Thanksgiving

A rare shot of the elusive Ronald of Arabia...

Thanksgiving was good. We actually had the big meal last Sunday, which was the last day our dining facility (DFAC) was open. For a bunch of contracted KBR subcontracted Pakistani dudes who have never seen a turkey, they blew it up pretty good. It was missing some key things, as we ran out of a bunch of stuff towards the end of the existence of the DFAC, as this was the last meal for our FOB. Somewhere they got a big ice sculpture, too.

For the actual day, we canceled our morning meetings and took a break. Since Sunday we've been on MREs and whatever food people had ratholed away from care packages (mail stopped in mid-October) and sundries people muled out of the chow hall when it was open. Today we did all get together for a UGR-E meal (Unit Ground Ration-E; I don't know what the E stands for-- expeditionary??). UGR-Es heat themselves and serve 10-12. They aren't bad, and the change of pace is nice. We've only got a few of these to tide us over before we leave to break up the MRE experience. Here's a picture of our First Sergeant serving us Thanksgiving "dinner." This is his 5th deployment since 2001.

We had a general come talk to us. Guess he thought the chow hall was going to be open and he was going to get to eat chow with us, but the joke was on him. He noted it stinks to spend a holiday away from family, but he asked us to think about what we did here. In eight years we overthrew a dictator and gave people an opporunity to decide for themselves. He also noted there are consequences to that decision, and that we certainly haven't done everything right, but at least the people have a voice and a chance to fix things themselves. Our commitment, made in June of 2008, was to leave by December 31st 2011, and we're on track to do just that. We've done it quietly, without fanfare, we've done it in contact, and we've done it as responsibly as we possibly can. He noted we've never done anything like this-- we're still in Germany, Japan, and Korea, and even Bosnia. When you put it in context, it's significant, although right now it feels like any other day, just less busy.

The words were interesting, and it makes you wonder what will happen. We'll see.

One thing I do want to see is Arkansas vs. LSU, and if everything goes well, we're going to watch it tomorrow night. WPS!!!!

Hope you and your families all had a good Thanksgiving. Take care-

Ron