Tag Archives: al anbar province
Going to War: The First Mission Flying West in a C-130
Workhorses: C-130s at an US Base in Iraq This is another installment of my “Going to War” Series that I began last year. In the Fall I had to take a break from posting anything more due to issues that … Continue reading →
Filed under iraq,afghanistan, Military, Tour in Iraq
Tagged as 2nd border brigade, 2nd mlg, 3rd brigade 7th iraqi division, advisors, air load plans, air support requests, al anbar province, al asad, al asad terminal, al waleed port of entry iraq, border teams, c-130, california line, compline, ground crews, iraq, iraqi port of entry police, korean village, lake habbinyah, ma-jong, nelson lebron, prop blast, PTSD, reforger 1985, syrian border, tour in iraq, tq, us army, usmc, wiley-x sunglesses
Goodbyes and Prayers: Sending Friends off to War
My little war within the war, Christmas with the Bedouin Yesterday I was honored to be at a pre-deployment ceremony for a number of my shipmates from Portsmouth Naval Medical Center about half of I know fairly well. There were … Continue reading →
Filed under counterinsurency in afghanistan, iraq,afghanistan, Military, shipmates and veterans, US Navy
Tagged as afghanistan, afghanistan casualties, afn, al anbar province, camp lejuene nc, cnn, cop south, counter insurgency, deployments, djibouti, eritrea, ethiopia, fleet marine force, fox news, guantanamo bay, individual augmentee, iran, iraq, korea, lieutenant christopher babcock, mohammed karzai, msnbc, nato, naval hospital camp lejuene, navy cutbacks, news media, portsmouth naval medical center, ramadi, seabees, support the troops bumper stickers, taliban, US Navy, usmc, vietnam war
PTSD in the Danger Zone and Blue Lights in the Rear View Mirror…Caught in the HOV damn!
Today I was able to have a pleasant chat with one of Virginia’s finest State Troopers. The man was doing his duty and found me in violation of using the HOV-2 lane on I-264 West as I headed into work … Continue reading →
Mission Accomplished in Al Anbar: The Marines Turn Over the Mission to the Iraqis
Religious Support Team 2 MNF-W the Desert Rats at Al Waleed August 2007 There was a time not very long ago that names like Al Anbar, Fallujah and Ramadi were synonymous with futility and humiliation. But that was before a … Continue reading →
Filed under History, iraq,afghanistan, Military
Tagged as 1st armored division, 1st iraqi division, 2nd border brigade, 7th iraqi division, al anbar province, al qaida, anbar awakening, basra, diayala province, fallujah, french algeria, ied, iraq, iraq surge, iraqi army, iraqi police, malaya insurgency, mass casu, mnf-west, operation iraqi freedom, ramadi, shock surgery trauma platoon, ta qaddum, US Marine Corps
Padre Steve’s Decade in Review: Up Down Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again
Happy New Year! Well, we have killed off the first decade of the new millennium and I hate to say it but I miss the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Somehow despite the threat of double secret nuclear annihilation, disco, and … Continue reading →
Filed under History, Loose thoughts and musings
Tagged as 200 election controversy, 2000 election controversy, 2008 presidential election, 2009, 2nd marine divsion, 9-11 attacks, afghanistan, al anbar province, al gore, al qaida, american military university, anbar awakening, arnold schwarzeneggar, bank bailouts, barak obama, beltway sniper, beslan terrorism, bill clinton, black helicopters, boston red sox, celebrity deaths, congressional steroid hearings, curse of the bambino, dave thomas wendy's, deade in review, death, detroit tigers, dick cheney, eod group two, football, george carlin, george w bush, ghost, h1n1, hangin chad, hanging chad, harbor park, hezbollah, hillary clinton, hurricane katrina, iran buclear program, iran riots, iraq, iraq insurgency, iraq surge, iraq un oil for food program, iraqi army, israel, john kerry, john mccain, johnny carson, london bombing 2006, madrid bombing 2004, marine security forces, marion jones, michael jackson, michael phelps, nelson lebron, new york yankees, operation iraqi freedom, patrick swayze, philadelphia phillies, pope benedict xvi, pope john paul ii, PTSD, richard pryor, sarah palin, space shuttle columbia, star trek, steroids, supreme court, taliban, tampa bay rays, tom landry, usmc command and staff college, uss cole bombing, uss hue city, uss john f kennedy, vatican and anglicans, walter cronkite, world series, y2k
Veteran’s Day: Goodbye to 666 Lake of Fire Circle, a Golf Outing and Remembering the Veterans in my Life
Today was Veteran’s Day. Amid the solemnity of the day I am still in California where I came this week to try to help my mom with my dad’s affairs and to also see my dad who is definitely in … Continue reading →
Filed under alzheimer's disease, golf, iraq,afghanistan, Military, PTSD
Tagged as 1st sgt jim koenig, 557th medical company, abusive parents, advisers, afghanistan, al anbar province, alzheimer's disease, an loc, an officer and a gentleman, applebee's, army rotc program, battle of hue city, chaplain rich whaley, colonel donald a johnson, colonel edgar morrison, colonel mike paulovich, colonel raymond hawthorne, cwo4 charlie kosko, eod technicians, fort indiantown gap, fort lewis wa, general peter pace, golf, iraq, lcdr breedlove, major general frank smoker, major scotty jenkes, navy, navy njrotc, nelson lebron, PTSD, robin williams' golf skit, rotc advanced camp, senior chief john ness, sfc harry ball, sfc harry zilkan, sgt henry boyd, sgt maj kim davis, tony limey cartilage, veteran's day, veterans, vietnam, vietnam veterans
Going to War: Building Blocks for Success at TQ
Note: This is the latest chapter of my “Going to War” series which documents my deployment with RP2 Nelson Lebron to serve as the Religious Support Team for all advisors in Al Anbar Province. Previous posts of this series are … Continue reading →
Filed under iraq,afghanistan, Military, Tour in Iraq
Tagged as 1st iraqi division, 2nd iraqi border brigade, 2nd mlg, 7th iraqi division, advisors, afghanistan, al anbar province, book of common prayer, ch-47, chapel, chaplain Pat McGloghlin, colonel cottrell, compline, dustoff, fallujah, fr jose bautista-rojas, green beans coffee, iraq, ltcol bien, medivac, mwr facilities, nipr, port of entry police, shock surgery trauma platoon, sipr, ta qaddum, tq, training teams, uh-60 blackhawk
Going to War: Interlude in Fallujah Reunions, Redirection and a Stay at the Ramadan Inn
USMC 155mm Howitzer firing on Insurgents at Fallujah in 2007 Note: This is the latest installment of my “Going to War” Series. Other postings in this series are located in the Subjects section under “Tour In Iraq.” The series chronicles … Continue reading →
Filed under History, iraq,afghanistan, Military, Pastoral Care, Tour in Iraq
Tagged as 1st bn 8th marines, 1st iraqi division, 2nd iraqi border brigade, 2nd marine divsion, 2nd mlg, 3rd bct 4th id, 7th iraqi division, 9-11 2001, advisors, al anbar province, baath party, camp fallujah, camp victory, ch-47, chaplain j p hedges, chaplain joe buenviaje, chaplain michael langston, chaplain Pat McGloghlin, fallujah, habbinyah, iag, ii mef, ii mef fwd, iraq, iraq assistance group, iraqi highway patrol, iraqi provincial police, ist lar, ltcol dave ottignon, luke fabiunke, major andy niebel, marine artillery, marine security forces, military training teams, nelson lebron, panasonic tough book laptop, pop tarts, porta-johns, ramada, ramadi, rct-2, rct-6, religious ministry team, religious program specialists, rmt, route 666, rp1 donnie roland, seige of habbinyah 1941, ta qaddum, the basic course, tq, uday and qusay hussein
Padre Steve’s Highs and Lows of 28 Years Service
Ooops, this should have posted the 25th…all references in the post though it posted today are for the 25th. The meltdown was the 24th, not my duty night. Note: I think that I have pretty much recovered from last night’s … Continue reading →
Filed under Baseball, History, iraq,afghanistan, Loose thoughts and musings, Military, PTSD
Tagged as 111th engineer bn, 29th infantry divsion, 2nd marine divsion, 3rd battalion 144th field artillery, 49th armored division, 557th medical company, 9-11 2001, academy brigade, academy of health sciences, advisors, al anbar province, an officer and a gentleman, army reserve, Army ROTC, army uniforms, article 15, article 15 proceedings, bill murray, bruce lawson, cabell huntington hospital, california army national guard, chaplain officer advanced course, chaplain officer basic course, cs gas grenade, elmer the shrink, eod group two, fleet marine force officer quaification pin, ft monmouth nj, germany, gulf of oman, HIV-AIDS, horn of africa, huntington wv, india and pakistan conflict, inter service transfer, junior officer maintenace course, m-151a1 jeep, m-548 ammo carrier, m-577 Command Track, marine security forces, mayport fl, medical department officer basic course, medical service corps, miltary personnel officer course, navy chaplain school, navy chaplains, neubrucke, northern arabian gulf, O.J. Simpson chase, PTSD, puget sound debs, reforger, relief pitcher, rich whaley, richard gere, riverwalk marriott hotel, rotc advanced camp, san antonio tx, stripes, texas army national guard, the rat patrol, tommy lasorda, ucla, USMC Commamd and staff college, uss hue city, van nuys ca, van nuys national guard armory, veterans adminisration, virginia army national guard, wiesbaden, wurzburg
Revisting the Demons of PTSD: Returning to Iraq in Virginia a Year and a Half Later
Today I am attending a conference on Caregiver Operational Stress Control. This brought out my “demons” as I was faced with the stories of others who had been to the same places that I have been in Iraq, and experienced … Continue reading →
Filed under healthcare, iraq,afghanistan, Military, PTSD, Tour in Iraq, vietnam
Tagged as a savage war of peace, abandonment, advisers, afghanistan, al anbar province, al asad, al taqaddum, alistair horne, an loc, battle of hue city, bernard fall, bing west, burt lancaster, canadian armed forces, code of silence, combat operational stress management, combat stress reaction, dr heidi kraft, go tell the spartans, hal moore, hell in a very small place, horn of africa, ia drang, individual augmentee, iraq, joseph galloway, khe sahn, mass casualty events, military suicides, navy, PTSD, rawanda, romeo dalliare, rwanda genocide, sailors, shake hands with the devil, street without joy, the village, us marines, vietnam, vietnam veterans, vietnam veterans memorial, we were soldiers once and young
