The US military has been on Tallil long enough that they are now running around giving tickets for speeding, California stops, not backing in to your parking slot, etc. on post. You leave the wire and drive like your life depends on it (which it does) but when you get back in the wire, 10 MPH and why aren't you wearing your seatbelt (because I'm going 10 MPH).

I have been continually upgrading my truck, getting commo squared away and setting up the gunner's station. I can now IM anyone in my group from Charlie 4 to anywhere in-country. The truck is my hobby over here I suppose. It has been noted that I spend a lot of time with it. I received an email from the Stewart & Stevenson fabrication lead that makes the LSACs for the FMTV series. He had seen my posting and wanted to thank me for my thanks...kinda circular there. Anyway, not that I did anything, but maybe I primed the pump...our Brigade is now getting all of the LMTVs up-armored. Was not a priority when I pushed the issue, but now... I would like to think that I had a part in getting things moving.

We just got briefed on our new mission. We are going to be securing a refuel on the move (ROM) site, think truck stop, north of here on the Main Supply Route (MSR) . Our company, which has secured high explosives and run convoys into high threat areas, will now be standing guard all day every day. Being on fixed site security is dangerous in that they always know where to find you. It is repetitious and boring because nothing happens 99% of the time, but you have to maintain your vigilance for that 1%. It is going to be hard for the crews to get used to being stationary. The little post is not that bad though. The chow hall is tolerable, there is a little PX and there is a well stocked Haji Mart (local market) just outside of the wire.

It looks like I will be on my own for this mission however. They are going to leave me down here so that I can manage and push up our mail, equipment and supplies. They will not have a lot of room to store stuff so we are going to try an on demand arrangement. I am glad that they think enough of me to allow me to work on my own initiative. We tried this once before with another E5 and the results were less than desirable, so the fact that they are willing to let me do it says a lot about my relationship with the company command. I will not let them down, that is for sure. The upside for me is that I will be on the road constantly, so Charlie 4 is going to get a workout over the next several months. This is a positive, because instead of working behind the barriers I will be out there sharing the load. The route isn't all that dangerous, it gets some attention but not like Baghdad. Also, I have been pushing the envelope on what is needed to run a convoy in our Brigade. They mandate 2 gun-trucks per convoy, but I have been pushing to be allowed to use our LMTVs as gun-truck/supply vehicles. This gives us the flexibility to make our runs when needed and not put any strain on the escort teams, which are already busy meeting their mission requirements. I think that it is gonna fly, so I will be working with the other supply assets down here to make the runs in our super-supply rigs, which is cool.