Ruchster in Iraq

testing live writer

2010-10-29T15:37:00.001+03:00

Al Faw Palace in Baghdad

2010-07-15T05:07:00.005+03:00

MRAP rollover trainer

2010-07-15T04:40:00.003+03:00

Ramadi

2010-07-14T13:10:00.006+03:00

First stop in Iraq - CP Ripper on Al Asad

2010-07-14T11:49:00.006+03:00

First day in Iraq, we got to bypass Kuwait and go directly to Al-Asad. Living in a big tent with 50 of my closest friends. We are the newcomers so I got to sleep next to the door. Lost luggage when I left.

Moving Day

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Temporary Housing (Tent)

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Free Parking!

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Scenic Byways

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Nice landscrape

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Gravel Everywhere
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Pre Deployment Picnic at FT Stewart

2010-07-12T21:13:00.010+03:00

We Had a cookout at one of the lakeson FT Stewart. It was a good time and it was the first time a lot of the families had to meet each other. We cooked a lot of BBQ beef and pork. We attracted an unexpected visitor.

Gator in Lake

Where is my little doggie?

Anyone for a Cannonball Diving Competition?

Just a little guy. Can we keep him?

Parents oblivious?

Update

2005-04-26T23:57:00.000+04:00

Well I am finally getting around to posting some more pictures and finishing captions on the others. I have been busy lately and even now it is past midnight. All is as well here as can be expected. We had a bad dust storm the other day followed by rain. It knocked the power out for a while here yesterday so I could not update anything last night. Still playing catch-up. At least things cooled off here for a little while. I am getting to the point where older posts are going into the archives or "Recent Posts" section so be sure to check those if you have not been on for a while. As always, click the thumbnails for a bigger picture and if you want a higher quality picture than you get here, ask me. I will email it to you. - Jeff

Our Satellite Dish

2005-04-26T23:56:00.000+04:00

This is the dish that we use to get internet. It is strictly a private venture. 30 people get together and buy the equipment and then pay for the service. Equipment breaks down to $270 apiece and you can sell your share to someone when you leave. Service is about $40 a month. It is dial-up slow during the peak usage times, but most times it is pretty good. Better than nothing. At first the army wanted to prohibit these in the housing areas but so many people complained that it became a morale issue and they let is stay. Besides, they knew that the MWR facilites here are already inadequate and packed with people and it would only get worse. Sorry for the white spots on the picture. It has been very dusty here lately and the lens is dirty. This row is right next to mine, they have sandbags, I don't. I don't know why.

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Computer Desk

2005-04-26T23:31:00.000+04:00

I finally got a room with a real desk instead of that red picnic table. The desk is small though. This room is bigger than my last one too. It is designed for two people to share, so I have two wardrobes, two garbage cans etc. No bookshelf though. The other bed is broken down behind the wardrobe. I brought the Christmas lights from my other room.

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All Secure

2005-04-26T23:30:00.001+04:00

I keep all the valuables locked in these black boxes. They are chained to my bed. Crime really is not a problem here. Customs looks through everything when you leave so it would be hard to get stolen things out, but I keep it locked down anyway.

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Another View

2005-04-26T23:30:00.000+04:00

Just another view. The red teddy bear is the one Kim sent me for Valentine's Day. He used to be on the credenza behind my desk, but I do not have a desk now. I have a prayer mat now (the red mat, it came with the room), it now points towards the Mighty 1st COSCOM headquarters where I work.

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2005-04-26T23:29:00.000+04:00

Inside my new hooch

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2005-04-26T23:28:00.000+04:00

Antoher cool Deck

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Another Day Away from Balad

2005-04-20T22:41:00.000+04:00

I got another chance to get out and see the country this week. I am getting tired of being a Fobbit. Most of the bases here are called Forward Operating Bases or FOBs. Those of us that live on them and do not go outside the wire are derisively known and Fobbits, Fob Dwellers or Fob Goblins by those who go out on patrols every day. I have met several young soldiers here who volunteer for missions outside the wire, looking for excitement and some who have to do it because it is their job. I have heard no real complaints yet.

Earlier this week I met an 18 year old Private on the bus. The backs of his hands from about 3 inches above the wrist all the way to his fingertips were covered with second degree burns. They were still bright red, blistered and runny. His face looked like is was recovering from a sunburn, red and peeling. He told me that he was manning a machine gun in the turret of a HMMWV when the vehicle ahead of his got hit by an IED. He got flash burns on his exposed skin. All he remembers is the concussion and being surrounded by flames as they drove through. I asked him if he was wearing his Nomex gloves (all soldiers here are issued Nomex gloves, balaclavas and shatter-resistant sunglasses for that reason). He told me no, he wasn't wearing them but he sure will be the next time (he was already talking about "the next time"). He said he was on his way to the hospital here on Balad, and then he was on his way back home. I asked him where he was from and he said FOB Freedom, north of Baghdad. You are going back to your unit like that, I asked. "Hooah Sir" was all he said. Wow, and here I thought maybe he was talking about going back home to Kansas or something. Gotta love being 18 years old and bulletproof.

I meet kids like him all the time and I love talking to them. They always want to talk to me about flying, but I want to find out what they do. A helicopter will fly over and they say "man, that must be great" and I say something like, "Oh yea, we are out there flying around and the kids run out of their houses and wave at us as we fly over (which they do) and then turn the subject back to them. I don't have the heart to tell them that I really don't fly because I can't reliably get out of the office to make a scheduled flight or that the closest the war has come to affecting me over here is the one time when I was riding the bus to work and there was a mortar attack on the other side of post. The bus stopped and we all got out and went to a bunker until it was all clear. Anyway, now I was late for my first meeting now and did not have time to stop by the coffee shop and get a cafe mocha. I was the only one there without a cup of coffee. Man that sucked! I looked like a fool. Or, hey I had to move to a new trailer a while back and I did not have internet for almost 3 weeks. I don't think any of them would feel my pain.

Actually the Commanding General has encouraged all of us staff pukes to get out on a convoy to get an idea of what the soldiers we are supporting are living through. Kind of a recharge to remind us why we are here. I have asked. So far my boss hasn't let me. Not out any particular concern for my safety, mind you but he does not want to "give you a day off to go play around, I need you here working." Actually he said he would let me go do one of those goodwill building missions where you go out to a school and give the kids clean drinking water and pencils and stuff. That would be OK. But not as good as getting the chance to shoot at some ragheads.

So now I am rambling again, got two threads going. One is that I finally got out, the other is that there are other people out there, writing blogs like I am, but with far more interesting stories. I read an article about it titled Blogs of War or Band of Bloggers or something really maudlin like that. Anyway, there are some really good blogs out there. Very talented writers. Some of these guys have thousands of readers, sell advertising on their sites and are cutting book deals for when they come home. I included some of the links mentioned in the article in the "real soldier blogs" section of my links. Look at some of these if you want to know what is going on out there. I also included a link that points to some blogs written by Iraqi citizens. I read a lot of those around the time of the Iraqi elections and there were some very good stories.

So, I did convince my boss to let me out for a day. There is a unit moving into theater and a bunch of us had to fly up and recon the FOBs they will be occupying to ensure it was adequate and recommend improvements. I told him that I had to go look at the runway and hangars. Then I grabbed my Air Force buddy here and told him that he had to help me look at the runway to make sure a C-130 could land there (he is a C-130 Pilot). Anyway, it was a good excuse to get out and we actually got a lot done, meeting with some of the unit reps up there and seeing what they needed. It was a beautiful day and I took about 240 pictures, some of the best ones I put up here.

Riding in Back Sucks

2005-04-19T22:17:00.000+04:00

Pat and me in a self-portrait. Pat is a C130 pilot in the Air Force. We hang out because we are the only two people on the staff in flight suits. Everybody asks me Air Force questions because they think he works for me or something.

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Water Tower

2005-04-19T22:15:00.000+04:00

Water tower decorated with unit insignia. I took this picture through a dirty window.

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Saddam's Ex-Palace

2005-04-19T22:13:00.000+04:00

One of Saddam's Baghdad palaces. It is now used as the US HQ in Iraq. We went there first to pick some guys from Corps. One day I am going to go back to visit and look around, This one has the bathrooms with 150 square foot stalls and gold toilets that you hear about. I figure everybody should use one at least once in their life.

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2005-04-19T20:56:00.000+04:00

fly high

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2005-04-19T20:54:00.000+04:00

Iraqi Riviera

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2005-04-19T20:53:00.000+04:00

slum

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2005-04-19T20:50:00.000+04:00

Town

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Arizona Blackhawk

2005-04-19T20:46:00.000+04:00

The UH60 we flew in. Belongs to the Arizona National Guard. Note the AZ flag on the tail.

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2005-04-19T20:29:00.000+04:00

Command Bunker

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2005-04-19T20:28:00.000+04:00

Nice Day

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Mountains

2005-04-19T20:27:00.001+04:00

Well, not really mountains. I just thought it was some interesting landscape.

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Iraqi Motorpool

2005-04-19T20:27:00.000+04:00

Some Iraqi junk left over from the war. Actually may be from Desert Storm. They are pretty rusty, like they have been there for a while. There is about 1/2 acre of this at the north end of the runway at Balad. We walked over there after the helicopters dropped us off.

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My New Hooch

2005-04-19T20:25:00.001+04:00

My new hooch. Looks like the old one, just no sandbags. I am in the middle left, with the chair out front.

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CENTCOM Diet Plan

2005-04-19T20:25:00.000+04:00

A picture some soldier took of me right after I left command. Kim is getting on me because she says it looks like I am losing weight. I eat ice cream with every meal, it is just that I only eat about once a day.

One Crying, One Too Cool

2005-04-19T20:24:00.000+04:00

Mom bought them sunglasses. Kady thinks they are really cool but Kylie want them gone. This picture was taken around Easter.

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Pics of the Twins

2005-04-19T20:16:00.000+04:00

Hey, I have some pictures of the twins here. I will post them as Kim sends them to me. I am thinking of starting a new blog just for pictures and news of them. What do you think? Pictures of the girls don't belong on a site with pictures of soldiers, helicopters and Iraq. They should have balloons, baby ducks and girly stuff. Anyway there will be more to follow. Kim says they are really keeping her busy. She is trying to train them to cry and wet their diapers at the same time because now they take turns. We are both delighted to have them in the family and I can't wait to get home to see them. They are beginning to roll over and sit up. I think they will be walking by the time I get home.

Kylie Smiling

2005-04-19T20:15:00.000+04:00

A big, gummy grin for Mom. Happy baby.

Sticking out Tongue at Mom

2005-04-19T20:14:00.000+04:00

I love this picture. She is sticking her tongue out at Mom.

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Can You Tell Them Apart?

2005-04-19T20:07:00.000+04:00

Twins together on the bed. No they do not have red eyes, Cady's are blue and Kylies are green. Cady on the left, Kylie on the right. Kylie is the low-maintenance baby. No real worries. She must take after me :-)

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Cady Smiling

2005-04-19T20:05:00.000+04:00

Cady in her car seat. I thought this was Kylie when I posted it. Hey, they are twins I cannot tell them apart. Kim says they look different but since I have never seen them I can't tell. Next time I will include more of Kylie to make up for it. Kylie is the high-maintenance baby, always wanting attention.

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Cady With Cow

2005-04-19T20:04:00.000+04:00

Cady in her crib studying her farm animals. Is this a spoiled baby or what. They share a crib now but that won't last long. They are already crawling all over each other. I think they probably like being together but they wake each other up in the night. I hear Cady likes to kick her little sister in the head. Cady was born 1 December, shortly before midnight. Kylie was born a few minutes later on 2 December, so even though they are twins, they have different birthdays.

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Moving

2005-03-22T21:13:00.000+03:00

Well, I guess I am going to be moving to my new job permanently. It was up in the air for a while. The bad part is I will have to move to a new room and may not have any internet for a while. I can still use the public ones though. More to follow...

My Address, etc.

2005-03-16T22:25:00.000+03:00

One more thing. You can still send mail to my old address, I will still get it. I will give you an updated one when I get it. Also, I have a Voice Over IP (talk over the internet) phone in my room and have tried to call some of you without luck. It really requires a broadband connection. I could hear you but you could not hear me. The number is 910-221-0156. If you got a call from that number and nobody was talking it was me. Sorry for the harassment. I can seem to talk to Kim sometimes which is good. A characteristic of Satellite Internet is that downloading is pretty fast, but uploading is slow. I can hear you on the download, but is usually is too slow on the upload for you to hear me. You can try calling the number and leave me a voicemail. I will continue to experiment with it.

You can also check out my links on this page. I will continue to add them as I find them. The weather one does not always work, I have to find something more reliable than the Weather Channel Online.

My New Job

2005-03-16T22:09:00.000+03:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back. It has been a little while but I am still getting settled into my new job. I am the Chief of the Aviation Division at the COSCOM CDC. Basically I track down aircraft repair parts coming into theater and prepare aircraft readiness slides for the generals. It is not a bad job but it is a steep learning curve since I have never done anything like that. I am still waiting to see if I have to move to another hooch on the other side of post. Not sure I want to. It would be just like the one I have here but maybe no internet, we will see. I took a trip down to Kuwait last weekend for a conference, more on that below. Also the weather here had dried up, we traded mud for dust. I don't know which is worse.

I am still looking at doing a website other than this one, a real website like I had before. Just waiting until after the move to see if I still have internet in my room. A full website would probably take more time to maintain because I would be tempted to upload more pictures. As always, you can click on these pics for a larger image. If you want one to print, just write me and I will e-mail you a higher-res one. I am limited to the size of the photos I post on this blog. I have also updated my profile a little. Nothing much, just whatever came off of the top of my head. You all know me anyhow. You can post comments to any of the pictures or posts.

The profile does not allow you to indicate marital status and Kim thought that I should at least mention that I am happily married. I did include pictures of us in my first post. I will have more if she ever sends me any. :-) Anyway, it is getting late, I will write more later.

Somebody's cool deck

2005-03-16T21:56:00.000+03:00

Here is a picture of a deck tat somebody built here. There are a lot of them around, but this one is the best I have seen. The little plastic crabs make it. A lot of the folks here are pretty good woodworkers and build furniture, decks, anything to make life more comfortable. No I am not going to build one, it would be condemned as a public hazard if I did not hurt myself doing it.

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Iraq from the air

2005-03-16T21:52:00.000+03:00

A picture I took from the C-12 on the way back from Kuwait. This is very near the Tigris River and is pretty fertile. It was a nice day for flying, but I was sitting in the back for this one. Much better ride than the Sherpa of a C-130.

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Back to Iraq

2005-03-16T21:48:00.000+03:00

Getting on the C-12 (a Beech King Air) to go back to Iraq. It was a nice flight.

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Bombed out Bunker

2005-03-16T21:46:00.000+03:00

Here is a picture of a bunker we bombed during the war. We as in the US, not me. The French built it and guaranteed it was bombproof. I guess our bunker-busters violated the warranty. Rumor is that the owners are still waiting for a refund. I can't say where this picture was taken.

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Back in a Black Hawk

2005-03-16T21:44:00.000+03:00

Finally got to fly in a helicopter down in Kuwait. I am hoping to be able to fly a little more over here.

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Sherpa

2005-03-16T21:41:00.000+03:00

US Army Sherpa we flew to Kuwait on. It looks pretty primitive but it is a better ride than a C-130 because it had windows you could see out of. Most of these are old commuter airplanes b flown and operated by Army Reservists. These Sherpa guys fly low-level to avoid ground fire. Flying low with windows meant that I could actually see some of the country outside the wire for the first time. I enjoyed it.

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Mudhole I live in

2005-03-16T21:39:00.000+03:00

Some of the mud from here in the housing area. It has been rainy or muddy most of the time I have been here. Even when it does not rain, the mud stays for weeks. It is some of the stickiest mud I have ever seen. You gain 3-4 inches walking through it from the mud sticking to your boots. Also it hardens like concrete. You have to chisel it off. I have one pair of shoes that I only wear inside. It helps keep the floor clean. It has only recently quit raining and warmed up enough to dry out. Now it has all turned to silty dust that blows everywhere. I wonder why the first cavemen that came to this area stayed. Of course I wondered that about Korea too. I guess that is why all the early middle-eastern people were nomads.

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Change of Command

2005-03-08T20:34:00.000+03:00

Greetings Everyone,

Welcome to my new weblog. This is a way for me to stay in touch with news and pictures without the time and expense of creating another website. I probably will get another website online here in a couple of months but for now this is much quicker and easier. It also has the advantage of being cumulative, so you won't miss things when I update. It wont replace e-mail but it will supplement it. This is my first crack at it so bear with me.....

I officially changed command today. It was a short and sweet ceremony. I kept my speech short. Nobody cried. I figure I had a year to tell them what I had to tell them. Actually I had a formation the day prior to tell them goodbye. I am not going far, just on the other side of the post to work in the COSCOM Corps Distributuion Command (CDC). This is the main logistical hub for the 18th Airborne Corps. The CDC manages distribution of supplies for the entire theater here. It has an Aviation Branch that handles helicopter repair parts. There are 2 officers, a major and a captain, and about 12 enlisted and NCOs. It looks like I will be in charge of that cell. More to follow on that. Anyway, it is the only other place for an aviation officer to go in 1st COSCOM other than where I am now. I tried to stay in this battalion, but there is just no job for me there.

2005-03-08T20:17:00.000+03:00

Preparing to pass the guidon
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2005-03-08T20:16:00.000+03:00

Accepting the guidon to hand-off. The first sergeant hands me the guidon, I give it to the Battalion Commander. He gives it to the new commander who in turn gives it back to the first sergeant. It is symbolic of the transfer of authority and at the heart of the change of command ceremony.
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My Current Hooch

2005-03-06T21:31:00.000+03:00

I will be moving to a new trailer on the other side of post when I start my new job. Here are a few pics of the one I am in now. It is not too bad. These trailers have 3 rooms in them. Whether or not you have a roomate and how many roomates you have depends on your rank. I do not have a roomate. The walls are so thin that I can hear the guy next to me snoring. Showers and bathrooms are in seperate trailers. I am not really looking forward to moving but I cannot stay here. The trailer I move into will be comparable to this one. This is a lot better living conditions than 1 year ago. They were still living 20 people to a tent and sleeping on cots. At least I have a real bed and Heat/AC and internet too. Some guys are getting together to buy a satellite TV system similar to the way our group got satellite internet. I will have to find a new internet connection when I move.

2005-03-06T20:56:00.000+03:00

At least there is a real bed. I was getting tired of sleeping on a cot, Kim sent flannel sheets and a down comforter. Almost feels like home. I bought some rugs for the floor but stopped short of the prayer mat.

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2005-03-06T20:55:00.000+03:00

Inside the rathole. I have to find some different furniture. At least I have internet for the laptop. The Christmas lights were left over and are actually nice. They provide soft lighting. The fridge and microwave are mine.

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2005-03-06T20:45:00.000+03:00

My Hooch - it is the one with the chair out front. I am sure Martha Stewart would be jealous of the sandbag and gravel landscape motif.

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Our Trip While I Was Home

2005-03-05T23:38:00.000+03:00

While I was home for R&R leave Kim and I had our little getaway. We went to Tybee Island (near Savannah). We stayed in a bed and breakfast for 5 days and just did nothing but tour the area and meet the other couples who were staying at the Inn with us. We stayed at the Savannah Beach Inn on Tybee Island near Savannah. Tybee is mostly a tourist spot. It was the off season and there was not much going on but that ws OK, still plenty to do. Tybee Island still has a Lighthouse that we went and looked at. It was the first one I actually got to climb up in. This little vacation was definitely too short. We wound up staying 2 extra days and still did not get to do all we wanted. We plan on going back someday, maybe when the weather is warmer.

Kim at Tybee Island

2005-03-05T23:23:00.000+03:00

kim on the beach at Tybee Island. They had these little swings all along the beach. The weather was cold but we did not care.

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Savannah Beach House

2005-03-05T23:16:00.000+03:00

Here is the bed and breakfast we stayed in for 5 days. It uses to be officer housing for a nearby civil war era fort. It was a beautiful house, we did not want to leave.

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Tybee Lighthouse

2005-03-05T23:11:00.000+03:00

On top of the lighthouse. The view was beautiful but I was a little scared of the height.

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Kim on the Riverwalk in Savannah

2005-03-04T08:12:00.000+03:00

Kim posing on riverwalk

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2005-03-04T08:10:00.000+03:00

Kim and Me along the river in Savannah. There are a lot of shops and restaraunts. We spent 2 days going to Savannah. The rest of the time we spent out on Tybee Island.

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2005-03-04T08:08:00.000+03:00

This is the Morgan Room where we stayed to first few nights. That is a 200 year old bed that is so high there is actually a stepladder built into it. The room itself was very nice too with a fireplace and garden tub in the bathroom.

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2005-03-04T08:07:00.000+03:00

Kim in the Morgan Room.

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2005-03-04T08:04:00.000+03:00

The Martus room we stayed in for the last 2 nights. It was not as big as the Morgan Room but it was just as nice.

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