marty's Blog

Well I have been back almost a year from Iraq. I am still in the military working at Camp Grafton as I just havent fitted all the peices together yet for retirement. We are looking at northern Texas or southern Colorado to buy a small farmstead to retire on and enjoy our horses, getting away from this winter stuff.

I have continued with college again this year so I have another option to fall back on if something goes terribly wrong with the retirement plan. I dont think I will become bored, but who knows.

wow I do beleive the last blog I wrote was back in Oct when I was on R&R in Qatar. A lot has happened as I went back home on two weeks leave. That was a wonderfull time that I spent with my family. We travel around the state just relaxing and enjoying the time together. We stoped in Watford City for Thanksgiving with Mom and Mick, Judy was also there so it was nice to see everyone again. After returning to Iraq the realities of that environment kicked right back in. I must admit that Dec, Jan and Feb did go by rather fast which I am thankfull for. The day did finaly arive when it was time for us to leave Basra. there was quite a celebration for us. We recieved a Corps of Engineer flag and other awards. The cooks at Basra made us a last supper that consisted of steak and lobster with the finest china available along with some wine glases and some tasty grape juice. there are about a total of Fifty workers in our camp and all of them showed up to say good by and shake our hands. The Gurkha guards also hussled to carry and load our bags for us and then all lined up at the gate and saluted us as we drove off. It is definetly a nice feeling to know those people were thankfull for what we have done. One part of me was never so glad to get away from the constant rocket attacks and head home to my family but yet I also had mixed feelings of missing the day to day challenges and some of the people I have become close to on our little camp on the air station. I know Ryan, Painter and Randy are three people I miss and will never foget.
The flight from Basra to Tallil as the first leg of the trip home turned into a nightmare. We ended up flying from Basra to Balad to Baghdad and back down to Tallil. Five hours on a C-130 is zero fun. Once in Tallil we had a day of out processing which ended in a fairwell ceremony for us were we were presented our awards. I did recieve the Bronze Star which was a nice thank you for the work done over the last year. Of course it would not be complete with out one more rocket attack the next morning. That afternoon we started the next leg of our trip which was a flight from Tallil to Kuwait. Once again the flight was delayed as a sand storm came through so the plane could not land and we had to wait for the next flight which was ninteen hours later so there we were on the flight line waiting the time out. Durring this long wait I watched the three soldiers that were killed in the rocket attack that morning two blocks away from us being loaded in a C-130 headed to the states, I just cant explain how disturbing that is or the feeling one has, nor can anyone even imagine untill they have expienced it. We finaly landed in Kuwait were we spent three days waiting for our turn to go through customs and fly to the states. Oh and if you ever get the chance to fly on a plane for nine hours non stop DONT. We touched down at Cherry point North Carolina to drop off a company of 120 Marines and then back in the air headed for Indiana. After ariving in Indiana the welcome commity consisting of General Spry and others from North Dakota greeted us. that was nice to see them and they had coffee and food set up for us. We then traveled by bus for an hour to Camp Atterbury were the rest of the North Dakota crew was waiting for us, they had our billits secured and the beds already made for us as it was aroud two in the morning by time we got to Camp Atterbury. We arrived in Indiana on the 16th of March and are scheduled to fly to Bismarck on the 21st. Durring the time here so far it has not stopped raining. The Demob proccess did go fairly smooth and quick. Now I am about a day and a half away from reuniting with my family after servining in Iraq for a year. I cant wait as I miss them so much.

Well I don’t know of the top of my head how many days it’s been but I am sitting in the Minneapolis airport on my way back to Iraq from my two weeks leave. The good news is I only have about three and a half months to go before coming home for good.
I had a wonderfull time being home again with family and friends. Marla and the kids met me at the airport in Devils Lake when I landed at midnight. we didn’t get to bed untill about two in the morning. Bear got out of school for the two weeks I was home so he liked that a lot, even though I kept on him untill he got all his school work done. We went to Bismarck right away and spent five days in the presidential suite of the Seven Sea’s Inn and enjoyed swimming and eating out every day. We had supper one night with Steve and Cindy, it was nice to see them again and we had a good time visiting and eating those buns at the Texas Road House. From there we went to Watford City for three days and had Thanksgiving with Mick and mom. Judy and Frances was there also so it was nice to see and visit with them for a couple days. As always the food was great and we ate way to much. From there we went to Minot and stayed for two days and did a lot of shoping in the mall. I actuall finally updated to a new wallet, money clip, belt and cowboy boots as well as a new Bears coat. yep I had the old ones for twenty some years and just had to break down and buy new ones. besides I was out of duct tape to hold them all together. I also gave Marla the Diamond ring she has always wanted so she was happy and smiling from ear to ear, now she is on a mission to show all her new ring from me. From Minot we went home so I could actuall spend a few days back at home and relax and enjoy the house. However the snow and cold was kind of a bummer. We went to Ron and Marilee’s house for Rib supper on Tuesday. As always the rib’s were great and it was nice to see them again. we visited untill about midnight and then finaly had to go home as we were very tired. I had a great time seeing them again. Ryan came over the next night to visit, that was a nice ending to the two weeks at home to see him again. Now I am on my way back to Iraq and I already miss everyone.

Well lets see where to begin. on 17 Oct I moved back to Basra, I have completed my work in Bucca and will now take over as the Opperations NCOIC in Basra. I am looking forward to the change and it is deffinetly nice to get out of Bucca, five months in that place is more than enough for any person. So I have spent about four days learning to do that job. it will be busy for me as there is a lot to do. my biggest priority will be coordinating all the security movements of people around southern Iraq.
on 22 Oct I left for the country of Qatar with Dean on our four day pass of rest and relaxation. We flew the British Royal Air Force from Basra straight to Qatar. We left at about 3 AM as most fixed wing flight from this area is done in the hours of darkness as to not get shoot out of the air. We landed in Qatar at about 5 AM. the in procesing through costums and getting set up in our billets went smooth. the first day we got signed up for the next days venue and then it was off to sleep as we had been up for 36 hours between working the day and then traveling to Qatar. On our first venue we traveled into the city of Doha to the Vallaggio mall. this mall is huge and has a man made river that runs through it in which you can ride on little boats. the whole theme of the the mall is like you are outside. all the stores have faces like you are on main street of a big city and even the roof is painted and shaped to look like the sky outside. the only down side was most of the shops were taylored to female clothing. we did get to see a lot of Qatari in traditional dress and the women in the black dresses with their faces covered, they are refered to as the ninja women. I must say the funest day was our tour out on the Persian Gulf. we took an old charter boar out on the Gulf for the day. The boar parked out in the ocean and we swam in the ocean, let me tell you that is some awefull tasting water. it was unreall how salty the water is. we also got to do some jet skiing and tubing. There was a meal provided also that was good. I must admit I did get a sun burn but that will soon turn to white skin again. lol. Bottom line is that four days was a nice break from Iraq, no weapons, no body armor, no rocket attacks and no one trying to kill you. It even actually rained while in Qatar which I was beginging to wonder if I would ever see rain again. There was a Chili’s restouraunt on base that we ate at and let me tell you it was great, it actually tasted like a real steak from the states. The military mess hall was pretty awesome also, the food was good and the building was absolutly huge. They used the old pyrimid from egypt theme inside. The flight Back to Basra after the pass was a little longer due to the fact we had to stop in Kuwait and pick up about forty British soldiers on thier way to Basra. Once again as we near the Basra base it is night time with all lights on the plane off and evasive flying so as to eliminate the chance of getting shot down. There was an awesome red moon out in Basra when we landed so i took a picture and added it to the collection. Oh by the way all the Qatar pictures have been uploaded to me web site so you can view them there on the photo albums page of

Its hard to believe I am half way through the deployment. Time goes fast over here however there is still a long road ahead.
Currently I am in Basrah for a two day Break and change of pace from Bucca. It is nice to have a day or two to finaly not have to worry about work. the change in mess halls is nice too as no matter how good the food is after months it all seems the same so a change in mess halls is welcomed. last night I had steak that was grilled outside, it smelled just like griiling at home and actually tasted close to beef. I still think the beef in Bucca is really camel.
It was also nice to see and talk to people I know and was deployed with.
It is also time for the fourth shot in the series for anthrax. not looking forward to that as I hate shots with a passion.
Things are getting tougher in Bucca as we have been attacked two days in a row. No one was hurt but I sure hope it is not an indication of things to come.
My project should be comming to an end by the end of October, well except for some modifications to the contract that are in the works. I am hoping to be moved back to Basrah around this time frame. the plan right now is for me to return to basrah and work as the opperations sergeant.
I also have my four day pass comming up in about a month. a friend from Norh Dakota that is deployed with me are going to Qatar together for four days of rest and relaxation. It should prove to be fun and exciting to see yet another country. Travel however there and back almost make it not worth it.
Traveling over here is very difficult not to mention dangerous. which brings one other thing to mind, my leave time back to the states for two weeks is getting closer all the time. that will be a welcome relief, now once again if it was not such a hassle to travel.
All in all things are going fine and the care pachages from family and freinds is great and a nice treat i might ad.

July 11

wow it has been a long time sense i have updated this site. I now have internet in my office and my room so that is a good thing. I also got my hard drive for my personal computer thanks to my wonderful wife. I now have the computer up and running after working on it for four days. some of the driver took 13 hours to download.
my quality of life has improved to as now I have a fridge, TV, DVD player and satelite TV in my room. the satelite TV kind of sucks as there are only ten chanels in english and only two worth watching. one is a movie chanel that plays old movies and the other is a British news chanel. but its better than nothing.
the projects are moving along pretty good now. we are still haveing touble getting material accross the Kuwait border which is funny that it is so hard to get shipments to this base as we are only about 1000 yards from the Kuwait border. I can see the border from my living quarters. We are averaging 120 degrees here now and they tell me soon it will be 140 to 150 degrees, can’t wait for that. lol
I cant post any pic’s because the two projects I have are secret, but i do have a couple of myself I will post that show me smiling beings how people tell me I never smile in pictures.
We are currently trying to build a Corps of Engineer complex on Bucca because there are going to be projects down here for a couple years. which will be nice because the contractor provides our office and living quarters. so as the contract ends for one and starts for another we have to move. if we have our own complex we won’t have to go through that hasle. The last thing I want is to move into a tent again until the new contractor gets there man camp set up.

June 01

I still do not have the ability to update my blog very often, once internet connection is made at the man camp things will improve. this should happen in a couple weeks.
I have finally moved out of the tent and into my quarters at the man camp, this is a nice change as now i have a private room with my own bathroom and shower. This is a big deal here in Iraq, some thing one takes for granted in the states.
We are still haveing major problems getting the contractors equipment and materials to Bucca. Kuwait border just does not play well with others. We did get 20 semi trucks through Wednesday night with mostly man camp equipment. The trucks hit the gate here at the base at 6PM, It was 4 in the morning by time we got them on to post. Drivers names did not match the list, truck numbers did not match, manafest messed up, drivers with fake passports and the list goes on. I worked a 23 hour day when all was said and done.
The second contractor for the second contract of expanding the prison was awarded and they are now on site setting up. I am the gov rep for that contract also so my work load just doubled, if that is even possible, is have to be in five places at the same time most of the day now. All I can say is “come on Sept” as this is the scheduled completion date for both projects.
It actually rained today, something that does not happen in this part of the country very often, a whole ten drops fell I think. It sure can lightning here though, what a show.
So far I have lost my bulistic sun glasses, and have no lighter. these are two big problems, no sunglasses means you can’t hardly see, the sun is extreemly bright and the sand is blowing all the time. I walk around half squinty eyed, but more sunglasses are on the way. the second issue, lighters, the px here has been out for two weeks, this is raising heck with my favorite bad habit of smoking. actually we are about out of everything here due to the border crossing closeing. convoys are backed up and activity has exculated in the area. these are two bad combinations. we were eight hours away from closing the chow hall and eating MRE’s, as well as generators on there last bit of fuel, eight trucks of food and fuel made it through and we were saved, now food and fuel convoys are a priority and so all other trucks are also held up, like the ones i need for my projects.

May 26

I still have no earth shattering changes here in Bucca. I am still in a tent as my office and quarters are still not ready. So of course that means no internet to speak of yet.
We are promised 30 trucks of equipment in the near future, i sure hope so as that will allow the project to begin.
I had a pre construction meeting today with another contractor that was awarded the second project of building another 13 compounds. So both projects will go on at the same time. I will be the gov rep for both projects, and both will be running 24 hours a day, two reasons for this is 1. to meet the 30 sept deadline and 2. we can only pour concrete at night as the heat will not allow concrete to be poured durring the day. When the projects reach the concrete stage it will be between 140 and 150 degrees here, I can hardly wait for that.
On the bright side it has been over a week since and rocket, mortar or riot incidents. Basrah were I came from to work this project is being rocketed about three times as bad as when i was there, this was predicted and the prediction held true. Now if they get the overhead cover built by time I go back there things will be much better.

May 15

Tuesday the 8th of May.

Well I have made the move to Bucca. And of course Monday night we got hit all night long in Basrah with rockets. So not much sleep that night. What a nice send off from the enemy. Bucca is nice in that aspect as no mortar or rocket attacks, not yet anyway. So it is safer, just have to worry about a prison break or riot. I will be housed on the very outside corner of post behind the prison once the contractor gets my office and the man camp set up as that is were the project to expand the prison is. So security will be a little less but all should be fine. Bucca is safer but what a hole, it is way hotter here and is dirty in the way of garbage (mostly from the local nationals) and the wind never stops blowing sand around. We are only about 17 miles from the Kuwait border so we are close to the coast which contributes to the wind problem. Being here the heat feels like you are in an oven and the wind feels like someone holding a hair dryer in your face. And the worst part is it is not even the hot season yet. They tell me 140 to 150 degrees, I can’t wait that will be real special.

So far since no construction has started yet I have been running around working issues with the contractor on getting people and equipment here and then sending up reports to my higher up. It is a night mare to move the contractor’s workers here. They need visas, border passes with back ground checks each time. To make matters worse they are closing the border crossing that is closest to us. The contractors are reluctant to send workers here by ground convoy because of the risk is so high. They are use to flying there workers to the bases but no air port on this base.

Wednesday 9 May. Last night we had a shipment of four living quarter trailers come in at 5 pm. A crane was lined up to off load them and one of the contractors and myself lead the trucks to where they are to be offloaded. The crane never showed so after awhile the contractor went back to find the crane and I stayed to watch the two drivers as they are local nationals that can not be left alone on camp. Oh and they speak no English, at least they don’t let on like they do. So me and two of them in the middle of no where with nothing to see but sand and camp a half mile away and the sun going down. This made me uncomfortable but I made sure they see me lock and load my weapons. That’s a big deterrent for most of them. And luckily no incidents happened. I probably would not have been so concerned but only two days ago two of our local national that go to project sites we can’t get to because of the threat level and take pictures and report how the job is progressing got killed on there way home from our office, and the secretary that works five desks down from mine was captured on her way home and they beat her so bad she almost died, she is in the hospital now. All of this because they work for us and the insurgents doesn’t like that.

The big problem is you don’t know who your friend is and who your enemy is. We have local nationals working in our base but you just don’t know and don’t dare trust any of them. About the time you think you can trust one he is caught trying to steal secret information or is one that is killed the night before because he was launching rockets at us.

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Still no quarters or office and I am looking at two weeks yet before any internet connection to speak off. On the bright side I do have a cell phone now and received my company pickup today. Of course now that I have those two items I am even busier because I can move around faster and to more places. Last night we had five prisoner compounds rioting at the same time. It got kind of hairy for awhile but the CS and OC gas put the bad boys down in a hurry. Temperature wise it has been averaging 115 degrees. People are still telling me that come July and August it will be 140 to 150 degrees here, I find it hard to believe but time will tell. Oh and when someone tells you that it’s a dry heat so it isn’t as bad (they are full of shit).

May 02

not much to report today. the temp hit 110 degrees today. I have been busy working my Bucca project doing coordinating and paper work geting design features approved. otherwise not much to ad. with in a week I will be moved to Bucca.