Good Morning Baghdad!

Camp Boehring was to be my home for a little over three days after leaving Fort Benning, and it was hot.  As we cruised into our final approach the sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon, and it was difficult to tell sky from earth.  The sand streched on to what seemed infinity as it blurred with the dust clouds which hung low to the ground.  So let me stress again, it was hot.  When they opened the doors to the plane it reminded me of opening the oven door to check on some food - the heat hits you like a wave and immediately the sweating commences.  It seemed escpecially bad in contrast to the snow that was falling during our layover in Leipzig.

We settled into our buses, strangers in a strange land, not quite sure what to make of it.  Our immediate instructions were to keep the curtains on the bus windows closed tight - a convoy of buses with soldiers on it could make for a nice target.  It took about an hour to reach Ali Al Salem - an Air Force base north of Kuwaiit City.  When we got there we started the arduous task of unloading our bags once again.  After that we were seperated based on our final destination, and away we went to Camp Boehring.

At Camp Boehring, we went through yet some more training, with a particular emphasis on IED's.  For those that don't know, IED stands for improvised explosive device, which accounts for most of the casualties in Iraq today.  I can't talk a lot about the specifics but suffice to say that the bad guys have come a long way and are quite skilled at blowing things up.  It is an interesting cat and mouse game between the Coalition Forces and the insurgents - they come up with a new way to kill you, and we come up with a new way to prevent it, with each step becoming more and more technologically advanced.

The most interesting experience I had during my stay at Boehring was the Humvee rollover training.  Besides IED's, the second most common cause of morbidity and mortality in Iraq today is caused by vehicles that flip over.  The armor and turret make the vehicles very top-heavy - it doesn't take much of an angle to flip them.  So the Army decided that everyone had to go into the simulator to practice getting out of a flipped vehicle.

Eight of us piled into the back of the Humvee with our Kevlar helmets and body armor - in addition to the near total darkness and the tight seat belts it was a bit claustrophobic. The simulator then rocked to the left and to the right before finally flipping completely upside-down. We then had to get to our buckles and basically fall onto the roof of the vehicle all while trying to avoid landing on our heads or the guy next to you. We repeated that fun little procedure two or three more times, each time attempting to exit via a different route. By the end I had had quite enough and my neck is still sore because of it.

There was one unexpected treat in the middle of the desert - Starbucks! The coffee at Fort Benning was horrible and scarce. We all had begun to experience coffee-withdrawal headaches and this little oasis was perfect - I half expected it to be a mirage!

The rest of the time spent in Kuwaitt involved once again going to the range just to make sure that our weapons still worked.  We headed about 20 minutes outside of the base to a range where we waited for over two hours to shoot.  Finally, fed up with no information, the Colonel in our group asked what the hold up was.  Apparently the local bedoins were out just beyond the range with their camel herd(not in kansas anymore).  The soldier in charge of the range said that they couldn't make them leave and we couldn't fire while they were there.  So, after standing in the heat of the day for hours we piled back into our transport and headed back to base.

That evening we found out that we were scheduled for our second red-eye flight in less than one week.  We were to load the buses at 1:30am for our flight which wasn't scheduled until 7am.  Since it was already late at night we decided to just stay up all night.  A bunch of us went to the recreation center and watched movies.  Then when the time came we loaded up our bus and started our final trek towards Iraq.

On a side note, I just wanted to say that the support through email and comments posted to my blog from my friends and family have been tremendous.  They keep me upbeat - I really don't deserve it but all the support makes me feel like one of the luckiest guys out there.  I just got reliable internet so I hope you all understand if I haven't gotten back to you yet but I certainly will soon.  Again, thanks it means a lot.