Where in the World is MPL?

Inspired by Miss. Kelly Murphy's email, I thought it might be a good idea to tell the readers exactly where I am.
To the left is a rough map of the Arabian Gulf (we don't call it the Persian Gulf anymore, it's kinda not PC, but this is an old map)

I flew in from Frankfurt, Germany to Manama, Bahrain, located on the map with the little star, right above Qatar. Bahrain is sort of like a little island. There is a huge Naval base there (no ships permanently stationed there though) and it is the home of NAVCENT (CENTCOM's Navy part) as well as 5th Fleet and a bunch of security attachments.
Right now, however, I am way north in the NAG (North Arabian Gulf). ABOT is approximately 30 miles off the coast of the Iran/Kuwait border. A border which is historically VERY disputed and still officially undefined.

Since this map does not have a scale, if you look on the map at the word "Kuwait" (the one with a star by it right in the water written with a capital K and the rest lower case- NOT the Kuwait over land), we are right in between the U and the W, right above that.

When we leave, whenever that is, we will go south through the Arabian Gulf, through the challenging Strait of Hormuz, then continue east through the Arabian Sea. Can't wait already :)

From the "Commander, US Naval Fleet Forces Command, US 5th Fleet, Combined Maritime Forces" website, our mission out here is:

Combined Task Force (CTF) IM operates in the North Arabian Gulf (NAG) and oversees U.S. and coalition ships involved in Maritime Security Operations (MSO)

CTF IM's primary mission in the NAG is maintaining security in and around both the Al Basrah (ABOT) and Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminals (KAAOT), in support of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1790.

Maritime Security Operations help develop security in the maritime environment, which promotes stability and global prosperity. These operations complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations and seek to disrupt violent extremists’ use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.

CTF IM operates jointly with Iraqi Navy sailors and marines, trained by members of the Navy Transition Team based in nearby Umm Qasr. Over three quarters of Iraq GDP is generated from the oil that flows through these terminals.

Rear Adm. Thomas Cropper, Deputy Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, currently commands CTF IM.

The picture taken was from NAVCENT's website, so I take no credit.

Additionally, I have come to the conclusion that I really know very little about the detailed history of the Middle East. Sure, we could go back decades and hundreds of years and there is always more to learn, but truth be told, I don't know as much about the region as I should.

That being said, we will take a break from my normally scheduled ramblings once or twice a week where I will impart a little bit of knowledge that I learned about a different region, or culture or wars.

Later today, we will discuss a period of time rather near and dear to my heart, the Iran-Iraq Tanker Wars from 1984-1988. You may be familiar with this as the war during which my last ship, the good ship SAMMY B hit an Iranian mine in what was then still referred to as the "Persian Gulf." Ironically, I can't seem to get away from the Tanker Wars, and I have found myself on yet another old metal structure that fought the good fight and incurred battle damage during the Tanker War. I snapped a few pics earlier today of some of the damage and the US' attempts to fix the damage and I will give a brief overview of the war along with some first hand photos of the damage.

And, if my history lesson gets boring, we'll just go back to talking about the food or something :)

Hope you're all doing well and for you 'hoos headed to Charlottesville this weekend, have fun!