Rollin' with the changes

This is Pyke here for another one of my less than memorable entries.

So bare with me as I recap some of the events that have unfolded for 3rd platoon recently. There were a string of sencing sessions to see how the soilders felt about how things were within the company. I thought other than a few rahter outlandish or self centered comments the whole thing went well. Alot of issues got aired out and well it seemed for the best. Apparently some things were said that shouldnt have been. To avoid messy details and incriminating people we will just say that when 1sgt got wind of what was said he saught to make things right. So that leads us to 1sgt doing inventories of our gear every day before we roll out the front gate. Saying this is a pain would be the least vulgar way to put it. Either way in doing this somewhere along the line it came down that we need to thoroughly clean out the trucks. No big problem, gives me an oppertunity to make the buffalo a nice truck to ride in again. As my squad (2nd squad) is cleaning out the trucks Lt Pham comes over to me in the buffalo and says "Dont clean it out so good". Of course I had to ask why and to my dismay he said we are turning our buffalo over to some other unit. Well this kinda threw me for a loop. Its tough to really explain but Ive poured alot of blood sweat and tears into this truck to just give it up like that. I know it sounds childish and whatnot but to do all the work ive done to make it the truck it is and then to see it go well it sucked pretty bad. I wasnt sure to be sad or upset. So i decided that being mad would prolly look better. Well this all transpired in the time frame of 3 or 4 days. Well yesterday a day after learning that they are taking my buffalo we got our new buffalo. And I mean NEW. This thing has the new car smell. Still has plastic on the seats. Its the opitomy of brand new. But Im losing sight of my point here. What Im getting at is how so much stuff can change in the few days that all this went down. To look back and reflect on it is amazing to think that pretty much the whole way we do things and to be quite frank the vehicles we use to do our thing in have all changed. But I suppose thats just another day in the army where all it takes is someone who I will never meet or get to express my opinion to, to make a decision and well its automatically a law from there. And on that note its time to take somewhat of a nap

Take it easy

Bush declares significant progress in Iraq

WASHINGTON - President Bush declared progress in the Iraq war Thursday,
saying terrorists "are on the run" and a generally improved security
environment should permit further U.S. troop reductions.

Standing on the Colonnade outside the Oval Office of the White House,
Bush also announced that effective Thursday, the duration of troop tours
in Iraq will be cut from 15 months to 12 months.

Bush said this reduction "will relieve the burden on our forces and it
will make life easier for our wonderful military families."

The president's updated report on Iraq was delivered on short notice to
the White House press corps and it came with the war in its sixth year
and violence on the ground substantially decreased in recent weeks.

He said that commanding Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan
Crocker, however, "caution that the progress is still reversible, and
they report that there now appears to be a degree of durability to the
gains that we have made."

"We are now in our third consecutive month with reduced violence levels
holding steady," Bush said.

Looking ahead to the next recommendation on troop levels from U.S.
military leaders, Bush said he expects "further reductions in our combat
forces, as conditions permit."

"The progress in Iraq has allowed us to continue our policy of return on
success," he said. "We have now brought home all five of the combat
brigades and the three Marine units that were sent to Iraq as part of
the surge. The last of these surge brigades returned home this month."

Some 147,000 troops remain on the ground in Iraq.

Bush said the United States and Iraq also are pressing forward with
talks on an agreement that would set the terms for any future U.S.
presence and noted that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recently had a
productive visit with other foreign leaders.

"We are also making progress in the discussion with Prime Minister
Maliki's government on a strategic framework agreement. This agreement
will serve as the foundation for America's presence in Iraq once the
U.N. resolution authorizing the multinational forces expires on Dec.
31," the president said. "We remain a nation at war. Al-Qaida is on the
run in Iraq, but the terrorists remain dangerous and they are determined
to strike our country and our allies again."

The White House had hoped that it would have completed by Thursday the
long-term agreement with al-Maliki's government. But negotiations with
Baghdad have been difficult and have spawned many disputes, including
the question of setting timelines for troop withdrawals. The best hope
now seems to be only a stopgap agreement by the end of the year.

From the Associated Press
July 31, 2008

Word Of The Day

Actually it is words of the days. I sold my internet line to SGT Port, so I will not have resources readily availabe to update the Blog. But I'm very sure that SGT Port's wife and himself are very happy now.

Word of the Day! Word of the day!

Pre-Combat Check and Pre-Combat Inspection

What ever that seems wrong, it is probably be wrong

Phillipians 4:13-14

The book of James: He wrote about the TONGUE

I'm sitting here at the Tactical Operation Center (TOC) and write this email to the Blog site as I'm waiting for the meeting with the Commander at 1900.

Life is a piece of Chocolate, you never know where you are going to end up

Beijing Olympic 2008.08.08 It is going to be some exciting time as Kobe Bryant will lead the USA Team to an Gold Medal for the Basketball team.

Maryon Jones: She has such a beautiful smile and it is just fun to watch her run. Talking about run, Phillipians 4:13-14.

God bless you and hope you have a very blessed day.

29 JULY 2008

Good Afternoon everybody,
I just want to sit down and write a few words. Things have been gone
quite smoothly. As the Month of July about to say farewell to us, we
are rolling straight to August.
While on Patrol today, as SPC Dunn, Sapper Eagle Blue 36, 34 Sapper and
Blue 36 had a discussion about time left on deployment. I came up with
the deployment idea, because SPC brought the peanut jar that was being
sent to us from our beloved FRG. The sticker said something like half
way done, half way home. The deployment is supposed to be 15 months but
we probably going to be home no later than 31 January 2008, but if it
rolls pass 31 January 2008, I'm then grateful.

So, the argument is this: We have completed 9 months already and there
are 6 more months left to go. I thought over it and stated that, we are
60% completed with the deployment. I simply take 9 months, add zero
divide by 15 which equal to 0.6 and with 0.6 times by 100 equals to 60%.
SPC Dunn, was hard head and argued that there was no such thing as 60%
exactly, there were no such thing as 9 months out of 15 months equal to
60% exactly. SGT Gooden then said, 9 divided by 3 equal to 3. 15
divided by 3 equal to 5. With 3 over 5 equal to 60% that is 3 times 2
equals to 6 and 5 times 2 equal to 10. 6 over 10 equals to 60%.

SPC Dunn finally came to his sense and owed SGT Gooden 100 push up
consecutively. The point is we are 60% done with deployment. That
being said, I'm very happy in Iraq. I enjoy every bit of the times over
here. I wish that I would be able to more to help out the Iraqi people
the Freedom they deserved.

Take care families and parents and friends of WARDAWGS and I will see
you again the next blog.

Sincerely,
Tho Pham
1LT, Platoon Leader, EN

Advancing announced through Diyala

BALAD RUZ, Iraq - Iraqi and American soldiers continued to encounter few
insurgents Saturday and Sunday as they worked their way through the
remaining portions of Diyala province's Balad Ruz district and prepared
to settle down in the area.

Five battalions embarked on Operation Saber Pursuit on Saturday in order
to clear al-Qaida cells from the southern Balad Ruz district. It is the
Iraqi government's latest push to clear insurgent strongholds. But enemy
fighters already knew about it because government leaders, including the
prime minister, announced it beforehand.

Second Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment - one of two American
battalions in the operation - and its Iraqi army partner have so far
detained seven suspected insurgents, said Capt. Matthew Shown, the
squadron's intelligence officer. Only one of those was on the Americans'
blacklist. All have been turned over to the Iraqi army.

Soldiers set fire to reeds clogging local canals to help them spot cache
sites more easily. In at least one case, flames ignited a hidden
anti-tank mine or roadside bomb and surprised soldiers taking a break
nearby. But soldiers have so far found few hidden weapons.

Capt. Patrick Collins, 2/3's battle captain, said they've uncovered four
anti-tank mines, 10 mortars, two rockets, a rocket-propelled grenade and
a roadside bomb in addition to other miscellaneous equipment. Units have
also come across several cache sites that appeared to have been recently
emptied, another sign that insurgents had prior knowledge of the
operation.

The virtual absence of enemy fighters has made casualties nonexistent.
Three coalition vehicles hit anti-tank mines, according to Collins.

Shown said no one in the squadron has suffered injuries more severe than
a concussion. There have been no firefights.

Heat turned out to be a bigger enemy than al-Qaida. At least one Iraqi
army soldier suffered from severe heat injuries. Some American soldiers
needed IVs but were able to continue with the mission.

Second Brigade, 1st Armored Division had a similar experience coming
into the area from the south, Collins said. They found few insurgents
and few weapons caches, although soldiers did discover that one home was
rigged to explode after staying in it for several hours.

The brigade also encountered more roadside bombs on the section of a
main thoroughfare it had to clear. The bombs delayed units trying to
reach a village where soldiers were flown in by helicopter. American
soldiers hadn't ventured into that area in at least eight months.

"They had it pretty bad," Collins said.

Leaders are now gearing up for the second, perhaps more important, phase
of the operation: Holding the area. Iraqi army soldiers will be
stationed near the places they've cleared to keep enemy fighters from
returning.

Workers have already begun expanding Turki Patrol Base in the south to
handle the extra soldiers, Shown said. In the next week or so, the units
will begin building several Iraqi Police checkpoints. Iraqi army
soldiers will initially man the checkpoints until Iraqi Police can be
recruited.

Residents who stayed behind have so far been reluctant to help coalition
forces, which Shown said may be because the soldiers left the area
immediately after previous operations.

The excuses the villagers made for the almost complete absence of men in
the villagers both amused and frustrated Americans searching the homes.
Yet Shown said he expects residents to provide more tips on enemy fights
and weapons caches when they see the Iraqi army is here for good.

"Once we get the IA [Iraqi army] established there - probably there for
a long time - they'll start talking to us some more," he said.

BMPs and other Iraqi armored vehicles not seen before the operation also
now guard the main routes around the area. Unlike American armor,
though, these Soviet-era vehicles have limited logistics support and are
mostly restricted to stationary observation points. They had to be
driven into the area by tractor-trailers prior to the operation.

The Iraqi army had similar mixed success in the eyes of American
soldiers. The "jundees," as low-level Iraqi army soldiers are called,
moved into villages with vigor the first day. Other Iraqi army soldiers
are scouting areas in the northern part of the district, including some
who did so by a seven-kilometer forced march.

On the second day, though, Fox Troop soldiers had to prod Iraqi army
soldiers to clear homes. The Americans grumbled throughout the day that
the Iraqis weren't doing enough to secure their own country after
frequently encountering them sitting in the shade while the Americans
searched the houses by themselves.

Incredibly rough conditions added to the American soldiers'
difficulties.

The soldiers had to live on the dusty cement floors of occupied Iraqi
buildings. Temperatures soared into the 120s during the operation.
Roadside bombs and logistics difficulties restricted water supplies
during the first day of the operation.

Bags of ice sparked a minor celebration when a logistics convoy
delivered that small comfort to Fox Troop soldiers staying in a ghost
town where al-Qaida had earlier massacred all the residents.

Despite the discomfort, the Joes overcame the jundees and malaise and
continued plugging away, even conducting night patrols after a hard day
walking in the hot sun. They will work their way through a couple more
objectives before concluding the first phase of the operation.

"No matter what situation these guys are in, morale is still high, and
we will get the job done," said Spc. Hiram Elizondo, a Fox Troop
soldier.

James Warden
Stars and Stripes
July 28, 2008

'Lion Battery' keeping things quiet to the north

KHARBUL, Iraq - While much of 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
is in the southern part of Diyala's Balad Ruz district, "Lion Battery"
is holding down an adjoining area just north of where the operation is
taking place.

Soldiers in the artillery unit are securing areas that their squadron
mates and Iraqi army soldiers cleared during an operation this spring
called Saber Tempest. The battery first moved into the area about two
weeks ago. Its area doubled this week when the squad pulled back two
companies to prepare for Saber Pursuit.

Leaders learned the hard way that they must secure the areas they clear.
The Americans launched two missions in the south Balad Ruz area
previously, but didn't leave anyone behind, said Capt. Matthew Shown,
the squadron intelligence officer.

Now the artillerymen are living at rough combat outposts near mud hut
villages to keep in better touch with local Iraqi police and those who
live in the area.

They sleep on cots in buildings without air conditioning, working after
the sun goes down and napping during the hottest part of the day like
the villagers who are now their neighbors.

"You learn a lot about people and a lot about their culture," said Cpl.
Dustin Schell.

The soldiers spend their time ensuring that "Sons of Iraq" checkpoints
are up to standard and manning their own temporary checkpoints on the
favorite routes of enemy fighters.

"You've gotta have a constant presence," said Sgt. 1st Class Sean
Harding.

"They have to see us out here all the time."

That's fine for the villagers of Kharbul, a village next to the base
where Harding's soldiers were staying last week.

During a walk through dirt streets crowded with playing children,
villagers described how just a few months ago they had to stay inside
for fear of their lives.

"We want the coalition forces to make it fully safe here," said Mahood
Abed Ghafor, a Kharbul farmer and the village's moktar, or government
official. "We want to completely finish off the bad guys. Right now the
bad guys are scared of the sound of the helicopters."

Because of the ongoing operation, the artillery soldiers have huge
swathes of territory to cover and will be relying on their Iraqi police
counterparts for much of the manpower.

But the Americans have learned the importance of securing the villages.

When soldiers conclude their most recent operation, they'll be leaving
behind Iraqi army soldiers to make sure they don't have to go back there
again.

Service members in Iraq become U.S. citizens

CAMP VICTORY , Iraq - The largest United States naturalization ceremony
to be held overseas took place Saturday at the Al Faw Palace here.

Two-hundred fifty nine service members representing 71 countries held up
their right hands and pledged their allegiance to the country which they
were already defending - thus becoming America 's newest citizens.

"I am deeply honored to be here with you today," said the ceremony's
presiding officer, Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander,
Multi-National Corps - Iraq .

"Our nation's unique quality is that it weaves the world's cultures into
a great American tapestry and our military benefits from their
strengths," Austin continued. "Thank you all for sacrificing so much
for the United States and for the Iraqi people."

Service members from across the Iraq theater of operations gathered at
the palace to take part in the ceremony, representing the Army, Navy and
Marines.

Just A Few Pictures from down range

Maintenance Day Pictures part 2

07-24-2008 Platoon updates

It has been a productive day.  We had our maintenance stand down day today and of course as you might have known that I and SSG Borressen just got promoted.  Almost the whole Company showed up to the ceremony.  We are now officially Sergeant First Class and First Lieutenant of the U.S. Army. 

 

We also have the Platoon BBQ today as well.  There is no music this time around though, but we just relaxed and took it easy this time around.  It was just 4th of July that we had the other one, so not everybody was that excited about the BBQ. 

 

On the next blog, I will include some pictures from the Promotion Ceremony and the BBQ as well.  As of now, you all take care and God blesses. 

07-24-2008 Platoon updates

It has been a productive day.  We had our maintenance stand down day today and of course as you might have known that I and SSG Borressen just got promoted.  Almost the whole Company showed up to the ceremony.  We are now officially Sergeant First Class and First Lieutenant of the U.S. Army. 

 

We also have the Platoon BBQ today as well.  There is no music this time around though, but we just relaxed and took it easy this time around.  It was just 4th of July that we had the other one, so not everybody was that excited about the BBQ. 

 

On the next blog, I will include some pictures from the Promotion Ceremony and the BBQ as well.  As of now, you all take care and God blesses. 

Maintenance Day Pictures

The platoon would have one maintenance day per week to refit the vehicles. Here are some pictures of how we refit the vehicles. Enjoy