing differently. I actually enjoy being so busy and focused, having no free time at all. I am always looking for ways to improve my Platoon.

Most of the locals enjoy talking to us. This has been a good area last year and my goal is to keep it that way. Kids absolutely love us. They jump up and down, waving their hands, and even dance for us. As soon as I have some candy on my hands, i'll be handing it out every day. They also love soccer here. The older kids often ask me for pens. Its surprising how well educated some of the villages are. In one of the photos I am standing with Omar, he speaks english very well.

The food isn't too bad outside of base. It is mediocre inside the base though. I've been eating often with Police Captains and Sheiks(Tribal Leaders). They love their falafals. They are very good, you stuff them with chicken, lamb, or beef, and fresh vegetables. Yumm!

I have more work to do. Talk to y'all later.

First Post from Iraq

Hi Everyone,

So I decided the easiest way for me to communicate with all my friends and family is to create this blog. This will let me stay focused on my work while keeping everyone updated on how I am doing here.

Due to operational security I cannot get too detailed in what I am doing in Iraq. Right now we are preparing our equipment in Taji and we will be moving to JSS Istaqlal in East Baghdad.

The accommodations in Taji are very nice. We have 2 person rooms with lots of space, single bed, AC, electricity, and we can add whatever appliances we want. The dining facility is incredible. We can choose from almost any food imaginable and it is very good. We have anything from country scramble and omelletes for breakfast to T-bone steaks and shrimp for dinner. This place so far puts any base in the states to shame. Thanks KBR!

So mostly everyone is excited to start the missions. It has been a long wait to get down to business. We have been training since September and feel more than ready to get out there. The last two months have been a drag with little to do. Now I know what it felt like for the soldiers waiting for the initial invasion. Lets just get started already.

To kill some of the boredom, I started grad school this January. I am in Penn State's Geospatial Intelligence Certification Program. It is a continuation of my undergrad degree in Geographic Information Systems, but it concentrates more on the intelligence aspect, such as satellite imagery analysis. My Dad is pretty excited that I am a Nittany Lion now!

So we are going to JSS Istaqlal for a short time period. The base has been handed over to the Iraqi Security Forces and they are ready to take over the region completely. We're ready for anything though. News is that it has been calm lately, but you never know when Iranian Special Forces might show up again. They are the chief instigator of violence in this region.

So I posted some pictures of Kuwait. Lots of camels. You have to watch out for them as they run right in front of your convoy. Kuwaitis fine up to $75,000 if you hit one too. They have different colored camels too: brown, white, and black. White supposedly being the most valuable. Also a picture of me at the shooting range. I have an M4 that shoots a .223 in semi-auto or 3 round burst. I was hitting man size silhouettes at 600 meters. I have a 4X ACOG scope, a laser designator for night firing with night vision goggles, bipod, and a surefire tactical flashlight all mounted on the weapon.

I will try to get more pictures up later. I am unsure if my internet connection will be any good in the small JSS we are going to, but I will try to write as much as I can. Be sure to check out our website that we have made for updates on our wedding: http://www.mywedding.com/mattandcolleenerb/ We are developing it more each day.

Miss you all,

Matt