My Time in Iraq

March 4, 2009

My “Editress” has advised me to keep in mind “Don’t scare people away!” I cannot remember if I promised that I would not, but I do remember that I did express a sincere desire not to. I try.
I also read a comment of “Move slowly, sheep scare easily.” More sage advice to remember as I begin here; now…
My intention at this point was to speak out on my experiences in Iraq. My experience of being a Department of Defense contractor; working directly for the U.S. Army as a weapons repairer and instructor for both the military forces and security forces operating in northern Iraq.
How does one talk about being in a war zone without scaring people?
How would you go about describing being woken up at night by a helicopter firing “Hellfire” missiles at nearly point blank range over and over and over again? Then realizing that you are in range of small arms fire. What do you do? Hide in your Harden shelter full of mud, or return to your “hooch” for your body armor then hide in the Harden shelter? Or do you go back to bed?
I went back to bed- of course not before I put my body armor on…
How would you go about describing walking back from chow, on your way back to work when all of a sudden you hear mortar shells blasting on impact, followed by another blast, followed by another blast, followed by another blast and another and another… Knowing full well that shells are being “walked” across the camp; someone was going to get killed. You just knew it.
How would you go about describing such things without scaring anyone? And honestly, what is scary? Would you be scared in those situations? I’m not really a hardcore bad ass motherfucker, but I was there and I was not scared. In all honesty, I was excited. I felt alive and my will to live was renewed. Pardon my analogy if you find is offensive, but it was like falling in love physically- fast heartbeat and all. And mentally, you are hyper-aware. Imagine cheating death…
Oops, am I scaring anyone? That was not my intention. I was just trying to explain my- I mean share how- it’s involved.
Let me back up just a bit, switch gears and try this again. Ok, here it goes…
Most people who first learn of me and the endeavors I have taken to task often believe that the path on which I struggle was determined by my experiences in Iraq. Such understandings are both true and false. False, because I knew full well what I was looking to investigate once I began the application process. Yet still, it could be said to be true due to the fact that the “issues” I had investigated were in fact true and even worse, much worse, than I expected.
The money I earned while in Iraq was what provided my resources. All of my earnings from Iraq commissioned my fight for what is right. For those of you wanting a number- $47, 000+.
So in a sense yes, Iraq did catapult my efforts to affect change in our “established” government. That those who were aware of the raping of the spirit of our Constitutions (state and federal) be held accountable.
I get many questions about what I saw and heard in Iraq. Lost of them… I want to go into that but I am supposed to “move slowly” and ease into issues. But how?
What words could be substituted for the raping of both military and civilian women? And this ON BASE. How many of those who say “Support Our Troops” are even aware of the fact that women are strongly discouraged from walking alone after dark? Hell, even men are raped both on and off base. So many factors and excuses can be pointed at. But I ask why were our boys and girls, my brothers and sisters in arms there in the first fucking place!?
Fuck all the bullshit lies of “terrorists,” “weapons of mass destruction,” “they hate our freedom,” by the way if you really believed that one (be nice Reno, be nice)…never mind. And the whole “we are expanding DEMOCRACY.” Ok, this one I cannot let go. The United States of America is a REPUBLIC! Just like every state inside it is a REPUBLIC. At least they were.
America has been hijacked. Yet our troops are practicing regime changes elsewhere. And by what Right? If the Iraqi people wanted to overthrow their government, that is for them to do. When the American people move to stop the tyranny here on our soil…
Whoa! I’m sorry S.I.S.* I was not saying anything ANTI-GOVERNMENT. I know it looked like I was about to, but I was not. I would not because I like to be able to use the phone and receive letters. I like to be able to order canteen for my needed items. I do not like the idea of being put in S.H.U. (special housing unit). The idea of getting only two cold showers a week does not appeal to me at this point in time. I’d rather not be cuffed and shackled up so I may “fall” and “hurt myself.”
*For those of you who do not know, S.I.S. stands for Security Investigation Service for internal prison functions. According to our friend Keith Champagne: In its “Special Investigative Supervisors Manual” (SIS Manual), the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) encourages a proactive approach to deterring criminal conduct by inmates. The SIS Manual directs SIS staff to use threat analysis, risk assessment, analysis of connections between inmates, and intelligence sources to prevent illegal conduct by inmates while still in the planning stage. The manual also states that the SIS should determine which inmates are engaged in activities that pose a threat to the welfare of the community. The SIS Manual provides examples of how the current version of ITS can assist staff in this task. Cirino is currently under investigation by the S.I.S.
See, look, I’m going back to talking about obeying the Constitution, the supreme law of these lands. What could be more American than that?! Oh that’s right, protecting our unalienable rights.
Wow, I am all over the road aren’t I? There are so many things to say, and even more issues that tie into them. And then even more emotions attached to that...
Soldiers complaining about rashes on their bodies but no one listening. Only to find out that a contractor gave warning to his company months in advance only to be ignored and silenced. Then when the truth does come out about the water being contaminated, it gets dropped from the public’s eye just as quickly as it appeared.
There is too much to go into. Where do I begin? The frauds being committed by the military? The frauds being committed by the companies? The wasteful actions of the military? The wasteful actions of the companies? Or how about the abuses being committed by the military on military personnel? Or by the military on civilian personnel? I believe you see a theme here…
I have not even started and I feel exhausted, saddened… so many lives destroyed.
Where do I begin? Well, I suppose since the company I worked for/was hired by denies that I ever worked for them as a sub-contractor (thereby committing the crime of falsifying a government document in the course of the Department of Justice’s investigation of me) I will start with them.
You are welcome to research my employment with L.S.I. I as processed into the company in January 2006 (hired in December 2005) in Texas. On the fourth of July, 2006 I was returning to the United States from Iraq. I had voluntarily quit to be “fired” due to the military’s reductions across the board. My “package” included a free month of dental and medical after my employment ended. There were other details but I will hold off on that for now.
I also “voluntarily” quit to be “fired” due to a conflict between the company and myself which had been ongoing for awhile. Threats of being killed began at the end. Even my “friends” there warned/advised me to let my conflict/issue go or else something…
The problem I had was that the company’s “higher ups” were no longer enforcing quality assurance and quality control procedures.
Before I forget (and by chance you do not know) my name is Cirino Gonzalez, a.k.a. “Reno.” Camp Diamondback was my main A.O. (area of operation). This is located in Mosul, Iraq.
The main issue was when the shop repaired a weapon, QA/QC (a procedure to ensure that proper procedures were done and double-check work/repair completion) was at the time being signed off “completed” by personnel who had no weapons training to begin with! Nor had they ever been in the military, period! In fact, I once caught an L.S.I. “higher up” signing off a stack of worksheets without the weapons even being present!
Allow me to explain why this is so important and a touchy issue for me. Negligent homicide could easily occur due to these practices. A weapon could malfunction and fire when it is not supposed to, possibly injuring or killing someone. It could not fire when needed, again possibly causing a death due to lack of defense. Hell, the weapon could malfunction and damage itself, injure, or even kill the operator. Now do you understand why I had a problem with this neglectful behavior?
Can you now see why it is important for the company to lie about my employment with them, even though my passport is stamped “Iraq”? Even though I received three awards while there in Iraq, one given to me personally by S.F. (Special Forces). I even received a beautiful letter of recommendation from the U.S. Army (I have that one posted online). Secret level clearance, pay stubs, airline tickets… I can prove what I say, and L.S.I. can simply deny it and that’s the end of it? Well not for me it ain’t…
Of course none of this was so cut and dry. I made many complaints. More than a few recorded by the company itself. I made the Army aware too. When I refused to turn my back on the problem, a memo came down from the top. No more weapons training. This even upset some of the sub-contractors who were turning a blind eye to the incorrect procedures.
You would never imagine some of the situations I have personally seen. Such as a couple of soldiers walking in and placing a 240 system on the work bench in front of me and saying “We just got assigned to go out tonight with this. How does it work?”
Or how about this one: a soldier carries in a Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher (40mm), places it on the center table and then says “I have to teach a class tonight on how to operate this ‘bad boy’.” My reply was “Why? You all are not even allowed to use those out here anymore because of all the collateral damage it causes.” He shrugs. Collateral damage = innocent people’s deaths, in case you never understood that cool sounding phrase.
Oh I could go on and on, but I must break here for now. Nobody got scared right? Now that we have “eased into it” this next part should be really fun.

Later,
Reno