From: Michael Mabee
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 9:51 PM
Subject: 9 June 2004 FRG Update


9 June 2004
FOB Speicher
Tikrit, Iraq

Families,

On June 6, 2004 the 167th CSG was awarded the First Infantry Division “Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, Former Wartime Service”, known to soldiers as the “combat patch.” The date is very significant, because on June 6, 1944, the First Infantry Division landed in Normandy on D-Day. The First Infantry Division held patch ceremonies at all of their FOBs on the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It was a great honor for us to take part in this historic moment and to now be permanently associated with a division that has served the nation in WWI, WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, the Balkans and now Operation Iraqi Freedom. The soldiers and airmen of the 167th CSG are very proud to now be part of a Division with such an incredible lineage and history. Our soldiers can now wear the “Big Red One” patch on our right shoulders as a permanent part of our uniforms. The 167th CSG held two ceremonies, one at FOB Speicher for our two Battalions here in Tikrit and one at FOB Diamondback for the soldiers and airmen in Mosul.

One of many important missions that the 167th CSG has been performing (specifically, the 367th Maintenance Company, the 267th Maintenance Company and the 323rd Maintenance Company) is “up-armoring” vehicles. This means that we are taking vehicles that are “soft-skinned” (do not provide protection from bullets and fragmentation) and adding armor that will protect soldiers. Some of our maintenance companies are installing factory made armor kits and some are designing, manufacturing and installing their own designs of vehicle armor. The 323rd Maintenance Company has been particularly ingenious in designing and manufacturing armor. The 167th CSG has already saved lives through this program. Soldiers who would have been hurt or killed in ambushes are around today because of the dedication, ingenuity and hard work of our maintenance companies.

The HHC 167th vehicles that go “out of the wire” now have armor kits installed. For the Humvees, this makes them much safer from ambushes but turns them into an oven. As part of the program, air conditioning units have just begun to arrive and get installed on the up-armored Humvees. After many miles (well over 6000) in a hot metal box, the COL and I finally had AC units installed in our vehicles. We tested them out on June 7, 2004 on a trip up to Mosul and back. Here are the results: On the way to Mosul, the outside temperature was 117 degrees and inside the Humvee it was a chilly 90 degrees. On the way back, the outside temperature was 119 degrees and inside the vehicle it was 98 degrees. I was almost tempted to put on a sweater. But, mind you, I’m not complaining. Every little bit helps.

I don’t think I’ve discussed the various options for personal grooming over here. For soldiers of the 167th CSG, there are several options. There is a barber shop on Speicher over by the PX. The barbers are “TCN’s” (Third Country Nationals). They do a great job on the hair cuts, but they do some odd things after the haircut that you don’t see at many U.S. barber shops. (Soldiers refer to this as being “slapped around” by the barbers.) The do some odd massage and chiropractic type stuff to your back and neck and then they clonk your head around in their hands. Somehow it sounds like they are knocking together a few pieces of wood in their hands as they do this – no snide comments about the composition of my head please.

Up in Mosul, the 44th CSB has a local Iraqi barber who does haircuts for them. He gave me an excellent flat-top but when he was through, he did something very odd. He picked up a ball of string from the counter and proceeded to quickly spin the string around his fingers and hands in a strange manner. I was really getting nervous, wondering what he was going to do with it. He put one loose end of the string in his mouth and began to (very painfully, I might add) pluck around the edges of my eyebrows with this string contraption. I have no idea how he did this, but they should hire this guy for that Extreme Makeover show. I gave him a big tip. My eyebrows have never looked better.

Most units have a guy that brought clippers and scissors and gives haircuts to his buddies. Our guy is MSG Marty Chabot. Two evenings a week, MSG Chabot can be found in his own little barber shop, set up in our recreation room, giving free haircuts to HHC soldiers. We all tip him and he donates his tips to the MWR fund. We all like getting haircuts from MSG Chabot. He’s just a just a good old-fashioned barber. He gives a great haircut and he doesn’t slap you around or threaten you with a ball of string.

On May 27, 2004 a few of us spent the night at a base in Taji, just North of Baghdad. Our quarters had a local satellite TV. There were many stations in the Arab language but also several American stations like CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and the History Channel. It was the first time I’ve been able to watch these stations since I’ve been here. I also noticed two stations that had a warning that they exceeded parental guidance requirements and you needed a PIN number to view them. (“Jackpot!” I thought to myself, now if I can only figure out the PIN.) After several minutes I figured out the PIN and then had access to the Comedy Channel and the Fashion Channel. Apparently these two channels are a bit to risqué for many viewers out here. Oh well.

On June 7, 2004 several of us had a very memorable dinner with an Iraqi Major from the ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corps). The ICDC are one of the Iraqi agencies charged with helping to stabilize Iraq and protect the citizens from terrorists. Many ICDC troops have been wounded or killed in the performance of their duties and, like the U.S. Military, the ICDC are frequently targeted by the bad guys. This ICDC Major, a former Iraqi Army officer (with no love for Saddam Hussein, I might add), had a great sense of humor and spoke excellent English. He gave us a tour of his facilities and introduced us to some of his soldiers. We then went in to the ICDC mess hall for a traditional Iraqi meal.

The table was already set when we walked in. I think I’ve mentioned that the Iraqis are very gracious hosts and put out a lot of food when they have guests. The table was full of platters of rice and meat (both sheep and chicken), bowls of soup, plates of vegetables and various side dishes, and stacks of unleavened bread. We all sat around the table. Col Mackenzie, LTC Holmes (44th CSB Commander), CSM Ramos (44th CSB Command Sergeant Major) and myself were all seated at the head of the table with the ICDC Major. It was after I sat down that I noticed a sheep’s head on the platter of rice and meat directly in front on me, I think in America, we’ve grown squeamish about things like sheeps’ heads on platters of rice. We generally go into the grocery store and buy a steak in a nice wrapped package and what is on our table doesn’t much resemble what it came from.  The ICDC major offered each of us the eyeball (apparently a great honor to be offered this). He was laughing the whole time. Apparently it was not his first time offering Americans the eyeball and I’m sure he was quite amused at the expressions on our faces. We all politely declined the delicacy. The ICDC major then filled all of our plates by pulling hunks of meat off of the bones with his hand, scooping in some rice with his hand and handing out the bread. Not as many utensils are used in Iraq. At each of our places, we only had a spoon. Have you ever tried to cut roasted sheep meat with a spoon?

The food was excellent (if I could only stop looking at that sheep head in front of me). The meat was very fresh. They had just slaughtered the sheep a few hours before (specifically for us – it is considered a great honor over here when somebody kills a sheep for you) and it tastes like it was roasted - very moist and flavorful. I also had a piece of chicken and some rice that the ICDC Major piled on my plate (they put more food on your plate than a human being could possibly eat). The vegetables were fresh: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and green peppers. The unleavened bread is awesome over here and most of us really look forward to the bread.

But I kept expecting the sheep head in front of me to turn around and bleat “thanks a lot buddy.” It kind of ruined the atmosphere for me – an admittedly squeamish American. I’m not going to even discuss the ICDC Major offering us the tongue. Suffice it to say, we politely declined, to his great amusement. As he ate the tongue himself he said: “for the Bedouins, the tongue is like Viagra.” He had us in stitches. After dinner, we had tea (pronounced “chai”) in his office and discussed some business. As much of a culture shock as some of this can be, the ICDC Major was an excellent host and is a good friend to us. I wish him, his family and his soldiers well.

On May 21, 2004 Colonel Mackenzie and I presented awards to a group of very brave soldiers from the 66th Transportation Company, under the 232nd Combat Support Battalion here on Speicher. This is one of our many truck companies that are out on the road every single day running convoys all over Northern Iraq. This particular group of soldiers was ambushed three times on one convoy, fought back and completed their mission. Their willingness to complete their mission in spite of three ambushes is simply heroic. We are very proud to have such soldiers in the 167th CSG.

Attached is one of my favorite pictures. This is Captain Ellis Cropper watching out for trouble during a recent convoy stop near Bayji, Iraq while a flock of sheep pass peacefully by. This is one of those pictures that just sums it all up without a whole lot of explanation. I’ve also attached the program from our Patch Ceremony on the anniversary of D-Day. I expect everybody in the Family Readiness Group to learn the First Infantry Division song and sing it upon our return. You will almost certainly sound better than we do singing it.


"Granite 7"

Michael Mabee
Command Sergeant Major
167th Corps Support Group
Tikrit, Iraq