Brian Tribus - Army Strong Stories

Wrapping Up

Brian Tribus — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:03:16 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
It's hard to believe that I'm almost done with my 12-month tour in Iraq! I'll begin the trip home in a couple of weeks. I have to turn in my gear at Fort Benning on the way back and then clear Fort Knox. My next duty station will be West Point where I'll be the Public Affairs Officer. I'd like to thank everyone for their support over the past year -- your emails, cards, care packages, and prayers have meant the world to me and helped me stay motivated over a long year. Thank You!...read more

Mixed Emotions

Brian Tribus — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:28:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Last night at sunset, we had a memorial ceremony outside of the Al Faw Palace to honor the servicemembers that have fallen during the XVIII Airborne Corps' tour in Iraq. Over the past 14+ months, 188 men and women 'gave' their lives while doing what their country asked of them. Our Chaplain pointed out that they didn't 'lose' their lives, because 'one cannot lose what they've already given.' It was a moving ceremony. A beautiful setting -...read more

On the road again...

Brian Tribus — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:27:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I've added a couple more dots to my map of Iraq marking the places I've been. This past week, I travelled north to Balad and Samarra for a couple of meetings regarding the transfer of the Sons of Iraq to the control of the Iraqi government (GOI). Balad and Samarra are in Salah Ah Din province -- the last province to transfer. In Balad, I escorted Chelsea Carter of the Associated Press. According to Major General Mike Ferriter, Deputy Commanding General for the Multi-National...read more

The Army Screwed Up!

Brian Tribus — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:26:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
They actually made me a Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)! Well, after 16 1/2 years I guess my number came up. Kinda makes me feel old. I can still remember when I was promoted to 1st Lieutenant while conducting counter-narcotics missions on the Mexican border in 1994... Brigadier General Dan Allyn, our Corps Chief of Staff, promoted me on Saturday, 7 February, in a conference room at the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad. I was very lucky to have my wife, kids, and mother-in-law participate from Fort...read more

They're Here!

Brian Tribus — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:25:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
For weeks I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby geese (goslings) and they're finally here! We've been watching the mama geese waddle around with their eggs wondering when they'd lay them and how long they'd take to hatch. As you can see, they are very cute and put a smile on my face every time I walk by. One of our photographers, Mr. Lee Craker, took these photos. When I looked at them, I thought of my own family. The first one shows the mama swimming alone...read more

Over the Hump

Brian Tribus — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:25:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Well, I've made it past the half-way point in my deployment. Feels pretty good. According to my official 'Pie of Time', I've completed 56% of my tour. I have 13,954,241 seconds left (or 232,571 minutes or 3,876 hours or 162 days or 23 weeks). Wait, make that 13,954,111 seconds... The 'pie of time' is a spreadsheet that calculates your time remaining based on when you arrived/leave. In the center is a circle with 2 pictures - your Iraq picture and your home picture....read more

Happy Holidays from Baghdad!

Brian Tribus — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:24:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
The holidays have been an especially hard time to be away from my family. My wife and kids travelled to NJ to be with family and friends. I really missed our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of homemade pirogies, kielbasa, ham, and great homemade soups like crab bisque and cream of mushroom. I missed spending time with my parents, siblings and other family. I missed my kids opening their presents. I missed snuggling with my wife by the fire. I can't complain, though, since this is...read more

Thank You USO!

Brian Tribus — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:19:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
There were a lot of smiles in Baghdad this week, thanks to the USO. The USO is a non-profit organization whose mission is to "support the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform." Well, they certainly accomplished their mission this week. Personally, I was most excited about the opportunity to meet Curt Schilling - a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Of course, I have been a Yankee fan since the days of Bucky Dent,...read more

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brian Tribus — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:17:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the weekend. Aside from missing my family, I had a great day. A couple of highlights included serving chow in the dining facility (DFAC) and facilitating a CSPAN interview with our Chief of Staff. Serving chow to the Soldiers is one of our traditions in the military. I went over to the DFAC with a couple of officers in my section and we spent an hour or so serving food to all of the Soldiers, Sailors,...read more

Run to the border...

Brian Tribus — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:16:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
(Iranian Border) No, not Taco Bell -- the Iranian border! Went on a great trip with Brigadier General Keith Walker the other day. BG Walker is the Commanding General of the Iraq Assistance Group -- one of his main responsibilities is coordinating the training and emplacement of our many transition teams. On this trip, he visited with a POETT - Port of Entry Transition Team. The team coordinates directly with the Iraqi POE Director in Muntheria (North East Iraq on the Iranian border)....read more

Interesting Conversation...

Brian Tribus — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Interesting times here in Iraq. One of the big issues is whether or not the US and Iraq will agree on the 'SOFA' - Status Of Forces Agreement. This would provide the legal framework for the US military to conduct operations in Iraq. The UN mandate will expire on 31 Dec - so if we don't get the SOFA signed, we'll have a bit of a problem. Not sure if the average American or Iraqi really understands what would happen if we ceased operations. Something as small as providing transportation and...read more

Fun with Bill Hemmer and Crew

Brian Tribus — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:14:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I had the opportunity to work with Bill Hemmer and his crew from Fox News over the past couple days. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot - it was really neat to see how they do business. I escorted them around post as they filmed 'b-roll' for use in their live broadcasts in the afternoon. They did their shows from the top of one of our general's houses, overlooking the Al Faw Palace. Bill was great - everywhere we went he was recognized by Soldiers. He always took the time to...read more

General 'O'

Brian Tribus — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:13:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Had the privilege of watching General Odierno interview with John Hendren of ABC news the other day. General 'O' took command of Multi-National Force-Iraq recently, taking over from General Petraeus. In his interview, General Odierno talked about how Iraq has moved from a failed state in 2006 to a fragile state in 2008. It's fragile, he said, because of a few causes. They include: The Iraqi Security Forces (Army, Police, Border Security, ...) are not yet ready to...read more

Trip to Samarra

Brian Tribus — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:10:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Well, tomorrow marks 3 months in Iraq for me. I've learned a ton and am finally starting to feel like I know a little bit about what's going on over here and what the important issues are. More importantly, I did my 10,000th push-up! I've been slacking a bit lately... Went on an awesome trip to Samarra the other day with Brigadier General (BG) Walker. He is the commander of the Iraq Assistance Group (IAG). One of his responsibilities is to make sure that our...read more

Thank You

Brian Tribus — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
...read more

Do you feel safe?

Brian Tribus — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I get asked this question quite a bit - the answer is 'yes'. There's only been two indirect fire attacks on our camp since I've been here (knock on wood please) and I didn't even hear an explosion. We are well-protected by concrete blast walls and systems that can detect and shoot down incoming rounds. I admit that I was nervous when I went to downtown Sadr City which I spoke about in a previous post. But I was able to do my job and enjoy the day because I was surrounded by combat-experienced,...read more

Have You Forgotten?

Brian Tribus — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:06:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Servicemembers and civilians sing "America the Beautiful" together Sept. 11 during a remembrance ceremony at Al Faw Palace in which they reflected on the events of September 11, 2001. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christopher M. Gaylord) We had a moving ceremony at the palace yesterday to reflect on the events of 9-11 and honor the memory of those that perished. To me, the most moving portion of the ceremony came from our guest speaker, Colonel John Lenk. He was in the Pentagon...read more

Proud to be an American

Brian Tribus — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:05:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
More than 190 servicemembers from across Iraq raise their right hands Sept. 1, becoming U.S. citizens during a Multi-National Corps - Iraq United States Citizenship Ceremony at Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory, Baghdad. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christopher M. Gaylord) I got chills when they played the Lee Greenwood song at the Palace today. We had a ceremony for 192 men and women serving in the US military who were completing the naturalization process and becoming US citizens. Tons of...read more

Up in the morning and out of the rack...

Brian Tribus — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
...greeted at dawn by a mortar attack! Well, not exactly. I was in my CHU ('containerized housing unit' - or 'trailer' in normal person language) at 0700 this morning, putting away my laundry and getting ready to head to work when I heard a loud siren followed by INCOMING! INCOMING! INCOMING! So, like every good Soldier should, I hit the floor and covered my head with my hands. Have to admit that my heart rate was up a bit. Waited for an explosion that never came - thank goodness. After a...read more

Sadr City

Brian Tribus — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:03:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I went to Sadr City on Saturday with Brigadier General Talley - he is the 926th Engineer Brigade Commander. He's responsible for reconstruction efforts in the Sadr City area. To me, 'reconstruction' isn't always the correct term as it implies that some things existed before the US invasion in 2003 - when, in fact, many basic services were not available during Saddam's rule. Here's a shot of their electricity grid - lines running overhead everywhere. Makes...read more

Slow and steady...

Brian Tribus — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I mentioned that we've been having a push-up contest in the office. I worried that the young, motivated, full-of-energy heroes would leave me in the dust. Not. I've opened up a comfortable 1000 push-up lead, having done 4000+ since arriving. Should make me feel good, but I remember doing 8000+ in one week when I was a cadet at West Point -- we had an Army-Navy push-up contest before the football game....read more

Where's Paco?

Brian Tribus — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:01:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
My 3 year old, Ryan, seems to be having the toughest time with Daddy being away. He called recently (we have a military DSN line we can make morale calls back to our home station on) in tears saying, "Daddy, want you to come home now." It broke my heart. I've tried to remain an active part of my kids' lives, but it's tough. One of the things I'm doing is taking pictures of me in Iraq with their stuffed animals from home. The other day I played "Where's...read more

Soldier Humor

Brian Tribus — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I went to the International Zone yesterday for a press conference. Came across this sign and had to laugh. Wonder if there will be any grass by the time I leave? One of the things I've really enjoyed over the years is how funny Soldiers can be. I guess humor is a great form of therapy. I remember when I was in Egypt in 1994 serving as a scout platoon leader with the 3rd Infantry Division - one of my scouts was walking around picking up dung beetles and placing them in a box. What...read more

What a day!

Brian Tribus — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:33:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Yesterday was amazing. I woke around 0400, shaved/showered and hit the office. I scanned the media activity from the last few hours and put together a summary report. Then I was off to LTG Austin's (our 3-star commanding general) house to help prepare him for an interview with a reporter from McClatchy newspapers. Pretty cool to sit with the CG as he starts his day. After a cup of coffee and a discussion of the reporter's likely focus, we headed to the helipad. Our first stop was...read more

Could this all fall apart?

Brian Tribus — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Walking home last night, my thoughts were of the Soldiers I read about in a Washington Post article - 'For surge troops, Pride mingles with Doubt'. The article points out the success of the surge, highlights individual soldier accounts of their lessons learned, and asks the question of whether it was all worth it. One soldier ponders, "Could this all fall apart?" I wonder how the Soldiers who have risked their lives, watched buddies get killed, completed multiple tours here,...read more

Time Horizon?

Brian Tribus — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:30:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Funny thing about the horizon - as you move toward it, you never really seem to get there. Sorry to be cynical, just tired of our leaders having to say 'conditions-based' all the time. I agree with GEN Petraeus that any further troop drawdown should be based on what we see here in Iraq. I just wonder who came up with the term 'time horizon' - did we, the taxpayers, pay a consulting firm for that? :) Seriously, though, plenty going on over here to reach the...read more

My job is SO hard :)

Brian Tribus — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:27:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
The other day, I had to escort Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints QB), Osi Umenyiora (NY Giants, DE), Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner), and two Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They were here visiting the troops as part of the USO tour. They were truly awesome -- after traveling through the night, they never dropped their smiles and didn't leave until everyone had a chance to get a picture. I helped gather some Soldiers to shoot a segment with them for the NFL Channel's 'NFL...read more

Re-up!

Brian Tribus — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:25:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
That's what they say when you re-enlist in the Army (chose to extend your contract). Instead of fireworks and a bbq, we held the largest re-enlistment ceremony in history here at the Al Faw palace. Over 1200 Soldiers/Airmen/Marines/Sailors currently serving in a combat zone (Iraq) decided to continue serving -- in total, about 5500 years of service. It was an awesome way to celebrate the 4th of July and appreciate our freedom. One of my favorite quotes came from Command...read more

Greetings From Baghdad!

Brian Tribus — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:25:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I finally made it out of Kuwait on an Air Force C130 and am getting settled here at Camp Victory in Baghdad. What an incredible place this is. First of all, I work in the Al Faw Palace – check it out. Much nicer than the building I worked in at Fort Knox. This is my first “joint” assignment – so, I’ll work with folks from the air force, navy, marines on a regular basis. It is also a “coalition” assignment – I’ll work...read more

The weather in Kuwait is...

Brian Tribus — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:00:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
sunny and 130 degrees! wow. if you'd like to know what it's like, have 20 friends come over with a hairdryer. get some power strips and plug them all in. put them on high heat and put them 6 inches from your body. :) i made the trip to kuwait just fine. now, i'm stuck in the terminal from hell. we're in tents at Ali Al Salem airfield in kuwait waiting for our turn to go to baghdad. there's been a bunch of flights cancelled lately due to dust storms, so the standby list is rather long....read more

Mount UP!

Brian Tribus — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:24:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
That's what we used to say in the cavalry when we were getting ready to move our unit somewhere. I've completed the week of pre-deployment training and the Army says I'm "deployable". We've had a couple of long days. Woke up at 0350 (3:50am), drew my 9mm pistol from the arms room, ate chow (scrambled eggs with some beef gravy on top), went to the range to qualify. I shot pretty well - sharpshooter which is a notch below expert. We spent the afternoon doing...read more

And so it begins...

Brian Tribus — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:23:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
I’m now at Fort Benning, Georgia, for a week of training and processing before heading to Iraq on Friday. Before coming, I spent a great week in Myrtle Beach with my family. It was VERY hard to say goodbye to my wife and four children. My 8 year old son, Cody, was so upset that he began to gag as if he was going to vomit. Thankfully, my brother and his wife were there to help. The plan was to take the kids to the movies while my mother-in-law took my wife and me to the airport....read more

About Maj. Tribus

Brian Tribus — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:22:00 GMT

By: Brian Tribus
Hi! I am Major Brian Tribus - an Army Public Affairs Officer (PAO) getting ready to go to Iraq for 12 months. I've been in the Army for 16 years. I graduated from West Point (the Army's military academy in NY) in 1992. I was an Armored Cavalry officer for the first 8 years of my career. As a 22 year old graduating from college, I was put in charge of 29 cavalry scouts and 6 bradley fighting vehicles. One of my favorite memories from that assignment was cruising...read more