It's definitely a great learning environment -- I've been doing this about 50% from 2004 to now (I'm pretty sure this is my last trip, unless I get deployed contracts for my product, which is always possible). It's almost tempting to write a book, although for it to be interesting, it would either have to be fiction set in this environment with lots of factual details (e.g. Tom Clancy), or at least fairly fast and loose with the facts. A lot of interesting stuff wouldn't be appropriate to publish, and a lot of the hyper-accurate stuff would be boring.
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Wait a minutes....rdl......just checked your profile....now I know who you are! I haven't seen much about you since '05ish, since Wired did the profile on you. I actually asked around for your outfit for a while when I was over there to see about getting sat service around BIAP in '06-'07 for a couple buildings I was in. Crazy, this Internet -- small world and all that.
> A lot of interesting stuff wouldn't be appropriate to publish, and a lot of the hyper-accurate stuff would be boring.
What's the old saying? "War is long periods of interminable boredom followed by intense moments of stark terror."
There is something really bizarre about being there that's really hard for people to understand via description or pictures or stories or articles -- taking rocket fire while standing outside a Taco Bell so you can pay $3 for a taco, not even flinching because you know it's just one of 30 or 40 attacks that day and the QRF will be in the air to handle the situation anyways, and you've waited like 3 hours in line for this taco. Then you go back and watch CNN or something and hear about the attack you were just in -- and think it's getting boring, why don't they report something else? At least that's how it was back then. It's always stuck with me you could buy a brand new 46" LCD TV and a Wii to put at the foot of your bunk and a case of frozen steaks and sunflower seeds, in an active war zone. I remember thinking, "the news is describing where I am, but I can't seem to really relate it to what I'm seeing".
I've heard it's calmed down tremendously in the last couple of years. Nowhere near "safe", but not like at the end of '06 and the beginning of '07 by any stretch.
> I'm pretty sure this is my last trip, unless I get deployed contracts for my product, which is always possible
Good luck with it. Our role there is changing very fast, wouldn't be surprised to see very few contractors/civilians over there in the next 12-18 months.
I think 2011 is going to be the end (thankfully), and really summer/fall 2010 should be around the end. Iraq especially, but even Afghanistan -- I wouldn't be surprised to see mainly-SF in Afghanistan, with some presence at BAF and KAF, and maybe 30-50k total troops footprint, by 2012.