We had a partial lunar eclipse in Iraq a few days back.
I used the scope on my rifle as a telescope.
Looking at my cosmic miracle though crosshairs...
Just beautiful.
ej
8.10.2008
Operation "Joe Dirt"
I have a story to tell.
Due to the recent declassification of Operation Egg-Head*, I can now tell you that we as America's military, can be mistaken from time to time.
So here I am sitting at work one day when my Staff Sergent comes in and tells me that I am on the manifest for the next mission. No surprise here, so I shrug it off and continue my day as usual. Well, rumors start circulating about a possibility of chemical weapons that may have contaminated the area. The Lance Corporal underground tells of a container with chemical agent buried back in the 1990's. Later that night, I was told by my superiors to make sure that I have my gas mask easily accessible or worn on my body at all times during the mission.
I start to get nervous...
During the mission briefing, the corpsman (medic) issued us a syringe filled with atropine and 2-pam chloride. Just in case there was a chemical leak and the tank contained nerve agent. I know that the rumors were true by this point, but to what extent? Is there really a chemical spill of some sort? Our Staff Sergent then told us that we WILL be wearing our gas masks on our hip at all times. I remember seeing the pictures of what chemical and nerve agents can do to someones body. Nasty shit...
During the brief, the convoy commander gives us the complete mission details.
Sometime after the Gulf War, Saddam ordered that all the factories that produce chemical, nuclear and biological weapons be shut down due to the cease fire. But rather than properly disposing of such weapons, he instead hid massive quantities throughout Iraq.
According to the Lieutenant, this site contained one of them. After a tip-off from a local citizen, coalition forces have excavated the tank. weighing about 40,000 pounds and and holding thousands of gallons of an unknown substance. The tank was encased below a platform of reinforced concrete about 4 feet thick. He tells us that the tank is partially exposed and force protection has been built around the tank just in case of an indirect fire attack. They think that the tank is filled with concentrated mustard gas because of consistency tests. Even though the tank wasn't tapped yet, the NBC tests showed that it had the viscosity of motor oil. Saddam later doused the area in industrial cleaning solvents and pesticides. I guessing to try and cover-up. He told us that it has a fruity like smell. As long as we don't smell "toasted almonds" we're fine. That's the smell of nerve agent.
But they were not 100 percent sure...
I was getting scared. I didn't like this one bit.
So the mission lasted 4 days. I won't bore you with the mission details but during those three days we slept about 100 meters of the damn thing and we were working downwind. My gas mask never left my hip and I couldn't help but think of the structural integrity after 10+ years of sitting. We were not allowed to take pictures because it was still under wraps. Don't want the media to get a hold of this just yet. By the time that we left, I was grateful that the contents was still unknown to me. No blisters, no headaches, I was feeling fine. The "Egg" was still untapped.
Wow, here I was thinking that I actually worked this close to a real WMD.
.
.
.
Our Staff Sergent came with a small update on Operation Egg-Head a few days back.
"Yeah, about the tank..."
"It was uh..."
"Septic"
I walked away before he could finish.
I couldn't stop laughing.
ej
*(not the real mission name but it was referred to as an "egg")
Due to the recent declassification of Operation Egg-Head*, I can now tell you that we as America's military, can be mistaken from time to time.
So here I am sitting at work one day when my Staff Sergent comes in and tells me that I am on the manifest for the next mission. No surprise here, so I shrug it off and continue my day as usual. Well, rumors start circulating about a possibility of chemical weapons that may have contaminated the area. The Lance Corporal underground tells of a container with chemical agent buried back in the 1990's. Later that night, I was told by my superiors to make sure that I have my gas mask easily accessible or worn on my body at all times during the mission.
I start to get nervous...
During the mission briefing, the corpsman (medic) issued us a syringe filled with atropine and 2-pam chloride. Just in case there was a chemical leak and the tank contained nerve agent. I know that the rumors were true by this point, but to what extent? Is there really a chemical spill of some sort? Our Staff Sergent then told us that we WILL be wearing our gas masks on our hip at all times. I remember seeing the pictures of what chemical and nerve agents can do to someones body. Nasty shit...
During the brief, the convoy commander gives us the complete mission details.
Sometime after the Gulf War, Saddam ordered that all the factories that produce chemical, nuclear and biological weapons be shut down due to the cease fire. But rather than properly disposing of such weapons, he instead hid massive quantities throughout Iraq.
According to the Lieutenant, this site contained one of them. After a tip-off from a local citizen, coalition forces have excavated the tank. weighing about 40,000 pounds and and holding thousands of gallons of an unknown substance. The tank was encased below a platform of reinforced concrete about 4 feet thick. He tells us that the tank is partially exposed and force protection has been built around the tank just in case of an indirect fire attack. They think that the tank is filled with concentrated mustard gas because of consistency tests. Even though the tank wasn't tapped yet, the NBC tests showed that it had the viscosity of motor oil. Saddam later doused the area in industrial cleaning solvents and pesticides. I guessing to try and cover-up. He told us that it has a fruity like smell. As long as we don't smell "toasted almonds" we're fine. That's the smell of nerve agent.
But they were not 100 percent sure...
I was getting scared. I didn't like this one bit.
So the mission lasted 4 days. I won't bore you with the mission details but during those three days we slept about 100 meters of the damn thing and we were working downwind. My gas mask never left my hip and I couldn't help but think of the structural integrity after 10+ years of sitting. We were not allowed to take pictures because it was still under wraps. Don't want the media to get a hold of this just yet. By the time that we left, I was grateful that the contents was still unknown to me. No blisters, no headaches, I was feeling fine. The "Egg" was still untapped.
Wow, here I was thinking that I actually worked this close to a real WMD.
.
.
.
Our Staff Sergent came with a small update on Operation Egg-Head a few days back.
"Yeah, about the tank..."
"It was uh..."
"Septic"
I walked away before he could finish.
I couldn't stop laughing.
ej
*(not the real mission name but it was referred to as an "egg")
8.03.2008
I was not so far away
I just want to give myself a swift kick in the ass sometimes...
Look at me!!!
I can tap..tap...tappity-tap words of comfort.
That's all I can do from here.
What the hell am I expecting you to do? Hug the computer monitor?
Right...
And I don't even know what your voice sounds like or what you look like when you smile. Not even the little things you do to annoy the shit out of me.
I don't know what you drive, who you love, why you cry, where you read my first post or when you decided what you wanted to be when you grew up. I don't know.
These are the things you find out just by being next to someone. When your driving to grab a bite to eat.
I'll find out if which celebrity you would rather sleep with over a cold beer at the bar. I find out if you snore when you fall asleep in my truck while coming back from a weekend vacation at the lake. I'll also know what you like on your burgers or what soda you perfer.
I would know if you liked a certain movie while walking away from the theater. If you take your popcorn home or chuck it in the trash bins. Hell, you might be the kind of person that just leaves it on the chair. I don't know.
How close are you to god? Do you think there is life on other planets? Why did you get the Motorola over the Nextel?
Journey or Led Zepplin?
Did O.J. do it?
Why did you laugh when I fell down the stairs?
Would you ever want to be a porn star???
If I ran into you, I may never know.
I'd probably call you an asshole and then you would read about it in my blog later...
Look at me!!!
I can tap..tap...tappity-tap words of comfort.
That's all I can do from here.
What the hell am I expecting you to do? Hug the computer monitor?
Right...
And I don't even know what your voice sounds like or what you look like when you smile. Not even the little things you do to annoy the shit out of me.
I don't know what you drive, who you love, why you cry, where you read my first post or when you decided what you wanted to be when you grew up. I don't know.
These are the things you find out just by being next to someone. When your driving to grab a bite to eat.
I'll find out if which celebrity you would rather sleep with over a cold beer at the bar. I find out if you snore when you fall asleep in my truck while coming back from a weekend vacation at the lake. I'll also know what you like on your burgers or what soda you perfer.
I would know if you liked a certain movie while walking away from the theater. If you take your popcorn home or chuck it in the trash bins. Hell, you might be the kind of person that just leaves it on the chair. I don't know.
How close are you to god? Do you think there is life on other planets? Why did you get the Motorola over the Nextel?
Journey or Led Zepplin?
Did O.J. do it?
Why did you laugh when I fell down the stairs?
Would you ever want to be a porn star???
If I ran into you, I may never know.
I'd probably call you an asshole and then you would read about it in my blog later...
(By the way, this guy in the picture is not me.)
ej
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