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.