We're in a war for intellegence...

General Petraeus has his own 200 page doctrine for this war. We call it the COIN strategy (COunter INsurgency). Some of the tenants of this doctrine are that we (as America's fighting force) are to go to Iraq and bring peace and stability to Iraq by "winning the hearts and minds of the people." The only way to do this is to work to legitimize the Iraqi government, and to provide the simple municipal functions of security, water, electricity, trash/ sanitation, education, and jobs. The only way we will beat the Insurgency is to have more intel than the enemy...so by his own words, we are in a war for intelligence!

MOST of our days here at Ft Dix have been filled with idle "white space" in our "schedules," with a training module sprinkled in here and there. Sometimes we go to a class and it is something different than we thought it would be, or we get dropped off a mile from the correct location and we have to hump down there with 50 pounds of gear on our backs with 7 minutes to go. More often than not, a class requirement pops up at the last minute and we are jerked into some training with no preparation or warning. The one thing that is guaranteed is that the training is inappropriate for what we'll be doing in theater. My son said it best when I was talking to him yesterday on the phone, telling him how I trained all day walking down the roads looking for roadside bombs or kicking in doors and clearing houses and being attacked. He said "why are you practicing that if you won't do it in Iraq?" That's been our frustration exactly.

So we're in a war for intelligence here at Ft Dix, trying to figure out why we are receiving training in doing foot patrols, searching cars at checkpoints, and chasing down the enemy when we are not going to be leaving the confines of the base. We recognize the need for basic combat skills and a proficiency in weapons handling, defense, and operating in a combat zone...but we have yet to get that. This training is just to remove liability from the Army if any of us turn into another Jessica Lynch.

So, in light of that venting, here are some pictures of what we've been doing... some training and some fun just hanging out waiting for training.
Elmo has made several appearances here at Ft Dix. He is watching the CBRN training (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear).

Hanging out with our broke down Humm-vee...steam coming off the engine. Me and two of my room mates. From left to right: me, my "battle buddy" Brad, and Mike.

If we're not training, we're eating. Here just sitting in the galley (the Army calls it a DFAC - Dining Facility). Nothing special, but they always serve baked chicken and baked fish.

My favorite place in the Humm-vee is back right seat. Here I am behind my other roommate, Greg.
Just sitting around. This is us waiting for a class that didn't happen. First we got dropped off at the wrong location and then the class was cancelled. No biggie, we had nothing else to do.

Some of the guys walking around the FOB. Dirty, dusty, damp...just the way we like it!
Sunrise at an IED discovery range. IED = Improvised Explosive Device (roadside bomb). We had plenty of mornings where we've been up and out in the middle of nowhere to see the sun come up.

Another morning, waiting for the buses to come take us somewhere.

Now here's a video made of my squad leader doing his own style of Land Navigation and patrol movement.

I've got PLENTY more of where this stuff has come from. I'll post some good pictures as soon as I can get them from my camera and uploaded to the Internet. Stay tuned for more. Drop me a line if you have nothing better to do: travismortimer@gmail.com