Arrived in Kuwait

We arrived in Kuwait late on the 19th. We had an hour bus ride from Ft Riley to Topeka to Forbes Field. There we boarded a 767 and headed out for Leipzig Germany. It was an 8 ½ hour flight. We had a two hour layover in Leipzig so that is where we had our last beer for a while. We then re-boarded the plane for the 4 ½ hour flight to Kuwait. Once in Kuwait we took a bus to Camp Virginia. There we were separated from the Marines who were on-board our flight and we waited for transportation to Camp Buehring. Once at Buehring, we got our in-brief, was assigned a tent, and bedded down for the rest of the night…it was 0400 at this time. Yesterday consisted of nothing but checking out Buehring and things like that. This place is wild…there are more restaurants here in the various food courts that I have seen in most major malls back home!!! Hell, they got three Starbucks coffee shops here. To be a "Fobbit" in Kuwait…what a tough life!!! Anyway, we have certain training that we have to complete while we are here before we head up to the Phoenix Academy in Taji Iraq. We do have access to phones and internet here so the evenings are pretty much up to us which is cool. The internet is kind of slow though, it is almost like being back on dial-up so it may take a little bit of time to get responses out to some of you, but I will eventually get to them all.

Heading to Iraq

I just want to let all of you know that my team and I are leaving this weekend for Iraq. We are a Combat Advisor Team that will be working along an Iraqi Border Enforcement Brigade along the Iraq/Syria border (that information does not violate OPSEC). Anyway, the ability to communicate with the "real world" has come leaps and bounds since I was in Afghanistan. We will have regular access to the internet and telephones...and of course there is always mail call. I will try to keep everyone updated on what we are doing and such while we are over there. I will try to post a blog at least once a week and also upload pictures and stuff. I have my Steelers hat, fleece pullover, and Terrible Towel, so I am ready for the rest of the season!!! If you would like my address while we are over there, please let me know and I will shoot it to you in a message. I want to thank all of you for your continued support of those of us in uniform. We couldn't sustain the optempo that we do without the support from those at home.