UPDATE!!!!!

We’ve been out of the loop – not sure which one, that’s probably our problem. So, here’s where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going to be…

Chris: He’s back at FOB Delta. Trigger was sooooo lonely but is happily back to spinning his wheels. Chris has been flying long days – two days on, one day off. “Off” means he goes to his office and does safety officer stuff but he doesn’t fly. He’s never really sure what day it is. The unit will be moving to a different FOB in May, but I’m not sure which one. He has said it’s probably one that is south of them - even hotter and dustier than Delta in the summer. Good thing he has the best refrigerator in Iraq. (One of Walmart’s best…sent by some of the best friends ever…as opposed to the fridges made somewhere over there.) He no longer has internet access from his room, and it’s intermittent at best in his office. Argh. He sends his love to all.

Lauren: She's back from her senior class trip to Washington D.C. over spring break last week and is preparing to leave for NYC with her school’s honors choir this week. They will be singing the choral parts of Mozart’s Easter Mass at Carnegie Hall Sunday evening. Very exciting!! Pictures of both trips to come. In between, she went on a day trip up to Northern Arizona University to take a campus tour and check out their interior design program. Gunner and I miss her when she’s away, but it’s probably good practice for us.

Gunner: He is right now, no matter which class he's sitting in, wishing he was out in the desert. He longs for the desert and its washes, target shooting, exploring, creosote and Gila woodpeckers. He has to be so patient in between opportunities. We’re planning to take a day hike soon, shortly after April 17, which is Lauren’s senior prom – one prom dress in the works. Yes, I take on too much. Berate, berate, berate. Just say no. I’ve been reminded from caring and thoughtful sources (Workmans and Chris) - but this is supposed to be about Gunner. Anyone have any good hike suggestions? Anybody want to come along? Both Lauren and Gunner have new hiking boots to break in – well, thanks to that last trip to the desert with Pat O’Toole, Gunner’s have been broken in a bit and initiated by cow pies. Great guy times!

Linda: Just trying to keep it all together at the home base. No plans to be away. Maybe I’ll be out of my mind soon, though. That’s sort of like traveling, right?

Thank you for checking in. We are all very grateful to the Fathers John, Bethancourt and Finley, for our 11th anniversary in Orthodoxy celebrated this weekend. We wish everyone a blessed Holy Week and Pascha (Easter).

Love, Linda

FOB Echo

Hello again family and friends. I've been reassigned temporarily to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Echo. All the other FOBs I've been to had concrete, gravel, dirt, aluminum buildings, and concertina wire. This one's different. Add trees! It used to be home to a multi-national peace keeping force. Then the Poles were the main residents. Heard they got shelled regularly. Good reason to move. Now it's home to infantry, a medical detachment (including medevac), and of course, the 2-285th AHB with Longbows and Blackhawks. I was sent at the last minute. Actually arrived at 0300. Got my first ride on a Chinook. Great seats. My job was to conduct a safety survey and set up the parking plan for 10 helicopters more helicopters. Too bad someone didn't think of this earlier. Actually, my new roommate, who's already been here, is a safety officer for C Company. He could have done this whole thing. Oh well, job security.

Here's Main Street complete with a tree lined avenue and flag poles.


Headquarters complete with an Iraqi souvenir, 4 barrels of 23 mm anti-aircraftgun. Comforting for an aviator to see. Yikes! The Infanty unit calls themselves the "Dragons." Pretty cool. We're the "Mongols." Pretty dorky. Over the radio, the controllers can't understand our stupid call sign. I've been called "Mongrel", "Mango", Monocle ", which I think is hilarious. Oh, well, I feel like a mighty Mongrel, I guess.


Here's a unique site. A swimming pool complete with fountains! No, actually it's a bottled water treatment plant with giant water bladders. I guess the concertina wire keeps it from becoming a swimming pool!

Some CHUs here are shaded like the medical detachment's.
Mine is right next to the Operations Center in the left-center of the picture. Comes with wooden veranda, date palm tree complete with resident noisey pigeons, and, of course, garbage cans. Actually, I like it better than FOB Delta. Which means, of course, I'll probably be moving again in a few days. Oh, well.

Here's the first thing you see when you land at Echo. A nice, hilltop bunker complete with sandbags. They actually tore this down right after I took this photo. Should have left it as a monument. The pigeons liked roosting there.

And Echo is very safety minded as you scramble to save your ___ from any incoming rounds. What a polite sign.

The KBR contractors have set up the best pilot lounge in all of Iraq, complete with sodas, roast beef and turkey wraps, cookies, chips, gatorade, whatever. We duck in while waiting to get refueled between stops. It's run by Erin Wahl, the nicest lady I've met in Iraq. Our company loves her. She's a hard worker and was instrumental in helping me get the new parking area in place. Actually, all the KBR contractors are pretty nice and professional. Most are prior military, and they treat us great. But Erin's pilot's lounge is by far the best.

Here's Erin acting like she's working. Pretty convincing. Can you tell she likes pink? Only person in this whole dusty country who wears pink. She's got a sense of humor!

Of course, her job is to arrange for passengers and scheduling of these guys ...

Anyway, here's the plan Erin, KBR, and the Echo Mayor's Cell (Army green suiters) helped me with. The last, and most important ingredient, gravel, was thoughtfully pushed through by using a Colonel's emphasis. I had 2 Blackhawks do a practice approach into our landing zone without gravel. It created a dust cloud that looked like a mini-Haboob! Bad idea. Now it was a real safety concern. The Mayor's Cell kept insisting, "No, they didn't have any gravel and can't get any." Somehow, the Colonel managed to "persuade" them. They didn't want to listen to a Chief Warrant Officer 3! Took me 7 revisions of the plan. Most paperwork I've done since deployed. Oh, well. Job security as an Aviation Safety Officer, I guess. Note the cut and paste palm trees and helicopter silhouettes. How picturesque, eh?

This poor website is really bogging down with all my photos. Hope this reads okay. I give up trying to make this look formatted.

Miss and love you all very much,

C-M / P / 3

(Christopher-Michael / Poppy / CW3 Pedersen ...
your choice)