Getting to Fort Riley and the Pre-Deployment Site Survey

I reported to Fort Riley on 12 October 2008. As a TT team chief I had to be there roughly two weeks before the rest of the team in order to go over to Iraq and visit the team we would be replacing. After a few days of improcessing, shots, updating records and qualifying with my weapon I was ready to return to Iraq for the first time since 14 January 2006. During OIFIII I served as an infantry rifle company commander with the 2d Battalion, 69th Armor Regt, 3BCT, 3ID in Baqubah, Iraq.

It was a long trip, we drove 2.5 hours to Kansas City. We flew commercial from KC to St. Louis, changed planes and flew to Baltimore. We had a long lay over there and finally got on the third plane and flew to Ramstein, Germany. We got off there, changed flight crews and flew to Kuwait.

We were met in Kuwait by our higher headquarters the Iraqi Assistance Group (IAG) and they arranged military air to get us to Iraq. We spent the night in a hanger while waiting to board our flight. Sometime in the early morning hours we got on the air force workhorse an C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. Alfter making stops at BIAP and LSA Anaconda we finally landed in Mosul at FOB Diamondback. As I walked off the plane I realized I needed to put my sunglasses on. I am not sure but I think Iraq may be closer to the sun because it is so hot and bright. The familiar smell of burning trash welcomed me back to Iraq. I was met at Diamondback by the Team Chief I would be replacing, MAJ Rich Graves. He was of course happy to see me because my visit signaled the end was near for him and his team. I spent about six days in the AOR where the team was working. I got to visit Tal Afar and Mosul and a couple of FOBs Diamondback and Sikes.

The team took me around their Area of Responsibility (AOR) and introduced me to their Iraqi counter-parts. They had moved to three different units by the time I was with them. They started off at FOB Sikes and worked with a battalion in Tal Afar but moved because their assessment of the IA was that they were well trained and didn't need a TT with them. They moved to Mosul and occupied a small Combat Outpost (COP) along RTE Nissan East of the river. It was a pretty austere environment, no running water or latrines. The were using burn barrels to remove human waste, etc. There was an Armor platoon with them for force protection. The IA battalion they were advising was located next to a Catholic church which had a wall around it designed to look like Noah's Arch. Two priests had been killed so the church was abandoned. It was in the center of a Sunni neighborhood, since the church closed down the locals had created a neighborhood watch to guard the church until the Christians could return.

The Iraqi Army has been getting better and a decision has been made to move the battalion level transition teams (TT) to other types of units like border patrol and police units. Our team is going to move to Kirkuk and work with the provincial police in December.

The overall impression I left Iraq with was a sense that things had gotten much better since when I left in 2006. To be honest when I left the last time I was pretty pessimistic about our chances of success in Iraq. After seeing how much the situation on the ground had improved I was very optimistic after the PDSS. The threat of violence has dropped off and I saw many signs that normal life was beginning to return for the Iraqi people. The best way to describe the Iraqis I spoke with was tired. They are tired of the fighting and want a better place for their children.

I was ready to get back to Riley, meet the team and start our train up. I also had brought my compound bow and hunting gear and hoped to harvest a mature white tail deer while in Kansas.

Mission Statement

The purpose of creating this blog is to capture our Transition Team's (TT) deployment to Iraq. I hope it allows the extended family and friends of our team to stay in touch with us while we're executing our mission over the next year. It is my believe that our families play a huge role in the the overall success of the team. The more our families are engaged and knowledgeable of what we are doing, the better off we will all be. We all have a great amount of respect for the sacrifices our families make while we are deployed and the hardships you face many times alone when we are gone.

I also hope this blog serves as a historical record of the team's contributions to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terror. One of my personal goals is to conduct some professional writing reference our exeperience of combat advising. I hope to capture our lessons learned so that in the future it may be useful for others who are given this mission.

Some warnings! First off I have never blogged before so bear with me as I figure out how to do this. My wife and three teenage daughters all have myspace and facebook accounts but I have never used them. Next I will have to ensure our blog is in accordance with all regulations and orders the army has established and that none of our posts violate operational security or put anyone in harm's way at risk. And lastly I am a native Texan. My writing style is based on being in the army for the last twenty one years. We are taught the concept of "bottom line up front" as the basis of the army writing style, don't waste time with flowery words, etc.

In closing I look forward to telling Team Punisher's story via this blog. I hope someone out there enjoying visiting it.

v/r
Bobby Toon
"Punisher 6"