Hot Days of Beladiyat Bruising

The weather, for the first time since I've been here, reached triple digits today. It was definitely hot to say the least, despite the fact that I sat in the truck and absorbed as much of the pitiful A/C as I could. Everyday lately has seemed to start to lull by. A couple of changes within the platoon have really been the only thing that has kept things somewhat interesting.

The first and biggest change that has happened in the past week, or even as far back as the last time I wrote on this Blog, was that my good friend Jason Watkins returned from his R&R. Jason has always been one of the positive forces within the platoon, and it's really nice to have him back. Another big change is James 'Downtown Dirty' Brown left for his leave. Brown is always not the most liked in the platoon, and could even be considered annoying, disgusting, and is even reputed by most who know him. But to we AT4ers Brown is definitely one of us. He is sadly and hilariously the end of the point of the finger that you have when you are pointing and laughing at someone. But to 'Beowulf' James Brown, that's three quarters and a half the truth.

The other biggest change other than platoon members coming and going from leave, is that we have a new LT who took over today. He has been with us for the past week or so learning the role of a platoon leader. Lt. Young, our old LT decided that he was not going to stay in the Army, and so they gave him a job at Battalion and sent us a new LT who might want to stay in the Army longer. So far, our new LT is very much different from our old one. First off he's a Pac-10 guy who went to UCLA instead of some crappy school. I'm not going to name any names of crappy colleges, but the initials of one are, Michigan.

It was an honor to have served with Lt. Dave Young. He spent nearly a year in our platoon, and I will always consider him a mentor, colleague, and friend. I earned my CIB with him, and was his RTO for many months here in Iraq.

The same has remained the same here. The weather is getting hotter, the beers still aren't being served. Our FOB continues to decline in size, and become more of the JSS that they say it is. We continue to go on wild goose chases looking for Osama Bin Laden and the Weapons of Mass Destruction that are hidden here in Baghdad. We have been told that in the near future, (cough July) we are supposed to be moving to a bigger base, and not going outside the wire anymore. Fun.

Another change that is happening this week, is our platoon is going to head out to an auxiliary base in Baghdad for four days. It should be a nice change of pace from the monotony that has been the last five months. I might even be able to drop top and work on my tan while I'm there. Soon enough though I should be beach side with a beer in hand! Exciting isn't it. For me I'm checking the box, YES. Can't wait to see you all in Cali!


Our new LT (in his glory days)