It is now time to say farewell to the current Griffin Military Transition Team and time for me to return to Ft. Riley to train the new Team - Griffin for the mission ahead.In this picture, I'm standing next to one of the interprettors (John) that accompanied us through many of the patrols we conducted while I was at Camp India.
One particular patrol will stand out in my mind. That was our patrol of the University District of Mosul. The streets were completely void of people with only a few stragglers out to be noticed. Most were well hidden behind their fences or closed doors. It was a very eary feeling to watch a kid run up an ally and disappear. You can't help but wonder what the kid was up to and where he was going. The patrol was quiet and nothing significant happened. But you don't feel completely safe. It was far to quiet to feel that way.
The Leader's recon was very rewarding for me. It gave me a glimpse of what to expect, what to train for and what we will need to learn in the next coming months. Special Thanks to COL Jeff McClain and the rest of the Griffin team.
Jeff explained to me that the 2nd Iraqi Army Division MiTT team has always been call sign "Griffin" and while we might come up with our own "nickname" at Camp Funston, once we arrive in Iraq, we will be "Team Griffin".
I'll let the team back in Funston decide if they want to invent their own call sign while at Camp Funston, but once we arrive in Mosul, our call sign will be "Griffen" like the other MiTTs before us (it's not practical to change the call signs).
So, now you know how this blog came to be called.... Team Griffin.
