I'd like to wish all the veterans out there a happy Veterans Day. I'm honored to be a member of this group.  Until now, I've only seen Veteran's Day as a way to honor those who have fought in wars, like my great grandfather, grandfather, and my uncle. 

This time it takes on a different, special meaning for me since I'm spending it doing the same thing.  Granted, I'm not flying a plane like my grandfather, or serving as a combat medic like my uncle. But I'm here, away from my family, trying my best to make a difference.
 
For the past two weeks and next three, I'm working at a brigade level, which is where things really happen.  I've talked to more Iraqis in the last two weeks than I have in the last seven months, albeit through an interpreter.

I get to see the real progress made in this country, and see what we're doing and how the Iraqis are really making an effort to build a democracy. For my small part, I try to get the media in tune to all the ways the Iraqi police, army and border patrol are getting better and more capable of handling things themselves.  It's a great thing.

When the people can see that they're able to run their own country, they have more faith in their government, and that's when you start seeing positive changes for this country.
 
So happy Veterans Day from Lt. Dan. Have a cold one for me, and maybe I'll join you for one next year at this time.
 
Lt. Dan out.

Greetings loyal readers. I've been doing some traveling lately and Iraq doesn't exactly have as much Internet connectivity as you find in the states. As a result, I haven't been able to post anything in a while.  Luckily, I'm done travelling for a while and actually do have Internet where I am now.
 
It's been great to see more than just my little corner of Basra, but there are trade-offs. Allow me to share some of my itinerary from a recent trip to Baghdad:
 
"Lt. Marchik, you'll be flying to Baghdad at 8:00, so be at the terminal three hours early. Your flight to Baghdad will take you to Kuwait, Talil, back to Kuwait, then to your final destination of Baghdad. It's a quick 6 hour flight, so you can stay on the plane the whole time."
 
Finally arrive in Baghdad, tired, but glad we're there.
 
On the way home, we again show up three hours early only to find that our flight has already left. It doesn't really matter though, since we were bumped from the flight. So we fly standby to Kuwait (where we have to stay overnight since there are no flights going to Basra that day). 

The next day, while in Kuwait, we find that we're bumped from this flight too. We managed to get back to Basra, but not until after dealing with the crazy military flight arrangements. I can't blame this on the Army though. This is Air Force and civilians that run this mess. 
 
Needless to say, after this mess, I'll probably never complain about flying civilian airlines.