by Peter Hill
2/27/2010

I am in the final stage here, finally. We are all done in Ramadi and packing things up for the next move back to Baghdad to wind down. We have some new people coming in to replace us soon. We have to go through some training with them to let them see what we are doing. Then we have to observe them for a week or so, to make sure they do it right. We don't have any hard dates yet, but we are supposed to be done by April 19th.  That would be our one-year date. Of course I can't tell you any specifics, that's all OPSEC (operational security). Don't want the bad guys to find out when we are leaving.

I'm a little worried about the economy, as a returning soldier, former carpenter, I hear it is hard to find a job now-a-days back in town. I am hoping to retire from the Guard now that I've completed my twenty years and done my deployment.
 
I was hoping to continue my federal service though. I'd like to get a job with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife or Department of Homeland Security, Maybe even MEMA. I'm hoping that my military background will help. I know being a mechanic doesn't really cross over to anything in another government agency other than being a mechanic.  But I know the problem solving skills, leadership training, the ability to think and act under pressure and the ability to promote teamwork and to work with others would be beneficial to many companies and organizations.

I am going to try to find a job at home for a couple months and if I can't find a local, I have the opportunity to go to Ft. Drum, NY, and help train soldiers getting ready to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. Though it is not an accompanied tour, Vicki would only be five hours away and could come up when I have a day off. The benefits and steady income would definitely help, although being away from home for another year is not my first choice.

I can believe that I am almost done. It's been a very interesting year. I've met a lot of Iraqi soldiers and policemen that are great people. What is more amazing is that I have learned more about the US and the American way of life by being away from it. Taking things for granted. i.e. constant power.  Oh, I know the power might go out occasionally during a storm or a brown out in the summer when every spoiled Tom, Dick and Jane have to have their AC's on. That's another thing, air conditioning (Come to think of it, why do we call it Heat and AC? Isn't heating the air also conditioning it?) The American attitude is, If I have the money to do it, I will, not thinking of how it might affect the others. I won't get into all that now.

Back to my list. Running water. Growing up, I didn't think much about letting the sink run when I brushed my teeth.  It seemed normal.  Because of the shortage of clean water over here, you tend to have to think about it. It's worse in the summer, but all year we are supposed to take " combat " showers, get wet, turn off the water, soap up, rinse off. Hell, that makes sense to me! Why not do that everywhere? Is water that abundant that we can just watch it run down the drain being unused? Oh, I know how good it feels to have nice hot water running down your back loosening up your muscles. It's just something to think about while the soldiers over here have to do it so everybody can have enough water.
 
Another thing that I noticed will make Vicki laugh. Soldiers/sailors just don't pick up after themselves. I am forever wiping the sink out before I use it, because the person before me didn't take the twelve seconds to rinse down the sink when they were done. Wiping off the table at your place when you are done eating is another thing. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to sit down at the table and there is crap all over the table from the person who left. It's a simple thing. There are napkins on the table.  When you stand up to leave ,wipe down any mess you've made onto your tray and take it with you. It's just overall consideration for the next person. Maybe that does not pertain to things I've learned about Americans, but they are US troops.

We have FN's ( foreign nationals ) working everywhere over here. They clean our bathrooms, cook our chow, convoy our stuff around.  It's amazing. I guess it keeps soldiers from having to do it. There would be another 50,000 troops over here if we didn't have them. I am not so sure it wouldn't be cheaper to have the soldiers though. I can't imagine how much the contracting companies make per person working in a war zone. It doesn't make it all the way down to the poor souls working hard. Hey that might be a good thing to do with all the illegal aliens crossing
the boarders.  Catch them and put them to work over here, like an indentured servant. Hummmm, something to write my congress person about.

Just like the American work force at home, these FN's do everything the kids don't want to do -- anything physical, landscape, carpentry, roofing, painting or the menial tasks. D&D or some other drive through hate to actually have someone speaking so you can understand. I think that these kids in the military are going to think this is the way it should be. What ever happened to KP and GI parties?! Not only were those good punishments, but they also taught you something.

There are always tasks you don't want to do but somebody has to do them. When I got to one of my locations, we had to do police calls around the area to pick up trash every Thursday AM. Then we met back at HQ. Just as they were about to dismiss us, I asked if everyone just didn't throw stuff on the ground we wouldn't have to do this every week. We haven't done it since. Novel idea, huh?

Oh well, lessons learned in Iraq. Wish I didn't have to come over here to learn them. They should be taught in schools. Self discipline, motivation, selflessness, maybe even a little American Pride.  Can you teach that?