WEBVTT

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well , let me start with something

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that's very timely since all of the

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news over here is just absolutely

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flooded with the death of Zarqawi . How

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is that being received by the troops as

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far as you can tell ? Uh they're taking

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it pretty well . Um But other than that ,

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you know , we still have a mission to

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complete here . So , you know , we

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can't let her uh we can't let our guard

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down or nothing like that . We still

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got a couple more months here and

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before we can go home . So our our

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mission still as before , you know ,

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keep peace and uh try to make this

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place a better , better place before we

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leave . I understand uh one of the

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standard questions about trying to find

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out from the soldiers over there is

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based on what you thought your time was

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going to be and what you thought Iraq

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was going to be like um how's the

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expectation come about now that you've

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been there for a while ? Uh

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It's totally different than what I

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pictured a coming over uh

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approximately 10 months ago . Uh

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I've never been to a place like this is

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hot , it's pretty , it's a

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place . It's poor , very poor . Uh It's

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not what I expected at all . Uh Okay ,

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so , and even having arrived from ,

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let's say the first month until now has

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been an increase in change of your

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expectations of what you see on a day

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to day basis . Uh I see that it's

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getting a little bit better over here .

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People are starting to trust us a

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little bit more so I think that's a

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good thing that we've been trying to do

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since we've been here . Okay , what

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specifically is your job ?

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Uh I'm right now on the

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operation in SEo for my company , track

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all missions , all convoys that go out

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a little bit of maintenance and I'm

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also the combo in SEo for my company

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and then every once a while I'm also

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the commander's driver . So I do go out

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on missions every once in a while .

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Okay . How long have you been in the

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army altogether ? Uh I've been in the

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army altogether since 1999 . And before

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that I was in the Marine Corps for

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approximately 4.5 years . Had a little

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bit of a break and came back in 1999

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into the army . I see uh Well on

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a day to day basis , what would you say

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is the best thing about your mission ?

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What do you like doing , What do you

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enjoy while you're there ?

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Uh What do I

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enjoy while I'm here ? Uh What's the

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best thing in the job ? Uh Best thing

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in the job is making sure that when

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uh soldiers go out on mission that they

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can uh we can talk and communicate uh

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you know with all the different Comeau

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that we have uh MTs . The FBcb to all

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the new digital stuff that the army's

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came out with uh that that right there

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when they go out and they come back and

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have no problems . I know my job was

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successful for that day , okay . But

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for some of the folks like me and some

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of the folks will be talking with when

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they see this interview . Can you give

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us a more layman's civilians definition

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of some of those things you just said

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uh the F . B . C . Two is just

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uh it's a digital piece that goes

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in , it's got like a CPU like a

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computer , it's got a screen and then

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it's all kind of like line of sight to

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where we can talk to one another out

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when they're out on mission . And the

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other one is the mobile tracking system .

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Pretty much see them any time they

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leave here in Mosul , I can see them

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when they go down to Baghdad or

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anywhere like that . It's just a form

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of communication for us to keep eyes on

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them all the time . And what if

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anything was to happen or when they

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arrive at their at their uh you know ,

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where they're going , they can let us

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know , hey , we're here safe and uh

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it's just a way of communication . It's

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like a computer almost like internet .

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Okay . Uh next question I wanted to ask ,

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you know , since you guys are there ,

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what's the worst part of the job , The

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worst part of the job right now is

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dealing with this heat over here . Uh

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It's been it's been getting hot and

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it's getting hotter every day that

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we're here and uh you know , different

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part of the seasons here , it's you

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know , it's like anywhere you get your

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brain , you know here you get a rainy

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season and then you got the heat ,

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which is , you know , probably pretty

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much all you know what we're going

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through right now . Uh To me that's

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probably about the worst part of it .

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Okay . Uh you know , on a

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regular day , you have much contact

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with local people there and what's that

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contact looks like uh the day to day

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basis ? Now , I don't have a contact

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with the local people . Just when a

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fortune of being able to go out on a

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mission , uh when we actually get to

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see the civilian population here , but

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when we go out , you know , we don't we

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don't interact with the we we leave

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from here and we get to our destination ,

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delivering whatever we have to deliver ,

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and then we come back . We don't we

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don't go out into the town and or

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nothing like that . Okay .

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Uh Do you have family here in

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Fairbanks , are they someplace else

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right now ? No , I have uh I have a

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beautiful wife , Dina and I have two

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lovely little boys . One it's four and

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one is two back into Fairbanks area .

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Uh I tell you what , I'll get in

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contact with the people that set these

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interviews up if you like , and uh when

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we get the interview on camera will

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make a copy and send it over to your

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wife , if you like . Uh Yes , I would .

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I would love that , sir . All right ,

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well , I'm just about out of questions .

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But is there anything else that you

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really like to let the folks back home

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know before we call it a day here ? Uh

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Just like to let my wife and kids ? No ,

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I love them . Uh Daddy will be home

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soon and uh I can't wait for my return .

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Return back to back to Fairbanks .

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Alright , well , you stay safe out

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there sir . We want you coming back all

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in one piece . Thank you very much ,

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sir . Okay . Have a great evening . You

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too , sir right now .

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Uh