LPGA Tour member Suzanne Strudwick blogs from her second trip to Iraq. Strudwick along with LPGA Tour member Jill McGill, Larry Laoretti of the Champions Tour, and PGA Tour veteran Paul Carlson are giving clinics to the soliders stationed in Iraq.

Friday Night - 8:07 p.m. - Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Wow! We are back from being 'In Country'. The last two days have been amazing... we visited two bases each day then flew back to Camp Victory each night. We would visit a really small base in the morning and a bigger support base in the afternoon. The smaller bases are called JSS (Joint Service Stations) because both US and Iraq troops work together. The first one on Wednesday was JSS Adl, which was a department store West of Baghdad and holds approx. 225 soldiers. They hope to hand it over to the Iraq's in a year.

Spending five hours with them that morning, we got to fully appriciate the complex work that is going on. Supporting the Iraq locals, providing security, helping to repair the infrastructure and squash the insurgents - our troops are doing the most amazing work.

We set up hitting bays in the atrium of the building!

FOB Taji is the main support camp for JSS Adl, and we visited there in the afternoon. There are more than 2,500 troops stationed there, with much nicer living conditions.

Thursday we visited what was probably the worst condition outpost (JSS) on our trip. It had an area of 300 by 700 meters and only one fixed building, which is falling down. The troops have been there approximatly four months, and are still working on basic needs. They live in tents without air, port-a-john's only, and a tin shack with six shower units between 120 guys. The Iraq's have it worse and live at the far end of the base. We spent five hours with the them and had a ball! All of us could not believe the incredible attitude of our guys... it was truly a privilage to visit with them for a few hours and get an insight into what they have been doing every day for more than a year.

We set up hitting bays in their tent they use as a gym. They moved all the equipment out the day before just to make room for us! Hitting drivers out into the desert is much more fun, so we went to the helipad and set up mats for them to swing away! For over an hour we hit balls over the wall into the desert in 130º heat! That's how much these guys love hitting balls! We left them a lot of equipment so they could keep swinging after we left.

I think I gave the first Iraq soldier a golf lesson! The troops have a good relationship with the Iraq army, but this was a first - hitting golf balls and learning how to swing with five U.S. soldiers kidding and having a great time - amazing! His name was Mohamed Ali and he was a Sargent in the Iraq Army.

We spent our last night in Iraq having a beer at the British compound at Camp Victory! Great way to end that part of our tour... Cheers!

Wednesday Night - 10:46 p.m. - Camp Victory, Baghdad

Just arrived back to base and our accommodations after a successful day. We visited two bases today, JSS ADL - which is West Baghdad and in a disused department store, and then FOB Taji - which is in the city of Taji just north of Baghdad. The two bases could not have been any more different, and it highlights the huge changes and differences the soldiers have to work with.

JSS ADL has approx. 300 troops which are mainly National Guard Troops. We set up hitting stations in the atrium and allowed everyone to have fun whacking balls around!

The second base was north of Baghdad in the city called Taji. It's a huge base with 15,000 personnel. After hitting balls with the troops in their open concert hall, we were allowed to go shoot some guns!! M-4's to be excact - a real thrill. I had shot my first gun ever last year on this tour, so it was great to have this opportunity again. We witnessed an apache helicopter firing rockets at a target on the range also - quite different from our 'driving range'!!

One consistant theme has shown up at each base so far: the troops and the officers are all fantastic people. They are all willing to learn from us and show off what they do!

They are making a huge difference in Iraq. Things are getting better: the relationship between the troops and the nationals, the infrastructure, and the economy. Carl and myself have commented on sensing a slightly more relaxed army.

Signing off today, after a full day that ended with a Blackhawk ride back to Camp Victory that was very adventurous!

Hitting balls with the troops	A different kind of range	Our Blackhawk adventure

Tuesday Night - 8:07 p.m.

Yes! We made it to Baghdad! We had a very long, hot ride on Blackhawks which took over three hours but we got here. The heat got up to over 140 about 150 feet up...it was like nothing I have endured before. Well I have but that was last year!!

We are at Saddam's palace that he built for his two sons. When you see the pictures you will be amazed. The palace is about two times bigger than Buckingham Palace in London and is surrounded by man made lakes and smaller palaces. The palace is now the mail HQ for all operations in Iraq. Diplomats and high level movement officials use it. They turned one of the smaller palaces into a hotel and we are there. Last year we were meant to use it but it was full so we had to share bunks in a tin shack! This year we are in and it's beautiful. We even have our own bathrooms!!

We arrived here at 2:30 p.m. After such a grueling trip we immediately went on a tour of the palace and then met with GEN Hammond, a two-star General who is only below GEN Patreas.

We then went and visited with troops from the 4th Cavalry Division, which is now in charge of Baghdad and South Iraq. (Remember we were in Mosul and they were in charge of N. Iraq). We saw some really neat stuff again and got some great pictures of the palace and surrounding areas. They have built a golf bay off one of the balconies so we hit balls into the lake!

We just had a great clinic with some wonderful guys and we only had a small space so we set up chipping nets and putting mats. It's so cool when even that creates so much joy and laughter amongst the soldiers. They keep saying thank you for coming and I have to remind them that WE are the ones that are thankful for ALL they do for us every day.....

Blackhawk flight	Outside the Saddam's palace - Camp Victory	Hitting off General Hammond's private driving range from a balcony at the palace!
Hitting balls again	With CO Rainer	With Troops from the 4th Artillery ID with GEN Hammond

Tuesday

It's Tuesday morning about 9:25 a.m. and we are waiting at the helipad terminal for blackhawk flights to Baghdad. The sandstorm has turned just enough for us to fly out today. We have missed three days of travel stuck here in Mosul...but the best thing has been we have been shown so much of the special Ops that go on in the background.

We have seen the satellite images from the predator drones that show incredible details...they are operated by guys back in Nevada!

We met with General Thomas and his staff who command the Northern Iraq area. They deal with the tribal leaders every day on securing information. We saw maps in their offices that have pictures of all the good and bad guys in the area...amazing.

We also met with some Black Ops personnel but they said they would have to kill us if they told us what they did!! Nice guys...really!

We are headed down to Baghdad to Camp Liberty which is Saddam's Palace. The plan is to stay there and the remainder of the week we'll fly to the smaller FOB's each day but come back each night. This is great because having to travel each day with luggage is really tiring.

The troops we have visited with are amazing, from Thunder Unit and Brave Rifles the two main Regiments here in Mosul and support groups. Since we have been here for four days we feel we have seen a good bit of their routine.

Signing off till I can get to another computer or send you some pic's again...

Sunday

Its Sunday at 1:03 p.m. and we are at F.O.P. (base) Diamondback which is in Mosul Northern Iraq. We can see the city from the base which sits up on a hill a bit. We arrived yesterday morning around 8:30 a.m. and were on the go all day. We did two shows, clinics in two different gyms they have on base here. It's a big base, over 10,000 troops and CIV personnel. The turnout was excellent for both shows, much more interest than last year, although we did not get to this base last year!

We set up the area with four driver bays, two putting stations, and two chipping stations. Jill McGill and myself helped with full swings, which can be a challenge due to the amazing size these guys are built! It's like teaching a linebacker how to swing!! Larry Laoretti and Carl Paulson either were at the putting stations or chipping. A mixture of non-golfers and golfers got in line to hit, all wanting to have a go since it's been about 10 months since they have swung a club. Callaway Golf donated all the equipment which we are very grateful for. We gave away lots of hats, tee shirts and autographs!

The exhaustion level has been to the max with only four hours of sleep the first night due to jet lag. Then having to leave Kuwait at 1:30 a.m. meant only three hours again so we have been running on empty. I got introduced to a drink called 'Rip - It' not sold in U.S.! It lasts for about two hours and is better than any amount of coffee. I had about four yesterday!!

The base here has tank units and killer helicopter units, both of which we had the opportunity to visit. A visiting Iraq helicopter unit happened to be in for maintenance so we got to meet them and chat. Very interesting! Nice guys. The American guys are the best, they LOVE what they do, are very passionate about there jobs, mission and each other.

Today was supposed to be a travel day to Q-West F.O.P. a bit south of here but we are in a sand storm in this part of Iraq at the moment and our ride is grounded! So we are stuck here at least until tomorrow. This is a good thing. This base is really nice, with good sleeping areas, food and recreation. The only bad thing is phones, not so many and too far away to walk.

I'm enjoying every moment of this. The group is way too much fun and we are being really looked after well. The only thing I know at the moment is that we are scheduled to be in Baghdad on Tuesday.