(from Brad)


This is the C-ram next to my POD shooting down a mortar that was coming at us. Very cool but loud. I love the Army!


(I have no idea what a C-ram is, all I know is that this disturbs me.)





Hello again from Joint Base Balad; March 4, 2009

So here I go again with my thoughts and observations about this adventure we call Iraq. So the big news around here is that Obama is saying we will be out by Aug 2010. It seems impossible based on the amount of work we have going on each day here that in just a year and a half we will all be gone.

Joint Base Balad is a place where they fix things that get broke in Iraq (including us). We are the main hub in the country and we are the busiest port cargo in the world (for cargo).

On Mollies urging I went and hit the different things that you can do to get fixed up. First stop was the barber shop, I have written about that before. Next stop was the Muscle Therapy Shop (Massage Parlor) head to toe massage from the buff Russian ladies. There are 5 of them working 12 hours a day tending to guys who come out of the field. My lady did not speak any English, which was fine. She was strong and fast and I left feeling sore and loose. Cost for this 1 hour work over was $32.00.

Next stop was the beauty shop; yes it is full of men, so what? In there I had a lady from the Philippines give me my first facial. I was scared and she told me that it might hurt if I was not tough. I thought wow; how bad can it be. The facial lady told me it’s amazing how deep the dirt gets imbedded in the faces of some of the Army and Marines that come in. She told me stories of getting, glass, metal and rocks out of their faces for them. This lady deserves a medal. Cost of a complete facial with back massage was $22.00. My next stop was over to the foot lady who was really pretty till I realized she was a he. S/he was already working on my feet when I figured it out and I thought; who cares the gender when you need help. You see, I broke a bone on the top of my foot the second week I was here running and as such, I have been limping for weeks. My feet are hamburger and needed to be worked over. So I rolled with it and I am glad I did. I asked her how long she had been in Iraq and she said 5 years with only 1 day off every 3 weeks working 12 hours a day. She was from an island in the Indonesia area and would be killed for being gay. So she has been sending money home and just living. She says that 97% of the soldiers are fine with her and gave good tips. To be honest, I was impressed with her and tipped her well. She is just a human wanting to survive this life and not hurt anyone. By the way; my feet felt great and the break is healing well.

So a bit of the odd personality things I have seen here. I have seen a few of the single ladies have found boyfriends here. It is not too surprising except that it is a war zone. I think it is impressive people can fall in love anywhere. Some people have hit the gym so much that you don’t even recognize them. A few guys are huge or have lost 30 or more pounds in the last 2 months. I find it interesting to see how people cope with stress. Some people have begun to live at the hospital and help unload the wounded. They are the weirdest as it is competitive in an odd way. They have to track their hours (for PTSD, infection control and other reasons) and when a group of them get together they ask each other how many hours have you got total. The more you have the cooler you are I guess. Is it human nature to compete at everything? It’s like when I run into other divers and they want to know how many dives I have logged or how deep I have been. Who cares? Well, they do because they want to judge you. 2 of the guys I work with daily have received notice that a divorce is waiting for them when they get home. Kind of sad but I think that some of these wives do a lot of thinking with their spouses deployed mixed with stress and it seems like the thing to do. I feel for them.

On to the DVD project progress. I am so pleased to tell everyone it is a huge, huge, huge success. We have over 300 titles now and everyone seems to love and use it. I am so happy about this. It has been so good to see so many people benefit from a simple idea. This really appeals to the Buddhist in me and I thank everyone who has helped me in this endeavor. We have outgrown our current cabinet in Outbound Cargo Office. I was worried about this but the managers (some of whom who told me this was a waste of time) have authorized a custom cabinet to be built to hold them all with room to grow. It will be custom made; 45” wide by 72” high and will hold about 600 DVD’s. Also, I made the official decision that all people should benefit from it and (with some grumbling from a few) have opened it up to TCN’s (Third Country Nationals). This will mean that guys like Neal and Abul from Nepal can take video’s out of the Port. Also, the folks from KBR can take them as well. I made this decision based on my belief that no one should be excluded from anything that makes time go by here in Iraq.

Some people have asked me about body armor and what that is like. The armor I have is really good and I think it would keep me safe if I was being shot at. The plates in it are very heavy but you can take a few off if you don’t need them (crotch and hip plates). It makes me feel like a turtle some times as I sit in my chair or drive with it. Due to the fact that I don’t go outside the wire I don’t wear it much. It is hard to sling my M-16 over my back with it on and I am not sure how long I could run in it on a hot day without passing out. Other than that it is not bad to deal with. The helmet is very modern compared to the last time when I was a Cop. It is heavy but very well padded and you can move all 7 of the pads around on Velcro. It fits very well and is held in place by 5 straps. You can run in it and it does not bounce around. I can answer the phone in it and I think it would protect me from most things the locals throw at us where I am. Overall I give the AF high marks for giving me the gear to stay alive here in Iraq. I am not too sure how other branches feel about their set ups.

So I am approaching the midpoint of the deployment and that feels good. Mollie always sends me fun boxes of things to make me comfortable. She is so amazing and kind. I wonder how she finds the time to do so much. She sends me pictures of my kids, tells me about issues and asks my opinion just like I am out of town for business. If I have a bad day then she lets me vent. All I can say is that I am so lucky to have her and want everyone to know what a terrific woman she is.

I guess that is about all I have for now. I keep working 12-13 hours a day and I am often mentally tired. I do get a few days off a month, about 1 every 6-8 days. I don’t really work hard physically but I have walked out of work feeling like chewed gum. My job back home will feel like a vacation. I have forgotten what an 8 hr day is like. I have forgotten what it is like to sleep at night. Can’t wait to get home and remember. Love you all! –Brad/Dad

DVDs at 367

56 DVDs came in from the Edmonds UU church - way to go, we are at 367 DVDs!

There is a storage unit being make to house most of the DVDs, it will hold 600 for the project.


I have been mailing out the DVDs as they come in. Mailing Lentil soup and mac and cheese among other things for the poor vegetarian! Brad will be coming home mid-May and it is quite exciting for us at home!

They asked Brad to stay on for 4 more months in Iraq, he said he almost started laughing. I imagine a lot of the guys will stick around. Some were impacted with job loses in the changing economy before leaving. Brad has 29 months left until retirement! I am grateful for some many things, thank you all for your ongoing support!

40 more! 311 DVDs

Brad received 27 more DVDs from Soldier's Angels, a non-profit group I am a part of where they pair civilians up with deployed soldiers for letters, care packages, pet sitting, you name it....

More rolled in from our church too, thank you Edmonds Unitarians! 13 DVDs

We broke 300~!!

DVD update 2-25-09 - 276!

Brad has sent out fliers around the base about the DVD program. He has been interviewed about the project and continues to be thanked by people who are really enjoying the program. As of right not it is a closet filled with 250 DVDs on the honor system with soldier sign outs. He has received donations from the soldiers there who brought movies with them and in the mail from friends.

Our church began a collection and the basket is filling up! Justus will be doing a skit on one of the Sundays coming up, should be fun! Thank you for helping and following along with this project!

244 DVDs
+22 Brad's boys
+ 4 Airmen
+ 6 me
= 276 DVDs

Looking ahead, Brad's birthday is on April 28th, I am going to be asking a lot of you to send him birthday cards since he will be spending it in Balad.

Good news for us! When Brad returns the 2 of us will be spending a few days in Catalina! We are going to scuba dive and relax so Brad can decompress some.... Airfare and hotel only ran us about $450 per person!!! Great time to vacation. If any of you have been there and have suggestions please drop me a line.

Also, if you are looking for his mailing address (it is a regular 42 cent stamp) it is at the bottom of the blog, he really enjoys getting mail!

The DVDs will be rolling in...

The Social Concerns group at our church is helping to get the word out about the DVD drive Brad is undertaking in Iraq. They have been generous enough to provide a collection site for the DVDs and post project information. Justus and I went and talked to the group about the DVD drive, they were so excited about it! We already made it to 230 DVDs! I am sure we can hit 1000 with there help.

Brad has reported that the guys are so excited (and quite impressed) that Brad pulled this off so far. So many of you have been generous with sending him care packages and DVDs, a huge thank you to all of you!

DVD update 2-16-09 244 and counting

145 DVDs
+ 20 me
+ 10 Jerral and Jen - thank you!!
+ 12 Senior Master Sargent Shute
+ 52 Soldiers Angels and other airmen
+ 5 from Max's Montessori teacher = 244 DVDs

So many of you are helping with the DVD project! A big heartfelt thank you!

Brad was recently interviewed in Iraq about the DVD project, I will post it once they publish it. The soldiers are excited about having the DVDs. Thank you all for your help!

Stevens Hospital doing an article on Brad-- I got a sneak peek

Many of you know Brad had to undergo multiple surgeries before he left for Iraq. After the experience he commented about his care on a survey card, some time later they called Brad for his story. Steven's Hospital interviewed us both shortly before he deployed. Here is the story...

When It’s More than Just Snoring

When Brad Sharp realized his severe snoring concerned his fiancée, he had enough reason to see a doctor. But when he learned he actually had sleep apnea and it had the potential to end his life and his 17-year Air Force career, Sharp had to take more drastic measures.

“Just like everybody else, you don’t know you have sleep problems until someone tells you about it,” said Sharp of Edmonds. “There’s a huge misconception about snoring, it doesn’t seem like something that’s indicative of any major problem, it just seems like it’s indicative of a hard worker, a virile man in some respects.”

According to Sharp, what convinced him to go to his doctor, Dr. Kevin Harrin of Mill Creek Family Practice, was that his fiancée had such a heartfelt concern about his snoring. His doctor referred him to Dr. McCoy at Stevens Hospital.

When he was referred to Stevens, Sharp questioned his doctor and was assured that Stevens was the place to go. After his experience at Stevens his perception of the community hospital completely turned around. “I was a little worried about Stevens because it’s not Seattle,” said Sharp. “I was hoping for it to be ok but it was fantastic. It’s so anomalous to be treated that well, across the board.”

In his initial consultation, Dr. McCoy presented the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask, a system that delivers a stream of air to the nasal passages keeping them open, as the main treatment option for sleep apnea. Sharp explained to Dr. McCoy that he would soon be deploying to Iraq and that the CPAP mask was not an option for him. In fact, he found out the Air Force considers sleep apnea an incurable problem. If Sharp had to rely on a CPAP machine he would likely be discharged from the Air Force. “I was up against a wall,” said Sharp. “I have put 17 years into the Air Force and I don’t want to lose all that service because I snore. It was huge; it was going to take away the biggest part of my life.”

The first thing Sharp needed to do was complete a sleep study but the idea of doing that created a lot of anxiety for him. “The anxiety level was off the Richter scale for me,” said Sharp. “I couldn’t have had any higher anxiety walking through the door.”

After coming to the Stevens Hospital Sleep Center, Sharp admits, “It was kind of unfair to the Stevens people because they had no idea how much anxiety I had and how quickly I would have bolted if just one person would have given me just one raised weird eyebrow. I mean, I was looking for a sign. But the Stevens technician was great.”

Sharp had a lot of questions about the machines, what was monitored and what it all was going to mean. Kristen Asterhan, the Stevens Sleep Center technician, took time with Sharp to really explain the process.

“I felt like I got a first rate education about what was going on,” said Sharp. “I had no idea walking through the door what was going to happen except that I was going to be hooked up to some monitoring equipment and sleep.”

After getting the results from his sleep study, Sharp felt like he had some validity. “There is a huge amount of anxiety because it’s happening when you are asleep,” said Sharp. “It’s the weirdest thing to be diagnosed for something that you have no cognitive idea of what it’s really about.”

Because of the Air Force, Sharp’s only option for treatment was a series of five highly unpopular surgeries. Adding to that, Sharp was scheduled to deploy to Iraq in five months which meant that he would have to face all five surgeries, which are usually spaced out over months, at the same time: adenoids, tonsils, soft pallet, uvula and nasal reconstruction. Dr. Mueller of Everett Ear Nose and Throat was hesitant but agreed, telling Sharp: “Look, I’ll do it because you’re young and you care… but if you want me to hit a home run you better be fit to bat.”

“We kind of pledged to each other that he was going to do his best and I was going to do mine,” said Sharp. “Lifestyle changes are key. I took up running, became a vegetarian and other things that contribute to a higher success rate.”

Nearly 75 stitches, an intense two weeks and 48 pounds later, Sharp recovered from the surgeries and was cured of sleep apnea, saving his Air Force career. Typically, these surgeries are successful in relieving sleep apnea in only 40 to 60 percent of patients. Sharp attributes his success to a great surgeon and his commitment to the necessary lifestyle changes.

After having the surgeries and enduring recovery Sharp believes that it’s important to share his story with others. “There are a lot of misconceptions about sleep apnea,” said Sharp. “People don’t really take it all that seriously and the spouses adapt to it over time. If your spouse is waking up more than twice a night, I’d say you have a problem and you need to get it fixed.”