So what would you say you do here?

Now that I have been home for a few days I thought I would share some thoughts about what I did while I was there.

Big picture…we provided a review of the detainee’s case. Every 6 months the cases were reviewed in person. A three member panel would read the case file and hear from the detainee. Just as my quote on CNN said…these guys were not convicted of a crime, they have just been held because they were determined to be a threat. The six month review provided a new assessment of that “threat.” If we said they remained a threat they were held for another 6 months, if we recommended release then another process was kicked off that could result in release fore them. We reviewed many aspects of their case to include the reasons they were originally detained as well as their behavior since being put in detention. There were many programs in the facility to help teach them reading, writing, some trade skills, and other things. We were able to take all those things into consideration. I am convinced the process was real. The detainee knew I was the best and quickest way out of lockup (as opposed to Self-Release [the PC term for escape]). Although I was not the final authority, my recommendation was carried forth a majority of the time.

I can’t talk about specific cases, but I can say that I saw the full ends of the spectrum (in many areas). I heard from poor sheep-herders that could not read and write to successful business-men with multiple degrees, from civilians to high ranking military members, from people in the lower classes to ranking members of the political parties, from people who I though were in the wrong place at the wrong time to people I clearly thought were responsible for committing acts of violence against US soldiers. I can honestly say I have seen my fair share of “terrorists.” And there is not a cut and dry formula for “what they look like.”

I learned a few things:
1. War is an ugly thing. It causes people to do bad things regardless of their original intentions. The people who want war the least…are the soldiers who have to fight it.
2. You never know what tomorrow will bring. Live for the day and enjoy what you have, before the sun rises another day your world may be turned upside down.
3. The AF clearly treats people better than the Army.
4. Most people just want simple things in life, a decent place to live and work and to be able to enjoy their family.
5. If people do not take responsibility for their own actions or at least take notice of the actions of the people around them – really really bad things start to happen.

To hear more you have to come visit me in person…and bring beer.

Back to the Family

I landed about 1300 at Baltimore. Then we talked our way onto a flight to Boston just a few hours later (instead of the next day). There was a nice reception of USO volunteers clapping and cheering when we left customs and entered the terminal. It was very honoring.

Of course the most exciting homecoming was at Boston when I fainally saw the kids. Here's a pic of the whole fam. K had the kids all dressed up in red white a blue. It was awesome.

Last but not least the whole neighborhood was out waving flags and banners to welcome me home.

More later when I have a few minutes to catch my breath. Just wanted to make sure you guys knew I was back home.

I Came I Saw I Judged

As I sit and wait for the 3 day travel event to kick off - I thought I would enter one last blog before I leave the Desert. The last few days have been extremely windy and sandy. It certainly has not made me want to stay any longer.

Our group is whole again – Javi – who we left in Baghdad made it back to us last night. His experiences were very similar to ours at Camp B. He was at the other detention facility in Baghdad sitting on the same type of review boards.

I feel proud knowing that what I did made a difference to some. I know the war is far from over, but at this point it is clearly a fight for the hearts and minds more than for small tactical advances.

I know the adjustment to home will have some bumps. Just like I have changed, I know that the family has changed as well. My 6 months away has taught me many lessons, most of all…live for the now. You never know what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully the next blog will be from a much friendlier place...

A Different Kind of Cache

Many of you who know me know I enjoy a hobby called Geocaching (visit http://www.geocaching.com/ ). It’s like a high tech treasure hunt kind of game. People hide things and place the coordinates on the website. You use your GPS to go find them and log your visit. While I was sitting around fighting the boredom I decided to see if there were any caches in the area. Thanks to the technology of the web I can see multiple cache’s are located within easy walk of my tent. The one downside is I do not have a GPS device with me. No way to get a fix on the hide spots. But I did not let that deter me. I used my expert caching skills and cheated a little using hints and comments on the website to focus my search. The other tough part is the freakin heat. It’s too hot to be wandering around outside in the daylight and the darkness makes Geocaching a little difficult. I’ve looked for three of the different caches and I was successful in finding one of them. I haven’t given up on the others, but they have so few visits and no pictures for me get to clues from…I’m not optimistic about my chances for success.
I took some pics. Here’s the general area of the cache (it’s called Welcome To The Rock). I also took the cache container back to the tent to show the others what I was up to. That allowed me to photo the cache with a little bear I picked up for my youngest Titanfan. It was nice to be focusing on a cache that was fun and supposed to be found unlike the weapons caches that I read about for the last 6 months.
Today should be the last full day of wait. Tomorrow is supposed to be final out processing then begins the multi-day journey home.

The Best Korean Food I've Ever Had - In Kuwait

Someone in our group acquired a truck. I'm not sure how, nor do I really want to know. But I did enjoy taking a ride to the Army side of the base and enjoying dinner. There is an oriental restaurant there they told us, and Brandon and I were both up for something different from the standard fare. We ventured off and found it without much problem. Our excellent guide took us right to the front door. It’s a business run by the same AAFES people who run all the other eating establishments around here, but at this one you actually sit down and someone takes your order so it is a novelty. The only other time I “ordered” in the last six months was my few days on R&R at the fake Chili’s. Brandon was excited to get some Korean food, me I’m more of the American-Chinese type food guy. He had the Bulgogi and I had the Sweet and Sour Shrimp. They had chopsticks and English as a second language staff. It was just like back in the states.
We enjoyed that food actually had some spice as well. I sampled the mushroom soup and Brandon had the Kimchi before the main course. There were quite a few people there and it looked like for lunch they have a quick style serving like in the mall food courts. Chuck told me I missed ribs in the D-FAC. No biggie. My shrimp was yummy.
Just a few more days till our rotator. Wahoo!

Tell everyone about Fight Club

I went to a Bible study last night. It was billed as Christian Fight Club. Some of you may remember the movie Fight Club with Brad Pitt. It’s not a Christian movie by any stretch of the imagination, but the central theme has to do with a man finding himself in the physical struggle of a bare-knuckle brawl with a stranger…hence the name ‘fight club.’

One of the Chaplains here started a bible study based on some of the tag lines in the movie. For example the number one rule of Fight Club (from the movie) is: Don’t talk about fight club. Ask anyone who has seen the movie what the first rule of FC is and they will probably recite that. The Chaplain thought hey – there is something catchy there. So he came up with his own 5 rules of Christian Fight Club (CFC). The CFC rule is different in that “you are to tell everyone about CFC.” This was just the first session of many (they had an earlier group that got too large so he is splitting into two groups and this was the first meeting of the new group). I might try to borrow some of his ideas and develop my own little CFC. I think it is a great concept. I plan to talk with the Chaplain a little more about what he has planned across the weeks so I can work on it on my own.

At the beginning He asked why I was here (as he had done to everyone else) – and I said “well the name was cool – so I had to show up and see what it was about…and one of the rules of fight club (the movie) is if it’s your first time…you must fight…so I wanted to see if I would have to fight…” Unfortunately there was no fight to speak of. I’ll have to work on that…my CFC should have some sort of first time fight. That’s he whole point right – you have to make it mean something. I’m not sure all that makes sense when I type it out…but I’ll keep thinking/praying about it. For quite some time I have been searching for some sort of men’s group theme and a way to turn a Bible study into something that was more than coffee and pancakes with other guys. A buddy and I have discussed the Spiritual Battle we all face and thought of things in fighting type terms many times. Maybe CFC is a link to something larger. Some google searches turned up a couple of items but nothing significant – except this picture. Chaplain Shipman’s first rule of CFC – The Battle belongs to the Lord.

B-I-N-G-O was his name-O

I told you we went to bingo night a few days ago with our guy who works in services. Well none of us won so we all gave him a ration of complaints about how it’s fixed. Last night was another bingo night. It sounded better than another boring night in the tent so we all went over. Brad (services guy) went early and volunteered to help the local guys setup – and made sure we had a table reserved (sometimes it’s good to have an inside man). This night was Chiefs night. All the Chief Master Sergeants on base did the calling. The Chiefs are the senior ranking enlisted members. They’ve all been around forever and most will be happy to tell you about it. They also thought it was amateur comedy night and tried to be funny (some were successful). Most of the bingo regulars are pretty serious…so they grump back at them when they don’t call fast enough. Once again the services crew had designed a crazy set of bingo layouts on the card – instead of the simple any row up/down/across/diagonal, they design pictures on the card and you have to fill them in. Like an Airplane for example. The last puzzle of the night is the big money puzzle. It’s a progressive type jackpot. If you get a bingo (all black – completely blank out the card) on this last puzzle within a certain number of calls you were to win $300. No one made it…but they continue to call numbers until someone gets a Bingo. And low and behold it happen to be little old me. I won $100 – wahoo! Now I guess I have to buy Brad lunch at Taco Bell after giving him so much lip about Bingo. Here’s a cheesy pic of me and my prize.