End of the Platoon Leader Era

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Hello All,

It's been awhile, as I've been adjusting to my new job as the Iraqi Army Coordination Cell Shift Leader. Big changes have happened for me and there are even bigger changes to come here in Iraq. I will leave some photos of my last days as a Platoon Leader. First is a picture of me and an Iraqi Lieutenant, second picture is of me giving a gift to a Sheik, and third is me talking to a local family.

So it was my time to move on from being a Platoon Leader. Being a Infantry Platoon Leader in a combat zone has been the greatest learning experience of my life. You learn more about yourself and what you are made of when you face the dangers of possibly being being blown up each day. You learn to face your destiny if you are one of the few unlucky ones and put faith in God that he will spare you for another day and another chance to try and change the world for the better. I will speak the truth that before I deployed I was scared, but now I am willing to stand up and face the dangers of the world as a necessary part of life. I would have rather stayed as a Platoon Leader for the rest of the deployment, but I needed to move on to a staff job.
Lets just say I learned alot of lessons as a Platoon Leader that has allowed me to mature as an adult and be a responsible role model for my generation.

As far as my new job goes, its not as glorious as being in charge of 30 Infantry Soldiers and 3 Stryker vehicles. Nonetheless it is necessary and far more important in achieving our goal of letting the Iraqis take over their own country. I work 13 hour nights interacting with Iraqis to make sure they are ready for joint patrols with American forces. Where my job really becomes key is the transition to Iraqi led patrols. This will be challenging to make sure that the Iraqi Army goes through the right motions for preparring for missions and integrating the Americans in a useful and safe manner.

Colleen is looking forward to moving to Oregon at the end of the month. She will be looking for work as a teacher or maybe even try out sales. I will be coming to Oregon in September as well and will likely go back to school and find an interesting career path.

Tell next time,

Matt