Camp Arrival

I've arrived safely in Kuwait after a long but decent flight. We flew from El Paso to Fort Polk for about 3 hours, then to Baltimore for about 4 hours. From there we made an 8 hour journey to Germany, and then a 4 hour trip into Kuwait. At most stops we had a 2 hour layover, but it was good to get out and stretch my legs.

At Fort Polk we sat in a large hangar, at about 4:00am and ate some kind of funky cake with weird crystals as we watched the stoner movie "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" on a large screen. Anyone who's seen this movie knows it made for an interesting experience, especially considering the circumstances. A few Red Cross workers (I believe) came out to see us off and shook everyones hands. High on Cake and Coca-Cola we headed for Baltimore.

Once there they unleashed us into the airport where we all quickly hit up the pub for our last drinks and a bit of food. I opted for eggs over easy, with bacon, toast and a 24oz Guiness. It was a good breakfast.

From there we were off to Germany which was relatively uneventful. We spent a couple of hours in a small terminal in the midle of the night. The prices for food were outragous topping off at about 3 dollars for a shot of coffee. They had a duty free shop that sold cigarettes which everyone gobbled up. I found it funny that the boxes in Germany had giant phrases that took up half the box that said things like "Smoking will kill you".

The last leg went by quick, and we found ourselves at an airport in Kuwait. From there we were sent with an armed escort and I was separated from most everyone I had known from the last two months. We were sent to the West (I think) where we'll be staying at a Camp in Kuwait. Supposedly we'll be here the entire time but I haven't gotten confirmation on this yet. So far it doesn't seem that bad here. More on this later.

Kuwait Departure Bumped

In true Army fashion they've changed the day we're leaving from Saturday to this Thursday. I'm trying to run around and do all the last minute things I might need so this will probably be my last post before I head out. As soon as I get some sort of internet access again I'll update everyone on my address and other news.

I'm actually excited to get moving and meet up with my unit. It should be an entertaining flight with over 200 soldiers crammed into that plane for 15+ hours. No doubt there will be some fun stories to tell. I'll see you all soon!

Renegade Training Complete

Tonight we finished off the final part of our two week training schedule. I haven't posted about much of the training lately since it's mirrored much of what was done when I was at Fort Jackson.

Today was a bit different as we were practicing convoy operations using live ammunition. The first part was a familiarization with firing live ammo from a moving vehicle. The second part consisted of driving through and actual course with targets popping up and mock explosive devices going off. During one of these runs a humvee with a pair of medics actually flipped over. A blackhawk helicopoter was flown in and medevaced one of them. Thankfully both weren't seriously injured but they were badly banged up. This shut down the range for hours and the day ended up being over 12 hours long.

The time spent waiting wasn't as bad as it sounds as we were in an incredible spot with mountains surrounding us and clear sunny weather for most of the day. I even saw my first tumbleweed which wobbled in and out of the landscape. It ended with an amazing sunset and some fierce rain showers.

We're set to head out to Kuwait later this week. For now it's time for a bit of celebration before we leave.

It's a great day to be a soldier

Well that's at least what the sign says when entering the base at fort Bliss. Things are going slow here. The training is redundant and somewhat cumbersome but more than likely necessary. Most of it is a review of what I had done at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.

Monday was weapons draw, and I was fortunate enough to receive the M4 which is a smaller version of the m16 machine gun you see soldier with so often. It weighs in at a pound less and is much more compact. Hopefully it isn't that much different to qualify with as we're scheduled to attempt that later this week.

The rest of the week was made up of night and day land navigation, minefield and explosive training, first aid, and radio operations. Today I was running around the desert learning infantry tactics and it was draining. I can't imagine what it's going to be like lugging around that body armor, kevlar, weapon and various other gear in 120 degree heat. It's going to take some adjusting that's for sure.

This week we'll be focusing on qualifying with weapons and then we'll be nearly done with training and ready to ship out. In a way I'm anxious to move on from this segment and on to my unit. Hopefully things will go well.

All my EX's live in Texas

Ok, I can't back that up at all, but so many people blurt this out that I have to chuckle. Especially since 90% of the people here seem to have been married at least twice. Ah, home sweet home is El Paso, and I have a new home in a warmer tent. I think that deserves a YEEEHAAA.

Other than my move not much has been happening here, which at times can be frustrating. This is compounded by the fact that we all know we could be home instead of sitting around all day. Those gripes aside I had a great holiday break that I'm thankful for.

Training starts up again on Monday and from what I hear it's going to be similar to what we did at Fort Jackson. I should be done by the 26th of January and then from their we should either be going to Fort Polk or overseas. For now I'll enjoy the low 40s temperatures, snow and -20s puts things in perspective.