On Easter morning, I went to the sunrise service on FOB Marez. It was held in the Community Activities Center (CAC) which is a large tent-like structure erected on a concrete pad. The basic structure is a steel frame with a canvas cover stretched on the exterior. Inside the CAC are miscellaneous activities dedicated to the morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) for the deployed soldiers. There is even a theater. I guess I don’t get out much since all of this was a surprise to me.
The service was led by the Chaplain for the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the main US Army unit on FOB Marez. The Chaplain’s assistant was having a tough time getting the soldiers to sing the worship chorus “Celebrate”. Very shortly, everyone was wide awake after the blast from an IED shook the entire tent. The Chaplain had us all go out to the bunkers until we had more information. Within about 2 minutes of going to the bunkers, we received the “All Clear” and went back inside. The rest of the service proceeded without incident.
After the service, I went to the DFAC and had a big breakfast of an omelet, hashbrowns, and a biscuit with gravy. Later in the day, I found out that the blast was from an SVBIED (truck bomb) attack against an Iraqi Army compound on the west side on Mosul. In a previous post, I described my visit to that compound. Reports put the death toll at 12 Iraqi soldiers KIA with another 42 seriously injured.
Some days, it’s hard to envision the solution in Iraq. But as Jesus said himself, “with God, all things are possible.”
Muhsan is a 77-year old Kurdish gentlemen who lives in Amadiyah, Dahuk Province, Iraq. Amadiyah, also called Amadi, is approximately 10 miles south of Turkey. Muhsan is the most influential person in Amadiyah; he is also highly regarded and respected throughout the entire province of Dahuk. He spent most of his life as a Freedom Fighter fighting for the Kurdish people. At one point in his life, he was a Member of Parliament for Kurdistan. I had the privilege of meeting Muhsan during my recent visit to Dahuk. Gee was able to arrange the meeting because of his family ties. Muhsan is the uncle of Ravina, Gee’s wife. I visited with Muhsan at the KDP Headquarters building in Amadiyah where his son, Muhammad, works as the KDP leader for the region. It turned into quite an event. After spending a couple of hours in discussions, we had lunch at Muhammad’s house with his father and some of his brothers. In the photo, seated on the orange couch are Muhammad and Glenn. Kneeling in the front is Saleh, Muhsan’s son who is running their farm and tending the livestock. Kneeling in the back is Muhsan’s son Hakar. He is the head of the Special Forces group that provides security at PM Barzani’s ranch. Standing is Ahmad, the son of Muhsan’s daughter. Ahmad’s father was killed by Saddam’s forces in the early 80s. Next is Gee. After Gee is Hashe, Muhsan’s youngest son and personal driver. Hashe’s daughter is in the picture, but I didn’t get her name. The last one standing is Rebin, Hakar’s son. I am seated on the couch next to Muhsan, the patriarch.
After lunch, Muhsan took us into the mountains to see the snow. He is very proud of a road construction project that will provide access for some of the isolated mountain villages and wanted us to see it. We drove along the finished portion of the road and parked at the end. Then we began walking further into the mountains on the unfinished portion. He is extremely fit for a 77-year old man. As he said, he spent most of his life living and fighting in the same mountains. At the crest of one hill, we spotted a Kurdistan flag flying. It had been left by the construction crew when they stopped work for the winter.
The last two days have been warm and the insects and frogs have started making sounds at dusk. I am praying that Spring is arriving. Last week, while my parents were here, the weather was cold. We had the pellet stove burning every day. Winter did not want to give up it’s hold just yet. As well as the cold last week, we had sickness. Zeke and Abby both got the gastro (as they say in Australia), better known here as the stomach flu. It was a bad one. I slept on a cot in Zeke’s room for a few nights because he had “the throats”, his wording for throwing up. He still periodically informs me, “I’m all done the throats, Mommy.” Throughout their times of sickness, I fought the fears and worries that tried to beset me. “What if I get sick? How can I handle this?…” My worries can just go on and on and on until I work myself into a tizzy. Then, being in a tizzy makes me mad and I begin to rage at the injustice of Army life. “Why did they have to send my husband to Iraq? Why do tours have to be a year or longer? Why won’t this tour ever end?” My rage does me no good. For the Army, Family is far far down the list. Although it is capitalized. In the midst of my worried and angry mood, Zeke came walking down the hallway towards me with a giant tin of marbles and dropped them. Marbles were soon rolling everywhere. I looked at him and said, “You and me Zeke, we’re both losing our marbles.” My friend Martyn calls from Australia to encourage me. My brother, Howie calls and prays with me. Then, all the things that God has been trying to speak to me are once again heard. Peace comes again into my heart. God is faithful to me. Throughout this deployment, God has been faithful to me. I am surrounded by people who have helped me when I’ve needed it and I know would help me again. I tell myself, “think on the good not the bad, be grateful not selfish, love…always hopes.” Spring is full of hope. I see it in the robin looking for worms, the daffodil that has just opened, the yellow stems of the forsythia, the soft buds on the pear tree. “Play some baseball, Mommy?”, Zeke asks. So, out Zeke and I go to pitch and hit and hope for the best part of Spring which will arrive in just over a month.
On my three trips outside the wire this week, I visited six different project sites. Before I deployed, I was advised by Woody, a friend from church, to watch out for the construction contractors. Each day brings a new twist. For one road project, the contractor submitted pictures of him beginning construction. The pictures didn’t look quite right. We eventually determined that they were of a different road in an entirely different province of Iraq. We’ve been keeping a close eye on that project since then!
One of the sites I visited this week was the Qayyara drinking water treatment plant. Qayyara is a town south of Mosul on the Tigris River. This project is another one of my problem children. As one of my Iraqi Engineers reported one time, this contractor is only good at “devising the excusing”. I think the contractor on this project is making it up as he goes along. Tiffany, the project engineer, has her work cut out for her. During our visit, some kids came out on the roof of the house next door to watch us.
One of our current projects is overseeing the construction of a cardiac surgery center here in Mosul. The cardiac center is being built as a new wing on an existing hospital. This past Friday, I visited the construction site with Liz, the Area Engineer, and Alda, the Project Engineer, to check the status. Because of the security risks in the area, we took a couple of extra precautions. Curt coordinated for Kiowa support from 4/6 CAV. It was pretty reassuring having those two helicopters flying overhead the whole way there and back.
Another thing we did was to coordinate for additional gun trucks from the 2/2/2 Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi Army. The triple deuce is on an IA FOB on the north end of FOB Diamondback. MAO managed a project to build their compound, so I had previously met the Battalion Commander, LTC Mohammad. He agreed to provide 4 HMMWV gun trucks to clear the route for us and to secure the area while we were in the hospital. In the picture below, you can see one of these gun trucks.
On the right hand side of the image, you can see the Mosul Mosque. This mosque was originally planned during Saddam’s reign. We drive by it every now and then. Here’s a closer look at the mosque.
