Keeping in Touch

Dallas tries to show me a picture on a very blurry video chat session.

It is great to be able to see him during his short visits to the internet cafe at FOB Loyalty.

This was a screenshot from Wednesday morning (my time).

82nd to begin Baghdad ops by February

Army News, Special Reports, Frontline Photos, This Week's Army Times - Army Times: "82nd to begin Baghdad ops by February

By Steven R. Hurst - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jan 21, 2007 11:11:12 EST

BAGHDAD — A newly arrived brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the first of the 21,500-troop buildup ordered by President Bush, will be ready to join the fresh drive to quell sectarian violence in the capital by the start of next month, the American military said Sunday.
The 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne has 3,200 soldiers who will “assist Iraqi Security Forces to clear, control and retain key areas of the capital city in order to reduce violence and to set the conditions for a transition to full Iraqi control of security in the city,” the military said in a statement.82nd to begin Baghdad ops by February

Defense Meetings

"Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, right, escorts Canadian Minister of Defense Gordon O'Connor into the Pentagon Jan. 23, 2007, for a breakfast meeting. The two defense leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of international security issues. DoD photo by R. D. Ward. (Released)

Photo by: ROBERT D. WARD,
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 070123-D-9880W-003"

1-504 PIR Settling in

Stars & Stripes: "82nd Airborne battalion arrives, doubles FOB Loyalty’s population
Base finally has enough troops to qualify for AAFES store, officer reports

By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, January 22, 2007

Lisa Burgess / S&S
Pvt. Jonathan Duque, 20, of Houston, a member of Company D of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, sweeps the Kuwait dust out the inside of his Humvee at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq. Duque and the rest of the 82nd Airborne battalion, have arrived in Iraq this week as part of the increase of 21,000 troops ordered earlier this month.


Lisa Burgess / S&S
Sgt. Johnathan Hamilton, 22, a forward observer for Company B, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, takes some time Saturday to play the video game 'Far Cry' at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq.


Lisa Burgess / S&S
Spc. Eric Rose, 21, of Tracy, Calif., a member of Company D of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, sweeps off the bed of his Humvee at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Baghdad, Iraq.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq — A battalion-sized element of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived here by helicopter over the past week, nearly doubling the base population.
The soldiers — from the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment out of Fort Bragg, N.C. — are part of the increase of 21,500 U.S. troops ordered by President Bush in early January. The extra troops, whose tour is open-ended, are to help Iraqi forces quell violence in their country, particularly in Baghdad."

FOB Loyalty

DefenseLINK News: Prison Stands as Testament to Saddam's Evil:
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service


FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2005 – Saddam Hussein, sitting in a defendant's chair, looks harmless and slightly ridiculous. But his deserted facilities at this base are testament to his evil.

The Americans moved onto the grounds of what was Saddam's Directorate of Internal Security. At its center is a prison that could comfortably hold 500. At times, it had 3,000 people jammed into it."

82nd in Baghdad

Khaleej Times Online - At least 20 US forces killed in deadliest day in two years:
21 January 2007
BAGHDAD — At least 20 US troops were killed in Iraq on Saturday, the deadliest day for American forces in two years and at a time of building congresssional opposition to US President George W. Bush’s decision to dispatch of more than 20,000 additional soldiers to the conflict.
The Saturday toll was the third highest of any day since the war began in March 2003, eclispsed only by 37 US deaths on Jan. 26, 2005, and 28 on the third day of the US invasion....

..."A brigade of the US 82nd Airborne Division, part of American buildup, has arrived in Baghdad and will be ready to join the fresh drive to quell sectarian violence in the capital by the first of the month, the American military announced on Sunday.
The 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne consists of about 3,200 soldiers who will “assist Iraqi Security Forces to clear, control and retain key areas of the capital city in order to reduce violence and to set the condWTions fora transition to full Iraqi control of security in the city,” the military said in a statement."

n.b. Dallas called home this morning to report he was alive and well.

Iraq Pictures

82nd Airborne news

U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne quick-reaction force faces possible problem: Full deployment - International Herald Tribune: "U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne quick-reaction force faces possible problem: Full deployment"

RALEIGH, North Carolina: The four brigades in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division usually rotate the role of the United States' "ready" brigade, prepared to leave for anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
But in the latest example of how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are pushing the Army to its limits, the brigade may have to briefly give up its role this summer.
It is possible all four of the 3,500-soldier brigades would be overseas for the first time since Operation Desert Storm in 1990, when they deployed together as a full division.

Its 9 o'clock, do you know where your children are?

This is the tough part. I look forward to the occasional email or phone call -- yesterday they were still in Kuwait-- but by the time we're getting ready for bed here in New Mexico I know Dallas is just starting his day-- and I have no real grasp of what it might entail.
He was in kindergarten, in Grande Prairie, Alberta when he first looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and said the war was over and they didn't wait for him. That was Desert Storm. It was the first I knew of his desire to go to battle but it was not the last. In grade 2 we attended a Tattoo in Lethbridge, Alberta and after watching the demonstrations of the forces he announced his intentions of joining 'something' but at that point he couldn't decide between the Canadian Army, The US army or the Marines.
Fast forward through the years where all his gifts came from military surplus stores and his eventual joining the Rocky Mountain Rangers Cadets. On the morning of 9/11 he sat and watched the news and asked how long it would take for me to get my proof of citizenship and move us back to the US. I watched a change take place that morning as if he had personally been violated. He had made up his mind. He went to school wearing a double US/Canada flag. He logged on to goarmy.com and sent for an information packet. He was going to join the American army and fight the war on terror.
It was really no surprise when my husband and I got home from Iowa last spring we found Dallas had finally received his SSN while we were away and was off to MEPS at Albuquerque. And its really no surprise that when I talk to him on the phone when he calls from Kuwait and mention he sounds eager to get to Baghdad -- he says "I am". And I guess it should really be no surprise that even after his lifetime of preparing me I still have an unsettling feeling every evening because I don't know where all my children are.

n.b.On Wednesday morning, at about 8:20 Dallas phoned from Iraq to let me know where he is.

photo by Staff Sgt. Bronco Suzuki, centcom.mil

82 Airborne Medics Get Blessing

82nd Airborne Medics Get Blessing Before Moving Into Iraq
By Sgt. Mike Pryor, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, Jan. 14, 2007 – Soldiers throughout history have marched into battle fortified by the prayers of their spiritual leaders. But the healers who care for those soldiers when they fall got a special blessing here Jan. 12 as they prepare to move with their 82nd Airborne Division into Iraq.
The 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team held a service here to bless the brigade's medical personnel before they deploy. The 2nd BCT is expected to deploy into Baghdad soon to help reclaim neighborhoods controlled by insurgents. Paratroopers from the 2nd BCT's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment say they are ready for that fight, but that the constant training they are receiving here is helping ensure they stay prepared. Maj. Jeffrey Hawkins, the brigade chaplain, said the event was planned to honor and support the medics and strengthen the bond between the 2nd BCT's chaplains and medics. "There are special bricks that get put in the rucksack of a caregiver. They carry a burden that not everybody has," he said. "We wanted to honor that." The blessing took place at the post chapel on a bitterly cold, rainy night. Some of the medics who attended had just come from training in the field, and were still wearing their wet, muddy body armor. But the atmosphere inside the chapel was warm and friendly, with handshakes, backslaps and hugs exchanged freely. The service was short. After prayers and the recitation of the Medic's Creed, the lights were dimmed and, in the flickering candlelight, Chaplain Capt. Rodney Gilliam gave a benediction to the assembled group. "It just gives them a little spiritual ammunition to go with their ballistic ammo," Hawkins said afterwards. After the service, the medical personnel who attended said they were proud and grateful to the ministry team for including them. "It's always nice when people can stop and recognize what the medics do," said 1st Lt. Erin Crofford, a medical evacuation platoon leader with Co. C, 407th Brigade Support Battalion. Crofford said it was logical that the chaplains and medics should come together, since they often work closely in combat. "Wherever you find medics, chaplains are close by," she said. Pfc. Timothy Schilz, a medic with Co. C, 407th Brigade Support Battalion, said he was glad for the opportunity to share a special moment with the team. "There's nothing better than chaplains and medics coming together. There is a bond there," Schilz said. (Sgt. Mike Pryor is assigned to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Divison Public Affairs.)


Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.