Soldier's Diary/The Last 24 Hours In Iraq

[OregonCruzer]

Originally Posted by fjdemon

Any Batt. boys on here? I used to be in 3/75 Ranger Regt. Just wondering. It's a small world.

Worst fscking thing I hear constantly:

"That's not how we did it in Ranger Batt."

No worries, tho. I do not look to this guy to be at all representative of Ranger Batt.

[fjdemon]

Originally Posted by OregonCruzer

Worst fscking thing I hear constantly:

"That's not how we did it in Ranger Batt."

No worries, tho. I do not look to this guy to be at all representative of Ranger Batt.

That's a good thing, probably a reason why they weren't in batt. Where are you at now or were you at?

[fjdemon]

Originally Posted by krzyabncanuck

Just an ex tab wearer here. Got stuck at Bragg most of my time.

You mean scroll? I don't understand? Did you get the boot and end up at Bragg?

[OregonCruzer]

Originally Posted by fjdemon

That's a good thing, probably a reason why they weren't in batt. Where are you at now or were you at?

Always been a nasty girl--Co A 2/162 IN in the 41'st brigade in Oregon. 6 years as yer basic 11B. Now im a TAMMS pouge Spent my time in OIF 1--hit ground a couple of weeks after kickoff. Spooling up for my next rotation probably in '08. Or so the rumor mill has it.

[fjdemon]

Nothing wrong with that. I'll be here waiting for you haha.

[OregonCruzer]

Originally Posted by fjdemon

Nothing wrong with that. I'll be here waiting for you haha.

Good times. I spent time at Kalsu, Kuwait Naval Base (that was cush! Seabees treat you right.) and lotsa drivin around Basrah.

[krzyabncanuck]

Originally Posted by fjdemon

You mean scroll? I don't understand? Did you get the boot and end up at Bragg?

Just got the chance to go to the school back in the 80's. Was at Bragg most of the rest of the time.

[fjdemon]

Oh, ok. I was confused for a minute

[HawkDriver]

Originally Posted by OregonCruzer

Good times. I spent time at Kalsu, Kuwait Naval Base (that was cush! Seabees treat you right.) and lotsa drivin around Basrah.

You used to stay at the Zoo (Kalzoo)? Sweet man, we used to roll down there daily and conducted a lot of air assault operations in the area as well. We had monthly rotations of crews with 4 hawks there to support the medevac as well. Just a wee bit south of Baghdad, did you make it up to town often?

[fjdemon]

Kuwait is expensive, right now the exchange rate is $3.60 U.S. dollars to $1 Kuwaiti Dinar.

[fjdemon]

Originally Posted by HawkDriver

You used to stay at the Zoo (Kalzoo)? Sweet man, we used to roll down there daily and conducted a lot of air assault operations in the area as well. We had monthly rotations of crews with 4 hawks there to support the medevac as well. Just a wee bit south of Baghdad, did you make it up to town often?

You should try to go 1/60th, those guys are the shit!

[krzyabncanuck]

Originally Posted by HawkDriver

You used to stay at the Zoo (Kalzoo)? Sweet man, we used to roll down there daily and conducted a lot of air assault operations in the area as well. We had monthly rotations of crews with 4 hawks there to support the medevac as well. Just a wee bit south of Baghdad, did you make it up to town often?

Kalsu must of changed a bit since 03 / 04 then. We only had room for our tents and trucks back then. Got any idea how big it is now. My group was the ones that brought the tall towers down there for the post.

[OregonCruzer]

Originally Posted by krzyabncanuck

Kalsu must of changed a bit since 03 / 04 then. We only had room for our tents and trucks back then. Got any idea how big it is now. My group was the ones that brought the tall towers down there for the post.

Thats funny! No, it was a small POS when we were there, just a small hole.

[landcrusher909]

has anyone heard from heavyLift he has not posted in a while and we have something for him. Chappy keep your eyes out

[HawkDriver]

I'm not sure about Heavylift. I havn't heard Icehouse around Baghdad lately either. I think they were just operating temporarily in the AO and were gonna go back up north.

160th Certainly are the shit man. I have seriously contemplated assessing with them since I started this deal 8 years ago. I have a few friends who have made the switch. If I was single I would do it in a heartbeat but my family isn't too hip on the idea. This shit's dangerous enough as it is, without me leaving on a regular basis going out to every corner of the world looking for trouble...

Yeah Kalsu is pretty friggin huge now. They have a number of acft and numerous ground units there. I hate having to edit out the figures for you man but you get the idea, every time i type the shit out I look at it and have to go back and delete it. Mostly all of the FOBs are a lot bigger now than they were back then from what I remember.

One of my brothers had a blade strike in flight today. Knocked the tip caps off of 2 of the blades. He hit a pole along the highway. Thank god they're ok. I have to go pick them up in the morning and take the maintenance crew down to recover it. He's the same guy who I've had a couple near death experiences with over this past Air Assault cycle. He's an excellent pilot though and one I trust the most to be doing these missions with me, had it been someone else they might have hit me and I might not be here typing today.

I'm telling you guys if we had been home on time a lot of these "accidents" wouldn't be happening. We've had 3 class C+ accidents in the last 2 months. Hard landings in dusty LZs mostly. The shit's wearing on us man, I just wanna make it outta here!

[landcrusher909]

Hawk thanks for the update we got Chappys stuff off today and i will get Heavylift's box out tommorow just wanted to make sure they would get it . Thanks again and be safe

[krzyabncanuck]

Thanks Hawk. Ya i know all about OPSEC stuff. I had to think about how to word it myself.

Take care over there.

[landcrusher909]

Hawk just one more question, Did the Popcorn ever pop using the blades ???? we all want to know LOL

[HawkDriver]

Made it down to Al Kut and back. My buds are all back home safe and sound now. They had to replace 2 blades and inspect a bunch of shit then track and balance everything, took all day, barely made it back just after sunset. We ate at the DFAC there and it's run by the Georgian Army. These folks are strange to say the least, and not real friendly either.

No man, we tried to pop it but it didn't work LOL. I think it may have been too hot to even pop popcorn haha. We're glad it's back down to comfortable temps now, like around the 80s or so.

Thanks krzy, it sure does make it difficult to write back and forth doesn't it.


Hey, I thought I had read earlier on here that chappy was back stateside now...

Talk to you guys tomorrow.

[landcrusher909]

10-16-07, 06:30 AM #178
chappysfj40
IH8MUD Junior




Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 84 good day Jim,

Let me start by saying i have made this event the last 3 years in a row, i drove all the way up from oxnard area,,( yeah like 180 miles haha) But this year i am over in IRAQ doing my Seabee thing and will not be home till spring 2008 (been here 6 months). So my qusetion is, Is there going to be a DVD made or can a beg someone to make me one and i will buy it from them or something. Can i order t-shirts and have them sent to my wife in iowa.


__________________
This was a post i found from chappy so it looks like hes still there. The best to all of you.

[OregonCruzer]

Originally Posted by landcrusher909

10-16-07, 06:30 AM #178
chappysfj40
IH8MUD Junior




Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 84 good day Jim,

Let me start by saying i have made this event the last 3 years in a row, i drove all the way up from oxnard area,,( yeah like 180 miles haha) But this year i am over in IRAQ doing my Seabee thing and will not be home till spring 2008 (been here 6 months). So my qusetion is, Is there going to be a DVD made or can a beg someone to make me one and i will buy it from them or something. Can i order t-shirts and have them sent to my wife in iowa.


__________________
This was a post i found from chappy so it looks like hes still there. The best to all of you.

Just wanna say usually I gots no respect for the navy but you seabees build one helluva hooch!

heartfelt thanks from a crusty grunt

[Blue Phoenix]

Wow it seems Ive missed alot. First off, I want to thank HawkDriver...Air Support is the best friend grunts have around here. Are you stationed out of Taji? I was just reading through your posts and it sounds like you fly over my AO on a constant basis. Im out of Rusty, we were down in Sal Man Paq up until about 6 months ago, and then we took over western Sadr city. Its like the wild west up here compared to the palm groves down south.
I guess a little background information is in order:
Im a line medic with C Company, 3-61 2BCT 2ID
Boots on the ground on October 8, 2006 and willbe leaving I think sometime in January, although the date seems tentative.
I cant really elaborate on anything, mainly because so much has happened and it would require a book to talk about everything that has happened since I entered country, but I do have a few things to say after reading this thread.
1) Thanks for starting this thread. I know you guys like reading about this, but I think we over here treasure the fact that we can come back and be human again, if just for an hour or so on the computer, and share with you our story. So thank you guys especially.
2) Wow, my stomach turned as I saw all of the pictures of Iraqi food, and the disgustingly delicious flat bread. Haha. Many times have I paid the price of eating middle eastern cuisine.
3) Again, thanks for Air Support, especially TAC Aviation. I dont know if any of you guys are on this thread, but you have saved many lives, including a few of my own guys, and gotten us out of some sticky situations.
If anyone is interested in pics, I can post some later. Thanks for all of your support again.

[yooper]

Do please post pics. We are all interested.

Another huge thanks to all of those fighting or who have fought so we can continue to safely live the good life here at home. May you all come home soon and join the party!

[HawkDriver]

And party on again we shall!



Blue, that's an awesome post man. All so true. Yes I'm out of Taji and we do stop in to Rusty at least once a day usually more. Maybe I can PM you when I'm gonna be there so we can chat for a minute at the helipad, can you make it over there? It'd be awesome to snap a pic and post that shit up on the thread. We quit flying down over Salman Pac quite some time ago due to a lot of engagements from AA in that area. There seems to have been a constant battle going on down in that area for quite some time now. You tell your guys who are still down there to be safe and keep up the good fight.

So you're operating in Sadr City now huh. That place is horrible. I worked at Loyalty, formerly Ironhorse with COL Abrams and the 1st Cavalry's 1st Brigade during OIF 2, and got to see a lot of the operations going on inside that zone from inside the TOC. It was the BDE HQ and I just remember Lancer from 2/5 going in there daily up and down every street kicking ass and taking names. We lost nearly a hundred good troops in there just during my month of working there. It seemed to be left alone a lot more this go around but maybe you guys are getting back at it. Wild west is right man, that place is nuts, we usually put a couple Ks between us and it and let the Big Guns take care of that. You be freakin careful inside there man.