Re-Establishing Contact

Greetings and Salutations!
So far, so cold but hey, it’s a nice change to step away from everything and just try to relax. Took the past two days and just did a big fat pile of NOTHING. Been visiting with MomUnit… unwound a bit, did a lil grocery shopping and cooking for pleasure.

I needed this.

Then last night, I realized I have a local contact… a Brother From Another Mother whom I worked with back Pre-Iraq (2000 to 2003) at Harvard Vanguard in the IT Department. He was one of our top network Engineers, and we formed a pretty damned tight friendship. In fact MOST of the old HVMA crew? We’re all for the most part still in contact with each other.

I remembered last night he’d moved down here outside of Charleston, so I reached out. He called me at 0800 this AM, and we set up a meet up, with HIS NewWife, Myself and Gretchen.

This fucking guy… he and his brothers (IRL fam) adopted me into his Clan so to speak, and TBH they sent me more care packages and shit to me while I was in Iraq than MomUnit and DeadDad did.

True but funny story about his FIRST care package: This might be hysterical to those who might have ‘done time’ in Iraq as you’ll ‘get it’. I had been there about 5, maybe 6? months. One afternoon at about lunchtime, I got a call telling me that I had a very large package that showed up at the Al Faw Palace mailroom.

That was the CJTF-7/MNC-I HQ Headquarters Mailroom, AKA “The General/Occifers” mailroom.

The mailroom was located on the far right of that pic… that first silver vehicle? Where the end of the hood is? If you go straight back to that tall opening there, THAT was the mailroom. Now, CJTF-7/MNC-I being defined as “Combined Joint Task Force 7” and MNC-I being “Multi-National Corps – Iraq”… Thing of it was, this was May 2004, and the CJTF was being changed over to the MNC-I name… either way…

It was very odd for me to get mail there. In fact I think it was the first and ONLY time I got something sent there as opposed to the ‘normal’ mailroom. Personnel were assigned to specific mailrooms so as to cut down on the missing/misrouted and lost mail… This, as I said, was not my normal pick up point.

So I bounced down there, and by this time, I was pretty well known on VBC… The mail clerk saw me, and when I gave him my ID, he was like “Ohhhhhh! So this is your real name Big Country?” It wasn’t the first time this had happened, so I confirmed it, to which he tells me the package had been sitting around for a few weeks ‘cos they had no idea who “Billy Coughlin” was, as A) I wasn’t assigned to this mailroom, and B) No ONE knew my real name for the most part. EVERYBODY knew Big Country, but not the IRL moniker.

Smitty sent a private to get my box, and while we were waiting, he then said “Maaaan… you got some asshole friends Bro! The crate is a liquor box! And that customs form? We all had a good laugh about it!” Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued. I also was mildly concerned as yes, I DO have some ‘asshole friends’… I mean for all I knew, it could have been a Box O’Rubber Dicks or a Swedish Penis Pump… Jes’ Sayin’

Pvt Joe Snuffy came out, and sure as shit, it was one of them Boxes… either 12 liters of alcohol or 6 handles that would be considered a ‘case ‘booze’. I then looked at the customs form, which listed 12 liters of booze, ALL different flavors so to speak. OK… fine… It was when I saw the return addy I realized the truth and the ‘internal monolog’ practically screamed out “Oh Holy Shit!!!!!”

I played it cool, and chuckled, and told Smitty that, Yeah, my former coworkers were dicks, and that I’d save him some jerky or socks or whatever the fuck they had actually packed.

I immediately grabbed the box, hauled ass out of there before questions were asked (“So what -is- in the box Big Country?”) back to my hooch, and opened up my “Christmas In May” gift.

For those of you not in the know, we… ALL of us, from the lowest Private to the Highest Occifer (which was oh so much bullshit, another story for another time, but occifers ALWAYS had booze or the ability to get it) were under General Order Number One: No Booze, No Sex and No Rock n’Roll so to speak. If it was fun, relaxing or interesting, it was Strengstens Verboten (strictly forbidden).

This was riiiiight before they started X-Raying bulk mail, in particular packages, so somehow “The Gods Of Good Booze” managed to get my Bestest Frens “care package” to me.

It was impressive. A Bottle of Gentleman Jack, one of his brothers Johnny Black, Jimmy Beam Single Barrel, Bottle of Baileys, Bottle of Kahlua… gin, tequila, vodka… all 12 bottles of really top shelf booze. A Grade-A complete selection that made me and my Hooch one of the best stocked Bars in Baghdad instantly.

Needless to say I spread the word to my Infantry Brethren in 2/8 Cav who were all the Infantry Elements and that I used to ‘run and gun’ with in my off hours… back in those heady days of Wine and Roses, I’d occasionally go ‘outside the wire’ (completely off the books mind you) on missions with these kids. I didn’t do much… I was mostly a JAFO, but I still dug rolling in the back of a HMMWV or a Brad while they went door kicking.

JAFO = Just A Fucking Observer.
Still, I felt honored that they let me ‘go out and play’ with them. Their LT was ‘on the payroll’ so to speak, meaning he got his booze through me and Lil Country, so what I used to do was wear the Three Color DCU pants, my Merrill Contactor Combat Sneaks, and gun up. Between the beard, and the weapons, (my H&K MP-5) and all the rest of my gear, if anyone asked who I was, the reply was “He’s an SF/Intel/Company Observer”…

I mean I sure as hell looked the part.
Right out of Central Casting…

That usually took care of it. Plus we usually rolled out and hit the SP (start point) at about 22:00. Not too many folks around to ask questions, so cool. I only did it like 3, maaaaybe 4 times. Mainly because I usually had already done a full 10-12 hour day already, so my ass would be dragging for a loooong while after such shenanigans.
Good Times, Good Times…

So since I had to take care of my boys, that night, since there were no activities on the mission schedule, it was Steaks and Booze at Big Country’s Bar and Grill. One of the best nights I ever had in Bagdad…

And it was all thanks to dis fukkin guy:

B-2 as I’ll call him here, was, is and always will be my brother. Reason he’s B-2 is there are three of us with names that start with B. B-1 would be me, B-2 is him, and the missing part of the Old Crew, B-3 form up the old “1-2-3 Booze!” crew from HVMA. It wasn’t any official naming of our lil crew of degenerates, but every Friday, usually around 14:00, when we’d see each other while working, we’d yell out “1-2-3 BOOZE!” to each other in anticipation of the after work bar hopping.

B-3 would usually come by and give us a countdown: “Hey! It’s 45 minutes (or however long it was) ’til Booze-O-Clock! Best get ready Gentlemen!” B-3 had been a 1stLT in the Army who from my understanding got cashiered for punching out his utterly worthless CO, so of course, my kind of people. Hopefully we can co-ordinate a meetup AGAIN with the whole Booze Crew in the near future. THAT group of people are some of the best I ever worked with…

So More Later, I’m on the road home tomorrow, so no idea on Posting.
Big Country