So this is what Iraq is like ...

Baghdad, Iraq July 8, 2009

The flight in was crowded. Typically is on a C-130. Wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t all laden with body armor, helmets, weapons and gear. But this is a warzone, right? In fact, there’s something of an awakening for me on this trip so far, and we aren’t even a day into it. There’s just a sense of exhaustion about this place. Everyone seems tired of being here and is most focused on just cleaning up and leaving. There are some loose ends around the country, and that’s why our team is here ...

The dust storm delayed a lot of our getting here, but once we landed, it really wasn't that bad. The base we’re on was near the airport. Lots of folks coming in and out still. The installation itself is just a bunch of bases next to, on top of, inside of and around each other. It reminds me of New York City in the way it’s laid out. Sather Air Base is separate from Camp Victory, is separate from BIAP (that’s Baghdad International Airport), is separate from Camp Stryker or Camp Slayer. I’d liken Victory being like Queens, but we wouldn’t know anything about victory in Queens these days ... friggin' Mets ...

So the local Combat Camera folks here showed us to our rooms. Which were … somewhere. Everything looked the same. The same 12-foot tall concrete walls, the same pre-fab trailer buildings. I got lost coming back from the bathroom and walked into some other dude’s room. He was watching a movie and didn’t even bat an eye when I opened the door. Must happen a lot, this getting lost and randomly walking into people’s rooms. But other than that, we stayed in buildings, two per room. Better than a tent ...

Camp Taji, Iraq July 12, 2009

So this is what it's like to be in a war that's been funded for several years. The base exchange is huge, there are several fast food vendors, the local bazaar is great, the dining facilities are enormous and offer just an amazing variety of food options. Afghanistan was NOTHING like this. For that matter, Baghdad was nothing like Camp Taji ...

There are about 50 Airmen here (LOTS more Army) and they have a little compound thats walled in, which isn't as bad as it sounds. They've really created a nice little community for themselves here. It honestly wouldn't be that bad to do a tour here. Except that there's no PA position ... yet ...

The Airmen here are in training and advising roles. It's bittersweet because these guys have two years to get the Iraqi air force trained to take over maintenance, gunnery and flying operations. They'll be expected to support their army brethren the way we provide air power for our sister services. And they're coming along in a lot of ways in some of the occupations. But in others ...

I say bittersweet because most of the Airmen at Taji are here for a year and don't expect replacements. We want to be done. But there's still a lot of work to do. One Airmen put it this way: The harder we work, the sooner the Iraqis will be in a place to take over the reins for themselves and the sooner we don't have to deploy here every other year...

So they realize it's on them to do it correctly now. I just wonder if this end date had been set earlier if we would have adopted the mindset to get it done. The open-endedness seems to have been more of a hindrance. But it's good that we've set an end date nontheless. This way we know what needs to be done and absolutely by when. Kind of like this being the last season of "Lost." January can't come soon enough, in more ways than one ...

We'll be at Taji for another week and our hope is that we didn't get the best assignment of our tour right off the bat. The folks here have been great. We have rooms instead of tents, we've got our own vehicle to get around the installation and we're right near the dining facility. Couldn't have asked for a better start. Except we still have to go back through Baghdad ...