I'm not quite sure if this guy has good luck or bad luck. One thing for sure, I woulnd't want to be on the helicopter with him on his way home from Iraq!

I had to monitor the radio all night so I got some work done on getting pictures posted. Check them out if you get a chance!

I also managed to mess up the DHTML menu on the main page in the process, but it's 5:30 in the morning and my replacement just came down to relieve me. I think it can wait to be fixed until later.

//edit// Never mind, I found it. The menus are working again (because I know you were so worried that they were down, right?)*lol*

We sit on the eve of the first big step towards Iraq's democracy. The Iraqis finally get to vote on Sunday!

Quite a bustle of activity here on post as we get ready for the election! The biggest issue for us is transporting the thousands Iraqi trainees here to the polling stations so they can cast their vote. Our team will be providing some security and logistical support for movement from the post to the polling station a few kilometers away. I will be working at the TOC here on post monitoring the radio and ensuring people can communicate with each other.

Security is tight here on post, although I don't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. The area around An Numaniyah has historically been calm and stable. We have a pretty good relationship with the locals. The military training base at An Numaniyah provides a lot of jobs for the surrounding area, so the locals tend to see us as a good thing. All the same, we have taken extra precautions to ensure that our post doesn't become the newest headline on Monday morning.

One gets a sense of both excitement and confusion from the Iraqis when you talk with them about the election. The interpreters working with us are anxious to go vote, but you get the sense that they don't entirely understand the process. It is encouraging just to hear them speaking about the election and debating the candidates though. One interpreter was asked if he would vote for Allawi. He replied - and I quote - "Fuck Allawi! What has he ever done for me?" (Clearly the interpreters are learning not just how to speak English, but how to speak American military *lol*)

I suppose you could interpret his response as revealing a cynical attitude about the new government, but in the overall scheme it's exciting that he is able to express his thoughts about the government so vehemently. If he had said such things under Saddam, who knows what would have happened to him?

There are some difficulties with the electoral process over here, which is to be expected since this is Iraq's first election in several decades. After being told of one mix up in the planning leading up to the election, our base commander was over heard muttering under his breath, "God . . . and we though hanging chads were bad." Pretty much sums it up. I predict the first thing we're going to see after the election is plenty of arguing about who actually won and lots of finger pointing and accusations of voting fraud. Really though, is it any different than in the States? Myself, I was wondering if Iraq will now have Red Tribes and Blue Tribes.

Welcome to the wonderful world of democracy Iraq! It's not perfect, it's often quite messy, but when it works it can do some great things. I just hope that the Iraqis don't become too discouraged when their perceptions of what the election can do meet up with the reality of what the elections will do.

It seems the Unkymoods site was down for a little bit for upgrades. But the moods are back!

A short article about the new water treatment plant that was just completed here on post.

Where did the unkymood go? I miss having my little mood-smiley-face there in the upper right corner. I can't get the site to come up at all. I wonder if they shut down? That would be such a dissappointment!

Man, the weather here is out of control! It is raining cats and dogs with winds gusting to 30 miles per hour. The whole post is slowly filling with water *lol* I don't know who designed this base (actually, I do - Saddam) but the whole place floods whenever we get more than a light sprinkle. And let me tell you, it's been raining all day long.

Even my room is flooding. The windows aren't sealed properly to the walls, so the water is coming in around the windows. Everybody on the eastern side of the building has water coming in their room. The wind is shaking the entire building it's so strong. Man, I'm glad I'm not sleeping in a tent tonight!

I can't wait to see this place in the morning. I will be sure to get some pictures, because no one will ever beleive the desert holds this much water.

Interesting page of factoids about the An Numaniyah Airfield, which is just a couple kilometers down the road from the training base where I'm at.

I had a fun day today. We took a trip to Scania this morning to pick up some Humvees. This in and of itself is not really all that fun, but the food at Scania is good and it's a chance to get off post for a little bit. I got to ride in the turrent and man the SAW on the way back, which I always enjoy. Quite a feeling driving down the road at 60 MPH sticking out the top of the Humvee with a machine gun at your shoulder.

When we got back I did a little dog hunting. We have issues with wild dogs roaming on post here, so we've begun to actively patrol the areas they tend to hang out in and shoot them to help control the dog population. Might sound mean, but it cuts down on the spread of disease and prevents damage to post property. They like to burrow under the outer perimeter fence which creates security problems.

Anyway, I was driving past the garbage dump when I spotted a wild dog trotting towards the dump, not far from the road. I hopped out of my truck, pulled out my Glock and tried to narrow the distance between myself and the dog in order to get a better shot but she kept walking in the opposite direction. Eventually the dog stopped about 100 feet away, turned directly toward me and started growling. I figured this was as close as I was going to get, so I stopped and took aim, waiting for her to turn length wise to present a clean, broad side target. Eventually she turned to walk away and I squeezed off a single round. I think I hit her in the hind quarters because she yelped and jumped in the air when I fired at her, then ran off before I could get a second clean shot off. I fired once more as she ran but missed. I could have kept firing at her, but I figured my odds of hitting a moving target with a pistol at a couple hundred feet were pretty slim. No sense wasting the ammunition.

That's the problem with 9MM rounds - they're not really all that heavy so they usually don't kill with one shot. Hopefully it died shortly there after. I'd hate to just wound it. On the positive side, this is officially my first shot fired in anger - at a stray dog that still managed to get away *lol* Born killer, I am.

But the absolute best today had to be the phone call I received later in the afternoon. I was catching up on my email when an individual (who shall remain nameless) called and reported that he wasn't getting an internet connection. Nothing was happening when he hooked his laptop up to the line I had installed in his office. He told me he had looked at the switch and checked out the line, and it all looked ok. He couldn't get into the closet where the router is (because I had locked it, thank goodness) so he wasn't sure if it was a problem in there. I stifled an inner sigh and told him I'd be right over to check it out.

I was finishing up my email when he called back a couple minutes later:

Him: "Hey SGT Rhodes, does the switch need electricity to work?"
Me: *thoughtful pause* "Yes, it does."
Him: "Oh, ok, well that explains it then. The power is out in the building. I'll just wait until it comes back on."
Me: "That's a good idea sir. If there's no power, there's no internet."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is America's Army.

Oh, gosh, is this the first post of the new year? I believe it is! A little tardy, but I suppose I have a good excuse.

We went to Scania yesterday and only managed to hit two objects on the way there! WOOHOO!! One was a truck who had pulled over to get out of the way of the lead vehicle as it approached it from behind, only to pull back onto the road at the last second. This, of course, elicited the predictable result of being hit and run off the road. The other object was an abuttment that the driver misjudged and hit as he drove past. No serious damage either, although I was manning the SAW in the back and the butt stock came up and hit me in the mouth. No serious damage there either *lol*.

We had a small banquet thrown by one of the local Iraqi locals who has made quite a bit of money providing services for the post. Otherwise nothing special for New Years, although I did get to talk to Kelley just before the ball dropped, so that was a good thing.