Today we visited another military transition team. The team just came in to country, taking over for a different team. Seems that the bad luck fairy struck them early. Their dining facility burnt down the night before spontaneously. No one was injured. Read more »
Today we began moving trailers from the patrol base where we thought that we would live to the base that we are going to live. Read more »
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. With this in mind, we plotted our route between two Iraqi Army bases. Instead of driving a known route, which would be the shape of a crescent moon, we elected to try a new route for the first time.
So there we were… Read more »
The Iraqis did something that impressed me very much this past week. Upon receiving orders, they executed immediately and diligently.
A general sent orders to the brigade commander, ordering the brigade to relocate his brigade some miles away to a site that the U.S. Army handed over to the Iraqi Army in one week. The Iraqis executed within one day. Read more »
Recently, my team attended a battle space handover ceremony. An area that U.S. servicemen patrolled since 2003 will now be the sole responsibility of an Iraqi unit and the Sons of Iraq. The goal is for these ceremonies to become more frequent until the Iraqis control the area extending their entire country.
The Iraqis stand a little taller when we recognize their units as competent. They can provide security for themselves even better than we can. Confidence is a powerful force.
The Iraqi brigade has made impressive progress in the past few weeks. The progress is visible particularly in terms of building the sleeping quarters, recreation room, kitchen and dining area.
The progress is in part necessary as this three-month old brigade had gain the ability to provide for the needs of its Jundis. However, the sudden acceleration of the building can largely be attributed to the general's upcoming inspection.
Recently, a team of seven Iraqi generals visited the brigade and reviewed its progress. Read more »
With the surge coming to a close, smaller units are patrolling larger areas. Few bases are necessary; therefore, the U.S. has been handing them over to Iraqi units that are ready to perform autonomous operations. For our team this translates into readily available equipment to build our base within the Iraqi Army compound. Better said: free stuff.
As we were once nearly begging for living trailers, units are now handing them over by the dozen. Read more »
The weather here has reminded me of home as of late, bringing back memories of early springs and falls in Virginia. How many times do temperatures heighten heading into spring or drop in early fall just to violently swing back to the other extreme at the drop of a hat for the next week? Seasons in Virginia just don't give up easily. Read more »
The military transition team mission is fairly high in profile. There is no mission that is more important in enabling U.S. forces to draw down in Iraq. Thus, the successes of my team and others like it catch the eye of the highest ranking officers in the area.
Recently, our brigade commander, the bossman’s boss’s boss, flew in to our patrol base to evaluate the construction progress.
In building our team’s patrol base, we have looked high and low for readily accessible building materials. Recently, we went to pick up a load of plywood. The following pictures depict the events. Read more »
Rich Connaroe graduated from Northside High School in 2000 and VMI in 2004. Now a Captain in the U.S. Army, Connaroe begins a one-year deployment to Iraq in August. During that time, he plans to make regular blog posts that he hopes will connect readers of the The Roanoke Times to U.S. soldiers who are deployed in Iraq.
