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Episode 9: January of 2005
Jan. 31, 2005 9:42 a.m (Baghdad Time)
Al Asad, Iraq
By LCpl Sincioco
Revised on March 29, 2008
The Election
I have not been in Iraq that long, and yet, it seems like "we've been here a long time," as Mummey once said. Somehow, we expected some sort of attack due to Iraq's first election in 50 years, but that came and went like any other day before it.
The First Two Weeks
In my first two weeks, the attack siren went off 3 times. I expected that to be more frequent, but the sirens have not gone off in over a week. Things at work have been less dramatic too. It is no longer as hellish as it was when we first brought the DSIDs online. In the past two days, I have been keeping myself occupied with my personal laptop; writing emails, playing games, or programming.
Marine Corps Electronic Log
I have been tasked to develop an Electronic Log for us DSID guys. I started working on it as soon as I got here, whenever I got the chance. It was a programming project I had in mind since the first time I saw the green log book the Marine Corps uses. When I got here in Iraq, when everyone else took smoke brakes when we were building the DSIDs (there's actually two of them), I got on my laptop and fiddled with the art of encryption.
One day I showed to SSgt Ott what I had been working on and he was impressed by it. So much so that he told me to finish it as soon as I can so we can start using it. I have not worked on it in a couple of days, I must tell you. I have not been in my programming mood lately. Lack of sleep does that to me. I need to be able to mentally concentrate in order to program effectively and gracefully. Programming has as much art as logic in it, you know.
I showed SSgt Ott how my Electronic Log was better than the Excel spreadsheet that everyone else is using. I demonstrated that once you make an entry it becomes encrypted and saved in a Microsoft Access database. I showed him the table in Access and was impressed by the gibberish text it stored. I demonstrated to him that my program decrypts the table in real-time so that it is viewable again on screen. Impressed by it, he made some suggestions to make it even better, such as the ability to attach files to a log entry. My response, "Anything is do-able Staff Sergeant, it's just all a matter of time."
The Essence of Time
Time in Iraq has a strange way of passing. I do not really keep track of the days as closely as I used to. And I'm not the only one either. I get up to no set schedule. As long as I get to work in a reasonable time, no one seems to mind. I go to chow and take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on if I have to pass by at the PX. Sgt Williams, my site chief, relieves me from work at no particular time schedule either. It could be 7 p.m. one day, or 9 p.m. the next.
On my own time, I keep to my laptop and myself, writing emails, programming or playing games. Whenever possible, I hang around with LCpl Smith. He is my "battle buddy." We sleep next to each other, we go to work together, we go to chow together, and we hang around after work. Sadly, he is leaving for Fallujah soon. I will be separated from my "bosom buddy" as Sgt Williams once referred to us.
Such is life in the Marine Corps, so it would seem. You get to know someone and then you get separated. It is sad—almost cruel really.
The Sand in Iraq
Unlike the sand in the U.S., the sand in Iraq is cruel and merciless. They are fine and powdery. They are everywhere and get in everywhere. I told Sgt Williams that once we get back in the States, I'm going to need to buy a whole new set of electronic gear. All the things I brought here needs to be replaced: laptop, PDA, cell phone, external hard drive, USB hub, and router just to name a few.
When dust storms occur they look pretty cool when you are indoors, as they have a pretty orange aura. But if you have to go outside, say to the chow hall, prepare to inhale dust like you've never done before. "We get boogers here the size of our fist," Sgt Heilman once remarked. People hack and spit just so they can clear their air passage. I'm doing alright adapting to this new hot-and-cold dusty environment. I did not get sick like a few Marines did on our first few days here. At the age of 28, I tell you, the Lord has blessed me with an excellent health, and a not too dull of a mind go with it.
No Place Like Home
The last-time time passed by so quickly and fluidly as it did in the last three weeks was when I was in boot camp. People long for the things they don't have, it's human nature I suppose. I long for a faster Internet connection, Smith longs for restaurants to dine in, others long for their pets, cars, trucks, and of course our love ones back home.
In a strange way, I like the thought of missing home; it gives me something to look forward to. No one misses home unless they are away from it. And you cannot fully appreciate all the comfort and love a home has unless you are removed from it. It's human nature, I suppose. To take all that you have for granted, until you no longer have them.
Whether I'm going to be here 9 months or 16 months seems almost inconsequential. Although I must tell you, I'm quite optimistic that I will be back home after 9 months—call it a hunch. It's just very rare for the Marine Corps to keep Marines deployed for that long of a time, someone once told me. Besides, running a DSID is not rocket science. I'm sure they will have enough Marines trained and ready to replace us by October.
School and Education
If there's one thing on my mind every day, not our dear Lord, but the thought of going back to school. Ever since I got here in Iraq, I kept thinking of going back to school. When people ask me what am I going to do when I get out of the Marine Corps, I reply with "in a perfect world? I'd go back to school full-time." Most Marines eager to get out after their 4 years would say they want to make more money. I guess, I took the opposite route.
My mother once told me, "They can take everything away from you except your education." And I must tell you, I am reminded of that lesson nearly every day. Still I'm not doing too badly though. I consider myself a fairly "educated" Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps. I fascinate people with things I do not know as much as with the things I do know. Smith smirked at me the other day when he found out I did not know anything about Dr. Zeus. I told him maybe someday his kids will read about "The Chronicles of Dr. Sin." We laughed and went on about our business.
Well, ladies and gentlemen that pretty much sums up January of 2005 here in Al Asad: business as usual.
—LCpl Sincioco
United States Marine Corps,
8th Comm BN, Support Co., Data Platoon
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