Home Sweet Home

To make a long story short, I made the difficult decision this week to put my life in Colorado on hold and move back to IL with my parents. Things were getting too hard out there alone, and I had run myself ragged between work, school, and everything else. It's a huge relief to be back in familiar territory surrounded by family and pets that love me. :)

Jasmine and I have been settling in over the past day, and she appears to be adjusting well after the long drive.


We've been watching the corn surrounding the house being harvested all day, which I suppose is better than watching the corn grow in the spring. It's great to be home in the sticks!

And now for the best update of all:

So I woke up this morning with a strong desire to finally get some pictures up, but I had no way of doing it, because the computers here can't hold the SD memory card that most cameras have. They do make an adapter though which you can plug the memory card into, with a USB plug on the other end. Just as I was walking to the computer lab, I saw a guy who happens to take a lot of pictures for the platoon...I asked him if he had the device, and he just happened to have it in his pocket. So voila...

The only green grass I've seen here so far

Pulling security near a building, notice all the holes from a Bradley's 25mm cannon

Joint patrol with the Iraqi Army

A common site in Iraq is destroyed cars on top of buildings...still trying to figure this one out

Talking to locals mid day

Kids going crazy at a school when we walk by

Hard to see, but more kids inside of the school say hello

Zeroing our rifles at a mock range before a patrol

A few guys are waiting on the computers, so that's it for now...I'll try to get some more pics up later. Bye!

Update

Howdy everyone. I haven't posted anything here since I got to Baghdad, so I figured I would make some posts over the next few days to bring everyone up to speed.

Life has been good in Mosul so far. I spend most of my time at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Marez as the Headquarters Platoon Leader for Delta Company. I've had a lot thrown at me so far, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it and am fitting in with the guys pretty well. Some additional duties include being the OIC (Officer in Charge) of the Company CP (Command Post) and tracking what our units are doing out on the streets of Mosul. I'm also the Arms Room Officer, Unit Movement Officer, and "Special Projects" Officer (for planning things like Dining-In and other misc. events). Average workday is about 12-14 hours, every day.

The amenities aren't too bad on the FOB...fantastic gym which is about a 3 min walk from my CHU (Contained Housing Unit) and a DFAC (Dining Facility) w/ a wide variety of food. Probably the most frustrating thing is getting to the computers to use the net...about a half hour round trip of walking.

Other than that I've spent some time patrolling and living at the smaller COP (Combat Outpost), where the computers are always close by, which I enjoy. Already seen some action, but fortunately no one has been hurt, knock on wood. Enjoyed some Iraqi food about a week ago and look forward to going out and meeting more of the locals.

Home Sick or Homesick?

Was feeling awful this morning, so I left work early, bought myself some organic macaroni and cheese (the only thing that sounds good), and have been home relaxing/napping the day away. Been having a not-so-great week, as I think all of the alone time is starting to get to me. I guess this is the beginning of the slump to 50% that everyone talks about.

Thanksgiving needs to hurry up and get here.

Tom's Address

Tom's address is:

2LT Thomas P. Burnham
D Co 1-8 IN Bn
Unit # 43177
APO AE 09334

Happy mailing!

It's Almost Time For Sending Packages

I've had several requests for my list of commonly requested care package items. While we still don't have an address for Tom, we should have one within the next several days. The list contains all of the commonly requested items with a few thrown in specifically for Tom. If you're interested in sending a care package to Tom (or to one of his guys who doesn't receive any packages) here's the list.

FOOD ITEMS:

• beef jerky
  
• energy/granola bars
• trail mix (no chocolate)
• canned fruit with lift-off lids, applesauce cups
• nuts
• chips/pretzels (Tom really likes all Snyders except jalapeno)
• hard candy
• smarties/sweet tarts for children
• powdered energy drink packets (any pink or red flavors made for adding to water bottles)
• gum
• juice boxes
• cake in a jar
• cookies

HYGIENE ITEMS:

• Avon Skin So Soft (removing face paint)
• insect repellent (unscented or pleasantly scented would be best)
• sunscreen
• foot powder/spray
• Q-Tips
• Deodorant
• shampoo
• shower soap
• body lotion
• toothbrush & toothpaste
• Visine (getting sand out of eyes)
• baby wipes (alcohol-free, unscented is best)
• solid color washcloths, towels (solid brown)

PERSONAL ITEMS:

• Prepaid AT&T phone card (can purchase at https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx)
• books
• magazines
• gel shoe insoles
• puzzle books (sudoku, crossword, etc.)
• DVD's
• Video Games (Tom has his laptop and PSP)
  
• pens, paper, envelopes
• pillow, sheets, blanket (issued stuff is usually poor quality)
• canned air (for cleaning sand out of electronics
• Ziplock Freezer Bags for storing items (keeps out sand)
  

DO NOT SEND:

• Anything that melts (if you just must send chocolate, send M&Ms)
• waterless hand cleaner/sanitizer (just makes mud)
  
• liquor
• pork products
• pornography of any sort. (This includes "soft porn" such as Playboy magazine)

The USPS has flat-rate boxes for shipping to Iraq. Shipping information can be found at http://www.bootsonground.com/usps-shipping-faq.htm. Anything that you send that can either melt or leak needs to be double bagged in freezer bags to prevent your packing from leaking onto and ruining other packages. Also, if you send anything that requires batteries make sure that there the batteries are not installed in the package. It sets off a bomb detector and your package will be destroyed.

And just so I have all of my bases covered, a recipe for cake in a jar can be found at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cake-in-a-Jar/Detail.aspx. You will have to mail the frosting in its' original, sealed container. We may want to coordinate who will be sending one and when so that he doesn't end up with 3 cakes for his birthday. :)

Good Morning Kuwait!

This is the first picture that I took upon arriving in Kuwait. As you can see we're trying to stay out of the sun here...it's only 8 in the morning and already in the 90s. I believe at this point we were waiting on transportation to go to Camp Buehring, where we spent the next few days.

Our Last photo

This is the last picture of Becky and I outside of the IRT building, maybe about 15 mins before being forcefully separated...do we look happy?


Looks like we'll be flying out tomorrow morning, likely taking a jet as Mosul is much further away than I had thought. Everyone from our initial group is gone except for those of us going to 1-8.

I just got done working out, so I'm gonna go shower and enjoy my last night in Baghdad, maybe post again later...hopefully I'll find out what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Leaving for Baghdad

The internet here is giving me serious problems, so it may take me a while to post all of my pictures, and looks like they'll probably be out of order. Here is my good friend, Ben and me on the C-17 about to fly from Ali As-Salem, Kuwait to Baghdad. Right now we're waiting for them to load the pallets of gear on to the jet.


We're waiting to hear when those of us w/ 1-8 IN will be flying out to Mosul...as of now it looks like Saturday

Marhaban min al-kuwait wa baghdad!

Hello everyone, and greetings from Kuwait and Baghdad! I'm not quite sure where to begin, so I'll use some pictures to help guide myself...


All right so I've tried uploading more pictures but connection keeps resetting...I'll have to try again later. This picture was taken outside the IRT building the before leaving...most people were in good spirits, but a few of the wives were having a rough time. I just drew my weapon from the arms room...they gave us new weapons that hadn't been zeroed to our specs which seemed very strange. As you can see I'm wearing a subdued, infrared American Flag patch on my shoulder--this is the standard patch when in theater.