Traveling; Historic and fun

What an awesome week!! I had the opportunity to travel and see another part of the country. This week, I went west towards some historic lands and what is currently owned by the Marines. I had the opportunity to visit two airfields, Al Asad and TQ, both of which are historic for good and bad reasons.

My first stop was Al Asad which is a huge airfield which used to home to Saddam's Air Force. It is also famous because it has the soccer sadium where Saddam and his son tortured the soccer team in a very publicized event. The stadium is still here, although I was not able to get any pics. More recently, a very famous picture floated around about a rolling sandstorm. Since I have been here, I have not seen this type, but that is because I live in the city.

This must have been an amazing sight.


After Al Asad, we moved over to TQ, which at one time, used to be a place where the British executives would come for relaxation. There is a massive lake here and BOAC float planes would land here in this kind of desert oasis.

Well, it is no longer an oasis and the lake does get any traffic, but we were bound to have some fun. This is the welcome sign. The top line says "Welcome to Camp Al Taqaddum" (TQ).

TQ has there very own mascot, which has a lot of irony. Remember, this is Marine country, so the Mascot is a Donkey, which happens to be the Army mascot as well and if you follow politics, you know that the donkey is teh mascot of one of the political parties; the one that does not want us here.

TQ is also famous for being one of Saddam's Air Force bases, but this one more so, because this is where he buried his planes. They were eventually found and this is a picture of them digging one out.

And this is a picture that I took. I actually did see the plane above, but could not stop. It was all an amazing sight.

After dinner, we had some time to kill, so our hosts got out their hookah (who-ka) pipe as this is their after dinner routine instead of cigars. Now, let me say that this is all legal and this was just tobacco; actually grape and apple flavored tobacco, so it was all very nice.

This is a hookah pipe. Yes, I know what it looks like.

The room of fun...........

No, I did not inhale....... Hahahahaha

See, out come the smoke.........

All in all, it was a very good trip and we made some good friends.

Ta dollars at work on the front line.........

One of the C130 planes had this flag hanging in the back and I just had to get a picture. What a great feeling.

We continue to count the days till our departure and we are all looing forward to it. Thanks for all of your support both to me and to HH6.

Service Birthday

In the spirit of all things joint and to try and stay as purple (Army green, Marine red, and the blues of Air Force and Navy) I would like to say "Happy Birthday" to the Navy. Today marks their 234th birthday. In light of this occasion, the Dining Facility served a very nice meal of prime rib with extra choices of seafood. :)

Again, happy birthday to all of the Navy Sailers staioned around the world.

Promotion Photos and a fun trip

Okay, so as promised, here are some promotion pictures and even a film clip. As I have stated before, the event was very special, not only in the promotion aspect, but because I was ale to have family present. House Hold 6 was there with the Big Man and what made it unique from our end, was that I was able to bring in two stations, my Mom being on the other end. There was lots of hard work that went into pulling this off, and I want to thank all those involved.

The pictures were taken from several different people including the CG's official photographer.

Here is me before the event.

Off with the old.........

and on with the new, and just like that, everything changes.

I think that they surprised us all with this shot, which is supposed to be me with the family. HH6 and crew on the left screen and Mom in NJ on the right.

As with any big event, we have to have a big event cake.........

and along with the cake, there was dinner; sandwhiches, fixins, wings, .........

and drinks.

The cake had to ceremonially cut, so in the CAV tradition with a Saber, I hacked away. What an awesome night.

Within a few days, I was out and about doing what I really enjoy; going out talking to Soldiers. Normally, when you get on something that flies, you just to get on and fly away, but on this particular trip, we lifted off and flew to the end of the runway, set down again, taxied to a corner and got some gas. Well, I always knew that these things took gas, I just have never been in one when it needed a fill-up.

This is the view out my window......

and the view out the other window taken a few minutes later.

It was a good night to fly.

Thanks to everyone, and more soon.

Cutting the cake

This is a little long and it certaintly took longer to upload than it did to cut. Also, it was very yummy.

History

Okay, on 1 October, the Army promoted me. It was an amazing ceremony; we brought in through video House Hold 6 from the Division HQs at Fort Hood and we were also able to bring my Mom in from her University in NJ. It was the first time that this team had done that and it worked out great. HH6 got flowers by proxy, :) and the Big Man was also there to watch. I will put pictures up as soon as I get them.

There are many thanks to go around and I cannot thank you all enough for your support. It feels awesome and I cannot wait to spend all that extra money, right honey?

Good Weekend

Well, what a wonderful weekend for sports fans around the country and through the modern magic of TV and the internet, I was able to be in several places over the weekend.

First off, on Saturday, I was able to be in TX, where Texas, ranked #2, was able to get 10 points up on an unranked team. By the same margin, #1 ranked Florida was able to get 10 points up on their unranked opponent.

About noon on Sunday, I was in NH watching the NASCAR race, as this is the first race in the chase for the finals. The senior member, Mark Martin did quite well and is now up on top. But the highlight of the weekend has to be the Cowboy-Giant game. How 105, 121 sceaming fans squeeze into that building, I will never know, but that is what they say. It was a great game and the fans certainly got their money’s worth, and one that went right up until the last second, but in the end, Mr. Manning led the charge, but the place kicker saved the day. So, when I get back, I have to decide whether I willl teach my "Big Man" to become the QB or the place kicker. Time will tell.

Also, Household 6 took the family for a mini-vacation to Sea World over the weekend and I just wanted to say how much I miss the family and I will be home soon. Sweetheart, I love you.

Happy Birthday

To all my Air Force brothers around the world , especially those currently serving in Ohio and Oklahoma and those who used to serve in NJ and Texas, I wanted to take this opportunity to say "Happy Birthday." Today is the Air Force birthday, so the Dining Facility went all out with balloons, decorations and cake.