Changes...

On Friday I said goodbye to almost a third of our team. They had all put in their year (all three military reserve or guard component). It still amazes me how well people cope with this kind of a disruption in their lives. Two of the guys (yes, they were all men - only two women on the PRT when I arrived - more later on that)were in their late fifties/early sixties, and the other about my age (a couple of years older). Two light-Colonels (next promotion full-birds) and an E-8 (Master Sergeant). For those not familiar with military rank, these are career people. And because they also have lives in the "real" world (although it's hard to get more real then when you're dodging bullets and bombs/bombers), they bring the experience of their specialization to the table as well. Very valuable people. One has a background in banking, the other is a trial attorney, and the last was a administrator for a city council in Virginia. Here those specializations translate into finance, law, and governance. Very applicable. All three of these individuals volunteered for this duty. Granted, they made a little more money by serving in a combat zone (hazardous duty), and I believe they wont have to worry about taxes for the income made during this tour, however, their only break was a 14 day R&R about half-way through the year=long tour. Don't think you'll ever read this, but thank you Jay, Morris, and Emery. Safe travels and hope to run into you down the road again someday...Cip

Chow Hall

Made it to breakfast today. Once or twice a week is all I'm averaging. Its a bit of a hike, especially if the ground (fine dirt/clay) is moist (smaller more sure steps). On the off days, we tied our hunger until noon with poptarts or fruit acquired during the previous day's meal(s). Snacks are available at the Post/Base Exchange (mini-Pamida). If you have access to a microwave, you can also buy dinners and such at the P/BX. The chow hall (DFAC-havent bothered to figure out what it stands for in military terms) typically offers "main line" or "short order" options for both the noon and evening meals. Main line might be fish, chicken or beef dishes and sides, while short order is hot/corn dogs, burgers, fries/onion rings. There's also a pretty impressive salad bar with a large assortment of condiments. So there's really nothing to complain about concerning availability or variety of food considering we are "camping," if you will. In fact, even have a Subway (small - runs out of food all the time - last time I checked the only meat options were crab and tunafish), a Greenbean Coffee House (trailer), and Burger King is suppose to be on the way...The Americans have definitely arrived!

Cip new mail

Ok here is cip's mail

Cip Jungberg
Postal Det 5 EPRT
Unit 42369
FPO AE 96426-2369

There you go Carl!!!!!
Dawn

Howdy all - Back in Ramadi

Tomorrow will be my one month anniversary here in Iraq. Its seems as though very little has been accomplished in this time frame. However, I am beginning to understand why things seem to take infinitely longer to come to fruition. Everyone here, with the exception of myself is totally incompetent. Ok, maybe there is a war going on and the majority of the infrastructure lies in ruin, but you would still think a 100 kilometers could be regularly traversed in less than three days. In other words, one of the most time consuming activities in the region is travel. My solution from this point forward - travel as little as possible. To date I have spent approximately a week (five work days) waiting on flights, etc. This was to travel to Ramadi (approximately 100 kilometers), back to Baghdad, and back to Ramadi. Of course travel is almost strictly limited to helicopter flights (Marine Corps, Army/Catfish Air, and Dept. of State or RSO). The vast majority of these take place at night (remember there are bad-guys/girls out there), so when you do finally get on a flight, you don't even get the benefit of the view - just the feeling of being snatched from the ground and whisked away in the dark, while the rotors pound through the disposable hearing protection...In the next entry I'll cover a visit to the DFAC (chow hall).

Much love and respect,
Cip

Hello to all;

For those of you who don't know- I went and bought a house in Towner ND. Yes indeed I did it. Finally!!! It will have 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. It does need a lot of work, but I think I'm up for the challenge. And a big challenge it will be.

Cip is doing good. We talk more now via e-mail, when he has time he gets to check his mail. Maybe 1/2 hour on the computer per time. So not much time at all.

I will let you guys know when the house party will be, not for another month 1/2 or so, maybe 2 months. I close on the 24th of this month. Then I can do the remodeling. LLS and KKB hint hint....

Will talk later

Thankx

DAJ