Did I read you correctly? You may vanish? Umm. Can't have that. I've linked ya and am spreading the word. The man who brought us Milblogs can't disappear.

Shucks, if I'd known that you were leaving, I would've "stopped by" for real this weekend when my mom and I were in your neck of the woods...

Soldier safe, Hawk.

I've linked you too, and sent you a few bucks. Mudville is too important to let fall down -- you and BlackFive, and Hook too. You've done more to keep the veteran's and soldier's issues in view tha most, and can count on my support.

I sent you a few greenies. Hope it helps.

Give us a target figure, Greyhawk. I'll throw up another post about it if I know what you're aiming at. Do you need to raise $300? $500? I don't really know what these things cost, since I am still working on a computer I bought around the last millenium or so. :)

Added a link and gave a little green to the travel fund. Good luck and thanks for your service in the uniform and on the web.

Added a link, but fresh out of funds until payday.

I'll fling something your way before the end of the month tho!

Chipped in a Grant. Godspeed, Greyhawk.

Just drop a ten spot on you.

I just posted a link to your post. Be safe, sir.

What kind of camera are you hoping to take with you?

Thank you for protecting us. I know that "thank you" isn't much, compared to your sacrifices, but it's all I have. And I truly mean it! I will be praying for you and all our Military, our country, and others. I won't forget the families. I understand that we are at war, and our game plan is total victory! I don't care if you are modest, you are a brave man and I really thank you. May God's protection, blessings, and love be with at all times.

PS You may continue to write, if worse comes to worse, on my blog: MyNewznIdeas.blogspot.com. I could let you be another administrator, but you would have to prove it is you! I'll see ya over at techography.com! That is where I heard the news.

May God's protection, blessings, and love be with you at all times.

For any interested folks who may be deploying, here's my two cents on what to take, physically and mentally. I am a former Marine officer.

This is a list of recommendations based on my time in the desert from Feb to Jun, 2003. I had no permanent living facilities and pretty much lived in the dirt the entire time, so adjust the list accordingly based on your own expected living quarters in Iraq. The below items are meant to supplement whatever list your unit has given you. Pick and choose or feel free to ignore altogether. Other people may have different ideas. At least think about these things though.

Creature Comforts
1. All purpose bucket: A simple 5-gallon bucket can serve as a stool, a table, you can carry things in it, you can do your laundry in it, and all kinds of other things. This is an essential piece of gear – especially for laundry. You can get one at Home Depot for $5. Very easy to pack and keeps your soft stuff protected in your bag.

2. Polypro or capilene underwear: Rather than wearing cotton underwear and undershirts, take the advice of backpackers, mountaineers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, who claim that “cotton kills.” Get a couple of pairs of underwear made from some space age material. It will let you get soaked in sweat while still being comfortable, and it is fast-drying, which means that when the temp drops 40 or more degrees at night you won’t start shivering. Also very easy to wash. I know a Captain who spent the entire deployment with two pair of undershirts and underwear. He used to cycle for the Olympic team and knew what he was doing.

3. Gold Bond: Better than baby-powder. Absorbs moisture. Like salsa for the body. I recommend triple-action, medicated, extra-strength, whatever the highest you can get is. Also – in a pinch, it doesn’t really matter if you put body Gold Bond on your feet or foot Gold Bond on your body. It is versatile. One of the greatest inventions of mankind. I also recommend you buy several smaller bottles rather than one big one, for packing purposes (this is a pretty good rule of thumb overall for things you will take more than one of).

4. Wet Ones Ultra Citrus wet wipes (in yellow package): If you take wet wipes with you, take these. You will get a buttload of wet wipes in care packages, so it helps to request a certain kind. These were my favorite, and I received over 6000 wet wipes via care packages.

5. Camera: I recommend against taking an expensive digital camera, or for that manner, any kind of camera that has moving parts. It will quickly fail you due to dust and sand, even if you wrap it in several plastic bags. Other reasons: when you take photos while driving, dust will get in your camera, and when you change film, sand will get in. Take disposables. Then you can send them home when done, buy more at a PX, if you are so fortunate to have one, or request them through care packages.

6. Flashlight: If you can find one, buy a red-lens flashlight with multiple bulbs and lithium batteries. I got one of these at the base before I left for $35. I used it every night for five months and never had to change the battery. I think it was waterproof too.

7. Sunglasses: Get some that have really good UV protection and that will also protect your eyes from driving, blowing sand. It does no good to have a pair of aviator sunglasses in a sandstorm. I had Raybans and this was a problem. Something like Oakleys, that are made out of fewer overall pieces will do better in the dust, especially around the nosepiece, where grit accumulates. If you wear contacts or glasses, get a pair of prescription sunglasses and two pair of eyeglasses. This was a lifesaver for me.

8. Tape recorder: I highly recommend a miniature tape recorder for recording messages to send back and forth to family. I got two of these (one for my wife) at Best Buy for $40 each. Tapes are like 6 one-hour tapes for $10. (The problems that apply to cameras don’t really apply to tape decks because you usually use them inside a vehicle, tent or building, where the blowing sand can be avoided).

9. Holster: There are many different opinions about holsters out there. I took a hip-extender for my issued holster, but ended up not using it after two weeks because I didn’t like the way it fit on my leg. Instead, I just put my issued holster on the front of my flak jacket, which was very convenient, both in terms of access to my pistol and in terms of weight distribution and not getting in the way. It was also out of the way of my slung rifle, so it worked perfect for me. You will see a lot of different holsters over there, some costing as much as $120. Look around a good bit, and if you can, try using friends’ holsters to see if you like them before making a decision.

10. Pillow: Get a small pillow for your rack. Seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of folks didn’t do this. My plan was to use my poncho liner folded into a pillow and secured with two boot bands. That was perfect for me. Some people though used airplane pillows that they got on the flight, or travel pillows like you buy in luggage stores. Whatever you like that is small.

11. The little things that matter: extra batteries, extra duct tape, extra plastic bags, extra trash bags, extra 550 cord.

Some Other Smart Things

1. Learning Arabic: If you choose to study some Arabic, check out the Teach Yourself series, preferably the one that also has tapes. If you can afford it, the Rosetta Stone is truly fantastic (www.rosettastone.com). It will run around $200. If you can’t spare that, try asking your unit to pay for it, especially if you are good with languages. Commanders are given a great deal of money to spend before they deploy and yours might spend some on you. I think Rosetta Stone has government discounts too.

2. Email filter: Before I left I set up a filter on my Yahoo email account that would automatically delete any emails that didn’t include my name in parentheses in the subject line. Then I told all my friends that I had done this. This was great because when you actually do get to use the internet, it is extremely slow and there are always lots of people waiting. It helps when you don’t have to sort through a lot of junk mail.

3. I highly recommend reading the Early Bird (http://ebird.afis.osd.mil/) every weekday, or as often as you can, before you deploy. You can access it from military computers, or from home if you enter a little personal info that the Dept of Defense has stored somewhere. If you try to log on at home and it doesn’t work, it will tell you whom to contact to set it up. Anyone on active duty or in any reserve category can get access. It is a great way to keep up with all that is happening in Iraq – especially in the region you are going to, once you know. You can also see under-reported stories, and you can see how different newspapers report the same story different ways (for example, there is a great difference in coverage between the Washington Post and the Washington Times). Your situational awareness will be greatly enhanced by even just perusing the headlines of the Early Bird daily.

4. Reading about Iraq and guerrilla warfare: If you want to read about these things before you go or while you are there, here are some recommendations. I can vouch personally for most of these. The rest are well-regarded by critics. The ones that are hard to find in bookstores can be found at most large libraries pretty easily.

Mid-East History
The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2000 Years by Bernard Lewis
A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani
The Siege by Russell Braddon (British invasion, 1914-1916)
Baghdad Sketches by Freya Stark
Anabasis by Xenophon

Guerrilla Warfare and other “small wars”
On Guerrilla Warfare by Mao Tse-tung
The War of the Running Dogs: The Malayan Emergency: 1948-1960 by Noel Barber
The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power by Max Boot
The Advent of Netwar by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt (avail for free download at http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR789/ )
The Village by F. J. Bing West
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
The River War by Winston S. Churchill

Relevant to ALL future conflict (and not for the faint-hearted):
The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History by Philip Bobbitt

Best of luck and Semper Fidelis

Sent money.

Hope it helps.

Jamie Irons

From the warmth and comfort beneath the blanket of peace and security YOU help provide...

THANK YOU!

Good luck and God speed - I sent a little money, I hope it helps. You are keeping the rest of us safe, at least some of us here in NYC are aware of that and wish we could thank you every day.

Sarah

Greyhawk,
How many more days until you deploy? Given the way PayPal works, may have to use snail mail or FedEx. Please letme know asap.
All the best.

Stay safe, and thanks.

=darwin

it's pretty calm these days, I was wondering around with a couple thousand dollars worth of gear (I sold photo slideshows/movies for the guys to sent home to afford most of it, a good doc always has to have a good scam on the side). I've done a couple of posts about what would help out for the current situation, I'll add a link sending people your way to cover the rest, take care

I'd send some money if I had it. Unfortunatly, the husband's child support takes one complete paycheck and the rest of the bills take the other. Until the husband starts workin, that's just the way it is. :( Although, I'd really hate to see you go. With any luck, you'll be able to raise the money. Either way, I'll keep you in my prayers. May God bless you, and keep you safe.

You can count on me and ALL of Soldiers Angels to be there for you,
Patti

I just stumbled across your site a few minutes ago. I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers as you "travel." May your "trip" be UNEVENTFUL (translation: SAFE!)!

Especially today, 9/11/04, i just want to let you know how much I appreciate everythign y'all do for us. >>

~Kat

PS -- anyone reading this, please check out WWW.ADOPTAPLATOON.ORG ~ It's a way to "support our troops" in a tangible and meaningful way. :)

Dude, be safe. I sent some moo-la, not much, but all I could send. Hope it helps!

Sending some money and will be checking on you.

Stay safe,
~Lordzmom

Supporting those on the frontlines of freedom!
www.keystonesoldiers.com