Going to Iraq

Hello, I am new to the "blog" so forgive me if I buck convention and protocol. I created this spot to detail my upcoming year in Iraq as a member of the US Army. I am an Army Captain in the Transportation Corps soon to be departing for Fort Riley to train for my assignment as a Military Transition Team member. I've read many Blogs detailing soldier's time in Iraq, so I thought I would bring my perspective. I am excited at the opportunity and can't wait to get there. Yes, our mission is dangerous and we are near the top of the list of wanted US personnel. But that is the challenge and I look forward to completing my mission successfully. A little background on me, I spent just over 20 years in the Air Force before being forced (actually force shaped) to join the Army. I started out a bomb loader on F-16 and F-4G aircraft and spent 4 1/2 months in Bahrain during Desert Shield/Storm. I got off active duty in 1991, joined the Air National Guard as a communications specialist, then switched to the AF Reserves, all the while I attended college, and finally in May 2000 I graduated with a degree in Mathematics and was commissioned into the Air Force as a communications officer. Last year, the AF thought it would be a great idea in the middle of a war to get rid of about 1,800 officers, and I was one of 306 that was involuntarily let go. Yes, I was fired. So I transferred into the Army and have quickly embraced my new Army brethren. I have been stationed in Las Vegas (Nellis AFB), South Korea (Kunsan AB), Southern California (George AFB), Clearfield, Utah (Hill AFB), San Antonio, Texas (Lackland AFB), Quantico, Virginia (Marine Base Quantico), Norfolk, Virginia (Norfolk NSA), and now in Petersburg, Virginia (Ft Lee). Well, I hope you enjoy reading this, I am certainly no English Major and my thought process isn't the best, but it will be a raw, unfiltered (or as best I can allow) look at Iraq.