So where did our story leave off, oh yeah, flying out Thanksgiving night. Well, we boarded our chartered aircraft at the airfield and headed off for a two leg trip into Kuwait. The first leg landed in Ireland … somewhere, where we had about 2 hrs to stretch our legs and grab a large pint of our favorite… oh no, sorry to disappoint, we have been under CENTCOMs general order number 1 , no alcohol while in theatre since day 1 back at Fort McCrady. But not to worry the men all took it well when we deplaned at the airport which had a nice Irish pub right in the terminal. We did receive one surprise as we arrived though, the Secretary of the Navy, Donald Winter was in the terminal on a return trip from having Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq with the troops.
He was a nice enough fellow, gave me a nice coin, but didn't’t seem interested in temporarily suspending the band on alcohol in celebration of our meeting. The second leg of the flight was another 7 hr or so leg into Kuwait City where we were greeted by 
some Navy sailors , escorted to buses and given a 2 hr ride to Camp Virginia. All and all the travel was not bad though we had been at it for nearly 18 hrs by the time we got to Camp Virginia.
CAMP VIRGINIA - Kuwait is the hub of all coming and going personnel in theatre, and many are taken to CAMP VIRGINIA, to acclimate to the climate, and the time zone. Once there we were given almost 5 days of down time, before spending three days in the desert training more on close quarters marksmanship, and convoy training. Once we realized we were actually free to move about and control our schedules we were able to relax and enjoy the place a bit. They had everything necessary for rest and relaxation, including a world class USO that was recently renovated by the show “Man Cave”. The large tent now was outfitted with 2 living room style movie watching area’s, one large mini-theatre, about 6-8 video game consoles (XBOX, PS3, and Wii), an internet café area, and plenty of comfy leather couches to lounge in. I spent many good hours in there watching movies , napping, and surfin the net. The guys that work the USO were great, a couple of young kids (early twenties) who kept the place lively and moving so everyone had a chance to take advantage of the services. My favorite was the booth where you could go in and record yourself reading book to your kids. They send the book and a DVD home to your family 
for free. The facilities we slept in continued to be a little more sparse than even the 40 man barracks we stayed in at Fort McCrady. We slept in 10 man tents on cots in our sleeping bags. Showers and bathrooms were now outside down the road. Despite the conditions we all got plenty of sleep, and plenty to eat as we experienced the DFAC (Dining Facilities) in theater for the first time. Let’s just say food is definitely not an issue in country. Fresh cooked food, with many options, including soup, salad, burgers to order, and oh yes, baskin robbins ice cream bar for dessert.
UDARI – convoy training , an experience I won’t forget
After our five day adjustment period we loaded up the bus and headed out into the desert to enjoy some intensive more advanced weapons training and convoy training. To be honest I had heard that conditions just got worse the farther along in the training you went. In Udari, we no longer had restrooms or showers, and shared an entire tent with all 40 people in your convoy, with no bunks or even cots to sleep on, just head to toe sleeping bags throughout. The food was MRE’s for breakfast lunch and dinner, 
needless to say I saved my fig bar from the night before’s dinner so I didn't’ have to eat meatloaf and mashed potatoes for breakfast. The tents were our classrooms and sleeping areas. The truth was since it was only two nights, it wasn't that bad, it was kind of like a nice little camping trip to the desert.
While in Udari I was randomly selected to be the convoy commander of our convoy during training day. At first I was a little disappointed because now I couldn’t just sit back and wait to be told what to do. To my relief, the experience was challenging and exciting and truthfully after not actually doing much the previous week, it was a welcome relief to have my brain engaged again. The training was excellent, they had us drive a 8 mile course that simulated going through various village, traffic schemes, and scan the roadsides for IED’s and car bombs . It was quite realistic, as they even had the local Kuwaiti’s dress up as locals and insurgents, to allow us to add realism to the training.
After 2 days of MRE (army meals-ready to-eat), no showers, and camping out in the desert we headed back to Camp Virginia, for a quick shower , a good meal, and off to the airport to make our flight to Baghdad.
So I write this latest blog from my new home in Baghdad, the living accommodations are nice (a real mattress to sleep on), I share a room with just one other guy, and a bathroom with 3 other guys total, so it is like I have been upgraded to the Embassy Suites compared to the last few weeks.
I will be sure to write more on the blog as soon as I settle in a bit and figure out the place.
I hope this message finds everyone enjoying their holiday season, and remembering to celebrate the season of family and fellowship and the one that made us and saved us, our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Season’s Greetings,
Joe
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