I recently received a message from my buddy 1LT John Avera in Baghdad. Here's an excerpt:

(Our team) has seen a lot of action in the last few weeks. We believe the Anti-Iraqi Forces (AIF) were testing us as the new soldiers on the block. I have survived two mortar attacks and one direct fire engagement. After that, it has been relatively calm. This is the first combat engagement our Brigade and Battalion has been in since 1945 (WWII). The results were positive, although we did sustain a few casualties. All the casualties were "Return to Duty" (RTD) except one. The one soldier was sent to Germany to treat his wounds, but is expected to have a full recovery. It was a good test of our fighting skills. The AIF are smart and adaptable. I constantly spend late nights planning with our intelligence officers on how we can defeat the AIF. It is not an easy task.

The environment is here not as bad as it may seem. The majority of the local populace are supportive of us. They give us a lot of information of where the bad guys are, because they are scared of them. Sometimes, they will stop one of our patrols and tell us where the bad guys are and where the IEDs are. It is a sign of people tired of all the violence and wanting to help. The Iraqis are not the enemy, it is the local thugs and foreign fighters that are the enemy.

The Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police are stepping up. Unfortunately, there are not any in our Area of Operations (AO). There is an effort to train more and we hope to see them help with patrolling our AO in the near future.

I am planning on sending John a care package via Treat Any Soldier. If you've been thinking to yourself that you wish there was a way you could make life easier for the boys and girls out there defending your way of life, feel free to send some cash my way. I'll collect all the donations and put them towards sending John care packages. I'm sure John would more than appreciate the sentiment!