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Port
A picture I know no one has seen. Port operations down in Kuwait were
something to witness. It took over 36 transport ships to move our entire division from Texas to the Mediterranean Sea
(when we thought we were going through Turkey) through the Suez Canal and back up the Persian Gulf. An amazing process
that projected massive amounts of combat power across the globe! Even
more amazing was the condition of our helicopters. They were basically shrink wrapped before they were put onto the
ships and after two months in salt water, suffered no damage. Excellent work by everyone involved in getting us into
theater. 9/28/03
Speicher Bomb Crater
One of my old platoon leaders, First Lieutenant Promotable (1LT(P)) Chris
Cook stops for a pose in front of a bomb crater resulting from one of the Air Force's strategically placed bombs. The
Air Force bombed all of the Iraqi runways early in the war to prevent their use by any of the Iraq Air Force assets.
For the past four months, we have been doing runway improvement, so these craters are now filled in and concrete poured.
9/29/03
Re-Up
Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of re-enlisting my old crewchief Specialist
(SPC) Stephen Knabe. He decided to re-enlist in the Army for another tour of duty and asked me to conduct the ceremony
for him. Quite an honor to do that for one of my old soldiers. The setting he chose was next to the helicopter
he is the mechanic for on the flight line here at FOB Speicher. 9/30/03
Free Ride
Who says an Apache can only carry the two pilots and no one else?
We often times brief self-extraction as a recovery means from the battlefield, but very few people have actually practiced
it. On a couple of occasions, we have worked with special operations personnel to train both them and us. Very
beneficial for all involved! 10/1/03
The New Captains
As my battalion commander says, "Awards are given for what you have done.
Promotions are given for what you will do." The morning of October 1, 2003 was a good morning, as the platoon leaders
I mentored as a company commander were both promoted to captain. Here is a picture of the three of us (from right to
left) CPT Chris Cook, CPT Tim Waddell, and myself (CPT John Tucker). 10/2/03
Virtual Thunderstorm
On my way to work the other night, I looked up and noticed there was a cloud
in the sky. You might be saying, "Yeah, so what?" It was the first time since the month of May that I have
seen a cloud! It was also a precursor of things to come as early this morning (around 2:00 a.m. my time), we had a light
show with a lot of lightning, a few rain drops, and 40 to 50 mile per hour winds which caused the visibility to be some
where between a 1/4 to 1/2 mile. What is the fall like around here? I cannot wait... 10/3/03
Iraqi Welcome
Quite a few people have asked over the past couple of days about the amount
of support we as coalition forces are receiving. The vast majority of people in Iraq support our presence. There
are some Saddam loyalists though. From my side of the pond, it seems like a few of these Saddam loyalists
continually make the American news with guerilla type attacks against coalition forces. They are portrayed as the
average Iraqi citizen and hence the media reports that Iraqi's are against coalition forces. Take the media for
what it is worth. There are a lot of good things occurring that never
get reported (schools and hospitals opening, free elections, etc.). 10/4/03
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