One of Ours

Today I made my first trip out into "indian country." We travelled from Balad up to Tikrit where I'll be staying for the next year. Originally we were supposed to fly up but the helicopter fell through so we drove up in a three HMMWV convoy. I rode in the back of a cargo HMMWV with four other soldiers. The unit we rode with had "uparmored" the HMMWV with steel plates that had a number of slots for you to fire from. As soon as we passed the gates of the camp the gunners in the other vehicles charged their .50 caliber machine gun and Mark-19 grenade launchers and we loaded magazines in our M16s and chambered rounds. This was the first time in my ten year army career that I've been allowed to ride around in the back of a HMMWV with a bullet in the chamber. For the next year that's about the only way I'll be riding around in a vehicle.

The countryside in north central Iraq is truly unremarkable. It's far more lush than Kuwait. While the ground is still sandy, there are farmfields, grape vines, and fruit orchards all over the place. I spent the trip scanning the sides of the roads and the first 100-200 meters on my side for anything suspicious but didn't see anything at all. I don't know what I expected to see but the people were simply going about their lives. Farmers in the fields, women hanging clothes to dry, children playing soccer. We passed a lot of children waving to us from the side of the road so I'd smile and wave back. We also passed a number of Iraqi vehicles with women and children in them. At first they would stare with a somewhat apprehensive look on their faces. I can imagine the image we presented to them. US soldiers with helmets, vests, weapons pointed out and sunglasses that hide their eyes can be imposing. But nine times out of ten when I'd smile and lift my hand they would burst into smiles and wave right back. The adults would then smile and give me a quick thumbs up.

Altogether it was a good trip. I'm glad to be here now so I can get settled in and get to work.