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Anthony Cowling - A life in the day of SECDET XII

A typical day starts with, servicing our vehicles, cleaning weapons and taking care of our personal space and the rest of the day is what ever we’re tasked to do. These can vary from cleaning and arranging stores at the mess to driving out into the red zone escorting the Australian Ambassador. When we first arrived the temperature was in the low 40’s to high 30’s, that’s dropped a lot since then. The temperature ranges at the moment from about -2˚C to about 15˚C, but it is warming up. It actually snowed a few weeks back, but most of it melted when it hit the ground. It rains every few days during this time of year, unfortunately due to the amount of dust everywhere the rain turns everything to mud.

Our living conditions are modest, but we have all the creature comforts such as  air conditioning, satellite TV, internet and phone access. Our food is supplied by the American’s, which can have a lot of sugar, so I can’t wait to get back to some food with a low sugar content. Baghdad is essentially a city like any other. The majority of people are just trying to make the best of it and are more than happy to help out where they can. It’s common to see children playing soccer, it’s a big thing over here. Iraqi’s love soccer and they like to talk about it with you, even if their English is limited.

Everyone here seems to like Australian’s and whenever we’re talking to someone they always ask where is the best place to visit in Australia, what the beaches are like, pubs and clubs etc. We played volleyball against some soldiers from the British army late last year and I’m quite proud to say we thrashed them. While they put up a valiant effort, we were simply just better. I’ve swum in one of Saddams palace’s pools and frequently visit the Crossed swords, which was Saddam’s former military parade ground. We live in the shadow of the Ba’ath party building and frequently drive past many of Saddams palaces. It’s unbelievable at the amount and size of these palaces, though most of them have been destroyed.

To finish up, I would like to thank my family, friends and most importantly my fiancé. For the support they have given and the patience they show waiting for me to come home. Though I am having a relatively good time, my home is Australia and I can’t wait to get back. Thank you all for showing your support for the troops on deployment it means a lot to us.