I've been kicking this idea around for a long time- I was inspired by those cheesy t-shirts that were (are?) popular back in the 90's- the ones with topic specific subjects like, "you may be a geologist if..." These tag lines were usually followed by a list of obscure references to the subject title that only those in that given profession would find humorous (and the rest of us probably found, well... cheesy.).
Anyway, I started to think about compiling a list for the Iraq invasion in 2010 after I did the math and found that most of the service members who were serving in Iraq were in grade school when the 1st Marine Division invaded in 2003. That was enough of a shock for me to consider the major changes that had occured between 2003 and 2010- hence the list. When we invaded Iraq it was starting from scratch, operationally speaking. Not enough food, no email- you know, the finer things in life... After I got out in 2004 I kept in contact with a few of my buddies who re-deployed and regaled me with tales of mattresses shipped in from Kuwait, chow halls staffed with multi-national contractors, and some young upstart who went by the name of "Muqtada al Sadr". Such was life in Iraq during "the Occupation". Sooo...
You May Have Invaded Iraq If:
You fought the Iraqi Army, foreign jihadists, and home grown insurgents- all in the same week.
A FOB was where you dug your fighting hole that night
You didn’t shower for at least a month
You were issued the same weapons and equipment they used in the first Gulf War
You conducted vehicle patrols in soft back Humvees
The last chow hall you ate at was back in Kuwait
The Ba’ath Party was still rooting for a comeback
“Operation Iraqi Freedom” didn’t sound anything like “Iraq has WMD’s”
You were so hungry you ate EVERYTHING in your MRE- even the Charms (unless you were a POG- then you probably had food to spare)
You wore woodland camouflage MOPP suits while invading a desert environment (my favorite)
You took pictures with a disposable film camera
Geraldo Rivera was still reporting “live from Iraq”
"Sadr City" in Baghdad was still "Saddam City"
Most of the service members that served during the last year of the war (2011) were in grade school during the invasion of 2003
*If you want to add your own to the list, leave a comment- maybe I'll make a t-shirt.
