Today we woke up at 1:30 AM to go to the firing range. We had to test fire our weapons to ensure that they work. We drove about an hour into the middle of the desert to get away from any civilization. I say bedowins with 2 herds of sheep. I also saw my first camels. There were two of them several hundred yards off in the distance. I fired my weapon as did 400 of my closest friends. It sounded like a huge fire fight. We arrived back at camp in enough time for breakfast. I decided to take a [View Full Entry]

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Today we had our first classes. We learned about Force Protection and IEDs. Our first trainer was from the Navy. He was a knowledgeable guy but a little rough around the edges. The second trainer was a British Engineer. What a riot. He taught us about fratracide. He showed us a video clip that had a guy getting his in the testicles with a golf ball. He said, "No matter what culture you are from or how civilized we become seeing someone getting hit in the testicles is funny." He class was witty but informative. His parting discussion was to list [View Full Entry]

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The weather has cleared. It is not clear and sunny but hazy and hot. The dust is still thick in the air but it does not blow too hard so that you do not need goggles. Another day of aclimization. My buddies and I spent the day getting ready for tomorrow's training. We are exploring the camp and figuring out the best places for Internet and phone use.There was a concert tonight. The Air Force has a pop/rock band that plays covers all over the theater of operations. My friend Mark and I sat outside and enjoyed some ice cream during [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Kuwait today. It is wierd - I lost May 14th. I do not know where it went. It is 7 hours ahead of East Coast. We arrived and had yet another briefing. I learned that we had a suprise benefit.Since a war zone is tax free and you only have to be in the war zone for one day to recieve the tax free benefit we begin today. Pay is 1-15 and 16-30. We arrived on the 15th so tax free from the 1st-15th - hooah. We drove to our base which is a few hours away. It is [View Full Entry]

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The weather is terrible. There is a light sandstorm the wind is voracious and the sand is in everything. My uniform is buttoned up all the way. I have a boonie cap, sun glasses, and bandana tied over my face. Picture a soldier robbing a bank. There is pallets of bottled water in front of every tent. I think that the water has sand in it - all I taste is grit and dirt. Maybe it will whiten my teeth. We stay in large tents made of plastic. The floor is plywood which is nice as my feet don't get to [View Full Entry]

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Today we left Ft. Hood on our great eastward journey. We left for the airfield about 1700. When we got to the airfield we had a briefing on Anti Terrorism which seemed odd as everyone on the plane had a rifle or pistol, and a knife. After the briefing we had dinner, a sandwich and chips. The USO, Salvation Army, adn some churches had many offerings. The USO had snacks, drinks, and gum. The Salvation Army had toiletries and chapstick - they also offered to send our mail home for free. I wrote letters to my family and sent a singing [View Full Entry]

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This morning they called all of the mothers to come stand in front of the formation. The First Sergeant said, "All women who have punched out a kid come front and center." A little unconventional statement but I thought that there was duality in that statement. Some women who have had childern have probably punched them out at one time or another. Here is a picture of all of the moms in A Company. [View Full Entry]

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I was searching for a good medium to share all of my travels this upcoming year. I think that this will do quite nicely. I should have started this last year when I began training in South Dakota. Since June of last year I have trained for this deployment in the Black Hills of South Dakota, twice in Sparta - Wisconsin, Augusta - Georgia, Monterrey - California, and Gatesville - Texas. The title of this entry is the "Greatest Little POW Camp in Texas." Why? Well, for the last month I have been stationed in North Fort Hood, Texas. North Fort [View Full Entry]

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I have told many of you about all of the crazy weather in Texas. We have had 2 tornadoes and one hail storm. I took pictures of this super cell today. Super cells form tornadoes. This system caused tornadoes a few counties away. [View Full Entry]

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