Tuesday, December 30, 2008

In country

Well it has been about 24 hours that I have been here and finally had a chance to update my blog. I can't get too specific on things but I am in Kuwait and will be here a while before heading to Iraq. I can say we have been re-assigned to Baghdad, but not sure if that is even correct. The weather here isn't as hot as I remember, though 64 in late December isn't cold either. It was a little chilly last night but tonight it is nice. The internet access is spotty and slow, so not sure if I will update or not until I get to Iraq. Our trip here from Kansas was long and tiring, and took us through 4 cities and 3 countries before arriving here. We flew from Topeka, Kansas to Rockford, IL; then to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada; then to Keflavik, Iceland; Leipzig, Germany; and finally on to Kuwait City, Kuwait. They fed us quite well on the flight, and I eventually couldn't eat anymore. The last meal I didn't finish and the flight attendant asked me if I didn't like it and if I wanted the other meal and I said "I'm just full!" I still have some of the snacks from the plane as emergency. Tomorrow we start training (it's 8 hours ahead of EST here) so back to work finally. Well, keep an eye on the blog and I will try to update as I can.

Friday, December 19, 2008

The time is near

Well it's about a week and I will be back in Kansas. I hope we can get out of Kansas on the earliest date, 28 December. Would be nice to land in Kuwait before 1 Jan, that way December is tax free, and all the bennies associated with being there. Some good news is that we are supposed to return 15 December next year meaning I could conceivably not miss a Christmas, yet. I also talked to my branch manager and it looks like I will not meet the board in the zone this year, but oh well, I will not pin on Major for another year. Another penalty for switching, but then again I did get a $35,000 bonus for being a transportation officer, if only for about 2 months, plus I still get a $10,000 bonus for switching which can't be collected until I get to Iraq (that means it will be tax free). Anyway, this next year will be a chance to get bills paid off, and without me here spending it all we just might come out of Iraq debt free. I am not sure if I will have a chance to update before I go to Iraq, so you may not get another posting until late January or later, but I will try to update as I can.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Changes

Well we finally know what days we are leaving for Iraq, from 28-30 December. That means we have to return 26 December. Our biggest news is that our boss was relieved of duty due to pissing off the wrong person. We hope they will let him come back and join us, but that probably won't happen. We are still going as a 10 man team, with our senior Captain taking charge (technically that is me, but I don't feel comfortable since I have 10 months in the Army). A bit of turmoil, but we were told not to make waves or they would break up the rest of the team and put us all on different MTTs. Anyway, haven't updated for a while but there really hasn't been much to say until now. Will be updating more when I return home next week.