13OCT2007: NIGHTWATCH

This week I've been on Night Dispatch, so all week I have sat listening to radios and answering calls from 1900 hours to 0700 hours the following morning. I've also been sleeping most of the day, trying to squeeze a trip to the pool or gym in whenever possible. I've also kept myself busy.....and awake....by answering emails, reading and surfing the net. For the most part it has been quiet, except for the attacks on the 10th, that certainly opened my eyes. I have heard mortar and rockets in the distance, but this really shook the house and it was obvious they hit only right down the street! The incident made the National news, there were many injuries and two deaths, scary to think that it happened at an intersection we drive through, walk through and go to everyday.
Today, while I was asleep getting ready for tonight, things around here got serious again. I guess there has been enough intel to close down most non-essential buildings and cause the DFAC to be "take-out only", when I went out to get dinner it was a ghost town. Everyone is ordered to wear their "battle-rattle" (body armor and helmet) when out, stay indoors as often as possible and even wear body armor indoors. So now I sit here monitoring the radios and phones waiting for something to happen. This has the makings of a long night, longer than usual anyway. So, it's 2135 hours, a fresh pot is brewing and I wait for the proverbial "shit" to hit the fan! Wish me luck!

10OCT2007: IRAQI ARCHITECTURE, HORTICULTURE AND WILDLIFE!! OH MY!!

I'm starting a few new posts on here, there is a lot to write about and post pictures of all the great things to see in this country so you are gonna see it too! The architecture here is fantastic, very detail oriented. The Plants are beautiful and somewhat familiar too. And of course the same goes for the animals, many are common in our regions. Now insects, those can get interesting with the Camel spiders and the scorpions, have not seen any yet, maybe soon. Those combined with the buildings' stonework, archways and colums you never get tired of looking all around you. These grounds were once a resort spot and there are several large man-made lakes. Many of the buildings back up to the lake and there are even more that are built out across a bridge on the lake. All have staircases that lead into the water, likely for swimming purposes. There is an artificial lake, now called Victory Lake surrounding the palace that has a special breed of large bass dubbed the Saddam bass as well as large carp. They are huge, some possibly over 3 feet long and they are very acustomed to having people feed them, they swarm the shore when people are near. People feed them chex-mix from the DFAC, they even throw it about a foot up on shore and the fish jump out of the water to get it. It's amazing, I have not had my camera yet to get pictures of them doing it, but I will. Saddam also formerly used the palace for duck-hunting expeditions. So in this part of the blog I will be picking something and postiing pictures and some detailed information about it. Lets get started with the big one everyone talks about over here....and I do mean BIG ONE!

THE CAMEL SPIDER

Interestingly enough a camel spider is not a spider at all, it is actually a Solpugid. There are approximatly 900 species of them known to date. It is also commonly known as: Wind scorpion, Sun spider, Sand Spider and Sand puppies ( Puppy is not a name I would have come up with...not exactly cuddly). Camel Spider can get upwards of 6 inches long and can run at an amazing speed of 10 mph. They are nocturnal creatures and prefer to stay in their burrows during the day. If they are out during the day they seek out shadows, many people believe they chase humans when they are in fact using your shadow for shelter. Camel spiders typically feed on insects, scorpions, or lizards and often eat so much that they become bloated and can hardly move (much like I do!!). The camel spider is not dangerous and typically does not bite humans unless it is by accident or they feel threatened, they are harmless predators with strong jaws and no venom. On the left is a typical camel spider and on the right a picture actually showing 2 camelspiders attached to one another and held out in front of the soldier to make them look larger than they actually are.

AL FAW PALACE

So, I already got into the history and current occupants of Al Faw Palace, the headquarters for the Multinational Force Iraq (MNFI) along with the Joint Operations Center (JOC), which serves as 'Mission Control' for all operational aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So now some pictures I took this week. These are mainly of the Foyer/Main Hall and the Exterior of the Entrance. Inside is decorated with almost every type of decorative stone imaginable, granite, marble etc, Large Chandaliers (The center is the 2nd largest in the world apparently) which I heard were actually cheaply made and all the glass/crystal pieces are made of plastic. I've also been told that much of the more intricate work and masonry is poorly done. Either way when you are here it looks stunning and very regal despite the former owner. So take a look and tell me what you think, there are also some pics of the Saddam Bass I mentioned in an earlier post, they are freakin huge! Oh yeah, and me on the Throne suckin in my fat gut!! Not that Throne, that's gross!! There is an inscription that says (in Arabic), "Victory is from God and soon we will retake Jerusalem." The actual Throne was a gift from Yassir Arafat and shows a Koran at the top open to a chapter entitled "The Isrealites".

THE CHALLENGE COIN

When I first came into country I noticed everyone had, traded or sought after "coins". I wasn't to sure what they were or what they meant. Then I was told we had a Station coin and after a little tutoring on the subject I came to know what a Challenge Coin actually is. Basically they are an unconventional coin bearing the logo of an organization. They are bought, sold, traded, awarded and are a very popular collectible over here. I assumed they had only been popular for maybe 10 or so years, but upon consulting Wickipedia I found they originated during World War I and have since become enormously popular worldwide. The workmanship varies but seems to be good at its worst, depending on the manufacturer. I will have some examples posted tonight.
Read about them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin

07OCT2007: ANOTHER DOOR OPENS...

My Home for a year: South Victory Station #2

Sunday night, September 24th I arrived at South Victory Fire Station #2 and right off the bat I was made to feel right at home. Throughout this blog I'll use my co-workers names', but I will not use last names, hometowns or any other personal info. It was after dark when I arrived so the day was winding down, I was on the schedule for the following morning so I was assigned a room and began to settle in and unpack. All the accomodations are inside the Firehouse, no running out to a latrine trailer or port-a-john in the middle of the night which is nice because it is damn dark around here at night! I hit the sack ready for my first day, 0700 was starting time, morning meeting, time-sheets and stuff. I set my alarm early, back in DC I would try to be at the Firehouse an hour early. I woke at 0530 and threw my gear on the Irons position, forcible entry (My favorite, you get to smash things!). I made some coffee and waited for the day to begin. Since everyone is living in the Firehouse most get up shortly before 0700 because there is no travel/commute time. Morning meetings are very organized, short drill and it's out the door to chow. Once back it is clean-up time. This is one of the cleanest Firehouses I have ever seen, everybody is involved, everyday. Then, most weekdays involve inspections, Fire Prevention is a big part of the job over here due to the faulty electrical in the temporary housing, Capacity of the existing electrical work and the arid conditions. Therefore we are spending a few hours a day inspecting, getting signatures and scheduling buildings for the rest of the week.

The Station houses Engine 611, Tanker 611 and Support 611 (mini-pumper). In DC I was assigned to a ladder truck of which there are none here in country. No real need for them since most everything is single story with only a few buildings between 2-5 stories. I never got much experience doing Engine work in DC, pumps or driving etc. It's all about the Engine here and I'm already learning to draft and work the pumps. The week was spent getting use to the Engine, where the equipment is located and how things are run on a daily basis. One of the D/Os (Driver/Operators) is Cedric, extremely nice, very funny yet serious about his job. He teaches Fire Prevention/ Extinguisher classes to the soldiers and civilian contractors a few times per week. I started helping him out and hopefully will have a chance to start taking these classes to get certified in D/O and Inspector 1 & 2. The pictures with Fire in them are of the extinguisher classes, not incoming bombs or rockets. One thing I was seeing alot about being over here is there is not a high call volume, which I found out this week. Not a call all week but still lots of work done. There is always something to keep you busy, especially with all this damn dust!

On a serious note, during my first week I had a dream that really affected me. Being in a new environment I definitly have felt out of place and more than a little lonely. I miss home and everyone there and I can't wait to get back for R&R. I have been sleeping a bit deeper than usual, back home I had horrible sleeping habits which can happen with up to 6 dogs on the bed with you. I never slept very well at the Firehouse either, always on the verge of consiousness. When the bell went off at night I would literally jump off my bed wether the call was for the Truck or not. Anyway in this dream I was talking to someone, not someone you could see or touch, more of an entity. Also it was not a spoken word talk, more like mind-reading talk. Shortly after I had it I got a feeling that the entity was in fact my Grandfather (Pop), John Fennell. Although I distinctly remember thinking that there was no heavy Irish accent. The conversation was short, I was saying that I felt alone, not reallyy upset, but isolated. He almost laughed and asked me why I would feel like I was ever alone. There was no physical body to lookk at but it was as if he gestured off to the side. I looked over and saw Donna Curley, one of my very good friends growing up. Since she was killed by a drunk driver I think about her often. I have few pictures of people I grew up with that are readily available for me to look at, her graduation picture is always close by, she wrote on the back, it's really faded now but still legible. Whenever I come across it I keep it around for a few days and read it over and over. She was a wonderful friend, we had a lot of fun in High School. I think the highlight was Spanish with Mr. Inkles, that class was the best. We had a ball. If I could do it all over again and go back to High School i'd do it just to see Donna!!

Week two started off the same, kinda slow. A few of the house members were sheduled to be in classes this week and next so we had an open spot. It was filled by Chris, one of the guys I came into country with, young guy, 23 Army brat with a lot of Firefighting experience under his belt. He's a very knowledgeable guy for his age as well as a good person. He is assigned to Station #1 right next door at Camp Liberty but he got to spend the week with us. So over in Houston he was dubbed "McLovin" by me because he looks a bit like the kid from "Super Bad", plus he looks real young so he could pass for a senior in High school. I'll post his pic on here later, have to ask him if it's cool. I was happy to see a familiar face when he arrived and we manned the back step that week, me on the line and he on the irons. Mid week we had a small brushfire over at Lost Lake, not much too it, not much brush to burn! We literally used the dirt to put it out, didn't have to worry about a re-kindle, there was very little in the vicinity to burn.

The next day around lunch we had a small electrical fire in a bathroom that was out on arrival, not much to it but always good to have something. No medical calls yet either, which is a good thing, from what I have heard if there is one it is usually pretty bad. This is a warzone and the camp will get incoming.

The big news was the fire at Al Faw Palace, nothing huge, just a good room and contents probably electrical in nature. The whole room burnt up, fire jumped up pretty good when we got in. The building itself is very, very big so it took a while to actually get to the fire and get hoselines up there. Initially the guards brought us to the wrong part of the building, there was smoke coming out of the HVAC and they thought it was the fire. The call came out at about 0130 hours and I was dead asleep, McLovin knocked onn my door and I was out-of-it! I ran out to the Engine and put my gear on. Now I was sleeping with no socks on and later forund out my boots were also a bit too small ( Logistics wrote size 11 on the outside of the boots, but the inside manufacturer label was 10.5). We were on-scene for about 4 hours and every part of my feet were covered in blisters, man was it painful! I got through the next couple of days with little problems but thank God I am on dispatch this week so I can heal and get new boots! Anyway, so far that was the best fire we've had, cool to think it was in probably the 2nd most important building in the world right now. Kinda surreal looking back, things are still sinking in.

Another incident we had was kinda funny, started at the gym. I was on one of the weight machines with my ipod on. I was moving around and didn't feel anything but noticed people all of the sudden start looking uneasy. I took one bud out of my ear and heard a 2nd explosion and felt the impact pretty good. So people start jumping underneath the weight benches and equipment. So I get down on the ground like everyone else because thats what you do when there is an air attack, right? Then I see two of the guys on the Engine with me running out the door and I remembered I am supposed to be responding to wherever the mortar/rocket hit. So I got up and ran to the Engine and got suited up. The driver, Terry, great guy with a heavy, heavy southern draw says "you got your battle-rattle on?" I was like "battle-what?" Turns out he was talking about body armor, we have to wear it under our turnout-gear when responding to incoming incidents. Another new experience for me, even though it wouldn't hurt sometimes to have it in SE, DC. Boy is it heavy too! In the end there were two hits, one outside the fence and one in. Nowhere near anyone or anything that could catch fire, only about a 6 foot diameter crater to show for it. They missed this time.

The rest of the week was uneventful, "McLovin" went back to Station 1 and we got another addition to the house, Greg. A real nice guy. Next week I am on night dispatch which means I'll be up from 7pm to 7am everyday for 7 days. Not much fun, but I'll get to go to the pool all week during the day! More to come soon!

This is the beginning of a new career for me, yet this career requires me to live in a different, unfortunatly hostile, country. No doubt there will be many things worthy of sharing with people close to me and others I do not know as well. I will document as much as possible and look forward to your emails and comments, update me on your lives but most important of all, stay connected. On that note, I'll start a new post and look for correspondences from you all.