"I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never
intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress" -
Frederick Douglass
intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress" -
Frederick Douglass
The Battalion I command is spread all across the IJOA (Iraqi Joint Operating Area). That means the only way I can keep myself "six inches above the battlefield" is to conduct battlefield circulation. In other words, I have to gear-up and go see my Soldiers. My latest excursion saw my command group taking a jaunt down to Camp Liberty to see my "Deuce
Train" Soldiers from Fort Campbell. Some of my "Mad Dawgs" are there as well. CSM, my BN Chaplain, and I loaded up on Blackhawks at Speicher on a blistering hot Monday and left the rest to the flight crew. It wasn't a direct flight, as they rarely are. We made a stop at FOB Warhorse first and then flew on to BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) - home of Sather Air Base. While flying from Warhorse to BIAP we were treated to a stunning aerial view of The Great Ziggurat of Agargoaf, which is a Babylonian ruin dating back thousands of years. Iraq isn't called the "Cradle of Civilization" for no reason. Along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers can be found remnants of many places known for their place in the Old Testament. The birthplace of Abraham can be found at Ur, near modern-day Tallil. Just look out the window of the Blackhawk your riding in next time you are conducting your own battlefield circulation and you are bound to see a ruin along the way.Camp Liberty is no stranger to me. It is a subsidiary of Victory Base Compound, which is home of US Forces-Iraq Headquarters. The whole complex is sprawling around the runways of BIAP and the scenery chang
es from Saddam Hussein's palaces to row after row of CHU's and motorpools full of various military hardware. Camp Liberty is the latter. I spent a good many days during "The Surge" working out of Liberty. The place reminds me of Fort Hood, TX in that it seemingly has an unending number of motorpools, HQs, billets, and DFACs. It's a whole lot dirtier though. Everything at Camp Liberty is temporary. It is all a byproduct of the war in Iraq. When the war is over it will all get torn down or handed over to the Iraqis. Only the Soldiers and their equipment will go home. As with the majority of Soldiers based at VBC, my Soldiers are housed at Camp Liberty. It wasn't surprising at all to find that little had changed since 2008, when I last visited the place. Even the DeFleury DFAC and Scorpion Gym were exactly where I left them.
es from Saddam Hussein's palaces to row after row of CHU's and motorpools full of various military hardware. Camp Liberty is the latter. I spent a good many days during "The Surge" working out of Liberty. The place reminds me of Fort Hood, TX in that it seemingly has an unending number of motorpools, HQs, billets, and DFACs. It's a whole lot dirtier though. Everything at Camp Liberty is temporary. It is all a byproduct of the war in Iraq. When the war is over it will all get torn down or handed over to the Iraqis. Only the Soldiers and their equipment will go home. As with the majority of Soldiers based at VBC, my Soldiers are housed at Camp Liberty. It wasn't surprising at all to find that little had changed since 2008, when I last visited the place. Even the DeFleury DFAC and Scorpion Gym were exactly where I left them.We didn't have much time to accomplish everything on our agenda. Therefore, we lost no time in getting to work. We visited Soldiers at several worksites and got a complete tour of our Battalion operations there. We walked through living areas, which included the exact same one where my CHU was located during the last deployment (one of many I had across the IJOA). I spent some time with the Deuce Train Company Commander and paid a visit to the company HQ. The entire time the temperatures soared above 130. That made for an exhausting day. At the end of it all, CSM and I sat down at the coffee shop adjacent to DeFleury Cafe for a cigar. Just to make the day complete, "Alarm Red" sounded and forced us to scurry into a bunker for a few minutes. I never heard any impact and the "All Clear" sounded soon afterward. We then returned to our cigars and our conversation.
The next day we arose early for breakfast, as we were flying back to Speicher. After some strong Army coffee, bacon, fried eggs, and seedless grapes, we were on our way back to BIAP. The pax terminal at Sather Air Base has been further refined. Now there is paved parking and the port-o-jons have been replaced by nice latrine trailers. It's almost comfortable
to wait for your flight. We didn't have to wait long though. Soon we were back on Blackhawks and on our way. The flight pattern was almost identical except for an additional stop at Balad. When we landed at FOB Warhorse the helicopters shut down and the flight crews gave us over an hour to eat lunch. Warhorse is another place I got to know very well during the Surge. It hasn't changed much either. Unfortunately, the "Warhorse National Forest" is no more. It has been replaced by t-walls. The DFAC was practically unchanged though. It still begs to give you the feel of a sports bar back home. The beer is missing though. We spent the majority of our time inside the DFAC, since it was air conditioned. The heat radiating off of all of the concrete in the noontime Iraqi sun was unbearable. Fortunately, we were soon back in the air and on our way to Speicher. We'll return to Liberty soon. There is a lot more battlefield circulation for my command team and me coming up. That's the only way we can effectively lead this awesome Battalion of ours.
to wait for your flight. We didn't have to wait long though. Soon we were back on Blackhawks and on our way. The flight pattern was almost identical except for an additional stop at Balad. When we landed at FOB Warhorse the helicopters shut down and the flight crews gave us over an hour to eat lunch. Warhorse is another place I got to know very well during the Surge. It hasn't changed much either. Unfortunately, the "Warhorse National Forest" is no more. It has been replaced by t-walls. The DFAC was practically unchanged though. It still begs to give you the feel of a sports bar back home. The beer is missing though. We spent the majority of our time inside the DFAC, since it was air conditioned. The heat radiating off of all of the concrete in the noontime Iraqi sun was unbearable. Fortunately, we were soon back in the air and on our way to Speicher. We'll return to Liberty soon. There is a lot more battlefield circulation for my command team and me coming up. That's the only way we can effectively lead this awesome Battalion of ours. 
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