MREeater

I was a senior staff officer in the Idaho Army National Guard. I deployed to northern Iraq in in December 2004, and returned home in November 2005. My blog focuses on military life of a Guardsman, as I saw it, with forays into other topics from time to time.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

A Surge in Stupidity

The idea of “surging” troops into Baghdad seems to be gaining popularity. That’s unfortunate, because it’s a bad idea. Various numbers are ...

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

On Patrol in Kirkuk

A short video of a HMMWV patrol in Kirkuk. Taken October 2005. No shooting, just gives a feel for daily life for Iraqis.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Six months later

I've been home for about six months now, and a blurb I wrote for a local publication kind of sums things up. Here it is. Slipping seaml...

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Craven and Cowardly

I guess something happened at Haditha, but until we get the facts I can’t draw any conclusions. I do know two things about it, however. On...

Monday, May 15, 2006

Medals

These are the four medals that all soldiers deployed to Iraq get. I think they are in order of precedence from left to right, although I...

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Deployment Cost Me My Job

I have previously written that I got new job duties upon my return from active duty. The job was explained to me to be a promotion, and I go...

Friday, April 07, 2006

1945 vs. 2005

I got the following in a email, but thought it is worth sharing. Hat Tip to 1SG J.B. Head for sending it to me. 1945 - NCO'S had a type...

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Stop using our troops to score cheap political points

I was reading an article about the towns in Wisconsin that voted to bring home the troops. The AP article written by Emily Fredrix containe...

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

A simple thing

I have been unpacking my stuff that just arrived from Iraq. I had a large molded-plastic foot locker packed with various and sundry items; ...

Jumpy at home

I've been home for about five months, and I'm adjusting, though more slowly than I thought. I sat in the conference room at work la...

Sunday, April 02, 2006

More artwork

Sorry about the hiatus from posting; took my daughter to a couple of colleges to see if she'd like to go there in the fall. More pix of ...

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Artwork

I am trying to upload some pictures of military art work. I've seen photos of nose gunner art from WWII, and I think that this artwork...

Monday, March 20, 2006

Art work

A couple of photos showing some ofthe art work around the FOB. The window looks like you're looking into a western cabin, complete wi...

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Transfer of Authority

I'm going to upload some of my favorite pictures, starting with some of soldiers. This is a photo from our outgoing transfer of authori...

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Self Destruction

Sometimes the bad guys just take themselves out. The first picture shows what had been an Iraqi Army checkpoint between Kirkuk and Hawija. H...

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Purple Heart Ceremony

This is a photo of a purple heart award ceremony, held at the unit which received, by far, the most purple hearts. The other is a close up o...

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Still waiting

The highlight of drill last weekend was a mandatory ethics brief. We still don't have much to do because we haven't developed train...

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Analysis? Whose Analysis?

Your analysis. Saturday morning on drill weekend, I went to my work place and finished setting up my new office, then went to track down my ...

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Chemical Ali's Swimming Pool

You probably recall the infamous Chemical Ali , known for gassing and killing thousands of Kurds. He had several villas west of Kirkuk, one...

Friday, March 03, 2006

Hillbilly armor

I have a picture that shows the front of a HMMWV after an encounter with an IED. The front end was completely blown off. The engine, fenders...

Thursday, March 02, 2006

After the search

This photo shows a scene right after a knock and search of this Kirkuk home. It was a couple of days before the Constitutional referendum a...

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

FOB Images

This post shows some various photos. This first one showing two Hummers illustrates the effect of the armor on the Hummv. The one on the ri...

Monday, February 27, 2006

Missing equipment

An article in the New York Times today reported that Governors are concerned that the Iraq war is stripping NG units of equipment needed to ...

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Long War

I heard a news report this morning that what was formerly called the Global War on Terror is now called The Long War by the Bush Administrat...

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Turmoil

Our brigade is going through an amazing amount of turmoil, and the next 9 months hold a great deal of uncertainty. Pretty much all senior le...

Reunion

Last night, Friday, we had our first drill with pretty much everyone in attendance. Two things stood out. On a drill before mobilization, ...

Monday, February 06, 2006

Funeral

Here are some pictures, the likes of which you probably won't see in traditional media. This is a "ramp ceremony" for a soldie...

Friday, February 03, 2006

Drill surprises

I talked to a soldier who has been giveninformation about our upcoming drills that has her upset. By some regulation, we don't have to ...

Home Town Humor

A dairy farm operates right next to the new high school. The owner seems to have a sense of humor, as he recently posted this sign next to ...

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Don't ask, don't tell

While in Iraq a young male soldier came to me, pretty shaken up. He had checked his email and found that he had received a homosexual solici...

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