OIF and thoughts

long time no update...until now ha ha

2005-10-22T01:01:00.001-07:00

Hey what's going on peeps? how are you all being blessed today? i pray that you are being blessed immensly, if that's spelled right. I apologize for not updating this is a while, okay about two or three months. either way i know it's way over do. So yeah i've been on a couple missions for the elections since i got back from leave, and have been on the FOB the rest of the time. For those of you who might not know, i have been moved from FOB Endurance to FOB Marez on the south side of Mosul. I can see the city from my motor pool. Yeah the past few days we have begun the packing, throwing away, and cleaning process to get home. I am still unsure as to when exactly i will be home. They have me on the wash rack detail in Kuwait, and we are teh very last ppl to leave, so yeah that kind of stinks. It's been fun though, i have learned a lot since i have been back. IF any of you guys want a really gd book to read ckeck out "every young man's battle", there is a workbook that goes with it. I am reading it now and it is teaching me a lot. Well this is the last leg, i'm almost there, i'm sure you are all as anxious to see me as i am ya'll. be patient it will come in time. that's about all i have for now, God bless and prosper you all. I look forward to your antagonistic reply's to this post, as far as how long it's been since i have updated it. I'll talk to ya'll later.

heatin' up

2005-07-21T02:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a little idea of how hot it is getting over here. Sgt. Lamb was meeting someone last night (July 9, 2005) at 10 p.m. to pick something up. When he looked at a thermostat he saw that it had read 110 degrees, that’s right it was 110 at 2200 (10 o’clock p.m.) Than the other day when I returned to the shop from doing some work else where, I checked out the thermostat and it was pegged (the stat pegs at 120, that was at 1200.
13 July 05
Hey it’s me, getting ready for when my net kick’s back in, fast enough for me to connect to anything. So I’m in charge of the motor pool right now, and told a 1st Lt no and got away with it. I was going to the toc to drop off some progress reports, and they had just got back from a mission. He walked up to me and asked if I was running the motor pool, I said I don’t consider myself to be in charge, but I carry the radio, if that makes you feel that I am in charge of the motor pool than I am in charge of it. He said, “okay your in charge of it.” He asked if we still went in 1830. When I asked why he told me this. “I need you guys to load up 22 barriers on the back of a flat bed.”
I told him “Sir, none of us are licensed on a LET…why can’t your guys do it?” He asked about the wrecker, I told him it was down, thinking of a different problem that didn’t involve the crane, and told him that it was up. He asked if his guys could use the wrecker, I told him yeah I have no problem with that. That’s my story of the E-4 (specialist) telling the 1st Lt (2nd lowest officer) no and got away with it. Although that would not happen now sgt. back in charge.

so only a matter of time before i see all your shining, bright, friendly faces again, awsomely mexecellent can describe that. Oh yes before i forget, the ivanhoes trip has been postponed from the 7th of Aug. I will have to let you all know when i get home, that way i know when i leave, and can plan the trip accordingly. Sorry about not having the date ahead of time, i'll let you know as soon as i can. So on the whole heat note, this mourning at 0700 it was 82 degrees, so yeah it was a nice mourning. cool well that's about all i have for now, i prolly won't post again till i get back from leave; unless something pressing comes up that i nd to let you all know about. like trip updates. God bless and prosper you all, i'll see ya'll soon.

brothers

2005-07-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

brothers
Originally uploaded by swng king.

chill, little big brother to the guy next to him (sorry i never caught his name) flowin' with their style out of Orange County, California.

chill

2005-07-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

chill
Originally uploaded by swng king.

little big "chill" holding the floor down for the service members in Iraq.

set free

2005-07-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

set free
Originally uploaded by swng king.

set free gets ready for their annual dance competition during their concert.

um can't remember

2005-06-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

hey how are ya'll doing? yeah um so i stated a post the other day and cannot figure out how to retrieve it, here's a fresh one. i'm having some technical difficulties in posting pictures so please bare with me until i figure out what the problem is and attempt to fix it without breaking my lappy. I'm alive for all of you that might have been wondering. some know of my leave dates, if you do not, please call someone you think might know and aske them, i don't want to put it on the post for OPSEC reasons thank you for understanding. there's really not a whole lot to talk about right now, sorry onthing interesting. hopefully i get the picture deal figured out soon. God bless and prosper you all. Thank you for your support and prayers. Talk and see ya'll soon.

facade

2005-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

facade
Originally uploaded by swng king.

don't let the smile fool you, in my hand is a knife; in case he tries to be sneaky. the arm is to pull him in for the kill ;) (note the glove, no prints)

facade

2005-06-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

facade
Originally uploaded by swng king.

don't let the smile fool you, in my hand is a knife; in case he tries to be sneaky. the arm is to pull him in for the kill ;)

up close

2005-06-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

up close
Originally uploaded by swng king.

IED detonation up close and personal. cannot say where it happened or when, OPSEC (operation security). sorry i didn't get the video.

up close

2005-06-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

up close
Originally uploaded by swng king.

IED detonation up close and personal. cannot say where it happened or when, OPSEC (operation security). sorry i didn't get the video.

up close

2005-06-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

up close
Originally uploaded by swng king.

IED detonation up close and personal. cannot say where it happened or when, OPSEC (operation security). sorry i didn't get the video.

facade

2005-06-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

facade
Originally uploaded by swng king.

don't let the smile fool you, in my hand is a knife; in case he tries to be sneaky. the arm is to pull him in for the kill ;)

the beast

2005-06-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

the beast
Originally uploaded by swng king.

this is my vehicle that i have driven for the past year. She may ont look like much but when you drive her, take care of her, feed, oil, grease, and treat her with the love that she deserves you develop a connection with her that cannot be taken away; except by the end of the deployment that is.

town counsel

2005-05-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

military pics 248
Originally uploaded by swng king.

the enforcers roled into town and the towns ppl were frightened for their lives. I know i would be a horrible sci-fi novelist.

Mr. Jinx

2005-05-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Mr. Jinx
Originally uploaded by swng king.

My only A-Driver, on missions, my only partner on the Wrecker. Unfortunately right now he's on pass, so I'm working with another guy from the shop until he gets back. If you read this Mr. Jinx have fun on your pass.

combines

2005-05-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

military pics 260
Originally uploaded by swng king.

yes ladies and gentlemen, there are combines in iraq. Aparently these people stop at nothing to not have to walk any where. (left is New Holland, right is Masey Ferguson).

old sleeping arangements

2005-05-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

old sleeping arangements
Originally uploaded by swng king.

yeah it's what it looks like, a whole in the ground, that's why we go out and drop off small box thingy's for these guys to sleep in instead of the whole dug in the ground.

major huka

2005-05-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

major huka
Originally uploaded by swng king.

the guy on the is a major who rented the huka for us that night. He runs kareoke for the FOB and some other things. can't really remember tight now.

model starts young

2005-05-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

model starts young
Originally uploaded by swng king.

this little girl wanted a picture by herself so bad that she was pushing the other kids away from her and out of view of the camera. Just her and her elephant, it was funny to watch.

the man

2005-05-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

the man
Originally uploaded by swng king.

Sgt. Eggleston connecting with the towns people in his own way.

sand tornado

2005-05-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

sand tornado
Originally uploaded by swng king.

yes they still have tornado's, as you can these are very different from back home as well. Another way to make us not feel at home.

chillin' with the chillen

2005-05-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

chillin' with the chillen
Originally uploaded by swng king.

droppin t-huts and given the kids things to tell their kids about when they become fathers.

shift change

2005-05-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hello again to all my friendly readers. The main point of this is to inform you all that we are changing the hours that we work. So give me some time to adjust please, I might not be online as much until my body gets used to this. Okay now that the main point is out of the way.

I just want to igve a shout out to all my peeps back home representin' while I'm gone. Give a shout out to Dr. Martin for helping me back in the day, you have no idea how much better my life is now because of you. Everyone I thank you for all your support, prayers, and thoughts, they mean more to me than I can try to describe in words. Dad and whoever else is involved THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE DRINKS, it helps all the more not missing that luxury. Well my battle went on pass today which really stinks because we have a system worked out when we go on missions, now I have to go with one of the other guys from shop and it will probably get ugly quick, hopefully he doesn't doubt me and we should make it through fairly painlessly. Um there really is not a lot to comment on at this point in time so, um yeah, oh and I probably will not be getting another zoot suit when I return, I will have to see what happens. See I budgeted so much for clothes when I got home, except I probably spent that over here between my leather jacket and my outfit that I am getting made with six different shirts, all custom made. Well that's about it for now, again thank you all for your support, whether i know you or not, it is all appreciated. God bless and prosper you all. I'll talk to you later.

Following God,
Charles Pendleton
Psalm 119: 9, 19

"The only that never changes is change. You can make it through almost anything as long as you know it isn't permanent." Steve Brown-When Your Rope Breaks

hero

2005-05-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

military pics 070
Originally uploaded by swng king.

Hero the TC on the convoy up to Mosul from Kuwait, what a brave soldier.

the pst few days

2005-04-21T19:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, how these past few days have tought me that the military likes ot keep things confidential for the safety of the troops, but have no regard for the troops condition for the mission. Well this past week I went outside the wire (off the FOB) more times than i have the entire three and a half months I have been here, it was kind of fun. Two runs to FOB Marez, and a trip to Ashura, an hour southwest of here.
We ran to Ashura with a source, from the town, that said he would he would point out the bad guys from the good ones, so we spent about ten or eleven hoursholding all the town males in the school courtyard that we were operating out of and put the bad guys in the rooms on the second floor. We ended up with 27 more detainees, so that was cool. I was on the net team which involved setting up cammoflauge netting for shade for the men while they were waiting, and just so you all know we were looking at males from 16-50 so you can imagine the numbers we were dealing with, and it wasn't a small town, there were about 400-600 of themin this school's courtyard. When the team was finished setting up the nets we went to the front gate to help search, keep the peace and guard those that had already been let into the compound. I was one of the ones keeping the peace, making sure that as they were entering the AO (area of operation) that they didn't have anything that could be used as a weapon and that they didn't try to sneak in and not be searched (heftish). Well I kept the peace for about an hour and than was pulled to help do full body searches. That was a workout, when you do stationary Ironman's for four hours straight with an IBA (individual balistic armor), LBV (load bearing vest), full load (210, 5.56 mm rounds), than your kevlar you've got some weight, than you throw that on top of what you already weigh (213lbs.) you are probably looking at an easy 225-230 lbs. minimum. It was fun though. When the line was gone there was a crowd of kids gathering by the south wall by our 916 LET. I was sent out there to dismember the crowd, and let me tell you those kids were the most ignorant little snots that I have ever come across. I couldn't get them to leave, and when they finally left a new batch came, than the old batch would come back, and i'm the only guy out there trying to keep them away, it sucked. Plus I couldnt get the males to stay off the wall so that they couldn't be seen, and the IA (Iraqi Army) that was placed there to kkep them off the wall were doing a horrible job, no they weren't even doing their job, unless I said something to them. Than I ended up becoming the middle man between the kids and their dads inside the school yard, just making that whatever they brought them was clean as far as no weapons, anything sharp, and that concluded my details for the day, other than tearing the nets back down and tie everything down. Well i'm gonna go eat dinner and than sip some tea with Ahmet Palta, the carpet guy. God bless and prosper all who come across this blogger. Take care of yourselves and be safe.

Following God,
Charles Pendleton
Psalm 119: 9, 19

"The only thing that never changes is change. You can stand almost anything as long you know it isn't permanent." Steve Brown-When Your Rope Breaks

the pst few days

2005-04-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

info

2005-04-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

Picture 136
Originally uploaded by swng king.

instructing the next possible soldier in the ways of possible success and adventure

i think it nds a new starter

2005-04-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

i think it nds a new starter
Originally uploaded by swng king.

it might need a new starter but were still trying to figure it out. and the guy in the middle is that short; he's standing on the frame. Unfortunately he's my roomie.

packless 113

2005-04-09T01:50:00.000-07:00

packless 113
Originally uploaded by swng king.

all but two of the maintenance crew here at FOB Endurance

crew

2005-04-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

Picture 138
Originally uploaded by swng king.

crew outside of gary armory, and no they won't melt on the way over my other ones didn't that were mailed

part room door

2005-04-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

military pics 137
Originally uploaded by swng king.

this truely depicts the madness of our motor pool

Pictures 098

2005-04-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Pictures 098
Originally uploaded by swng king.

sunset in kuwait

military pics 075

2005-04-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

military pics 075
Originally uploaded by swng king.

915 5 ton dump truck destroyed by IED

military pics 094

2005-04-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

military pics 094
Originally uploaded by swng king.

trying to get the other bolts, blast this is a blood rush.

military pics 110

2005-04-02T02:12:00.000-08:00

military pics 110
Originally uploaded by swng king.

the unit that did this piece of work also grenaded their officers tent

military pics 131

2005-04-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

military pics 131
Originally uploaded by swng king.

548A2 in the rain, up-armor done by yours truely, with Mr. Jinx.

military pics 093

2005-04-02T02:03:00.000-08:00

military pics 093
Originally uploaded by swng king.

yeah me trying to get a starter out a 548 artillery ammunitions hauler. its as fun as it looks

military pics 141

2005-04-02T01:58:00.000-08:00

military pics 141
Originally uploaded by swng king.

dark cloud above second tree out, is a controlled IED blast

Pictures 098

2005-04-02T01:35:00.000-08:00

Pictures 098
Originally uploaded by swng king.

sunset from Camp New York in Udairi, Kuwait

Flickr

2005-04-02T01:20:00.000-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

so it's been a while

2005-03-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hey how are all my crazy ppl doing out there? I was kind of urged to update my blogger last night by someone so I figured today I would see what I could do. william 24_7 wouldn't happen to be hellboy24/7 would it? You know you've been some where to long when you begin to be fascinated by how far you can see a night with the moon light. Any way tomorrow I will finish my biggest project yet, replacing a Pack for a 113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Yeah have to disconnect everything, pull the engine, change all the good parts over to the new engine along with the transfer case, and transmission, than reconnect everything on the engine, and then drop it back in and finish reconnecting it to the engine compartment. Spc Jenkins a.k.a. Jinx and I have been working on it for the past three days and yesterday a little more work and it is ready to go in today. I don't know if they are going to put it in today or wait till I get back not sure, and really don't care. But it was fun learning. Other than the engine swap I haven't been to busy, trying to keep up on e-mailing and writing everyone, trying not to strangle those that frustrate me, and the few that vex me at times. Hey it's all gd because God doesn't put us through more than we can handle, and like Steve Brown said in his book When Your Rope Breaks, "The only thing that never changes is change. You can stand almost anything if you know it isn't permanent." Right now we're working on getting a roof together for our shop, get tires repaired, engines swapped, keep the 1114's up and running, 1114 is the tardac hmmwv all hardened steel, with three inch thick ballistic glass, two recovery winches, and a 6.5 L fuel injected, turbo charged, V-8. They got some pick me up and go to them put to ya that way, oh and the headsets are made by none other than Bose, that's right ladies and gents Bose has made their way into the military world. The Question good or bad decision, I mean yeah they're going to get a crap load of money now, well as if they weren't already, but luxury and the military just don't mix in my opinion, look at S.E.E. Truck, the mutt of the military, made by Mercedes, John Deere, and Case. I mean seriously now, but maybe I'm just jealous because I don't get to use them. As far as pictures go I am trying to attach them to an e-mail and mail them out to you all, actually it's loading now. Yeah never figured out how to get them on the blogger, sorry. I think that is it for now. Again I'm trying to send pics through e-mail and hopefully it attaches before I have to leave for guard duty. God bless and prosper you all. I appreciate all the support and prayers that are sent forth on my behalf. Take care and be safe.

Following God,
Charles Pendleton
Psalm 119:9, 19

um yeah

2005-02-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Crazy ppl crazy, that's right you heard me crazy, snow in iraq, yes snow in iraq. Yeah well i finnaly worked on a dozer that's right a dozer ladies and gentilemen, had to test the grease fittings that assist in adjusting the track. Yeah that was about all I did today. We got a fridge today so that was cool, i guess. I just want to tell you all that i greatly appreciate your support back home, thank you very much. Um yeah i think that's all i have. let me see if i can't attatch any pics for ya'll.

after the elections

2005-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

ya know it stinks when you are knee deep in an engine compartement and a big blast goes off,
all you know is that tension is high and ppl are trying extra hard to keep ppl from voting, and you don't know if it was CONTROLLED OR NOT!!! Yeah that sucked. Other than that, you know it was perrty cool hearing deep resounding booms. fun.