Last post from Iraq

Well, I'm not quite out of here yet, but due to lack of internet availability, this will probably be my last post from Iraq on this blog. I'll update my facebook page and probably my blog on nwherald.com, but this may be it until I get back to the states at least.

That said, please don't send anything else to me here in Iraq. I really appreciate all the packages everyone has sent, but anything else won't get here in time.

Thanks to all of the support and words of encouragement via email too.

So was it all worth it? I don't know. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Tune into the nwherald.com blog soon for my answer.

later
dan

The light

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately it's after Christmas, but I'm getting out of here soon. Most of my stuff is packed, and we've started paperwork. I've been in unusally high spirits lately, but I'm sure that will change as I have to endure more stupidness at Division. No idea what, but there's plenty of stupidness around, and I'm sure it will make its way to my section soon.

On a good note, the weather here is great. Probably in the mid 70s right now. Shorts and t shirt weather anyway. While it's going to be rough going back to the 20s in the Midwest, I'll be happy to make that sacrifice.

The USO came through with some celebs this past week: Dave Attell, Anna Kournikova, Billy Ray Cyrus, and some other dude. They were all very cool. They were going many different places. I can't imagine how crazy their schedule was. It was good for them to stop by Basra though.

Gummi

This poor guy was eaten shortly after this picture was taken.

life at brigade

It's rained here 5 times since I've been here, and I think fall is finally here. It's a welcome change from the 100+ degree days.

I continue to be surprised at the difference between the brigade and division. At the staff meetings I learn how things really work, as opposed to the division level where they just tell the brigades what to do and don't support their work. There are a lot of sharp people here, especially the commander. There are also others like the leader of the provincial reconstruction team leader. They do so much to help the people of Iraq, like helping them make the best of their resources (like dates and honey). The leader is fascinating. I could listen to her stories for hours. She's been all over the world and was told us about the time she stayed with Mother Theresa for a month or so. Unbelievable.



This week went by really fast. I hope the next couple weeks go by just as quickly. I can't believe it's Halloween already. The only good thing about that is that the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror is on for like 7 hours. I do miss the holidays like this one that I spend with the kids. There's a haunted house here and they do a good job of trying to make it like back in the states, but the more they do, the more I miss home.

Better view from below

I recently got transferred temporarily to a brigade to help out with their public affairs while someone goes on vacation. It's a lower level than my division headquarters and has given me a chance to see a lot more of what's going on with our troops. I've met quite a few Iraqis and it's nice to see that they're a lot like us. Just trying to make a living and fix their country.

It's also been cool to see the actual progress that we're making. They're still a ways a way and there's a lot of issues, but the U.S. has a lot of issues and we've been working at it for over two hundred years. Who can realistically expect Iraq to pull it all together in 6 years?

Anyway it's helped restore a little bit of faith in our effort.

Taking a load off at the hotel at the Victory Base Complex. Behind me is Al Faw Palace. From my recent trip to Baghdad.

back to the hole

It's been a fun two weeks, but I've gotta get back to the war. I leave bright and early tomorrow and probably won't have any internet or phone for at least 4 days or so.

I'm glad I got to see as many people as I did, and also missed some people, but will make sure to get with everyone when I return early next year.

Stay tuned to this url. I'll update it as soon as I have a chance.

Lt. Dan - out.

Cabo and I smiling for a picture.

The job

I've had an awesome two weeks of leave. I've gotten to hang out with Julie and the kids a lot, got some stuff done around the house and just been lazy. It's been nice not to have to think about Iraq for a while.

I also was able to go into work and see what, if anything, I'd be doing when I got back. Our department went through some downsizing, as does every department that gets outsourced, so I was concerned that I might not have a job when I got back. It sounded like Perot Systems would be busy enough when I returned so that I would probably have work, so I was happy not to have to look for a job while I was deployed, like a number of other Soldiers are doing.

This afternoon I was excited to hear that Perot stock went up 65%. Wow, I thought, how awesome it is to be a part of this organization. I didn't catch the reason why, but hey, it's probably because they're run so well and the healthcare industry is starting to pick up. And because they have employees like me.

Well later I heard that the reason the stock went up so much is because Dell is buying Perot. So it looks like I'll be working for my third company (4th if you count the Army) in 2 1/2 years. Great. I can hardly wait to pick new insurance, have a skills inventory and basically another job interview, go through hours, if not days, of new hire orientation, blah, blah, blah. Although that said, I'll happily do all of that on a yearly basis if I can keep my job. I'm just a little disappointed because I was looking at staying with Perot for a long time. My longest tenure with an employer is a little over 5 year.

Guess it's time to start over and try again.

Back in the US

Day 3 of my leave. Life is good. I've gotten used to civilian life surprisingly quickly. Sleeping in, drinking a beer whenever, and spending time with the family. Life is good. Plus I don't have all that much time left in Iraq when I get back. The trip back to Iraq will not be fun, but once I get back into my old routine, things will be good, and probably go quickly.

One thing that still blows my mind is that people don't know that we still have troops over in Iraq. One woman asked me as I was walking through the airport, "Is that still going on?"

Another person seemed surprised that we have nearly 130000 troops still over there. I'm not up on current events, but c'mon. It's unfortunate... and I think not uncommon. People just don't know or just don't care, but I can't get enough of "thanks for your service." Thanks for what? Don't thank me for something if you don't even know what you're thanking me for.

what's new??

Hello All,
I haven't posted in a while, mostly because there's not too much exciting happening in Basa right now. I still do my posts for the NW Herald, my local newspaper, so to stay up on events, check www.nwherald.com/blogs, then look for the real Lt. Dan.

Well, I've started my leave and am hanging out in Kuwait for a little while. I was not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Things seem a little more relaxed here. As I was walking around, I spied the Golden Arches. I didn't actually eat there, but it was a sign that I'm a little closer to home.

Things are going well and I'm looking forward to spending some time with Julie and the kids (and the dogs). When I get back, we'll have a few short months, then pack up and leave this place, hopefully forever.

later!

Checkin In

Hello All,
Haven't written in a while because there's not a whole lot exciting going on here. It's like Groundhog Day...same thing over and over again.

Work continues to go pretty well. We try to have morale events once a week, like cookouts with near beer, volleyball games and stuff like that, so it's not too bad.

The temperature was in the low 80s this morning which felt almost chilly. We could actually see the blue sky, which is a pleasant change from the last couple days where we dealt with a sandstorm and a yellowish brown sky.

Other than the regular stuff, nothing going on.
Hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to drop me a line at

At what cost??

I think my latest post on my local newspaper's website says it all:

http://www.nwherald.com/blogs/reallieutenantdan/

Probably dated 7/19 or 7/20.

Happy 5th!

I missed the 4th due to not having internet access STILL, but hope everyone had a good and safe 4th. We're doing our celebrating today with a variety of events like volleyball, horseshoes and a bbq, probably complete with NA beer.
It's a beautiful day too. At 924 this morning, it's still only around 110. The sky is a nice light brown grey color, which doesn't signify rain, but a ridiculous amount of dust in the air.

Things continue to be like Groundhog day. Same thing pretty much everyday, but still keeping busy, so the time goes fast. Next month will mark our halfway point, so that's a great milestone.
Hope everyone is doing well, as I am. Not much else to say, so peace out!

it's a dry heat

Summer is finally here in Basra. Daytime temps are in the high hundred teens, to low 120’s. Last week it was hard to tell how hot it was, because our thermometer outside our room melted. Not figuratively, but literally. It only went up to 120, and eventually the glue holding the glass with the red liquid in it, gave out, and the glass fell out and broke.

We’ve now got one that goes to 140. Hopefully that will get us through the summer.

There’s still not a whole lot to do here. Work, work out, and watch movies. But last night we couldn’t even do that. The power went out at our living area, so several of us got our chairs out, sat down and hung out…in the dark…sweating. It was about 110 after the sun went down. But it was good to just hang out and talk. Sometimes that’s the best. Sitting around, telling funny or stupid stories. We did have a radio that picked up a BBC station so at least we had a little music. I’ve gotta say, for as much as some people were complaining, it wasn’t that bad. Here we were complaining that our AC was out, but Soldiers before us, and even now, would love to have our problems. Besides, after about a half an hour, the power went back on.

The climate still amazes me. It really is dry here. I think it’s rained 5 times in the last couple months and usually it only lasts a few minutes. As I walked to the chow hall today, totally soaked from working out, my shirt dried out completely from a 3 minute walk from the gym. Unbelievable. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I go home in October. Probably be wearing my winter coat.

It’s getting to be an exciting time here. As of June 30^th, we’ll have our troops out of all the cities in Iraq, and from there we’ll continue to restructure for getting out of the country completely. It’s a long process, one that will take another year and a half or so, but it’s good to see progress.

Our parking lot.

PX

Local Subway - Would you eat here?

Volley ball tournament - Can you say multiple heat casualties?

Home Sweet Home - 2nd door on the left

It's been a month since I got to beautiful Basra, and things are going pretty well. Work is good and pretty easy so far at least. That may change later, but now, it's not too bad. What is bad is the weather. It is so ridiculously hot here. Even at night, it doesn't cool off that much. I think today it's supposed to get to 115. Couple that with a nice warm breeze, and it's unbearable. It's a good thing there's bottled water and Gatorade everywhere. Here's the closest thing I could think of to replicate how it is here: Towards the end of July, go park your car in a parking lot in the morning. Around 2 pm, get in the car (with the windows rolled up of course), and turn on the heater to medium. That might come close. Or better yet, on the hottest day of the year, turn off your AC at home, warm up the oven, and then stand in front of it with the door open.

Yeah, I know it's the desert, but geez. At least we're able to wear our PT uniform on our day off. Most people get a day off, but other than that, it's 10-12 hour days 6 days a week. Not a big deal, because there's not much else to do.

I will say that I've talked to a lot of people and one of the unexpected benefits is that you don't have as much to deal with here, like stress of a job, dealing with kids, and all the other stuff in everyday life. You go to work, and on your day off, you think about you. That's it. For me, it's pretty stress free.

I've included a couple pictures showing what it's like here. The absence of color is the first thing you notice, since there is no vegetation around here. In addition, everything is coated with a fine layer of dust, and makes it more dull looking.

I hope to be getting better internet access within the next couple weeks, so will post more photos and blog entries.

Til then, take it easy.

Long time no talk

As you can probably guess, internet access still is not as robust as most of us would like here in beautiful Basra, so I'm stuck sending these posts to my wife to post.

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff to talk about. We're still getting settled into our routines, but life here seems normal now. Little things that were annoyances when I got here are just part of life. Using bottled water to brush teeth, the weather, sand in everything, and just the general stink in the air are no big deal anymore.

One of my new duties is that I'm the OPSEC OIC. That means I make sure no classified material gets in the wrong hands. This includes collecting the stuff in the burn bags in my section, and...burning it. I actually have a job I like now. It's so fulfilling to go out and light a big fire of paper and just play in it for about 20 minutes. My kids would be so envious.

Anyway that's about it for now. I'll try to post more often, but it's pretty hard with nothing going on. That's actually a good sign that the Iraqis are handling things themselves. What drives me crazy is that we're paying for this war and are actually making huge strides to help rebuild this country but the media only focuses on the deaths of US Servicemembers. There's several stories a day that are released to the media touting the work that we and the Iraqis are doing, but how often is it on the news, or even US news internet sites? Never.

I know that we're making a difference though and that's enough to get me through this deployment and out of this $hithole.

Peace

Lt. Dan, ice cream

http://www.nwherald.com/columnists/columns/2009/05/01/r_oibnqw_8sv64lcq5db3oba/index.xml

good ole basra

well, obviously I made it to Iraq. iT was pretty uneventful. One stop in germany then right to Basra. It was strange getting off the plane because at night, all you can see is the glow of the oil well fires in the distance. It stinks a little and is very dusty. It's not too bad though. Internet and phone both are difficult to come by at this point, but I think it will get better.

I will get some photos hopefully by next week. Hope everyone is doing well back home.

for another idea of how things are going, visit nwherald.com and look under the blogs for the real lt dan. I'm writing for my local newspaper. I think it will start to appear today.

Hugs and kisses from the crappiest place on earth (just kidding - 2nd crappiest).
Dan

address

To answer inquiries about my future mailing address:

Send a Care Package
To your Soldier at Camp Basra, Iraq:

Marchik, Daniel, MCP, 34th ID - CMD, Unit# 117
APO, AE 09374

Do not include your Soldier's rank.

At this point I really don't need anything, but mail is always nice. Please do not send chocolate.
Thanks
I'll let everyone know as soon as I have something to update.

Dan

status

Before you ask, yes we're stillllll here at Ft. Lewis. We are in the process of wrapping things up though. I was able to go back to Crystal Lake and see Julie and the kids for a couple days, which was awesome. The dogs remembered me and Cabo didn't try to rip my face off. It was tough to leave though. Julie was crying, kids were crying, dogs were crying. It sucked. But, I am ready to start this. It's been about a year since I set off on this adventure and I'm pretty excited that it's kicking off soon.

I have been without reliable internet lately and this will probably continue until we get to Iraq. What's ironic is that we'll probably have better internet in Iraq than at Ft. Lewis. Anyway, I'll keep this updated as best I can. If nothing else, check out my twitter page (see past posts).

Just another day

Well, my birthday came and went in the Army, and it was pretty much just another day. Not a big deal, since most or all of the important birthdays are over anyway. I did have pizza with everyone though and that was pretty cool. It was Pizza Hut, and they suck, but it still beat the chow hall.

I got a bunch of email birthday wishes from my coworkers at my civilian job, and that was cool. At least they still remember me. Hell, at least they still have jobs. It'll be interesting to see if my coworkers and I have jobs next year.

AP story

This is part of a series that the AP did on a previous deployment of the 34th ID.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/THE_LONG_HAUL_VI?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Just read it.

gotta love this weather

I was really looking forward to coming to Washington because the month before I left, it was in the 40s and 50s everyday. Not tropical, but much better than Chicago this time of year. I must say I have be very disappointed with Mother Nature. Two days ago, we had sun, snow, rain, and sleet. Temps ranged from 20s to 50s. Yesterday and today just snow. I am not diggin this. Plus it's a terrible way to acclimate to the desert.

Training continues. Again nothing too exciting, but at least it's hands on training versus sitting in a classroom watching power point slides. Work also continues. There are a lot of real public affairs missions we're working on while we train, so we're keeping busy.

Julie and the kids are doing well so far. I think Cabo still remembers me; Julie said that he was going crazy over a package that I sent home that had extra uniforms in it. I think he was a little disappointed when I didn't jump out of the box.

I also wanted to share a little video our unit put together showing how life is around here:
http://theredbulls.org/Video+list
It should be the first video on the page, with a Soldier standing in front of a Red Bulls sign.

That's it for now.

Still in WA

Yes, I'm still here in Washington, without a lot of internet access needless to say. We're keeping busy with training, work, and meetings. Things are going well. I think it will help me when I get back to the civilian world. I figure if I can deal with some generals at a meeting, I can deal with anyone in the corp world.

Our unit continues to gel. I really like the people in my unit and am impressed at their skills.
Nothing too exciting though, I'm just really eager to get things started in country.

Red Bulls

Ok, after many inquiries as to what my group will be doing in Iraq, I finally have a good answer.

Check out theredbulls.org

This is run by the many talented people in my group. There's a lot more than just text articles, although the rss feeds and video stuff is not quite fully implemeted.

Anyway, check it out after April.

Yummy.

In an effort to further demoralize Soldiers, they have closed the cafeteria for lunch. Now, we're left to MRE's. It's not that bad... we could be eating them for every meal.

I've been wondering how the MRE's stay preserved for so long. For instance, what kind of chemicals are used to give mayo and tuna a shelf life of 10 years? Also, how come the M&Ms don't melt after sitting on a pallet in the desert for weeks or months.

Let the fun begin!

Well, we made it to Ft. Lewis without a lot of trouble.  Weather is nicer than the midwest, and by that I just mean warmer.  Cool and rainy but I would rather have that than cold and snowy.  We've been busy getting MORE equipment, doing paperwork and getting shots.  So far the hardest thing has been getting up at 3:30 am to do the above things.  Hopefully when we start training for real, at least we'll get to sleep later.

We've gotten a lot of new stuff.  Improved body armor, and fire resistant uniforms are just part of it.  Although I will say that if I actually have to use fire resistant anything, there's a serious problem, unless it's my computer that catches on fire  (or my typewiter - right Steve?).

Anyway, nothing too exciting yet.  Internet access is on a sporadic basis.  I can get it in the barracks, but my computer doesn't have a decent enough antenna to pick up a good signal.  Hopefully in another week, I'll have access to post to this and check emails everyday.

Stay tuned!

Last day at work

Tomorrow is my last day at work. As much as I'm looking forward to my little adventure in the Middle East, it is hard to say good bye to everyone. I really like the people I work with, even if I don't like my job all that much. I've also gotten a lot of support from my coworkers, even if they don't understand why I'm going, and from the management at Perot Systems. Today at our department meeting I was presented with an autographed copy of Ross Perot's autobiography. He actually took time to write me a note after being informed that I was deploying. It was very cool.

It's very wierd. I feel like I'm about to enter a new stage in my life. It's kind of like getting a new job, only a lot more intense. It's a good feeling.

thought of the day

I found this on another Soldier's blog...sad but true:

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM.

Twitter

In the interest of using all internet resources available to communicate to everyone, I've signed up for a Twitter account. I actually did it quite a while back but really haven't used it.

Twitter is a microblog capable of posts up to like 140 characters. Just quick little updates, but you can subscribe to peoples' blogs and "follow" them. If you're interested, go to Twitter.com and search for muchocheko. Unfortunately I think you have to sign up for the service, but if you want to, I'll try to post. I probably won't use it too much but it's there as an option if I need it.

Check this out:
http://jaypeeonline.net/news/student-uses-twitter-to-get-out-of-jail/

test post

just a quick test post from my psp. keyboard stinks.

Early 09

Hello all. Hope everyone had a good holiday season. Just a quick update on my ever changing military status. I officially transferred to the Minnesota National Guard in September of 08. No, we're not moving there; the unit I transferred to is going on a deployment in early 09 and I wanted to be a part of it. Why would I volunteer to go to war? There are a bunch of reasons I'm doing this ranging from career experience, to tax free money, to just something I want to do as a life experience. Basically I don't want to be one of those people who goes through life saying "I wish I did whatever when I had the chance."

Anyway while I'm gone, I hope to keep this blog going. I should have regular access to the internet, so stay tuned. I should start posting stuff from in country around early May.

Feel free to send email to both my military and gmail address.

Dan