Feb 3, 2004

Keeping in touch with Kurt Brader

Captain Kurt Brader, an army reservist currently stationed in Iraq will be writing us for the next couple of months to let us know how he is doing and what is going on. Here are several e-mails he sent recently:

Sunday, Jan. 25

Dear Carol,
It’s good to have e-mail working, this address will function for any future inquiries by readers.
I have just arrived in Kuwait and will fly back to Iraq tomorrow, (Jan. 26). From an airfield in Balad, I will convoy to our Iranian border camp to and from there during the next two days.

Many units are now rotating into Kuwait. Most have had a year to prepare for deployment and are arriving with new, desert camouflage uniforms. There are many improvements to Camp Wolverine, Kuwait, (where I departed from for leave), on Jan. 8. More gravel is helping keep down sandstorms and the USO facilities are better staffed.
If you have any questions, just ask. I will answer as security permits.

Kurt

Friday, Jan. 30

Dear Carol,
Here is a small update.

The weather is still very cold in North Iraq. You can see your breath until 9 a.m. Most camps are still struggling with mud, even as it swallows gravel. Flights into local airfields still draw occasional anti-aircraft fire. A C-130 flight attracted three surface-to-air missiles yesterday, (Jan. 28).

The Army is sending out special “Superbowl” dinners for this Sunday.
Most camps, (including ours, [Camp Ashraf]), now have satellite TV so we can watch the event.
I am scheduled to be in Baghdad on Feb. 3, but I do not know specifically where yet. I will keep you informed.

Respectfully,
Kurt

Saurday, Jan. 31

Dear Carol,
The last day of January was hot, 78 degrees in Northern Iraq.

One odd fact of life over here is the use of contracted translators. While they are willing to go most any where at practically any time, they do worry about pay, usually just a few hundred dollars a week. Early February is the time of the Moslem “Hadj” or Pilgrimage to Mecca. As it is a five-day holiday, we are having a hard time getting translators to work.

Yes, some soldiers wear flea collars, mostly medics do this, to keep ticks and other insects away. They usually put the collars on their left ankles. Many soldiers here do not wear dog tags around their neck, most tie the chains around a belt loop then put the tags in a front pants’ pocket. Those in infantry or tank units often tie one tag in their boots.
We burn our trash here daily in a huge pit, the size of large suburban house. Most Iraqi communities have re-established their garbage collection. Baghdad has several city block sized garbage dumps, where squatters live, on the Northwest boundaries of the city. As the area around the capital is flat, you can easily see them from roadways.

They burn what they can, so the smell is not too extreme.

We are still receiving Anthrax injections, part of a six-injection process. Like most reservists, when I am back in the U.S. de-mobilizing, I will still have one last shot in the series to take.
I hope this is informative.

KurtD

Dear Carol,
Here is some additional information I did not have time to include earlier.

How do we identify terrorists? That work is done by Military Intelligence, (MI), units and Federal Government agencies. We do question suspicious bystanders, (like criminals in the U.S., they have a habit of witnessing the violence they do), inspect people and vehicles at checkpoints, restrict traffic flow and eliminate traffic near sensitive areas. You probably know this from CNN.

We do look for obvious terrorists listed on security reports, but this, as I mentioned, is mostly a MI issue. When traveling in a convoy, (you never travel in a single vehicle in Iraq), soldiers stay observant for strange vehicles, altered roadways, packages or anything, which could conceal an explosive devise. This is our main threat to operations in Iraq. Most are now remotely detonated. In the beginning, around late April, most were contact detonated, but the terrorists are more organized now.

I have not seen this, but it is sometimes reported children, who still always wave to us here in Northern Iraq, make signals of an explosion going off over their heads when U.S. vehicles get close to a devise. Most children here wear bright clothes and backpacks like western children. If you are a woman, you can wear whatever color you want as long as it’s black. They all wear scarves. In my 10 months here I have only seen two women in western dress.

There are still massive deposits of weapons in Iraq. There is a complex near us with 100 bunkers, each with several tons of ordnance in them. It will take nearly a decade to clear all the explosives.

Kurt