Defiantone.com

In Iraq I really only knew a few things to be true - I knew that it was going to be hot during the day and I also knew that it was going to be dark and noisy at night.

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When I finally left I rode out on dark and noisy military transport - a continuation of a theme. My camera doesn’t like extremely shaky environments full of low light conditions but I think I captured enough for you to understand how enjoyable the ride actually was for us. If you look at the bottom picture, cram yourself into a closet with 4-6 other people, crank up the volume to the maximum level on your speakers, and sit/stand there for three hours you’ll have a slight understanding of how “comfortable” it was

I’ve uploaded a few more pictures from my time in Iraq in the gallery - the new stuff starts on page 4

I got home and met a fantastic girl in the airport - well - I it wasn’t the first time I’ve met her but it had been quite a while since I had last seen her.

We went home and she showed me around our house - where we had the lengthy task of unpacking looming on the horizon.

Luckily - I’m a task oriented guy and we got starting working at the task so it could be done - and so we could look forward to the party we were to have that weekend.

The house is complete with a garage and two dogs in the backyard - one of which will flop around like a fish if you ignore her.

We had a party and it was a great time despite me knowing only a handful of the people there - I met quite of few of Jessica’s friends but there names are already a mystery to me - damn short term memory. Feel free to check out more photos of the house in the gallery - thats it for now

Tags: Balad, beer, booze, Deployment, dogs, fun, gallery, home, house, Iraq, Jessica, military, moving, party

While I haven’t yet reached the west coast I have arrived in America and its quite nice to be back. I’m still rocking the same clothes that I’ve been wearing for the past 60 or so hours. Traveling via military channels seldom goes without a hitch and I had quite a few.

I was scheduled to leave Iraq on a nice and roomy C-17. We got to the terminal 8 hours before our plane was scheduled to depart (standard procedure). We got on the buses when the time came for us to depart but were turned around halfway to the plane - our original mission time had been scrubbed due to a sand storm. It dashed our hopes of leaving on time. We waited for 4 hours after our plane was supposed to depart in hopes that the skies would clear - the didn’t. They sent us back to the housing area and told us that we should come back 12 hours later. A few hours after we got back they told us that our flight would be leaving in 6 hours - a full 6 hours early wahoo! It turns out that they lied - we ended up waiting 14 hours at the terminal for our plane to leave.

While there we experienced the ubiquitous indirect fire attack (they were shooting mortars at us). I was asleep on one of the benches as EVERYONE else in the room hit the deck and covered their heads when the klaxon alarms went off. I didn’t move and inch. I woke up a few hours later and laughed as they told me about what had happened. I laughed because its funny - really - it is. I guess you have to be a complete and total cynic to laugh at sleeping through a mortar attack. Truth is, I’ve slept through dozens of them and was fine. They can’t aim and the base is HUGE! The odds of probability were on my side.

So - eventually we got stuck on a C-130. I’ve got to say - worst plane ride ever. Most of you have been crammed into economy seats - these seats economy look like first class. In order to cram us all in we had to be creative. The plane had seats along the outside wall of the plane and seats in the center facing out - while seated you were facing someone else. In order to make the fit we had to alternate legs - your leg, the person across from you, your leg, another person across from you - I have a video that I’ll upload later when I have time (and I’m not paying for internet by the hour).

We got to Al Udeid (in Qatar) and we scheduled to come back to the terminal in 14 hours to catch our flight. We were supposed to meet up at 5PM. The time came near and we were told that we weren’t going to leave as planned. We were told to meet again at 5AM. We got to the terminal at about 0530 expecting to leave around noon. The airplane gods are a vengeful bunch and delayed our plane - again. Our departure time slipped an additional 3 hours. Oh joy!

I’m finally home and thats the important part - and - I’m only hours away from seeing my girl. I can’t wait.

Tags: air force, airplane, Al Udeid, Balad, Deployment, Iraq, Jessica, military, Qatar, travel, USAF

Well, after 130 some odd days my time in dodge is finally over and I am getting the heck out of here. I’ve got more time to kill before my plane gets here but I don’t have to sleep another night (or day in my case) in Iraq.

The most baffling thing about my trip is that for some reason I haven’t made the Iraqis free. I put together explosives and they get dropped on people and for some reason we haven’t cleaned up this whole debacle yet. I figured I, of all people, could come over here and stop the shenanigans in Iraq.

Alas, I have failed in my quest to make them free - I don’t think this one is going to be fixed overnight (or within the next 3-5 years).

Oh well -

Tags: Balad, Deployment, desert, Iraq, John, travel

It is quite hard to find humor in my life here but there are a few things that make me laugh - daily - in Iraq. I took a few photos today of some things that make you laugh or just say huh? So, without any further delay, here they are.

This is a random bumper sticker stuck on a random room - and it makes me laugh every day. Its a shame this isn’t a real trailer park because we’d have overweight slobs sitting in kiddie pools drinking PBR all day long.

This sign has always seemed a little odd - as if we didn’t pay quite enough to the contractor to get it right. I thought about it for a while and the angle of the walker makes it look like they are trying to sneak across the road. Caution - people sneaking across the road! BEWARE!

For reference - here is a normal crosswalk sign

I looked a little closer at the image and noticed why he was sneaking

Damn, that guy is some brand of mutant! Look! He’s got lobster claws for hands! It’s no wonder he’s trying to sneak across the road - I now know why we should exercise caution - you don’t want to piss of a guy with lobster claw hands!

Look! It’s an oxymoron. You’ll see a sign that says “high noise area - hearing protection required” within two feet of “Silent Power.” uhhh…. yeah…. This is one of the MANY diesel generators spread across the base. I’m sure that most of the middle east gets their power in the same fashion and I’ve got to wonder what happens to them when they run out of oil - solar power?

Here is a shot of the sun setting - finally! It can also be used as a metaphor for my trip finally coming to an end. I’ve got less than 2 days left here and then I start the long trip home - I can’t wait to get back.

Tags: Balad, diesel, funny, generator, humor, Iraq, life, oil, oxymoron, photo, sign

My roommate (one of the three) told me that he was bored as hell here and couldn’t wait to leave. I told him that I really didn’t have a problem because I’m an expert at goofing off. I hope that my expertise will take me through the next week because I have little to do save for goof off and travel from one point to the next. I do have a few books I saved back in case I decide to read as well as a laptop filled with hours of music. Internet cafes are always close and there are places to play video games and watch movies. I can still go to the gym and I can eat 4 times a day if I really wanted to (I don’t). I can play card games and billiards at the rec center if I wished to do so. I could just walk around base and sweat - or I could just sweat - its warm out here. I’ve redefined warm by the way - if its less than 100 its warm. If its over 100 its hot. If its over 110 a gateway to hell has opened and is blasting us with the overwhelming heat of hell. If its 120+ well, its probably the end of the world as I know it… but, I’ll be fine.

Wish me luck - its goof off time

Tags: Balad, boredom, goofing off, Iraq, John, travel

I’ve been having a difficult time dealing with other people during my last few weeks here. My behavior to their actions remains the same but I have been unable to contain my frustration lately. Yesterday I drug a 6500 pound trailer 200 yards - by myself. I probably could have pulled it a half a mile because I was getting a little bit cranked.

Whats my problem with him? He is using the “buddy” system, he is lazy, he loves to brown nose, and he spends most of his time trying to look important while doing nothing at all. As you can imagine, it can get on your nerves. I just want to go down to the building, do the work required, and come back.

He wants to hang out with his buddies and play cards. While he is playing cards I get to do the work - he isn’t moving from his chair. When new people show up he is all “show” - when superiors show up he is also all “show”. Frankly, I’m tired of it and look forward to not working with this individual again.

When I’m not at work I’m a happy care free guy - well, as long as the power is working. Its almost like a 180 degree difference. Its not a 108 degree difference, but, it was that warm outside today. Yes, I say warm because the worst is yet to come. Sorry for the tangent - my mind is wandering. Making this person change their habits is probably impossible because the other guy that outranks me has the same problem. We’re fighting the valiant fight and neither of us are winning. Most people can blow off their steam - I just need to blow off some energy. I could also spend time away from work - and it seems all better. Its a shame I have to go back - oh well, only 9 more days turning wrenches.

Tags: Balad, desert, idiot, Iraq, work

If you’ve been paying attention - we’re paying more for many of the things that we use daily. The rising cost of oil impacts the cost of transportation, consumer goods, and food. Companies are trying to cut costs wherever possible while trying to retain the most talented and hardworking individuals. Some would blame the war for our economy that is in a downturn. Everything is linked - I read a few articles and found myself hitting CTRL-B five times and I thought it was worth sharing. Each is tied to the other; lets hope that I can explain what I mean.

According to recent polls many Americans have stated that they have felt that it has been much harder to “get ahead.” Our standards of “ahead” have changed since the days when my father was growing up in the 60’s. I’m going to guess that getting an education, having shelter, a good family life, and something (anything except mustard greens) to eat. Times were tough but if you were to persevere you could make a better life for the next generation and hopefully yourself in the process. Now we demand consumer goods as a measure of how well we are doing. Measures of American success include an car (or two), a house, high speed internet, and cable TV. Without these things many believe that they are failing in the race to get ahead. We’re demanding more than ever while overlooking the basics. I’m going to go out on a limb but maybe we should be looking for a little less - check out the full text at the Washington Post.

Some who claim they are having trouble would point the finger at the ever rising costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the increasing price of gasoline. While the cost of the war far exceeds most if not all of the original estimates we’ve paid for most of it with credit. Its been added to our national debt and will probably remain for years to come - the price of oil is increasing rapidly due to increased consumption in America and in south east Asia in places like China and India. Companies outside of OPEC control have made few if any significant discoveries in recent years. It takes a considerable amount of time to find a sizable cache of carbon deposits, negotiate drilling rights, and remove them for refining and delivery. Simply put, even if there are reserves available we may not find them before demand outstrips supply. We have plenty of oil to last for the next 20 years but there has been rampant speculation of what will happen if consumption continues to increase at the current rates. If we cannot find additional reserves we might have a problem - we might find ourselves in a global energy crisis. (I hate the word crisis because I feel as if I am on a cable news network where EVERYTHING is a crisis). The futures market has seen this and that is why we are experiencing the recent increase in oil prices - sure - they could have seen this years ago but its happening now. I wonder if they took off their rose colored glasses at some point in the last two years and saw the error of their ways - the end result of their revelation is that we’re paying for it.

We can do our part to consume less but its going to take a concentrated effort. If we were to determine car insurance premiums based upon the number of miles that we drive we could leverage our savings against those who drive everywhere. They would be forced to consume less simply because they would be unable to afford all of the driving. Enacting immediate changes in MPG requirements and subsidizing companies that reduce consumption while taxing those that use heavily could help. The economic impact of such a decision can hardly be measured by me, but, it’s on the table.

Everything is tied together - change is going to impact our ability to “get by” and may impact our quality of life. We cannot continue to increase consumption at current rates or we are going to see a bubble - a big bubble - and only the those with the most resources in the end will be able to survive.

Tags: economics, economy, energy, Iraq, links!, oil, T.V., war

To save you some of your valuable time I’ll paraphrase - I’m incredibly bored. The rest of this post will consist solely of me griping about it. Ok, get on your bike and go on your way.

I rely on work to make me feel happy. When we have weather that keeps the planes grounded, as we have the last few days, there is little work to keep me occupied. As a result, I am no longer a happy camper. On a normal day people see me as a grumpy, cynical, curmudgeon. On a day that is filled with work they see me as a cynical wise ass. Last night I spent a few hours re-parking trailers - oh the joys! Most people have not had the opportunity of backing a trailer and if they do score a chance it probably does not have any steering system (campers, semi trailers etc). These are incredibly easy to park - incredibly easy. I could park one right up your… fill in the blank. We fight a different beast because we park trailers with a front steering system - much like the wagon that was always hooked to the tractor when I was a kid. They are extremely heavy and often need to be parked in gravel - deep gravel. This can make the job quite interesting. If you don’t get enough speed you’re bound to get bogged down and all progress will stop. We used to have a 4 wheel drive tug but its been out of commission for a while so we’ve been stuck with the real wheel drive model - it doesn’t help me finish my quest. Moving trailers has been the highlight of my night. The rest of the time I sat around looking for something to do - I’m not in a reading mood and the internet has lost all of its luster.

If we were killing more terrorists/insurgents/whatever the pentagon calls them I would be much happier - solely because I would have something that would occupy my time. Writing this utterly pointless blog post gave me something to do for five minutes - and for that I am grateful. Unfortunately, my creativity is at a low at the moment so you’re only going to get a drawn out version of I’m bored

I hope that cured your boredom for 26 seconds - if not - welcome to the club

Tags: blog, bombs, boredom, desert, Iraq, terror

I took a few photos of the main office before I got on the bus to head home a few days ago. In stark contrast to the night - we have sunlight - just want to make sure you all know that we have the sun over here too. I only see the sun for a few hours a day but I prefer it that way - I sweat less when I avoid the sun. Wow - the sarcasm is unbridled today -

A shot into the distance and a view of the sun - that is going to scorch the earth in a few hours.

This is our building - I can’t tell you where it is because force protection blah blah blah

I am one of the few that can drive the deuce and a half. It is loud, old, has no shocks (that I can tell), and turns like hell. But, its a turbo diesel and a 5 speed so its fun to drive once in a while.

The sad part is that the truck is as old as Jessica - ouch -

Yes, the barricade of the left reads Mortarita Vile

If you want to check out all of the Iraq photos - I’ve added a few more recently - head to the gallery.

Tags: Iraq, military, photo, truck

I’ve uploaded some photos that I’ve either taken or acquired from here or there and I’ve posted them in the gallery. Feel free to check them out if so inclined.

Here are a few from the gallery

This is not from an explosion, rather, its from the trash fire that I drive through every day. It does a number on your allergies and lungs - who would have thought?

Tags: Blackhawk, F-16, fire, gallery, Iraq, photo, Super Cobra