The year 2009 has been quite a year hasn’t it? I wouldn’t know, I’ve spent most of it with my U.S. Army reserve unit deployed to Iraq. It will be over before I return home, which I will do in January. I arrived in this country in march and, barring my standard two week vacation time, have been here ever since. 

Unless you live under a rock, you should know that there is a war going on over here. Every time somebody is killed in it the media seems to prioritize it in the news headlines. They are usually sure to point out not only how many were killed and/or wounded, but how many have been killed since the war began in early 2003. A number that at this point is greater than four thousand, and that is only counting U.S. Military personnel. 

You may have heard that there is actually not much of a war anymore, or it can hardly be called such. Of course, you have not heard this from the news. Well, maybe fox news. All kidding aside though, I am happy to tell you that these unofficial reports you may or may not have heard, are quite true. 

If you feel fooled by the media, don’t feel bad. I myself was quite afraid to come to this country. I was sure I would at least be wounded by one of its evil citizens. I credit my vast overestimation of what was to come to nothing other than network news. 

As of this writing, I have entered the so called “danger zones” of Iraq close to one hundred times. Not during one of these missions were I or my co-workers attacked by anybody. Other groups in my own company have been attacked, but never with any dangerous ammunition or artillery. It has always been Iraqi kids throwing rocks. Such instances have only occurred since my unit was transferred to the Al Basra region from Baghdad a few months ago. 

Many people in my unit are unhappy about how uneventful this deployment has been for them. I suppose they were hoping to “get some” as they like to say. The phrase “get some” by the way is not a euphemism, it refers to engaging in armed combat. Personaly, I have made some decent money, enough for me to afford a new Camaro, which wasn’t an option for me before, I served my country that I am proud to belong to and I was neither hurt or wounded in the process. Even though I have been unable to “get some”, I could not be happier. 

The government hopes to have most troops out of Iraq by the middle of 2011. In my opinion that is quite a reasonable goal. I only hope Afghanistan, the real war, can be over soon after.