#4 Thanks Guys, everything's fine, we only received IDF once since Sep 11. All my Marines are safe. We're pushing a lot of supplies out on convoys right now in anticipation of the constitutional referendum.
September was hot over here, about 105 average temp.
October should be cooler. When I get back I'll attach pix for your perusal of the base and where I lived at.
We had bad and good news this week. Bad: we lost an Army guy on a convoy. I can't go into it too much, but it was a sad deal. The terrorists had access to Iraqi Police uniforms and made it a bad day.
Good News: We broke up an IED making facility in a nearby town. Arrested some assholes and shot up a car full of islamonuts. Again, I'm trying to be careful about giving away too much info, so I will tend to generalize. I'm not sure what the enemy figured out after we zapped some of their goons and took their goodies.
I also have limited access to the MSM - not really a bad thing but I can't tell what their picking up on or not. Most of us older guys hate reporters anyways. We are very apprehensive of talking to them because they invariably say what they want anyways.
The bottom line is that the MP Marines are doing phenomenal work out. They lead convoys and screen for IEDs. They are also augmented w/supply & maintenance-type Marines who are also doing great things. It's amazing the maturity level my young lads are displaying out in injun country. I'm very proud. Sometimes I'm jealous because I want to get outside the wire and help out - but there's no mission imperative for an over-30 officer running amok on convoys. It would kind of look like Larry Bird trying to coach and play forward. The mother of my child is happy about that so right now I just do whatever I'm told & keep my trap shut. I promised her that since we have the kid now - no more volunteering for 'adrenaline fixes.'
Another quick story, one of my buddies was coming back from another base north of here on a CH-46. It was early in the a.m. - he started receiving small arms fire from a small village. Apparently the pilot wasn't too concerned and just gained altitude and kept going. My buddy was praying on his rosary hard because he could see the muzzle flashes - he was a little shook up for about a day. I empathized w/him, heck, if you've ever had the pleasure (sarcasm) of riding in a phrog in the first place - that's bad enough. Add to that having some douche bag taking pot shots at you and that's what I call having your wheaties pissed in. I asked him if they lit up those fuckers. He said no, apparently there was a door gunner on board but he didn't fire back. I am not sure on the ROE for pilots out there - so maybe they decided not to engage because it was against the ROE for them. (Too many huts close by w/non-combatants maybe). Or, could be they were low on fuel and couldn't waste the time on a fire team of dune jockey assholes. I'm sure they called it in for the direct action lads to handle. I heard nothing more on that though. Take care guys and I'll be in touch.
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Pakistani security forces in an operation Thursday arrested wanted Taliban leader, said an intelligence source. The source revealed to KUNA that the arrested Taliban leader, being identified as Ahmed, is relative of Jalal-ud-Din Haqani, former military leader of the radical Islamic group and militia of Pashtun resistance to the Soviet-leaning communist government in late 1980s. Jalaluddin Haqqani and his guerrillas are believed to have taken shelter in the mountainous terrain of Paktia province bordering Pakistan. The source said that the operation is still underway, adding that at least nine troops and three civilians sustained injuries. Pick up the previous.