Thursday, July 06, 2006

Firefight

In my previous deployment on board ship, we had a phrase which referred to those members of our staff who went ashore to perform some of their duties. We said they were "going to the show." It was a great inside joke and found its way into various briefings when comic relief was needed. I didn't post an update last night because I was outside the wire again, riding a convoy. (For those really concerned (Hi, mom!) that this is something routine, don't fear. This was probably my last time.) The theme from my previous trip was consistent, in that the trip took over twice as long as it should have, but the reasons were far different. I won't describe in detail everything that happened, but with regard to the saying from my last staff job, I can say that I had front row seats to "the show." I can now say I've seen an IED go off. And I've been pretty close to a firefight. A little bit more excitement than I wanted, a few stories to tell my grandkids someday, but all in all, I returned home safe and tired as the sun was rising. (By the way, nobody else was seriously hurt either, so it was a successful night.) So now it's back to my desk job and learning new and exciting ways to apply my geekly skills to the war in a much better manner than I could sitting in a Humvee watching the war.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the blog, I've just started reading and my boyfriend is heading to Iraq soon (in Kuwait now), but I have a kind of silly question, well to you might be silly but to me I guess it's not so much. When you said that riding in a convoy outside the wire is routine, why is that? I mean, my boyfriend is also supposed to be "behind the wire" and I am just curious to know why those of you who are supposed to be that are out on the convoys? I suppose it's probably different for everyone, right? Depending on your job there? I guess I'm just trying to wrap my brain around all the unknowns and since he hasn't arrived yet, there are still TONS of those. Your blog has been interesting and useful, and I appreicate you putting it out there for those of us worried about you all to read.

Thank you for all you do - and I'm not just talking about the blog here.

Anonymous said...

Hello Dan,
I have a son who is in the Navy and also deployed in Iraq. He told me about your blog. It's excellent. Thanks very much for taking the time to give the families of those serving in the Navy in Iraq a better understanding of what it is like to be "over there"....

Anonymous said...

Hi, Dan-

I'm really scared for my husband who is in the Coast Guard and is heading to Iraq. Will he be going outside of the wire also? I told him that he shouldn't go and he's thinking of reasons to get out of his deployment. How did you get out of going "outside the wire" again? I saw your photo and you look like a true warrior- very scary and impressive. But I don't think he is as brave as you are so I'm worried. Maybe I can introduce him to you so you can give him some advice on how to deal with all the danger you face there and deal with all the long, hard hours you work?