Suedes Car Club
General => Off Topic Rants => Topic started by: racerjohnson on July 31, 2009 6:19 pm
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Thought I'd start a post about my trip. I'll take pics to add to the descriptions.
I left 11 June, went to Fort Benning, Georgia where they lost the 15 of us for a couple days, sent us to another part of post for mobilization training. After 2 weeks, we flew to Kuwait where we spent a week doing 8 hours of training. A highlight is when I sat in a big motorized Humvee rotisserie to train us how to react when the overloaded beasts finally tip over. Now, these humvees look roomy when you look at them in the U.S., but stuff all the radio equipment in there and add a bulky vest, a rifle, and a helmet and I can't even move around while upright. They hung us upside down in the simulator and said, "Ok, get out." Everbody else dropped to the ceiling and climbed out. My dumb ass must have looked like I was caught in a spider web, because I was. So that was Kuwait. Fuck Kuwait.
So now I'm in Al Basrah, Iraq, or 20 minutes outside of it, anyway. We're about 20 miles from Iran, which is comforting. We took this base over from the British, who left officially as of yesterday. I think yesterday's mortar/rocket attack had something to do with that, but thats just me.
Now the British had different standards of "base protection." The British also had 6 pubs on base. The Dutch were allowed to have hashish on their person, so you can see why not much got done. We're in the process of converting their chain-link and concertina wire fences to concrete walls, which is where I come in. I escort/direct one team of many made up of iraqi construction contractors who run cranes/forklifts and move concrete wall sections into place for "force protection," as they call it. This gives me plenty of time to sit and learn their language, their culture, etc.
They smell funny. I think its from a combination of no deodorant anywhere and the food they eat because I ate lunch with them a couple times and I had to take 2 showers those nights. I quiver from the flashbacks.
I live in a big tent with 40 other people. I have the top bunk. I did share a locker with someone, yes, share a locker with someone, but I scrounged up another locker that was 10 minutes away from being crushed and now I am the envy of the tent. I have my own locker, bitches. I shower in a trailer full of showers and shit in another trailer full of shitters. The showers and shitters aren't in the same trailer, and sometimes a hot shower just makes ya have to go, so sometimes I just pee in the shower. Good stuff. I kinda made that last part up. Kinda.
Life is good though. Simple. Not that physically difficult. The food is good. Can't complain. There are other ways to pay for school though, thats for sure. Until next time, Masallama.
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Fuck!!!!!!!! I feel guilty. Thanks Pete for the update and what your doing to keep the rest of us safe.
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Pete. Take care over there. Our prayers are with you and thank you for what you are doing.
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WOW.
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WOW.
Yeah, what he said. I don't even know you but "thanks" from me too for everything you are doing for all of us back here. Stay safe and quit pissing in the shower.
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this might be a dumb question, but do you have air conditioning anywhere?
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Oh yeah, there's air conditioning. Unfortunately, the top bunk is a full 10 degrees warmer than the bottom bunk. I don't spend any time in my tent from 0700 to 8pm anyway, so my biggest problem is flippin' freezing my nuts off when it goes down to 80 at night. I have a winter sleeping bag I sleep in. Weird, eh? Like I said before, I hang out with Iraqis most of the day, in the semi cab if possible, and most of their trucks have A/C. Shade is important if one is outside. Everywhere else has A/C too. So thats a blessing for sure. I will tell you what, when its 120, a beer would be out of this world. However, even getting caught with an empty alcohol container in my locker would cost me 4 pay grades and a months pay, making it about a $4,000 beer. Uff da.
I never have to worry about a cold shower, they truck all our water in and it sits in big tanks outside. Getting a tan takes about 10 minutes. I always look cool, cuz I always have shades on. Like I said the food is good. We had Lobster and scallops last night and they do that at least 2 times a month. There's an ice cream bar, a desert bar, a main line with your normal meal, a short order with corn dogs, ravioli, onion rings, fries, burgers, etc. There's a "healthy line" which consistenly has chicken breasts, noodles, rice, fish, veggies. There's a salad bar, all the soda, juice, and gatorade you can drink for free, and things of that nature. So food is good. Oh, and there's a stir fry bar that is like a downsized Hu Hot. The Army doesn't mess with bullets, food, or pay if they can help it. Everything else is up in the air.
GM has a hell of a fleet salesman because there's hundereds of Trail Blazers and 3/4ton Suburbans around here. Lots of explorers, Mitsubishi trucks, and a bunch of different types of middle eastern mini trucks. And they're all falling apart at a very fast rate. Think rental cars with lots of dings from rifle barrels hitting the doors as you get in them. I can't hold my hand above the engine with the hood up because I'll burn it. The underhood temps are astronomical. Nothing runs right after awhile for various reasons and there isn't a local GM dealership around here. The fuel sucks. Its called MOGAS. Don't know what that acronym stands for. Maybe "motor overhaul gas?" The speed limit around here is a blinding 20 kph, so less than 15 mph. Poor engines are so full of carbon I bet.
We have weapons to counter incoming rockets and mortars. We have radar that detects the rounds when they leave the ground. It tracks its flight path 15-25 times in the air. Right after the round is recognized as a bad deal (takes about a second), it sounds an alarm and gives us about 3-5 seconds to jump somewhere relatively safe. Its amazing. Oh, and thats a Loonnngg 3-5 seconds!!! Some bases have gatling guns (tens of thousands of rounds per minute) that literally chew up the rounds in midair and are guided by the same radar. They're about 80% accurate, so thats cool.
I'll chat later, we're having a bbq tonight and playing volleyball. Good times! And don't you dare feel guilty on my account. If you're going to feel guilty about something, feel guilty if you realize you're not using your American priviliges and opportunities to their fullest. I'm not here to save the world or anything, this is just a means to another end. Have a good day!
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Volleyball sounds fun! Also sounds like the dutch had it easy...
It's good to know you can see the bright side of life even in darker times. Just shows the rest of us that if we think our situation is shitty- there's always a shittier situation. Stay safe Pete.
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peeing in the shower eh? thought i was the only one.... wait... oops. :silent: ;)
take care over there! :)
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so can you go dirnk at the army ownd some one;es ran hotel in bagdag on leave?
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so can you go dirnk at the army ownd some one;es ran hotel in bagdag on leave?
This took me a few times to try and figure out, but I think what Sko meant was " So can you go drink at the Army owned- hotel ran by someone else in baghdad while you're on leave...???"
What do I win?
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a kick in the pants
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haha.
We can drink in Qatar. Thats a country, for some of you. I get a 4 day pass there sometime in the next few months. I don't get my 2 weeks of leave because I won't be here long enough. Good and bad.
Funny thing, so you can't drink in these middle-eastern countries, right? But they all have resorts, casinos, and hotels where only foreigners can drink and gamble, so all the countries elite, rich, and leadership just go to other countries and drink and gamble, they just don't do it in their own country. Hypocrites? Or, they just have huge palaces and drink there so no one sees them. Nice, eh? Tidbit.
Oh and another good tidbit. These Iraqis always come out of bathroom stalls and porta-johns with a bottle of water. Why, do you ask? We keep them stocked with toilet paper, but they don't use it. Left hand is dirty hand, right hand is clean hand. Nice.
There tends to be a mindset in the local population that "women are for work (housework, children, etc.), men are for pleasure." Yeah. Thats what I thought too. Dudes' personal space is different here. Holding hands is a perfectly acceptable, a way to show you're friends. Sitting on laps, etc. Just an fyi for when you visit. They all have wives, but many have "friends" too. Call them progressive? Anyways, I'll leave you all with that for today.
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Just an fyi for when you visit.
Thanks to guys like you, it's an experience I'll be able to live vicariously.
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So I was putting some Twalls up around a contractors little trailer house today, and I come to find out he runs the Apache Helicopter simulator on base here, so I ask him what a guy has to do to get some simulator time. . .
I'll let you guys know how it went. :D
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Hey Pete, A little O/T for this thread. I'm always way behind in my mags reading. So I'm reading Rod & Custom Febuary 2009, their at Bonneville 2008 (page 46 lower right hand coner) and there you and I are standing behind an A pickup. Were so dam small you had to know what you were wearing to figer it out. I think it was taken at HOP-UP's hopdog banquet. I always were my HOP-UP T that day.
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nice!! That was probably one of the coolest "sit around and look at cars" car shows ever.
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nice!! I need to find that one.
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I've got it Pete.
PM me your address and I'll send you a care package.
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Your a good man Jake!!
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I've got it Pete.
PM me your address and I'll send you a care package.
Sweet! Thanks Jake!
SGT Johnson Peter
A Co. STB, 34th ID
#117
APO, AE 09374
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The Apache simulator was awesome. One of my pilot friends chuckled a little when I walked into his tent the night before and asked, "so, how do I fly a helicopter?" So he gave me some pointers.
I can't take pictures of it, but its about what you'd expect. A big screen 180 degrees around the front of you, graphics straight out of Flight Sim 2000, and a real apache cockpit. Guess what, I'm too tall to be comfortable. Surprised? When I pushed the brakes in, my shins hit the dash, but who cares, I was was "flying" a helicopter right? It was real enough that when I banked from one side to the other a little too fast I got wooosey, and I thought, "Whoa dude, chill out. Its just a simulator." Once in the air, I picked up the flying part pretty quickly. Landing took a couple tries, and taking off took a little while. The instructor said the apache is the hardest bird to hover because its designed to be maneuverable, so that made me feel better. I just didn't hover, I took off and immediately flew forward. And apparently, I did quite well mostly because I listened to the instructor. I put the eyepiece on and flew in the dark. The gun points wherever the person is looking. Kinda neat. So, theoretically, if someone started the engines for me, I could fly an Apache helicopter. I plan on going back once a month or so.
So remember when I was telling everybody that I wasn't too worried about the heat here because its always dry? Well, it got humid this week as the wind shifted from the dry NW wind to a SE wind off the Persian Gulf. Complete bullshit. 120 and humid. WTF. Indescribable. Ok, I'm done now. But seriously. . .
So here are some pictures of what I do. Kinda blah, I know, but I'll get more. Ahmed is the crane operator. He operates this beat up 1975 Kato 30Ton crane his dad owns. His dad is an operator I work with as well. I can't remember the other dude's name, but he's always wearing that red thing on his face and looks menacing. I can almost kick his ass at empty-water-bottle-soccer. If anything I can just body-slam him. . . :)
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Autumn, its the new summer.
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Any updates? We really missed you at the pileup.
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Took a ride around my base doing a little aerial recon for my force protection position. Gave me a chance to see the big picture and look for any holes in our defense. Actually saw what the countryside looks like around me. Its one big sea bed. There are actually shells in the sand. About a mile from us is a river and then a lot of shallow water marshland with trees. Kinda wish there was more green on my base. It's all brown.
Hadn't flown in a Blackhawk for a few years so that was fun. The helicopters are lined up side by side and all have their own little "garages" that are basically 3 sided enclosures for blast mitigation. The idea is to only have 1 damaged helicopter instead of 2 or 3 if a rocket/mortar hits the base.
So these pilots take off about 10 feet in the air, back the helicopter out of the "garage" and turn in the air, then hover out to the runway where they land for a second, then take off like an airplane but only use about 20 feet of runway. F'n awesome to watch. Made me giggle. Its just like backing your car out of the garage. These are close quarters and no room for error, so its neat. It was windy too. I had a seat right behind the copilot so i could watch the pilots gauges and I actually knew what a few of them meant from my simulator time.
Its not letting me post pics. I'll try later.
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That sounds like a fun ride. I don't picture a helicopter backing out of a hangar... that's insane! Can't wait to see pics!
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Hey Pete did you ever get the Rod and Custom from Jake with the two of us in a small pic??
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Hey Pete did you ever get the Rod and Custom from Jake with the two of us in a small pic??
Yes! I even got a couple rodders journals. What a guy!
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Hey Pete did you ever get the Rod and Custom from Jake with the two of us in a small pic??
Yes! I even got a couple rodders journals. What a guy!
Boy..... I guess!!! R&C and The Rodders Journal are the two I won't part with!!! I'll have to dig through my mags see if I can up with a care package for you. Is your address still the same as above???
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yup!
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Hey Pete, Don't forget about the NDSCS catalog I sent ya. I'm expecting you to sign us up a couple students while you're there! :lol:
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I wouldn't know where to start! If I hear of someone that is looking for post secondary education, I'll suggest it. Whats the bird dog fee? hehe. :)
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There's beer in my fridge.....:)
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There's beer in my fridge.....:)
Which I still have not taken advantage of! I'll let you know how cold and delicious it is Pete. So good... :occasion5:
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What's your email address Pete?
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racerjohnson@hotmail.com
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I knew that. doh!
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Halloween party. Quailman rocks.
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Silly boy...... the tidy whites go on the inside. :)
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Shit Pete......... why didn't you tell me you have to fill out a Customs Declaration Form. :wink:
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haha. Just put "snacks" and "magazines" and "socks" for contents. I'm curious whats in the box now! Fun.
Posting some more interesting stuff. As you can see, the Iraqis prefer to squat when going to the bathroom. They even have their own style porta-john. I didn't know this, so imagine my shock when I opened the door: "Where's the fucking toilet?" Then i realized why there was mud up on the sitting portion of our porta johns and empty water bottles everywhere down the hole. No toilet paper for them, folks. Never shake hands with your left hand, thats all I gotta say.
I moved into a new building this month. I'll put pics up soon. While I was building walls around the new buildings, I witnessed a new way to unload a dumpster. This is the excitement I have to rely upon around here. . . :)
We got rain for Thanksgiving, so its like one big construction site here. Clay everywhere. Everyone grows an inch from walking on a cake of mud stuck to their boots. In additon to standing Twalls up, my team has been laying down crushed gravel everywhere to much cursing from everyone as its harder to walk on, impossible to ride bike on, and causes injury from time to time (rolled ankles, etc.). No one is cursing us now. They're asking for more left and right. I'll get to it sometime next week. . . . :D
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Shit Pete......... why didn't you tell me you have to fill out a Customs Declaration Form. :wink:
I got your package. Thanks for the magazines!!! Those Goodguys mags are awesome, I've never seen them before. Good pictures! Was there anything that didn't make it into the mail due to a customs declaration form? I see the wink.
I went to the Good guys show in Pleasanton, CA last summer. Quite the show. $13 to get in!!!!!
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I moved into my new room. Pretty quiet, cozy, much nicer and more secure than a big tent. It was a new building so I had to sweep all the construction dust out first and vacuum everything twice. Set the fire alarm off and everything. See the Twalls and bunkers? My work. I'd buy more of those reading lamps to aim at the ceiling for ambiance, but who am I trying to romance around here? Still, it would look cool.
I hope you all had a good thanksgiving. They gave us quite the meal here. There is really nothing that any of my family members cook for Thanksgiving that I didn't have here. It was something else. Oh, there was sparkling grape juice instead of alcohol, but you know how that goes.
Anyways, thats it for now.
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Is this what the palm trees look like in Iraq?
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standard issue zebra sheets too. :albino:
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[
I got your package. Thanks for the magazines!!! Those Goodguys mags are awesome, I've never seen them before. Good pictures! Was there anything that didn't make it into the mail due to a customs declaration form? I see the wink. quote]
No, everything I sent went. It just cough me off guard. I get nervous when I have to fill out fed government forms. :lol:
I'll send you another batch after the holidays.
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Pete - nice digs....do they call that "modern plywood"? :)
Tom - you must have looked suspicious....I didn't have to fill out anything! :?
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Tom - you must have looked suspicious....I didn't have to fill out anything! :?
Did you go to a real Post Office or a pretend one? :)
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Tom - you must have looked suspicious....I didn't have to fill out anything! :?
Did you go to a real Post Office or a pretend one? :)
Hahaha....you never know here....but he got it. :)
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Is this what the palm trees look like in Iraq?
It says on the prescription bottle "use as directed"
Still looking for that doctor.
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Got all my stuff packed in the storage container that will be loaded on a ship and hopefully not captured by pirates on its way home. A duffle bag and a ruck sack worth of stuff left. Will probably send my good magazines and stuff in the mail with some of my other valuables.
Leaving middle of Jan, be home by the last weekend in Jan, won't see me for a week or so :) I'll be trapped and hopefully chained down somewhere. It'll be great.
This is where the deployments get slow. "short timers syndrome," they call it. Complacency, smart mouths start to appear more and more. Most of the work is done, waiting for replacements to get here so we can train them in and bolt outta here.
Time is going slow for the first time of the deployment. Obviously I've been researching my projects I want to work on ASAP when I get home, and some that I won't touch for years. I'm losing my fucking mind. Been irritable as hell. I'm close to being home, I'm researching/planning car stuff and getting super impatient, and I haven't had #@% in 7 months. Forearms are ripped though. 30 days, Gentlemen, 30 days. . .
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:)
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It'll be good to have you back. I got a few chevelle leftovers for you. I also might have a line on one of those el-tee-ones, if thats still the plan.
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Is this what the palm trees look like in Iraq?
It says on the prescription bottle "use as directed"
Still looking for that doctor.
HAHAHA! Take 2 healthy doses a day... Double your dose if you're going to be on a long flight. -Dr. Davis
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I haven't had #@% in 7 months. Forearms are ripped though.
Both of them? That's odd.
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short story:
The drag race of epic tonnage.
So my project this week has been tearing down all the protective Twalls around a large helicopter parking compound since they moved to a new one. The old compound is located at the end of a taxiway off the main runway about a half mile from the terminal at Basrah Int'l Airport. The point is we needed a lot of cranes and we were working on a runway. Among the cranes were two similar 50 ton units, one from each of the Iraqi contractors on post. These contracting companies are always talking smack about each other, so given the setting, I figured we'd settle this the American way: Drag race the 50 tons on the Taxiway.
Drag racing is a simple idea to you and I, but teaching Iraqi crane operators turned out to be too much. Yesterday, we got one lined up ready to go, but the other guy was both crazy and mad that we had apparently kept him out on the job too close to quitting time, and he took off like a bat out of hell without lining up first. He was moving though. Bastard.
"Tomorrow," he said with a crazy look.
Fine.
Today, we go to pick up the crane, and the damn crypt keeper from "Tales from the Crypt" is sitting in the drivers seat. This new guy belonged hanging in a high school science classroom on one of those stainless steel hooks. He could poke his tongue through his front teeth and I was afraid he was going to die on us. He refused to race as he was worried he'd get fired if he broke the clutch. I even tried to convince him to simply drive next to the other crane so I could make a sweet video. Nothing doing. The dumb shit then attempted to drive away from the job site with the parking brake on and smoked the clutch anyways. Retard.
Sorry fellas. I'm done working for the deployment so no more chances. It would have been hilarious.
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That would have been GREAT!
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I found a new method of fixing old bondo patch jobs. If the bondo falls off, like on this orange crane, you can just tape it back on. Its still orange, right?
For all you cigar afficionados, Iraq does not have sanctions against Cuba, so we can buy them on post. Nice, eh? Dominican labels fit on the cubans which would theoretically allow them to be transported home, but that'd be illegal. PM me. As far as the picture, Dr. Freud suggested I buy the biggest, longest one. It was pretty good. Called a Cohiba from Havana. Damn thing had tobacco in it though.
Do you think these headlights would look good on a Kustom of some sort? If my crane guys have more, I can probably buy them for 20 bucks a pair.
And finally, I prefer the Chevrolet Trailblazer to the Ford Explorer partially because they ride better and are less of a POS, but mostly because my rifle fits in the door pocket. This only works with the carbine.
Having to carry a rifle all day, everyday, everywhere I go, entering/exiting a vehicle over and over with a rifle, the door pocket makes it much easier otherwise you have to store the rifle between you and the center console, barrel to the floor and hold it. Rips the crap out of the interior. All of our vehicles have dents on the back doors from rifles swinging into them while entering the vehicle. Just a tidbit.
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True Iraqi body work, huh......
I could really go for a real rum soaked (Dominican) cigar!.....
Headlights might look good in a 50s/60s custom.....
The thought of that rifle going off at my feet would give me the creeps.....maybe even just riding around with guns all the time......
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Landed on US soil on sunday night. Yay!
I'm in Fort Lewis, WA for the week processing out of active duty back to a weekend warrior. I can finally text and call people anytime and even post this post via my blackberry. God bless America!
When I get home I'll be able to reload everyones phone numbers that I lost in the blackberry/portajohn incident. I'll see you all soon with Lonestar beer in my hand.
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Great news! See ya soon.
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Hey Pete.....welcome back! :D
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Yes welcome back :cheers: .........see ya in March!!
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welcome back!
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See you soon! Where are you getting lonestar?
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See you soon! Where are you getting lonestar?
I'm pretty sure he wants you to pick that up.
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See you soon! quote]
MY guess is he wants to see your sister before he see's you. :P
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Lonestar is in Avon. Kelli is picking a case up for me on her way down to pick me up. Thats love.
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Welcome back Pete!
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welcome home!!!!!!!
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Around here we value Premium more than anything! No one even has a clue what it is! I am glad you made it back to enjoy another one.
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Its good to be back guys. I had a great time at our social events thus far. I'm happy to put this post to rest. . . :)
oh, I need to confess. Iraqis don't have the "women are for work/babies, men are for pleasure" mentality that was written near the beginning of this thread. Its a horrible stereotype quite similar to all stereotypes and I shouldn't have mindlessly passed it on.
If there was one lesson I learned this deployment working and chatting with the Iraqis (possibly the most polar opposite minded people from us Anglo-Saxon white Americans), its that people around the world are largely the same in their thoughts and views on EVERYTHING, its the last 1% or 2% that we fight so bitterly about. That goes for Americans fighting with ourselves as well. As fucked up as we seem right now, the constitution is designed so that we'll eventually unfuck ourselves as long as we stick to the founding ideals and basically just give a shit. The rest is details.
God Bless the USA, this place is incredible. . .