Thursday, July 20, 2006 1:09 PM
Well, folks, it looks like it is that time, in a few hours I will be leaving the country for a year, but I have a feeling that it will be over before you know it. I will probably be out of reach for the next 3-4 weeks or so until we get everything set up. I am looking forward to hearing from all of you, so until then.
1LT Joseph L. Cullinan
1/150th AVN Assault
Ridge Runners
PS: See you all in summer of ’07, and these parties are going to be twice the size as the going away parties!
July 27, 2006 3:36 AM
Hey everybody, sorry about the mass email but I really haven’t got a lot of time, so this is going to have to do for now.
The flight over here was fine, we actually had a night layover inMainewhich was nice. 1 also got to eat someMainelobster!!!Germanywas kind of dull. We arrived there at around 2 a.m. and they took us to a separate terminal, so 1 really didn’t get to see anything. The flight toKuwaitwas neat. We flew across the whole country ofIraq; it looked rather peaceful from 35,000ft.Anyhow, a few of us are here at the port, waiting for our aircraft to show up. Apparently, the boat that they are on is about 3 days late – which we didn’t find out until after we arrived here, so it looks like we are going to be at port for some time. It wouldn’t be so bad if the a/c in our tent worked well and it wasn’t going to be 122 degrees today – make that everyday! Well, gotta’ go, I will try and write again soon.
Thursday, August 10, 2006 6:01 AM
I know that some of you may have heard about a Blackhawk going down; don’t worry, it wasn’t anybody from our task force, just wanted to settle any concerns.
Monday, August 14, 2006 8:21 AM
From 1SG Johnson
All have arrived safe inIraq. The flight crews were extremely tired when they arrived. All the buildings have a/c. All personnel have a mattress to sleep on. The beds vary from cot to manmade beds to store-bought beds. We will be working to improve the living conditions as fast as we can. Most people are pleased with their conditions, will improve on the others.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:48 PM (to Beth)
Yeah, all of that sounds like a good time, I def want to do the mt. biking – I think that would be a blast, plus a great way to stay in shape – kayaking as well, and my future Subaru Legacy will def be the vehicle to get me to all of those places. As for this “rush” thing you are talking about, I am pretty sure flying a ’Hawk in formation at l40 knots (161 mph) and 50 ft off the ground paralleling cities where there are a bunch of people who want to kill me – yeah, don’t think any of the sh** you are doing is going to compare.
No, you don’t get a (Ridge Runner unit) patch until I get a package. Talk to you later.
Thursday, August 31, 2006 4:55 PM
A message to military families from Joe’s commanding officer, Major Larry Graham
We are on Continuous Operating Base (COB) Speicher. It is just outside of Tikrit (Saddam Husseins’ boyhood home). We are all doing well and flying every day and night. We took over the mission from the 101st airborne. We are part of the 25th Infantry Division fromHawaii. We were added to one of their Assault Aviation Battalions that also fly Blackhawks. I can’t divulge where we are flying or what missions we are conducting.
It is still near 120 degrees every day, but we are acclimated as much as possible.
We drink a lot of water and sweat it out all day. We wear our flight suits, gloves, helmets, bullet-proof vests and survival vests on every flight, and it is very hot. We took the side windows out of the pilots’ doors and the cargo doors in the back to get some air circulation. That helps a little, but the dust rolls inside the helicopter every time we land. We have had several days of dust storms. One looked like the scene in the movie “The Mummy.” Several of us have pictures of that.
We are living in CHUs (containerized housing units) that are about 10 ft wide by 20 ft long. We have two or three guys perCHU. They aren’t too bad. They all have air conditioning. We have a Morale Welfare and Recreation Center where we can make phone calls, check out DVDs, play ping pong, pool etc. We also have a small gym where we can exercise. We don’t have a lot of spare time to use all those things, but they are nice when we get the chance.
Everyone works a 12- to 14-hour day, and if they are lucky, they may get a day off every other week. A lot of our folks haven’t had a day off since we arrived inKuwait. But the days go by quickly.
Friday, September 15, 2006 9:21 AM
Subject: Updates, or shall I say same old, or just par, nothing really to report
Well, as you have probably guessed, things have been a little busy lately.
I am sorry I haven’t been able to email anybody lately – it has been a combination of work and of our Internet service (We have some Internet service from an Italian-based company, and let’s just say that they are better cooks than they are Internet geeks, which I guess in a normal situation is good.).
Well, I would love to tell you what I have been doing but most of it is classified; but to give you a little idea, for the past week and a half I have been an Investigating Officer for a 15-6 Investigation. I can’t get into what it was about but I can tell you that it involved quite a few people (all of whom I had to go find/interview) and a lot of specialists (and no, not the rank Specialist E-4, but people who actually specialize in
things), and I don’t know how but nobody got killed.
With that being said, if any of you should find yourself inIraq, watch where you go, things tend to go BOOM!!! around here.
This investigation was a total pain in the ass, especially when you are trying to track down people and it is 120 degrees outside.
I have been flying this week, which has been a lot of fun, especially when we went intoBaghdadthe other day. Sorry, can’t really talk about that either, but it was definitely interesting, and Beth, your little journeys through the forest on your little mountain bike with your little helmet on so you can get your so-called “rush!” have nothing on this! I was part of a hunting team today, can’t tell you what that is but I am sure you get the idea .... that almost got Real exciting today!!
Anyhow, to Angie and Nick and Evelyn, congratulations, I am sure all of you are really happy!! (Evelyn was born on Sept. 6, 2006.)
I will get a chance to respond to all of your emails soon, I hope.
Talk to you later.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006 3:18 PM
OK, here is my itinerary: We are leaving Kuwait tomorrow at 21:45 (which I think is about 1:45 p.m. your time), still not sure if we are stopping in Germany or Ireland – we will see – doesn’t really matter though, all we do is sit in a terminal – not even the main terminal, it is a separate one for military only – which translates into “sucks.”
I should be arriving inAtlanta061130SEP06 (that is Friday) then get on a flight at 11:30 which should get me intoPittsburghat 13:15 Friday afternoon.
So that is the plan. So it looks like I will be seeing all of you really soon.
10/4/06
OK, I have made it out ofIraq, and apparently we got out of there faster than anybody else has, the only problem now is that I am stuck inKuwaituntil tomorrow evening. Yeah, we got here after NO sleep from the other night thanks to our friendly Iraqi bad guys, but our plane came in on time, we got all of our stuff on it and we took off on time. Then we get here, start doing up our paper work and then they tell us that we are not leaving until tomorrow evening (05 OCT 06). From what I gather, when we fly into the states there will be people there from the USO with cell phones and Internet for us to use; so I will grab a cell and give you girls a call and set up our arrangements. Other than that,Kuwaitis still ****ing hot!! At least we should be able to get some sleep tonight.
Almost there.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 12:45 AM
Hey everybody. Well, it has been almost a month since I left, and a lot has happened; which is good because it helps time go by faster.
I have a few pictures, the first one is all of us watching the WVU vs.
Louisvillegame. The game came on here live at 3:30 a.m., and everybody was up for it. I have some people who never show up on time for work — but when the game is coming on, everybody is there on time. They will be playing the WVU vs. Pitt game live here as well, around the same time — I imagine everybody will be on time for that game as well. Hopefully we will win that one.
I understand that a lot of you are actually going to that game, and I SO wish that I could be there with you.
The next picture is me and a few new friends patrolling the boarder betweenIraqandIran. It was pretty neat — these guys are crazy. They spoke very little English, but somehow we managed to communicate with them pretty well. They where all really impressed with our helicopters. That second picture of me isn’t me trying to look like a bad ass, all of use took pictures like that because the background isn’tIraq... itsIran. And that last picture is just us standing next to a Bradley on one of the FOBs (bases). We had to shut down there and wait for some people to have a meeting.
There are a few more pictures that should be coming your way, I hope you all enjoy.
Have a good time.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 1:01 AM
Hey everybody, here are some more pictures.
The first is a picture I took for an elementary class, the whole class sent me a bunch of pictures they drew, so I got a flag and flew it around in their honor.
This day turned out to be really exciting for us. This mission was supposed to be nothing but a typical battlefield circulation (i.e. we just fly people around to different bases). The mission was only supposed to take 3 hours – well, that plan all changed. I can’t really get into detail because everything is still classified, but our 3-hour mission turned into an 8.5-hour mission, I took a bunch of pictures on the flight, but I can’t show you any of those. I can tell you we did a really good thing which probably saved a lot of people’s lives, and everybody who flew the mission with me felt really good about themselves – like they really have accomplished something.
(Joe found a major weapons cache in the dessert probably because he saw people on the ground where there shouldn’t have been people. For this, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.)
The other pictures are from the other day when we had to fly next to the Turkish border. It was beautiful up there; the mountains on the Turkish side were about 12,000 feet high, you could see snow on them from where we were. In the one picture you can see the red Turkish flag flying. That was where the border was; we had to be extremely careful no to fly over the border. It was a great day.
Well, got to go fly, I will talk to you soon.
Thursday, November 23, 2006 9:05 AM
Attachments: Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq.JPG
Well, hello everybody, I hope all of you are well on this Thanksgiving Day. Things are OK here, I was actually able to get my hands on some turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing. Well, got to go, I think I may have a mission today. Talk to you all soon.
Friday, December 01, 2006 6:21 PM
Subject: WVU-Pitt Game Pictures
Hey all, loved the pictures, really wish I could have been there.
Mom, I sent your flag out today, so hopefully you’ll get it before the Christmas break. Also, there will be a package arriving at the house in a couple of days – if you could just mail it straight to me.
Things are going pretty well over here. Our Christmas tree count is up to 7 now – mom, you’ll be happy to know that you were the first one to send a Christmas tree. Our 1SG also informed us that we have over 60 boxes being sent to us from our FRG (Family Readiness Group), which means that this could be the most I have ever gotten for Christmas!!!
Well, gotta’ go, love you all
joe
PS: Tell the guy who is holding the beer bong to stay away from my cake!!! (A reference to one of the WVU-Pitt pictures)
Monday, December 04, 2006 4:20 PM
Subject: Christmas ’06 List
OK, given my current location it is kind of hard to coordinate with all of you on buying gifts, so I am going to have to kind of spoil the surprise:
So far the gift giving breaks down like this:
• Patrick – iPod, its only the 2G one, but you can trade it in for another
one
• Beth – New pots and pans, it is what you need, you can pay for your
extreme sports by yourself.
• Cassidy – Gift card to the Gap
• Mom – Home theater system with DVD player
• Dad – Not real sure what to get you, so I ordered a WVU flag which I am
going to fly overIraqwhen they play in their bowl game, so yours is going to be late
Still need to get Angie, Nick and Evelyn something — need some direction, and I recommend you do, because Christmas is looking pretty good for everybody else this year.
• Angie – I am looking at getting you a gift certificate to that spa near
you, but they don’t have a website, so....
• Nick – Again, not sure what you need, so unless told otherwise, it looks
like golf stuff again for you.
• Evelyn – Yeah, no clue there....??
Klaus (Beth’s dog) isn’t getting anything from me, this year or any year; he bit me – so he is out for life!
If you don’t like what I got you – tough! You can exchange it when you get it.
Monday, December 11, 2006 4:57 PM
Hey, Beth – also, there are those certificates that I got from OCS. I graduated second in the class, but I can’t remember what they called it. I did have an old resume, the one I used for Andy, if any of you can find that, that would be great – send that!! But still look for the three-ring binder.
Beth, I got your package, thanks for the cigars – they are good ones. You sent the coffee, but I don’t have a grinder here. I think there are a couple of guys here with one so I will have to borrow it.
Monday, March 05, 2007 1:16 PM
Hey, yeah, I use my debit card alot here, so mom is going to have to get that activated real soon!! And then get it out to me.
Lets see, a helo update: Well, the other day we were on a stand-by mission sitting around our CP and we got a call to go pick up a SKT (scout/sniper kill team) that had been compromised and they were coming under fire – they were basically pinned down. So we got spun up and went flying straight into some serious bad guy country; flew right into the middle of town, dropped in and picked them up – then got the hell out of there.
Not sure you want to tell that story to everybody, but it was a pretty good mission. We landed at a nearby base and dropped them off, then the colonel who ran that base wanted us to come in so he could present all of us with a coin. So that was a fun day. But, other than that, everything here has been rather slow.
(Two helicopters went on this mission; all eight soldiers on them were awarded the Army Commendation Medal for valor.)
Friday, March 16, 2007 6:20 PM (response to Beth)
Yes, received all today. Thanks for the box, we watched “Trading
Places” today, everybody loved it. Candy is great and those chocolate covered
coffee beans are great! The Italians have turned on our Internet, so everyone is really, really happy – which is great. Got the stuff from the CCD class. Not sure what I should do about it all, please advise.
Hey, how was your trip to NYC?
Sunday, May 27, 2007 6:05 PM
Not sure if all of you guys knew this, but NIN (that’s Nine Inch Nails... if you weren’t tracking) anyhow, they (well, Trent Reznor) have a new CD out, and it is pretty much bad ass. I got it today, love it.
Also, today I got to play soccer with a bunch of Iraqi kids. It was pretty fun; kind of hard, though, in a flight suite.
Oh yeah, I also got the JT (that’s Justin Timberlake) CD. Yeah, that one is pretty good, too. What does that say about me ... yeah, I bought it!!!!!
What’da ya’ gotta’ say bout it!!!
Now back home:
Monday, November 12, 2007 10:39 AM
Subject: On the field for the WVU game
Attachments: WVU Vets 2007.JPG
Hey all, here is a picture we took right before we went onto the field at the WVU game on Thursday. It was really neat; when we stepped onto the field the crowd went crazy!!! It was so loud!! Then they announced our names one by one and talked a little about what we had done. We hope to get the video of everything. Unfortunately, everyone at home watching the game on TV didn’t see it; we stepped onto the field during one of the TV time outs.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 9:51 AM
Subject: My new Girlfriends!!!!!
Attachments: My new girlfriends wvu.jpg
Hello again!!!
Well, I got some more pictures of my friends and me down on the field; as I am sure you can figure out, I like these pictures alot more than the other one I sent out!!!
(The first picture was with the Mountaineer, a guy; the second was with the female cheerleaders.)