About an hour this afternoon before my alarm was set to go off, I was awakening by a pounding on my hooch door.

Stumbling up and around my darkened hooch, I made it to the door and opened it. The bright sun blinded me for a moment.

Standing there was a soldier. "Sir, the promotions ceremony is going to take place in one hour Sir", he informed me.

I thanked him and stumbled by into my hooch.

About a second after I shut the door to my hooch, what the soldier said, registered in my head. I hurried to get ready and even though this ceremony wasn't for me at all, I began to get excited.

I arrived at the location the ceremony. It was such a sunshiny day it was held outside. With the city of Mosul in the background, his unit assembled in formation.
A few soldiers were not moving into formation fast enough the the First Sergeant, and he yelled at them to "Hurry up, we can't be standing out here forever as sniper bait!" (I actually said it much nicer, and without the expletives he used). It just sounded funny to me and although I wanted to laugh, I restrained myself.

Although it would take a hell of a shot, it wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility, as you can see by the 3rd picture I took. It shows how close the "wire" that separates us and the bad guys is.

Their LT called the new Sergeant up. Then the First Sergeant and I went up to the front, I pinned his shirt, and the First Sergeant pinned his cover. Then we both slugged him right on his new stripes...it's tradition dammit!
After they broke formation, everyone in his unit circled around him to congratulate him, and to "pin" his stripes on too. At one point he yelled out to the First Sergeant joking that his chest was starting to get sore from everyone hitting him. The First Sergeant yelled back, "You should have thought about that before you decided you wanted to get promoted!"...everyone had a good laugh with at that..

It was time for me to leave to go to work and walked over and shook the new Sergeant's hand again. I told him thanks for including me in this, and what an honor it was for me, and that I would never forget it.

I started my long walk to work and everyone I walked pass probably though I was crazy because I was smiling the whole way...