Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Iraq/Afghanistan - July 2007
I spent last week (15-21 July) chasing General Pace around Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany. Our trip took us to Baghdad, Ramadi and Al Taquaddum in Iraq; Bagram, Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Qalat in Afghanistan; and Nurnberg, Schweinfurt, Stuttgart and Ramstein in Germany.
This was a troop visit and I expect it will be one of General Pace's last big trips before he retires in October. At every stop we made he held a town hall meeting with the troops and in Germany he met with family members of deployed troops and visited our wounded at Landstuhl Medical Center. His message was simple: "Thank you." At every stop he also shook hands with and gave one of his coins to EVERY person. He answered all questions and took pictures with anyone who wanted one.
On this trip the Chairman was accompanied by two other big names: Retired Marine Colonel Harvey C. 'Barney' Barnum, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, and Sergeant Major William J. 'Joe' Gainey, the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman. They both also spoke to the troops. It was a really busy trip but I did have time to take some pictures. A few of them are below.
¶ Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10 comments 
This was a troop visit and I expect it will be one of General Pace's last big trips before he retires in October. At every stop we made he held a town hall meeting with the troops and in Germany he met with family members of deployed troops and visited our wounded at Landstuhl Medical Center. His message was simple: "Thank you." At every stop he also shook hands with and gave one of his coins to EVERY person. He answered all questions and took pictures with anyone who wanted one.
On this trip the Chairman was accompanied by two other big names: Retired Marine Colonel Harvey C. 'Barney' Barnum, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, and Sergeant Major William J. 'Joe' Gainey, the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman. They both also spoke to the troops. It was a really busy trip but I did have time to take some pictures. A few of them are below.
This is one of the reasons we have to fight. |
General Pete Pace, CJCS & me. |
At Multi-National Division Baghdad HQ. |
With Colonel Barnum. |
Outside Uday & Qusay Hussein's old hunting lodge where we spent the night in Baghdad. |
With Sergeant Major Joe Gainey. |
Strapped into a UH-60 Blackhawk over Iraq. |
With Jim Garamone, DoD reporter. |
Sweating on a C-130 on the ramp in Jalalabad. |
With Colonel Katie Haddock, General Pace's PA officer. |
With the General's Exec in a Blackhawk over Afghanistan. |
Good to go in the back of the C-130. |
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Pics from Afghanistan
¶ Wednesday, July 11, 2007 1 comments
| Okay, I finally got my pictures from my Afghanistan trip developed. Wal-Mart didn't put them on CD like I asked so I had to scan them. So more than a month after my return (and right before another big trip) here they are. You can click on any of them for a larger image. |
| This first pic is looking away from the main gate of Camp Eggers, up what is called Dragon Alley. I took this just after a torrential rain so the streets are wet. |
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| The pic below is of the dormitory we stayed in during our visit. It is called Douglas House. There were about 20 of us sharing a big open bay room filled with wooden bunk beds. |
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| This is me in front of a plaque honoring Captain Daniel Eggers who the base is named for. He was killed near Kandahar in May of 2004. |
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| Me again on the flight line at Kabul International Airport. Behind me is the C-17 that we flew home on. Since we were supporting the Secretary of Defense on this trip we all wore civilian clothes. I didn't even have to pack uniforms. |
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| This is a group of Belgian soldiers moving through the airport at Kabul. Note the soldier carrying the flag & the guitar. |
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| After we left Kabul we flew down to Kandahar. While we were there we met a guy who drove us around the flight line and showed us one of the biggest helicopters in the world that the Canadians are leasing from the Russians. |
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| This flag is on a pole in the center of a hole made in the airport roof by one of our JDAM's. |
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| Another view of the hole made by the bomb. |
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| A close up of the sign. |
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| After we left Afghanistan we spent a night at Manas Air Base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The sign behind me says Manas International Airport. |
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| From Manas we went to Ramstein for another night of crew rest. I got to sit in the cockpit for takeoff on the way back to Andrews. Very cool! I haven't finished that roll of film yet. I have more pictures of the bases and Ramstein that I may try to scan and post later. |
