The Inkfiblog

The Tailor of Tikrit

The Tailor of Tikrit

    Batteries. I look back now and it seems my entire professional life from 2004-2005 revolved around batteries. I can recall a myriad of instances as I prepared my rifle and equipment for a mission that I would mutter to no one in particular, “Seriously, where the hell are all the batteries for this stuff?” Donald Rumsfeld was even quoted on this issue having infamously stated “As you know, you go to war with the batteries you have, not the batteries you might want or wish to have at a later time.” He couldn’t have been more right as...

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Operation Incoherent Resolve

Operation Incoherent Resolve

 'She's a beaut, Clark' The early spring of 2004 found me in Salah ad Din Province, Iraq; frolicking carelessly through the endless palm groves along the Tigris River by day, and kicking in a multitude of doors by night. I was 29 back then and a Scout Section Leader in a Mechanized Cavalry Squadron. My Squadron’s Area of Operations was centered around the relatively small town of Ad Duluiyah. Predominately Sunni, Ad Duluiyah had a population of roughly 50,000 people; and while I have no census data to back this up, I would estimate that by the time we left,...

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That Night I Single-Handedly Destroyed a Terrorist Organization (And Still Had Dinner Ready On Time)

That Night I Single-Handedly Destroyed a Terrorist Organization (And Still Had Dinner Ready On Time)

Chandler, Arizona Circa 2012: Being in Arizona when it rains is a lot like being in the South when it snows; absolute pandemonium ensues. You can see the panicked look on driver’s faces as they desperately flip through their owner’s manuals (whilst driving) trying to find the section that will tell them how to turn on their windshield wipers. Even better is the look of confused anger when they finally get them into operation and they keep making that awful farting sound as the rotted blades drag back and forth across the windshield. You can sometimes even read their lips...

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