Arrived in Fallujah

 

19 April 2006

Hello from Camp Fallujah,

 

First, my e-mail address is different than previously published.  It is mulnixrl@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil.

 

I finally arrived at my destination at 0200 on the 17^th of April after departing Camp Pendleton, CA on the 12^th.  My final leg from Kuwait to Fallujah included a C-130 trip into Taqaddam Air Base, Iraq, where I awaited a follow-on helo flight on a CH-53 into Fallujah.  The helo flight only took 15-20 minutes.  The aircraft only flew a couple hundred feet of the ground and the only lights were from the instruments on the dash.  The aircrew was flying on Night Vision Goggles (NVGs).  One crewman strapped himself onto the back ramp and kept a close watch for ground fire. Receiving and returning fire here is a coveted action.  It earns the Marine a Combat Action Ribbon.  It requires the individual be actually engaged in a fire fight (though it has been expanded to include victims of IEDs).  Most of us desk jockeys will never receive this award, rarely getting outside the wire.

 

I have been assigned my billeting.  I have a comfortable room that I share with one other Marine.  It comes with a 19 inch TV, DVD player, boom box, and refrigerator.  I can’t complain.  Life here isn’t so bad. The chow hall is good and so far the climate is moderate.  The high temperatures of summer haven’t hit yet.