One mission down. . .

And who knows how many left to go. Yesterday, we returned from our first mission into Iraq. For myself, and the other soldiers of the 129th that went with us, it was meant to be a learning experience. We're learning from the unit that we're replacing, 2nd Trans, and they've been here for almost 15 months. Needless to say, they have no shortage of knowledge to share with us. The one trip North that we got with them taught us quite a bit about what's in store for us in the coming months. Here are just a few pictures from the trip





A picture from just outside of my truck, looking north. This picture was taken at the border crossing into Iraq, known as "K- Crossing."



The trucks all staged in a line at our first stop, Camp Cedar II, located near Tallil, Iraq.



Welcome to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP)



This is what our living quarters are like at BIAP



Just another picture of beautiful Camp Stryker at BIAP.



Getting ready to leave BIAP



Sometimes you just need to catch a cat nap before you leave.

The last leg

I can't believe I've been out on the road this long. . .and I still have one more day of the trip left, the longest day of the trip so far. Not only do we drive farther than on any other day, when we get to our destination, we still have to drop our loads that we're carrying, and empty out our trucks. I have NO idea when I'm actually going to get some rest. Anyway, once I get back to Arifjan, I hope to put some pictures up from the mission.

Border Crossing

Well, it's official, I'm in Iraq. I'm not really supposed to say where we are, or how long I'll be gone, but lets just say I'm going to have the opportunity to see a good portion of Iraq. Yesterday, we crossed the border from Kuwait into Iraq. It's quite an interesting experience, and I'll have some pictures up from the border crossing when I get back to Arifjan. There's nothing but desert down south here, and I'm starting to get tired of it. Despite the fact that population centers are the most dangerous areas, I can't wait to see a city again, even if it is an Iraqi one. Well, that's all I really have time for. There's a time limit on computer usage, so I have to be going. I will post again a.s.a.p.

The Range

I've been procrastinating when it comes to making another post. It seems the internet here isn't too fond of you trying to upload pictures. Uploading can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour just to get a few pictures up, depending on how many people are on, and how many times it wants to turn you down.

That being said, here are a few pictures from our trip to the range here in Kuwait. We learned quite a bit about about our weapons, and we also did convoy training. We did all of our training in the mornings and into the afternoons, starting out with a wake-up at 3:00AM. Adding insult to injury, the temperatures during the day easily exceeded 120 degrees, with winds over 20mph blowing constantly. This turned the range area, and to a greater extent, most of Kuwait, into a huge sandblaster.

Below are a series of pictures showing what the range facilities were like for us.

For the three nights we were there, this was our sleeping arrangement. The Hilton, it was not, but it was air conditioned and that was all that mattered at the end of the day for us.



Just a picture from outside of a tent. The area around us looks mostly like this, but more barren if you can believe it.



Convoy training



This is Wasson, A.K.A. the "Combat Wombat." He was our driver for the convoy training.

Getting geared up and ready to roll out on our convoy training mission

That's not a comprehensive group of pictures, but it's the best I was able to upload in any reasonable amount of time. I hope to have another one up again within a week. We finally start doing missions soon, so there should be interesting pictures from all over. Until then . . .

Kuwait

After being in Kuwait for nearly 48 hours I can honestly say that this country is not my favorite. Monday, the first day we were here, the temperature climbed to nearly 120 degrees, it's also been nearly 90 degrees at night. Because of this, we've been doing most of our training at night, which has been a definite blessing.

Here are a few pictures of where I'm living:

This is the type of building we live in. Very warehouse chic if you ask me.

Looking down the center of our barracks


I'm on the top bunk, closest to the camera

Today, I was lucky enough to go off post, and I had a chance to see some of rural Kuwait. Here are a few pictures I took while I was out on the mission:

This is me, cheesing it up before a mission

This is us at a halt. The HET is a pretty big machine.


The oil refineries, you can see the methane burning off

Apologies and Waiting

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update my blog. Three months is really inexcusable. That being said, here's what I've been up to.

Starting in April, I began training at Fort Riley, KS. I started off with a two week class, learning how to drive the HET (Heavy Equipment Transporter). That's the vehicle that was designed to carry the M1 Abrams.
After our two week course, we moved into the field, where we began training, learning how to do basic convoy operations, and basic soldiering skills. For that entire month, I slept in a tent with 11 other males, it was a pretty tight fit


As you can see, I still managed to live comfortably, with a computer and a sprint aircard, the internet was always at hand.

After training at Fort riley for 45 days, we moved on to Camp Atterbury, IN. It's a small National Guard post about 35 miles south of Indianapolis. It is here that I'm posting my blog as we wait for our aircraft to fly overseas. The 45+ days that we've spent here have been very trying for most of us. We've had many long days, and some days where we are bored senseless. Today happens to be one of those days. Here are just a few photos of some of the places at Atterbury.

The picture above was taken when our camp was flooded, along with the City of Edinburgh, and much of central and southern Indiana.


The pictures above and below were taken at the All Rank's Club. There's a restaurant, some pool tables, a few games, and wireless internet. It was a great place to unwind whenever we got the chance, which wasn't nearly often enough.


The picture above is of my bunk (the bottom bunk) It's pretty spartan accomadations, but it's mine.


Anyway, I hope to update more often as soon as I get overseas. So, until then . . .