Table of Contents
Dedication.. iv
Acknowledgements. vii
Author’s Note. viii
Preparations. xi
One Month Later. xiii
Fort Bliss, Texas. xv
My Arrival at Fort Bliss. xix
Medical Appointments. xxiv
Soldiers in the Desert. xxvi
Off Towards Kuwait. xxx
Camp Bucca, Iraq.. xxxv
A Town within a Town.. xxxix
Life at Camp Bucca. xlv
A Cultural Incident. l
First Trouble at the IF. liv
Racketeers, Anyone?. lvi
Letter from the COL. lxii
A Distinguished Visitor. lxiv
Another Incident. lxvi
Rocket Attack! lxviii
Bucca, the ISIS Connection.. lxxii
Snapshots. lxxxix
Troubles at the IF. ci
My Visit to the IF. civ
The Impatient Colonel cvii
Turmoil at the IF. cx
Camp Bucca In the News. cxiii
Second Deployment into Iraq.. cxv
Our Flight into Kuwait. cxviii
Abuse of Power. cxx
Kirkuk, In the News. cxliii
Third Deployment - Afghanistan.. cxliv
Pre-Deployment Paperwork.. cxlvii
Bagram, the Arrival cli
Deployment Highlights. clv
The Attack on FOB Salerno. clxv
A volley of rockets. clxix
Fourth Deployment – Afghanistan.. clxx
Camp Arifjan.. clxxiv
Flight into Kandahar. clxxvi
Off towards Bagram Air Field.. clxxviii
FOB Lightning. clxxx
The Amenities. clxxxii
Final Days. clxxxiv
Afterword.. clxxxvi
Some Mementos. clxxxviii
Bibliography. cxciv
Author's Note
Let’s face it, when a rocket is fired at the camp,
I am not sure that rocket had someone’s name
written all over it.
When you hear the whistling, you hit the dirt, and
then, kaboom! The rocket hit the Chow Hall where you
used to sit, it simply meant this isn’t your time
to go.
At Kalsu, in Southern Iraq, Al Sadr and his men made
sure we had fireworks almost every night. Those are
memorable moments that we live through and share.
That young soldier at Kalsu, who played ping-pong and
volley-ball, went for a jog along the perimeter fence;
he never thought for a moment that would be his last
day on earth.
That translator who played on a ping-pong tournament at
Camp Bucca,went on a routine patrol with the troops and
never returned.
That civilian contractor while walking inside the wire,
stepped on a land mine...
The book you are about to read was written years ago
after the second Gulf War. I was a deployed civilian
contractor attached to an Army signal battalion.
After my fourth deployment, I begin to put all my war
experiences together. The result is now before the
reader.
So here it is! Under Fire, and I hope you like it.
