Brief from Iraq

Below is part of a letter Patric wrote to his soldier's families this week. He continues gush about the food. Geez, you would think he only got corndogs and mac-n-cheese at home or something... Apparently, he is also promising that the men will come back all bulked-up from working out at the gym.

The facilities are splendid here with chow hours around the clock and multiple gyms--that for many--will forge your loved ones into better shape than they departed. The USO offers video reading for free to send to the little ones that four children LOVE. Morale continues to be very high. Indeed the mission load has been challenging, but we all know what the Good Book says about idle hands. And we are far from idle. Our training at Camp Shelby has served us well through providing techniques to accomplish our mission; perhaps more importantly, time together hardened the resolve and collective bonds for gun-truck crews and platoons that has transitioned into stellar tactical performance. Translation--we can stomp insurgents into a mud hole should they threaten our fellow troopers or the US cargo drivers we protect. The Gunslingers took little time meeting and surpassing the Mississippi unit we relieved here in Balad. That is the truth. We are running hard and we are running smart. As their commander, I can only augment the pride you already hold for your loved one in watching such professionalism and discipline in action.

For the record--and especially for the spouses of the 04-05 veterans--our Max Pro-Plus vehicles are highly survivable, infinitesimally more-so than the up-armored HMMWV of past deployments. By design, they have already proven highly resistant to Improvised Explosive Devices and completely impenetrable to small arms fire-such as rifles and machine guns well beyond the capacity of previous vehicles.