Back in Tikrit

Well I figured I should update the old blog. I made it back to Tikrit the other day after several weeks in Kirkuk. I won’t go into what happened, but I will say it was eventful. It’s amazing how quickly things can escalate into a bigger issue, especially when the higher ups drop the ball and start pointing fingers. My supervisor and medical advisor did an outstanding job of showing where the error occurred and covering my butt and I owe them a big thanks for it.

I met some really nice folks up there including the EMEDs staff at the Air Force hospital. They were very professional, helpful and friendly- I tribute to all of the folks who serve. A special shout goes out to the lab tech- not many folks could have convinced me to take some dance lessons. Yes, you heard me right; I took some Latin dance classes in preparation for a Latin dance night at the on-base club. Unfortunately I had to catch a flight out on the night of the dance and ended up missing it. Such is life in Iraq.

Kirkuk is a city with a mixed ethnic heritage- some folks there like us, some don’t. The ones who didn’t were a little rowdy at times and we had bunker call several times during my stay there. It started on the second day I was there when I had a rocket go overhead (luckily it was a dud) and involved several more including one that exploded at the wire while I was standing on the flight line waiting to climb into a Blackhawk. It was neat looking explosion though.

Flying back was awesome as we flew nap of the earth between sand dunes and past oil rigs. We skirted towns but flew over some residences and over herder’s camps with campfires burning. The gunners’ tracked potential targets on the ground with their M-60s (medium machine guns) that I couldn’t see without the benefit of night vision goggles. The flight was thankfully uneventful as was the convoy back to my base.

With Ramadan upon us are we having to take extra precautions. The fanatics have stepped up their campaign of terror by blowing up more local citizens. As evil as it sounds, I sometimes feel that people who would blow up innocent women and children should be executed and their dead bodies fed to hogs. They deserve no better than that and maybe, by making an example of them, others would think twice before doing something so heinous. Sort of like the old practice of putting heads on stakes outside of the old cities to deter criminals.

I suppose I’m just tired and ready to head back to the States, it won’t be too much longer now…………………….