Well, I guess it was a matter of time until I got into a fight out here. Last night I was attacked from behind by another contractor who was an ex Warrant Officer in the Army. He is an alcoholic and has not stopped drinking since being out here. I was sitting talking with everyone and he came up from behind me and put a choke hold on me at the trachea. Now, if for those who do not know what that is, it is when you grab the throat with the fingertips and press hard. Since I was completely caught off guard I had no reaction hardly. My boy Aaron and SFC Puccini (an officer back in Florida) with brigade MI jumped on him instantly and got him off of me. Aaron damn near choked him out. I am contemplating ruining his life right now. I can, with my connections here, not only have him kicked out but arrested by the MP Brigade, but also have his clearance stripped, his job security with MNC-I severely damaged if not severed, and possibly a marriage ruined because of his alcoholism. I have made many friends out in the desert here working with the troops. Most of my friends out here are enlisted but I have other people who are friends as well. The General of Iraqi forces is a friend of mine as well. The only reasons I am holding back is because it can possibly ruin everything he worked for and being an alcoholic he has a medical issue at this point. He was in Bosnia and saw the mass graves they had dug out and had to move some of these bodies. I know his mind is wrecked with bad images. He needs professional help, and he doesn't need to be making it worse by staying in a war zone. I will let you know what comes of this. If he won't trun himself in for help, then I will have to do it. This is where everything in his bubble could burst.
I was directly invited to the "pinning" of Warrant Officer 1 Cosner to Chief Warrant Officer 2. He, himself, invited me and thanked me and other contractors directly involved with us for making his mission and deployment much more enjoyable and not so hard to deal with. He is an excellent Warrant, of which we need more of in the Army. However, he named me, Jim, and Aaron directly in his acceptance speech. That made me feel very good about being out here. I needed that, as I have gotten the impression some of you out there that read my blog think I am just a Capitalist pig and only came out here for the money. Some of you believe that I am only collecting a paycheck from ITT and do not help the mission at all. Also, that the things I do out here count for nothing unless I am being shot at outside the wire. Well, I looked into going into the military when I got out here and had a medical screening after talking it over with my wife. They told me point blank that I would not pass for it. I had a pre-existing heart condition and my age was an issue. They recommended not to try but to help out in anyway I can. I told them what I do, and they said that is why they left their 2 or 300,000 dollar a year practices or residencies to come and help the people out here in the reserves as doctors. Since that day I have felt proud. I have also been given awards by the Generals staff and the 72nd SIG Battalion for merit and achievement in helping and continuing the mission. That says something I would think. I have also been pushed again for a site lead position in the ITT organization (however, this will not mean I will stay longer than 6 months as I have told them forget about it). So far, it is in the works. I have been recommended by more people now to become the site lead. I have been recommended namely because they think I have the "bullocks" to handle the job and deal directly with the military. This can help my chances back in the US as well for becoming a manager in the ITT family of organizations in the United States as well. I have stated though that I will not stay any longer in Iraq and away from my family. My family means everything to me. My beautiful wife and sweet lovely daughter are my world. However, even with all of this in mind some of you think this war is about nothing. It is about Capitalism and oil I have heard. If you think this you are truly mistaken. I have been told also that I volunteered for the money alone and that there are others out here that didn't volunteer to be in Iraq. News flash.....we do not have a draft and those that supposedly didn't volunteer to be out here did so when they walked in to a recruitment station. Most want to discontinue their Military careers and come back as contractors. This is namely for the money, but also they still are able to help. If you think that contractors are not shot at or are not in danger, I invite you to read how many deaths that aren't reported in the media. These many people killed are not Iraqi civilians, which there are many dead. They are multi-national contractors that have been killed. Some of them have been killed in the line of fire as they do their jobs. Remember, unless you are security, you are not given a weapon even if you are outside the wire. You think that takes balls as a contractor? You bet it does. There was one guy I knew that died in a mortar attack at his post inside a base. I had met him and talked with him when he came through Camp Victory. He was manning his post in what seemed to be a very safe building. In the middle of the night the building was hit my a mortar and he was killed. Did he have a chance to fight back or shoot the enemy? No. He didn't even have a weapon as civilians aren't issued them. Was he and every civilian needed out here? Yes. The Army doesn't spend enough on training and all forces do not have enough people to run network, systems, logistical, and security operations. Therefor, they have contractors and they are needed.
I am reminded of the speech that the Marine General at Fort Bliss gave us at CRC right before our flight to Kuwait. He said, "Some of you may think that contractors are useless. Some of you may think that civilians shouldn't be allowed in a war zone. I guarantee that all of you will be thanking them by the time you are leaving, as most of them will still be there after your tour is done." That stuck in my head for some reason and I thought it was pertinent here. LT Colonel Gould broke down and cried the other day during a meeting with Teresa and I and said she thanked people like us that are out here taking the shots and getting the missions done. She said, "....people like you who volunteer their lives to help us are truly citizens of the United States and are invaluable to our winning this war."
If you disagree with my statements, fine, you are entitled to your opinion. Just like a TV that you can turn when you don't want to see the commercials, you can stop reading this blog. Good day.
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