Living in a tent isn't so bad.

My home.


Here is my living space in the tent. Since this photo was taken, I have sheets on the bed and rearranged my furniture (footlockers & chair ) & placed my duffel bags under my bunk. I also use the top bunk for storage. At Camp Adder they sleep on cots so we have it a bit nicer.

The real Camp Cedar II

Photo taken from the door of my tent.


Living in the tent is not so bad. When I first moved in there were 3 of us. By 20Aug04 that number had grown to 6. The tent can actually hold twice that number if someone sleeps on the top half of the bunk bed. Everyone has made their own space around their bed by hanging straw carpets hung from the ceiling. The tent has a plywood floor and best of all.... air conditioning! For showers and toilets there are separate tents for that. In the photo, the tent in the background center is one of the shower tents. Along side it in what looks like COMEX boxes are the toilets. Pretty nice in side. In addition, scattered around the camp are port-a-johns.

Didn't know Camp Cedar II was this nice!!!

Our meager accomodations at Camp Cedar II.


Just kidding. The next photo shows our tents that we live in.

Arriving at the gate of Camp Cedar II Iraq, 16Jul04

The sign showing me Camp Cedar II is just ahead.


The ride from Camp Adder went by too fast. But then, there wasn't much to see anyway. (In the future, I'll be making that trip many more times)

Iraqi home on road between Camp Adder and Cedar II.

Leaving Camp Adder, next stop Camp Cedar II. 16Jul04

An Iraqi trying to make a living.


Today was the day I would take a convoy trip to Camp Cedar II. The place that I will be living and working at for the next 12 months. I was told that it's a 30 minute trip. Not that far. Terry Bryant (Camp Cedar Site Leader) and Tom Gilbert (IGX Tech) in their Nissan 4x4 pickup along with their two humvee escorts showed up at the office around 9:35am. After saying goodbye to the Adder gang and a hug from my amiga Rocio we were on the road for Camp Cedar II. The three amigo all on their own now.

With a humvee in front and one in the back, we go through the gates and barricades leaving Camp Adder in our rear view mirror. It is hot, dry and dusty. The landscape is flat with few trees, some scrubs. Not far from Camp Adder to our left a large pyramid shaped structure can be seen. Terry said that is the Ur and is dated 2300B.C. and that this area is the birth place of Abraham. The chaplain on base has regular tour there, I was told. I'll have to check it out one day. In case your wonder where I am in Iraq, Camp Adder and Cedar are located in Southern Iraq. Find the town of An Nasiriyah near the Euphrates river and that's where I am.

I try to take photos along the way but not very successful. The blacktop road, when it's there, is in poor condition. Between our speed, the bumps, dips and the dust only two photos were taken. I counted 3 dwellings (tents or adobe structures) along the way. On long the roadside were a couple of souvenir stands. We are not allowed to stop. The reason being, in the past someone had stopped and got their throat cut. Don't believe it was in this area. In addtion to that, when your stopped you make a better target. As well as the vendors on the road, there are also young children holding up water bottles, empty water bottles. It's plain to see that they are asking for water. Still can't stop even for them.

Our 30 minute trip comes to an end, reaching the gates of Camp Cedar II. We arrive without incident.

A minute for humor

How to spot a rich guy.


My amiga Rocio sent this to me. I wanted to share. By the way, this photo was not taken here. I wish. With 137 degree plus temps, a dip in the cool waters of a pool sounds .... refreshing.

Arrived Camp Adder/Tallil Air Base Iraq 15Jul04

After work, setting outside the tents. Camp adder, Iraq 15Jul04


It was good to finally get on the plane to Iraq. The flight on the C-130 only took about an hour to get to Tallil AB, Camp Adder. If I had had a choice I would have preferred to go by armed convoy. Sure it would have taken longer and yea, more dangerous but I could have seen more of the country. (Hence my rep with my amigos for being too adventurous for my own good.) The landing was interesting though. To avoid being shot at the plane makes some really cool evasive maneuvers on the approach. We landed without incident.

From the plane we were bused to the air terminal to be met by someone from ITT. Arriving at the air terminal tents there was a large group of Italian solders. At first I had thought we had been taken to the wrong place. I was to learn that contrary to what you might hear back home, there are a lot of multi national forces here in Iraq. We even had Korean solders on our flight. Well, just like when we arrived at Camp Doha, there was no one at the terminal to met us. Hmmmmm Dejavu. Rocio and I did not have a phone number to call but I did have a number back at Camp Doha. To make a long story short, I called Kuwait and they were able to get a hold of our people at Adder. After a 30 minute wait, 2nd LT Lyon with the 519th Signal Company and a ITT employee met us.

We were taken to our office; two portable buildings. One building was the TCF (Tech Control Facility) and the other housed everyone else; site manager, Help Deck, Sys and Net Admin, IGX , Outside plant and Supply. I was hired to work in the TCF. After being there for about an hour and checking out the place as well as meeting everyone, I was told that I would not be staying. WHAT! Camp Cedar II is short a TCF Tech. I would be leaving, by armed convoy, tomorrow. Well, Camp Adder seemed ok, the people nice enough leaving really didn't bother me. I finally get to go on an armed convoy trip! The only regret, leaving my amigo.... Rocio. We had endured the "fierce in-processing" at Ft. Bliss and survived the "killer boredom" at Camp Doha together. An experience only a fellow soldier could possibly understand. Hmmmm Maybe I'm over doing it a bit. She was even going to teach me Spanish. To keep my spirits up I kept repeating my new mantra, "I'm going on a convoy", "I'm going on a convoy".

A couple of us jumped into one of the company's Nissen 4x4 pickups and drove over to PX (Store). I really didn't need anything but I wanted to checkout what they had. The PX is set up in what use to be a gym. The bleachers give it away. There was a good selection of items. (More then at Camp Cedar II I will find out later.) Finished at the PX, went back to the office to get our luggage and then to the tents for the night. I had a comfortable sleep. As well as you can laying on an army cot.

Now morning Fri 16Jul, I head back to the office to wait for my ride to Camp Ceder II.

Killing time at Camp Doha Kuwait waiting for our flight to Iraq.

PX food court Camp Doha Kuwait 14Jul04


So, what to do, what to do? Hmmmmmmmmm Well thank goodness I had my amigos, Rocio and Steve to hang out with. We spend the majority of our time talking, going to the food court, shopping in the PX, going to the library where there was also internet and napping. I remember thinking that by the time we get to our final destination we were going to be well rested. (And we were.) The three of us had two pressing questions that we talked about constantly and only time would answer them; when are we leaving and which base (Camp) are we going to in Iraq? I wanted to go up North where the action was. If I was going to come all this way to Iraq I wanted to see what was going on. I really didn't care if it was "safe" or not. I certainly did not want to get stuck in some quiet, boring ad isolated camp. (Little did I know that is where I'd end up at; Camp Cedar II.) On the other hand, Steve wanted a safe place. Whenever we would met someone who had been in Iraq, the first thing Steve would ask was, "Which camps are the safe ones?" (Little did he know that he would be the one sent to where the action was; Camp Babylon.) The third amigo Rocio, well she didn't want to be bombed or shot at but she didn't want a boring place either. (She ended up at a boring place like mine; Camp Adder.)

The word finally came. We were leaving but the three amigos were being split up. Steve would be going to Camp Babylon; Rocio and I to Camp Adder. We had no idea where those camps were. We were soon going to find out.

Arrived at Camp Doha Kuwait

Jim and Rocio Camp Doha Kuwait 13Jul04

Sorry Steve you didn' t make the photo shot. It was a choice of this photo or one with just you and Rocio. You lost out.

So I... we, arrived into Kuwait around 7am Sunday 11Jul04. Getting closer to my destination... Iraq. My two amigos and I, along with the other passengers on our plane boarded buses for the 30 minute ride to Camp Doha. I was hoping to see some of Kuwait City or even Kuwait in general but the route we took I guess wasn't on the Kuwaiti sightseeing map. I can tell you though they have a nice freeway.

Once we reached the base, we had to go through so many checkpoints, weave through so many barricade's, I couldn't count them all. Gave you a sense of security once we got on base. When the buses stopped we all mustered in a large white tent to be handed over to our POCs. To make a long story short, our ITT rep (Mike Davis) was not there and we ended up waiting 3 hours in the heat for him to show. And it was hot! When he did show, Mike loaded us and our bags in his van and drove us to where we would be staying until our departure for Iraq. All the transit personnel are housed in what use to be warehouses. Inside it is setup like open bay barracks. Rolls and rolls of bunk beds. The shower and toilet facilities were in trailers setup at the end of the building. Not too terribly bad for Army folks but not what us civilians were expecting. We didn't know it at that time but this was to be our home for the next 5 days. In our section of the warehouse I think there were about 30 or so people. Mostly US Army and Korean soldiers and about 6 or 7 ITT civilians. The female area in the section next door was full. Rocio, being the only female in our area, bravely stayed with us. Steve and I was there to look after her. I think she felt secure in knowing that.

The next day, Monday the 12th, we met with Ernest Davis the Camp Doha ITT site manager. The three of us, Rocio, Steve and myself were curious to when we were leaving and where in Iraq we were headed to. Mr. Davis didn't know but expected to have an answer by Thursday. We had heard and met ITT people who had waited weeks and even months before getting to Iraq. Also known as going down range. I was so looking forward to getting to Iraq I didn't want to stay in Camp Doha anylonger then I had too. Steve and Rocio felt the same way. What do we do in the mean time we asked Mr. Davis. Wait, use the camp facilities and DO NOT leave the base!

Some Italian protection in Iraq.


I woke up this morning to five explosions outside my tent but it was no big deal. It reminded me of that 4th of July display I went to last year. Went over to the dining facility and was served a huge breakfast meal that was fantastic. I gave the waiter a good tip for his excellent service. Since it was my day off decided I wasn't going to stick around the base today so I checked out our company vehicle and drove myself up to Baghdad to see the city. I hear there are interesting things going on there and I think that's the place where I want to be. On my way there I dodged an RPG that was fired, I ran over three IEDs and I was ambushed twice by insurgents. But through careful maneuvering of my truck I only managed to get a flat tire. Spent most of my day in the crowded market place with all the Iraqi people. They only shouted go home infidel twice. Drove back with double the action as when I went. A few more mortar attacks on the buildings around me. Had a great dinner. Tipped my waiter and went to bed. Tomorrow I hear there are good things happening in Najaf. Also there is a really cool Shiite Temple there I want to get pictures of. Well, having a great time here and I'm fine and safe.

Wait a minute..... that couldn't have happened. I only just arrived into Kuwait in my last journal entry. Got to keep the time line straight, don't I. My next journal entry, I will have just arrived at Kuwait airport.

(I have a little rep with my two amigos. They think I might be a little bit too adventurous. The narrative about me was provided by my amigo Steve. Very funny Steve.)

The Three Amigos.... Jim Lawson, Rocio Vega and Steve Mckinney.

In-processing at Ft. Bliss El Paso, Texas

10Jul04 departure from Ft. Bliss, El Paso. Next stop Kuwait/Iraq.


I arrived at Ft. Bliss on 4July04 for one week of in-processing. Military and civilians a like must go through in-processing before they are allowed to enter Kuwait or Iraq. There was a total of 128 military and civilians being processed the week I was there. The week before there was over 300. A different group is processed every week. The in-processing consisted of medical screening and shots, gear issue (hemet, flake jacket, sleeping bag, boots, rain gear, canteens, and some other good stuff), I.D. card, dog tags and lots and lots of briefings. Going through this process with me was two other ITT employees; Rocio Vega and Steve McKinney both from San Diego. We became good friend and called ourselves "The Three Amigos". I'll post a photo of us three next time. The photo above was taken on the day we flew out. It's a requirement for everyone to lay their luggage out so the bomb and drug dogs can check them. They all passed the tests. The plane departed at 1:30am Saturday and landed in Kuwait Sunday 11th 7am.

How did I get to Iraq?

When I left Greece in September 2003, I told myself that I would not be going back overseas; at least not for a while. A long while. I had spent nearly 1 1/2 years on the island of Crete working for Lockheed Martin. Living on Crete was nice and the work and pay was not bad. I just got a little home sick for the good ole USA. So I came back to the States. My daughter, Natalie, just bought a house at Panama City Florida. As you all know, she is in the Air Force. She is doing very well. Natalie has reached the rank of Staff sergeant and has more then 7 years of service. I'm very proud of her. My intent was to live in the Panama City area to be close to Natalie. It was something we were really looking forward to..... spend sometime together.

From September 2003 to July 2004 I stayed with Natalie and tried to stay busy. I own a house in Jacksonville Florida that I have been renting out for the past 4 plus years. The renters left in October so with an empty house I decided it was a good time to do some remodeling /repairs. That took some time and money to complete. The house looks great now and has a family living in it .

Something else that I was able to assist in was moving my father, Jimmy and his wife, Fay from Jones Creek Texas to England Arkansas. It took the combined effort of all of the siblings and spouses on Jimmy and Fay's families to pull off. That's a story of it's own that I may post at a later date.

I tested and was accepted for employment with TSA as an airport screener. TSA put me in a pool. They had not called me before I came here. Now that I am here in Iraq, I've been contacted twice for a position with them. Guess I should have waited longer. Oh well. I did have a job working at Trane (air conditioner) factory on the production line. That lasted 2 months. I left for physical reasons; constant pain in my hands due to wearing tight rubberized gloves. Weird but true. It's been 2 1/2 months since I left Trane and I'm still having some finger joint pain. It's getting better though.

So, I'm sitting around Natalie's nice new home thinking, "What to do about a job?". I pull out two employment ads that I have been holding on to for over a year. One job with Dyn Marine working on ships in their radio room; much like I did for Military Sealift Command. And the other, working for ITT Industries in the Middle East working in communications. I had worked for ITT before; 3 years in Germany and England. I email my resume to both companies and wouldn't you know.... I get accepted by both. And, I accepted both. I signed Dyn Marine's offer letter asking them to wait a year for me until I get back from Iraq. They said Ok. It's going to take them at least 6 months to completed my Top Secret clearance. I signed the ITT offer letter and left Florida for El Paso Texas one week later.

Read my next Post. The adventure to Iraq begins.

Welcome to my web site.

Hi all,

Wow! I've got my own web site. I started it thinking this might be a good way for family and friends to log on and see what I've been up to. I know what your thinking, "He's over in Iraq, he'll have lots of neat things to say and post photos of". Don't know about that. We will see what happens.

In my tent at Camp Cedar II Iraq 22Jul04