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| DAN'S IRAQ JOURNAL |
The following are some excerpts from a journal kept by
Daniel which provide additional insight as to the conditions
and way of life for a soldier deployed in Baghdad, Iraq:
March 29, 2004
This morning we did some first aid training. It is stuff that we have done about 20
times and could do blindfolded if we had to. I guess that is why we do it so when the
time comes we just act and don’t think. So far we have been here for two weeks
and they still don’t know when we will be moving up north. I think that is the worst
part, not knowing.
March 30, 2004
We are supposed to be leaving to go up north in the morning but I am not for sure
since we have been supposed to leave for the past three days now.
April 1, 2004
The past 2 days have been crazy. Today wasn't so bad. I got to go on my first
mission. This place is not one of the nicer places I have been on this planet. There
is sewage running in the streets. The smell is the worst part and I thought I was
going to be sick when I first smelled it. At one point we stopped and I had to get out
and provide security for the vehicle. There was a guy standing on the side of the
road chopping up a goat that had been alive just 5 minutes ago. Well, that was the
highlight of the day.
April 2, 2004
Well it was another fun day in Baghdad. It started off like I was going to be doing
nothing today which sounded pretty good to me. I got to talk to mom and Lisa this
morning too. I was sitting and reading my book when they came and grabbed us to
go on a mission. We had to go and guard a Mosque which sounded like it was
going to be pretty easy. Well was I in for a shock on that one. What they did was
drop me and another guy off on a street corner with about four Iraqi soldiers and not
a darn one of them spoke any English and I don’t speak any Arabic, although I am
learning. Luckily nothing really happened. We mainly just had to deal with a bunch of
little kids that wouldn't’ leave you alone. I would run them off and five minutes later
they would be right back.
Daniel which provide additional insight as to the conditions
and way of life for a soldier deployed in Baghdad, Iraq:
March 29, 2004
This morning we did some first aid training. It is stuff that we have done about 20
times and could do blindfolded if we had to. I guess that is why we do it so when the
time comes we just act and don’t think. So far we have been here for two weeks
and they still don’t know when we will be moving up north. I think that is the worst
part, not knowing.
March 30, 2004
We are supposed to be leaving to go up north in the morning but I am not for sure
since we have been supposed to leave for the past three days now.
April 1, 2004
The past 2 days have been crazy. Today wasn't so bad. I got to go on my first
mission. This place is not one of the nicer places I have been on this planet. There
is sewage running in the streets. The smell is the worst part and I thought I was
going to be sick when I first smelled it. At one point we stopped and I had to get out
and provide security for the vehicle. There was a guy standing on the side of the
road chopping up a goat that had been alive just 5 minutes ago. Well, that was the
highlight of the day.
April 2, 2004
Well it was another fun day in Baghdad. It started off like I was going to be doing
nothing today which sounded pretty good to me. I got to talk to mom and Lisa this
morning too. I was sitting and reading my book when they came and grabbed us to
go on a mission. We had to go and guard a Mosque which sounded like it was
going to be pretty easy. Well was I in for a shock on that one. What they did was
drop me and another guy off on a street corner with about four Iraqi soldiers and not
a darn one of them spoke any English and I don’t speak any Arabic, although I am
learning. Luckily nothing really happened. We mainly just had to deal with a bunch of
little kids that wouldn't’ leave you alone. I would run them off and five minutes later
they would be right back.
| The First Cavalry Division received deployment orders on March 2, 2003 to reposition forces as required to support the President Bush's global war against terrorism. The III Corp's release did not specify where the division was being sent though a release from the Division itself states that it would be sent to the CENTCOM AOR. This deployment order was later cancelled or postponed following the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During a DOD briefing on July 23, 2003 the 1st Cavalry Division was identified as a unit that would deploy in 2004 as part of the OIF 2 rotation. 1st Cavalry Division announced in August 2003 that it would deploy to the CENTCOM AOR in early 2004. The division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team will begin deploying in January, followed by the remainder of the division. Joining the division in this rotation is the 39th Enhanced Separate Infantry Brigade. The deployment is expected to last one year. The transition of authority to the 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, was a long process. Officials from the 1st Cavalry Division visited their counterparts in Baghdad, and 1st Armored Division personnel began sending information to Fort Hood. The cavalry division went through training at Fort Hood, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and the Joint National Training Center at Fort Polk, La., before deploying. By March of 2004, troopers stayed in Camp New York for only a few days, while part of the division waits for its vehicles and equipment to convoy to Baghdad. To stay cool, the Soldiers temporarily living in the camp stay in air- conditioned tents and sleep on cots in huge bay-like areas. The tents also have lighting and electricity. About a quarter-mile away from the sleeping quarters, Soldiers can clean up in the shower trailer with warm-running water. Although there is running water, there are not any sewers and using the facilities includes locking the door to the port-a-john. On 15 April 2004 Task Force Baghdad, made up mostly of the 1st Cavalry Division, assumed responsibility for Baghdad and its environs from the 1st Armored Division. |