** This is
"joeslist"! Your (hopefully) daily taste of the war from somewhere
in the Gulf. You
get this because I only get to send 2 emails per day (when
it's working)
and I want all of you to be informed, and possibly entertained.
If you'd prefer
not to get this, or get it sent to a different address please
contact
john@announcetech.com and tell him this. I won't be offended (much).
I understand
what it's like to get WAY TOO MUCH email these days. I will assure
you that I won't
be pitching you for a mortgage or penis enlargement, however.
Today I'll begin
insertion of really stupid random comments in this space to
see if ANYBODY
is paying attention to this text block. Moose and Llama?
If you think
that somebody would enjoy this or find it useful, please feel free
to forward it on
to them, but let the rest of us know who else is "out there".
Some questions
can't be answered due to security constraints. **
Messages for
inclusion to this list or private personal ones should be sent to:
MYNAMEDELETED@gunston-hall.navy.mil
_________________________________________________________________________________
Friday 11 April 2003 11 AM Still
Floating around the Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG)
Environmental
conditions:
Temps: Berthing = Icy Ship
Internal = 80f Ship outside = 90f hot water = OK
Unusual Smells = none currently
noted after clothes from "Beach" were burned
Stormwatch: Weather supposed to
start sucking. Ship movement is now noticable
Apparent Morale (as measured in the
Chiefs Mess) OK/Boredom increasing
Boredom index (0=Exciting
9=Excruciatingly dull) today = 8
Most Annoying Event = Loud Rap music
coming from nearby head late at night.
Corrective action initiated.
Movies Watched: Rock Star (site TV),
UNKNOWN Stallone mountain climbing movie (DVD)
Food Ratings: * = Sucky ** =
Better than MRE's *** = Average **** = Yummy
***** = Unlikely ("It's just a tiny wafer")
Last Nights Dinner: Low Fat Lasagna
(***) and Low Fat Chicken Fried Steak (***)
Lunch: Fish stuffed with crab &
Shrimp (****) Warm gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies (****)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Todays Happenings:
Today has been
really slow. I've been doing a bunch of computer work trying to get my
laptop set up
the way that I want it and working on this email.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Mail Bin:
Rusty Hodge of SOMA FM Writes:
Glad you're back
on the boat safe. You're making news too...
April 10, 2003
7:30 PM Umm Qasr opens to aid ships
By Stefano
Ambrogi
LONDON (Reuters)
- The Royal Navy says Iraq's only deep-water port of
Umm Qasr will
receive its first merchant ship carrying humanitarian
aid on Saturday.
"A ship called
the Manar from the United Arab Emirates carrying 700
tonnes of
foodstuff will go in the next couple of days," Steve
Tatham, a Royal
Navy spokesman based in Bahrain, told Reuters on Thursday.
He said the
shipment would quickly be followed by two
Australian-flagged
vessels carrying some 28,000 tonnes of wheat.
The port has
been closed to merchant shipping while U.S. and British
forces cleared
mines from the approaches to the port. (THAT'S YOU!)
Tatham said a
second Royal Navy supply vessel the Sir Percivale,
carrying around
300 tonnes of aid including fresh water, food and
medical supplies
berthed at the sprawling port complex on Tuesday.
The Sir Galahad,
another naval supply ship carrying aid, drew
alongside two
weeks ago.
Joe
Sez:
Actually the Sir
Galahad showed up about a week ago. That's the one that's in
quarantine now.
We're really happy to see the whole humanitarian thing start
to come together
and move. It needs to move faster! Kids stop you in the
street asking
for water. It tears my heart out.
Rusty Continues:
He said there
was just one berth in the northern-most reaches of the
port, of 21 that
are still operational, to be cleared of mines.
"The passage up
to the port has now been cleared and we can assume is
safe," he said.
He said more merchant vessels carrying large cargoes
of aid would
follow in quick succession.
Reuters
Joe
Corrects Reuters:
Actually the
southernmost "old port" berths are the best for deep draft "big"
cargo vessels.
The river needs to be dredged! All berths are cleared of mines.
A major concern
is that the large cranes needed to move cargo are not yet
operational due
to mechanical problems and the poor condition of the electrical
infrastructure
at the old port (south port). I am certain that they could get
a few running
with effort to correct the electrical situation. This is an area
that I was very
involved with at the port (what a mess!)
Rusty Continues further:
On a related
topic:
This is a live
Sat feed from a shared uplink in baghdad. It's really
interesting,
it's a live video (not webcam) feed, with sound. You can see TV
anchors talking
back to their producers, doing alternate feeds, etc.
Right now, it's
just a shot out the hotel window, you see people
walking around,
it looks like there is a fire out on the horizon.
You guys got any
C/Ku band receiving equipment on the boat?
http://www.webcamsue.demon.nl/bagdad1.html
Joe Responds:
I wish that we
had some that we could play with. The ship folks don't seem to
have the "hacker
ethic" or be "up to speed" on what they have. Record some of
it if possible.
These shared uplinks are the norm for the press over here. It must
be a good scam
for the link operators!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel
Saxberg suggests:
Chief,
I knew you would
come to like those big gray things with hot meals and
showers even if
it took a trip to Iraq to do it - you're going to be a
sailor yet!
Joe
Replies:
In an earlier
communication, I said that I hate the ship (or words to that effect).
This is sort of
like picking your implement of torture. I was dirty, smelly, hungry
and bored. I had
easy (though overpriced) and instant voice communication to the world
with my GSM
mobile phone with service from Kuwait.
Now I'm clean,
overfed and bored, with spotty and slow email only. The "beach" had
sunlight and
room to roam (in body armor and an M-4), the ship has only one place to
sit comfortably
and eternal flourescent light and a noisy 1MC (NOTE: 1MC is shipspeak
for Public
Address System). The Captain is a nice (though VERY talkative) guy who
wants
to get his own
AM radio talk show when he's done here (I am making this up but it is
plausible). You
can't go through hatches easily with body armor and the M-4 is only
useful on
occasion here on the ship. It was suggested that I get my ESWS while
onboard.
If I'm here long enough to
do that I think I'll be returning in a straight-jacket by medevac.
Joel
goes on:
Just came
back from the NAB show in Las Vegas. It was rather slow
this year and
the radio hall did not have the foot traffic as in years
past.
Everyone that knows you says "hi". I was looking at Iridium
phones
at the show -
thought I might want to replace my analog mobile unit with
one ---- but
having to call Arizona to do the uplink sounds like its not
practical for
everyday use. Nice to have maybe for emergencies but not for
talking between
towers and transmitter buildings.
Joe
sez:
The Iridium
phones are a bit more finicky (I have one in my hand right now and have
been
using it to call
one of our boats because they can't get them any other way). They would
not be good
"general purpose" phones, but they have their own niche. The
international
traveler, boater
or spy will find the service very useful. If you're paying nothing
for incoming
calls (as I soon hope to be), paying the freight to Arizona (.05-.10 a
min)
is in the noise
as far as I'm concerned. It would not be good from inside buildings at
all.
Joel
taunts:
Judy called -
dinner is ready.
Talk later.
Joel
Joe
Responds:
<Muffled
Grumbling> Thanks for writing! :) I would pay ANY amount for some of
Judy's
cooking right
now!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My
Dad sez:
Joe, I'm Really,
Really glad you are back on the GunHal. Safe, Sanitary and
all the other
advantages a ship offers. Have you re'c'd any of the mail
sent to you, a
month ago now.?
Joe
retorts:
I just checked
and they sent something out to "the beach". Hopefully the morons out
there will
figure it out and it won't just be lost. I got the pictures. I'm looking
at them now.
Many thanks! (They came out pretty well.)
My
Dad goes on:
I hope you will
be on your way home soon. Your E-mails to everybody are extremely
interesting.
Enjoy everybodys questions and your answers and descriptions of events.
You sure have
some good friends.I have printed the news releases,pictures, & info
re.
Umm Qasr from
3-4-03 to 4-10-03. Most of the info I got from the BBC web page.BBC
gave all the
events and people in Umm Qasr good coverage.. I have these
pages in a
binder for you. I just got back from CHP office they verified
that my tails
lights are now working and will void the Fix-it ticket.. We
are looking
forward to you getting back HOME. LOVE DAD
Joe
gets philosophical (uh-oh):
The Brits and
Aussies seem to be much more "into" this than we in the US are. I think
that the folks
in the USA are more 'observers' and the other country's people are more
'participants'.
It may just be the way that our media is handling it. Their media is
involved at
every turn and tries to bring the UK to the Brits here, and connect
people.
Ours seems to
'package' everything and use it for commercial purposes. We don't have
the Today show
here with us. We are referred to as "troops", they are actually
individuals with
names and personalities. We're like players in a football game. They're
the folks from
home and the people from the country are with them. We don't get
anything
from the society
collectively, only from our friends and families (Thanks God for you!)
As you can see
I'm trying to peice it all together, but there is a huge difference in
the
way that the USA
interacts with us. It may have to do with the fact that most people in
the USA don't
know anybody in the military.
As for your
ticket: I feel much safer now. :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John
sez:
>John: Did
you get the snail-mail that I sent weeks ago? I'm just trying to
>assess the
>reliability
and speed of the mail from and to the ship.
Got it on
Saturday, 4/5/03.
Joe
responds:
Thanks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Larry
Mollica reports:
It's good to be
getting your dispatches again. You haven't heard from me as I
have nothing to
report, what with things being dull as hammers over here. No
where near as
exciting as what I see in them Navy commercials, anyway. One
minute, jumping
out of a helicopter... the next, looking for a place to plug in
the laptop. Yar!
Joe
Replies:
That's really
me! It's NOT just a job. It truly is an adventure. I show up with
computers,
hacking tools
and my butt-set (Linemans telephone test set). There are pictures of
me at the main
terminal at Umm Qasr tryig to find a working line to tap into and route
to our building
(over some of the scariest wiring you'll never see). I did tell you that
I now own an
Iraqi payphone didn't I? I truly felt like a conquering, pillaging
force when
I pried it off
the wall! The testosterone was surging through me as I popped metal
doors
out of their
frames to get into locked power substations using a forklift. Surreal.
These are
techniques that I can use at home, right? Oh, I got your SMS message,
did you
get my reply?
Quoting Talbot
CEC Joseph E
> I will
assure
> you that I
won't be pitching you for a mortgage or penis enlargement,
> however.
But I could
really use a mortgage enlargement, can you help me out?
Joe responds:
Uh, No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: Possibly boring "Shop Talk"
Follows
Don
Sez:
Joe,
Thanks for the
updates and the kind words...I'm pleased I was able to serve
and support even
from back here. Tina and Sabrina have been doing
incredibly
well...they have responded to the demands and there is a
"sense" of
ownership with them. They have two major missions: One is a DEA
job in the
desert, which they are prepared for and the other is the
transfer of an
edgetech and all the support gear to MDSU2 in
Hawaii...These
both should happen in the next 5 weeks...
Joe
says:
If they are
getting our ISIS system, this is most unfortunate. Please be sure that
they
don't get the
unit with Delphmap on it. Only one of the systems has it and they won't
use it anyway.
Triton can tell you which unit is licensed for Delphmap if you call
them.
I want to say
that it's 56, but I'm not sure. If they do get one, also make sure that
the
hard drive
inside is secured and that they get only a single drive. Thanks! I
strongly
suggest that
they get their own ISIS system as we will be in bad shape without any
backup
system of our
own. That's how I left it with our CO. Hopefully nobody has pulled a
fast
one. Any news on
the $990k?
Don
Continues:
Sabrina has
created a pretty nice SOP and instruction set for
the MDSU2
guys..it has also created a great way for her to digest the
information.
Please let Scott and Tim know that I have an appointment with the DK1 in
charge of pay to
verify their accountings...
Oh, ask Scott if
Mark Wolfe can use his recumbine bike...Mark is building
one and it would
be good for him to "feel" exactly what options Mark would
prefer...
Lots to do...
Take care Joe,
Don
Joe
sez:
Thanks Again
Don, I feel much better and know that things are in good hands. When I
tell
you about how
much of this went in person, I think that you'll be shocked,
disappointed
and suprised by
the way that CTF-56 and NSCT-1 "handled" some things. I know that
you've
been frustrated
there, but the way that this was done would blow your mind. UUV
operations
were among the
smoothest and best planned and executed of all Umm Qasr operations.
There
was no "out of
the box" thinking (even when it would have helped). It's very difficult
to
be thrust into
the middle of another group that already has its own established ways of
doing things.
There are strong personalities there, but at least they're competant.
The LT is not in
a very strong political situation due to "crab factor" (which should be
completely
irrelevent for UUV's!) and there are strong political undercurrents at
the
command, mainly
between communities (SEAL's, USMC and EOD). They don't mesh well
together.
You'd go insane
with EOD folks trying to second guess trained and experienced sonar
operators on
target interpretation and classification. It should be pointed out that
EOD
guys know (and
more importantly don't care) about Communications, Infrastructure
support
(Field
sanitation, utilities and materials) or transportation. Actually, they
do, but only
when those
things aren't present. "Why don't we have
INSERT_CITY_CONVENIENCE_HERE?"
Still no word of
Scott. I probably won't see him for several more days. I should have
status
on them today.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
No list business
today. Thanks for the sanity check!
Joe