B36 News - 23 August 2006

This sunrise photo was taken a few days ago. There's still a lot of dust in the air which makes for very uninspiring sunrises and sunsets. I decided to post this picture as it goes along with the opener.

I received an email from a friend who is a retired Army officer that included a link with the comment that he thought I would identify myself as a "sheepdog". Strangely, he was right.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage -- only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.
(read the whole article)

Progress of Together Forward
This picture is a map of Baghdad that shows the progress that's been made so far with Operation Together Forward. This not only shows our successes, but gives some insight into the management process of how to tactically and tactfully clear out a city. Clear, hold, rebuild. The city was divided into sections and each section is being systematically cleared. Once a section is cleared, the ISF sets up shop to hold the area, and then once the area is secured it is rebuilt.

This graphic shows operations that have been aimed at taking out death squads in Baghdad in conjunction with Operation Together Forward. Is it just me or does it seem like there's a connection between the location of these operations and the sections of Baghdad that have been, or are being, cleared.


All Growed Up
In a matter of days the 8th Iraqi Army Division will take the final step in training; independence. As of 3 September, the 8th IAD will be operating independently of Coalition support and will be the first division level element to do so. The Coalition teams that have been helping to train the 8th IAD will still be there to offer advice and support as requested, much as in Muthanna, but the 8th will be fully in charge of planning and executing security operations. Obviously, this is another huge step towards Iraqis securing total independence and autonomy for Iraq.

Perspective
I recently found an article on FoxNews written by Reena Ninan who's been traveling around in Iraq for the last few weeks getting stories from the front lines. Overall I'd say that she did a good job with her article. What I found very interesting was the seemingly honest observations of the military. As I read her stories about her interactions with troops I was reminded that not everyone knows the dress code in a DFAC, or even what a DFAC is (psst, it's a Dining FACility or chow hall). I could easily understand why the troops did what they did in her story and chuckled as I realized that I have become "the man" or "the system".

It's a good story and worth the read.