A Soldier's Journey: Michael Mundell

Dear Family, friends and assorted other loved ones,
We have been here at Camp Striker, in Baghdad, for two days now, with one more to go ... nothing to do, boring, boring. We have to wait here until the Phoenix Academy in Tadji has room for us in the training pipeline. Only One More Training Thing, and we can actually start to do our jobs. I am utterly sick of training. Utterly and completely.

Anyone who fools around in the stock market, here is a tip. Invest in Kellogg, Brown and Root-KBR [a division of Halliburton]. These guys own EVERYTHING here. Mess hall? Run by KBR... bus services between FOBs [Forward Operating Bases]? KBR... hiring and firing of personnel who work around here (mostly Phillipinos and Pakistanis)? - KBR. For goodness sake, I went into the porta-potty and guess who provides THAT? KBR. Buy their stock, immediately.

I say you would think this place is boring, except for one thing—we get the war by remote control. The first night we were here, there was a huge firefight—machine guns, RPGs, etc. Yesterday, there was a big big boom, followed by a vast plume of smoke. The helos buzzed all over that thing and the Apaches looked as if they were firing rockets (hard to tell). Last night, we heard the distinctive giant "zipper" sound of an A10 minigun, interspersed with lots of small arms and RPGs. Someone in Baghdad is obviously upset. Yes, Virginia, there really IS a war.

I am well, but frustrated. I wanna get where I am going and do what I gotta do. This being in limbo sucks. Everyone likes time off, but this is ridiculous. My big event for the day? Re-packing my dufflebag and cleaning around my cot and washing some socks and underware. Goodness, the excitement never stops.
Mike

Meeting Hadji
7/14/06  11:14 PM

Dear Loved ones, friends and family,
I have met Hadji (which is how we refer to the locals). I was walking to the gym one night and came across a bunch of Iraqis (mess hall workers, gate guards, etc) playing soccer. They invited me to play and viola! Now I play every night, as the "pet American footballer". They are as good as you might suspect, much as if you had a pick up game of baseball at home. I am able to stay with them, for the most part, though there are a few who are really good. It's fun and good exercise. My team comes out of the barracks to watch, so that they can abuse me later when I mess up, which they do. After the first night, SFC Fulford decided that I was probably going to need a walker in the morning. HAHAHA. I told him I would get him later.