Northern Iraq, January 2011

So what was it like in Tal Afar a year ago? Cold and wet! Puddles collected everywhere, and the roads were covered in mud more often in not - in fact, around the time I was learning to drive stick with vehicles, I got a truck stuck in the mud outside of our sleeping area, and spent at least 90 minutes trying to figure out how to get it out, took another soldier to help me get it out, haha. Also, every night my boots would be completely covered in mud, so I wore my old boots from basic training instead of a newer, more comfortable pair, just to avoid getting them excessively dirty.

So much mud!

I need to give proper thanks and gratitude to everyone who helped make my life easier out at COS Sykes - I've been constantly learning and had reinforced that no man can make it in this world alone, and most of my fellow PRT colleagues, along with several NCOs from the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, really made my day-to-day routine bearable. Of course, there are people back home to thank too, but they already know who they are and have done more for me than I can ever pay back!

In the picture below - we had two 3161's (DOS contractor hirees that filled in for foreign service officers,) a BBA/linguist (already forgot his name, but he was quite a character,) a linguist, and a USDA agricultural advisor... and me! Albert Yao! haha

Tal Afar Branch Office Staff (taken at the main PRT) - I forgot my cool guy shades for this one

Look at all that MUD!