Its getting HOT in here... so take off all your clothes!

For those of you that dont know that song, its Nelly "Hot in Here". Well everytime I think about how damn hot this place is, that song comes into my mind. If only it were that easy! If I could just take off some of my clothes, Id be happy. Im from Phoenix, AZ so I'm used to the heat, but my God its a different beast here. Back home this time of year I'd be wearing sandals, shorts and a t-shirt. Probably wouldn't be outside durring the middle of the afternoon unless I had to. Well out here, I HAVE to! Not to mention I HAVE to wear boots, pants, an undershirt, long sleeve jacket, and then throw on 50 or so pounds of gear. Yeah, lets just say that it sucks enough just sitting in the truck with the A/C going (though be it the A/C is not that good). I think Im going to try to find one of those things for my page that displays the current tempature here. We'll see.

So today I have decided is probably one of the days that I've never been more hot. I can't really think of anything worse, and I cringe when I think how much hotter its going to get. But anyways, today was supposed to be our day off, but as sometimes happens, something comes up and we end up having to go out. Today was one of those days.

We had a short, given past experiences, clearing mission to do with the IA (Iraqi Army). In past missions we've had a bunch of crap to have to go through and its usually taken a long time, but today there were only a few places that needed to get checked. We left kind of early and rolled out to our staging point, and we were slightly behind schedule. We had to be at the area at a certin time and start things, so everything would fall into place correctly. Well, we had to walk to where we were going, so this now meant that we had to walk fast. And that we did. It was quite the killer pace and by the time we got to where we needed to be, I was already sweating my ass off. And this was just the begining.

My squad was tasked out with our IA guys to go through this 7 or 8 story building. Probably bigger than any of the other squads, and it was no fun. One thing I must admit is that the IA do seem to be getting better at doing these missions. Don't get me wrong, they need work, but they've definatly improved from what I've seen of them the first time we worked with them. Its promising. I ended up seeing one the the IA guys that I know from working with them elsewhere and me and him "chatted" briefly.

Its kind of crazy that I'm in a way becoming attached to some of these IA guys. They have been getting into some shit with insurgents alot lately and whenever I hear of one of them getting killed, I always wonder and in a way worry if its any of the ones that I've become friends with.

It didn't take long for us to finish our clearning, but by the time we were done I was exhausted from going up and down stairs and everything. I really was not looking forward to the walk back, and I even joked with a buddy that this is one of the few times that I wouldn't mind getting shot. Free ride in the truck! Hahah its horrible I know, but its just the kind of humor we have here.

By the time everyone was done, the sun was beating down like an oven, and I now know how a Turkey on Thanksgiving! We all knew what was coming and we were dreading it, but in a way we were looking forward to it, because well, it meant we were done and could come home. We started on our way, and at first the pace wasn't too bad. The walk wasn't long, but it also definately wasn't short and so I think the lead squad was in a little of a hurry to get back and the pace kept picking up and up until it was killer again. I was a little upset by the pace because, especially when its so hot, walking fast like that I think sacrifices guys abilities to pull security like they should. I know it took everything from me to keep looking around, and I remeber thinking how much it would suck if something went down and we got engaged.

Fortunatly nothing like that happened. The mission went off without a hitch, although I dont know the outcome of the search. Probably because it was an IA thing and we are just there for support and for advice, helping show them how to do things, and if need be helping out if the going is slow.

By the time we got back to the trucks I was absolutely soaked, and slightly out of it due to dehydration setting in. I tried drinking as much water as I could, but as it got hotter and hotter in my camelback it made it harded and harder to drink. As soon as we got to the trucks tho, I pulled an ice cold one out of the cooler and down it quick. My how good it tasted! After a little time to cool off, we all loaded up and headed back into base. In all, it REALLY wasn't that long. Just seemed so long considering it was our day off. But as they say "The bad guys never take a day off"...