Sunday, November 30, 2008

Dispatches from Lake Diamondback, formerly LSA Diamondback






The rain has been non-stop the last couple of days here in Mosul. This has played havoc with our operations, as the roads are washing out, what isn't covered by standing water is covered by mud (usually it's a combo), and the motivation of our National Police brethren--most of whom only have one uniform and little or no rain gear--is not exactly high. Unfortunately, our pics don't show the extent of the flooding.
All in all, it's been good fun. The MRAPs slide around on mud like a toddler on a frozen pond. Everyone got a good leg workout due to the extra 10 pounds of mud on everyone's boots, and we had a blast playing "get to the latrine trailer without drowning" when we came back at night. I ask you: does it get any better?

Godspeed to the crew of STS-126

Space shuttle mission STS-126 is supposed to re-enter and land today, after 15 days in orbit. The crew's mission was to finagle some of the solar panels on the International Space Station. ("finagle" is a NASA technical term)

The Mungadai wish Godspeed and a safe landing for the astronauts of STS-126.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

A Mungadai's Best Friend

The German Shepherd is the official dog of the Mungadai (okay, maybe not official, since I didn't talk to anyone else about it; let's say official enough for this post). The German Shepherd is loyal beyond question. The dog will protect the family, save children from drowning or house fires, guard your property, and do all of the really important stuff, too.

A Mungadai Thanksgiving...


Growing up as a kid and even now, I have always found Thanksgiving to be one of my favorite holidays. If Top was writing this humble exploit of the blog he would tell you it is because I love to eat. You would hear him in the background yelling “Hey Buddha, stop eating cupcake”. Thanks for building my self-esteem Top…

I find Thanksgiving to be a time to reflect on what we have and a time of fellowship with family and friends. Though we are away from home, and we miss you all, we were able to sit down as a team and enjoy the festivities of the holiday over a pretty good meal. Please know, each and every one of you are in our thoughts and prayers. From the Mungadai Team, we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Season Premiere of "24" and the Roundhouse Kick!




I will start this post with a trip down memory lane to Camp Funston. When the Mungadai would depart for an intense day of training we would walk past two posters on the left and right side of our living area. They were of course posters of Chuck Norris facts, these facts are the foundation of the Mungadai training philosophy. Chuck was our inspiration during those times of indecisiveness and a simple roundhouse kick seemed to solve any problem, until now.

Tonight of AFN (Armed Forces Network) the season premiere of 24 airs. There has been somewhat of a buzz amongst a few Mungadai over the premiere to include Boss Mongo. All this talk of Jack Bauer, a two hour stand alone t.v movie that ignites the season. And then it started as I tried to enjoy a burger at lunch. I was asked if I knew what Chuck Norris would be doing tonight. I said no and was then briefed he would be watching 24! I don't think so! And have we kicked Chuck to the curb after all he has done for us? It's roundhouse kick time!!!

We Mungadai know by heart the top Chuck Norris facts and believe them as true. Eddie Bauer or Jack Bauer or whatever he calls himself has no facts that I'm aware of other than he wears scarfs and probably drinks Starbucks coffee and is a bad shot. Bauer trained with Delta Force, meaning he made their bunks and brought them coffee, Chuck Norris IS Delta Force! So I'm posting two recent photos, one of Chuck and the other of little Jack on his cute phone wearing his scarf. 24, whatever go to google and type in Chuck Norris and hit the "I feel lucky" tab. Of course the owner of the Jack vs Chuck website is to much of a punk to speak the truth and calls what would be a one sided fight (Chuck kicking Jacks *ss) a draw. Looks like there is someone else in need of a roundhouse kick!




Sad State of Affairs

Has anyone noticed that no one but me has posted anything on the Mungadai Days since 06 NOV? Must be because I have so much more leisure time than anyone else. I know that the Mungadai have all kinds of pictures and news updates to share with loved ones. Poor dears, they're just too smoked to lift a finger and type. And posting photos? That actually requires mouse clicks--far too arduous for our little darlings.

Don't worry, Mungadai friends and family, the Mungadai do love you and want to keep everyone up to date on what's going on: they're just too tired, weak, and sorry to do so just now.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Outside Looking In

I thought this article, written by a French soldier serving with the 101st in Afghanistan, was pretty cool. We often forget the military culture shock that foreign military professionals have when they get a close-up view of the US military and our troops. In a way, the deep impression that we make is a double-edged sword; while the impression is almost always singularly positive, it creates the impression that we can do anything, from a tactical/operational point of view. This sometimes generates resentment when we don't produce results right away, because of the mindset that "they could easily do it if they really wanted to, so they must be blowing us off."
The Mungadai are butting up against this in our advisory role. We're so rich, so tactically capable and logistically "fat" in comparison to our Iraqi brethren, that failures to produce results on the most outlandish requests is viewed as a willful disregard of our counterparts' priorities.
Some of the French author's views are chuckleworthy:
Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.
I'm sure that most people are shocked when they discover that the top priority for the vast majority of US troops, when given some downtime, is to hit the gym. The greatest source of frustration for most of the guys serving in remote COPs is the lack of PT venues. Still, no one is so built that
Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest.
Obviously, the Army gets a "T" in training training troops on the principle of "shut up and suck it up." I don't think any of our guys lack for discomfort after putting in 12-16 hours in full battle rattle. I start the day at right around 6' tall, I end it at about 5'7". At the end of the day, when I take off the kit, my decompressing back sounds like the pneumatic pump of the MRAP door.

To our outside observer, the support of the American people for their troops is preeminently evident:
Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission.
Some of our author's comments would be considered a left-handed compliment:
And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all
Hmmm. Not sure too many of our senior NCOs would concur with that, as they constantly remind our troops that "you ain't Rambo, knucklehead."

I remember that Jean Larteguy, French paratrooper and war correspondent, author of The Centurions, wrote in his autobiography that the French soldier will heal from his wounds much faster than his American counterpart, because the Frenchman knows that he has no one to really depend on but himself, while the American knows that he can wait for his military to help him heal. Not sure why that quote popped into my mind on reading the article; probably because I don't read a whole lot of literature authored by French soldiers.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Another Mosul Article

This article is pretty good. We were on this particular operation, and the good CPT Harper is right; it was a circus.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Thank You, Coral Shores High School...

For the boxes of goodies. The guys enjoyed all the stuff you sent us. Well, maybe not all of it. We'll be doing a class later to explain to some of the Mungadai what deodorant is, and how one actually uses it. Then, we'll be enjoying everything you sent.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Mosul, Not a Pretty Picture

This article paints the best picture I've seen of describing Mosul. Especially vivid, and accurate, is the portrayal of Western Mosul, our AO:
The core of the insurgency is in the Ottoman Empire-era old town and nearby western Mosul — densely populated areas, interlaced by narrow alleys stacked with cheek-by-jowl houses and burrowed under with tunnels and caverns.
Oh, and bad guys? We've got bad guys for days:
On the security front alone, Mosul is a complex nut to crack. Not just al-Qaida, but more than a dozen Sunni Muslim and other insurgent groups are on the loose, together with criminal syndicates and rival tribes.
Read the whole thing, and you'll get a good idea of where the Mungadai spend their days and nights.

Monday, November 10, 2008

IED Factories and Whatnot

This article offers a slide show on IEDs found in Mosul. One of the problems is that IED "factories" are just peoples' houses, and as you can see from the slide show, the components of the IED are pretty small; easy to hide, easy to cache, easy to move if the bad guys think the heat is on (and, after the last couple of days, the Mungadai are pretty sure that the bad guys think that the heat is on).

Also, the slide show shows a bag of HME (home made explosive). We found an IED loaded with this stuff a couple (three?) days ago. Once we convinced the ISF to stop playing catch with it--no, really-- we isolated the device and called EOD to blow it. The relatively small container packed quite a wallop. In fact, the blast was strong enough that I thought the EOD guys had put charges on it and factored a high "P" factor (P=Plenty) into their demo calculations. Instead, they said they had merely run a wire and sent a current through the device. I was pretty impressed with the power of the "Home Made" IED. Ours didn't smell like cinnamon, though.

We've got pictures and video of the blast, which we'll post as soon as we get the chance.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Mosul Article

I found this article on Mosul; it's dated, as the elections have come and gone. But some of our brethren from Thunder Squadron and Lightning Troop are quoted. No comment on the political content of the article, I just wanted to see if I could figure out how to post a hyperlink.

Mongo no like magic box. Magic box frightens and confuses Mongo. Where the heck is Buddha when you need him? (See, guys? I used "heck" to maintain the family- friendly nature of the Mungadai blog. Get the picture?)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Wheels Wheels Wheels







As you look at this and say to yourself “oh they got a truck stuck in the sand” there are a few versions of what happened on this infamous day. The bottom line is, our very own Wheels managed to get an Army Strong four wheel drive combat ready vehicle stuck in the only MUD in the middle of the DESERT. Now doesn’t that make you think to yourself, hmmm. Now we all know Mr. Murphy; I guess it was just Wheels day to hang out with him. For all those that have crossed the barrier where action meets reaction, welcome to the fine line of physics… Basically, a 42,000 pound vehicle on wet sand equals sinking. Way to go!
On a brighter note we continued on to Badoush, Mosul where we assisted the National Police in detaining over 40 plus bad guys.