From Baghdad..

Well, finally made it here to Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. The accommodations are apparently old Iraqi barracks, but western style bunk beds with mattresses. Getting here was rough, took all day. Started out at 0200 wake up at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, then on to Ali Al Salim AB, Kuwait, at 0330. Get there at 0445, then waited around until about 0700 when we boarded buses to the plane, a C-17. The plane took off at 0822, landed at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) at 0925. We then de-planed, processed in, then took buses to Camp Striker where we had cots to crash on. We had lunch there (I Had Burger King, Chow hall was not open yet), went to the PX and local vendor shops, then back to the tent for a 1600 bus ride back to BIAP. Once there, we found out our helicopter, CH-47 Chinook, would be in about 1915. We went to eat at the Chow Hall which was quite nice, then back to the waiting area for the helos. They came a little early, and we were on the second chock, so about 1900 we loaded up. Packed in like sardines, the flight was only about 10 minutes, but was my first helicopter ride. Kind of cool, different than a plane definitely. We get to Taji about 1935, grab our gear and head to the barracks. We are off today and start tomorrow. When we get to our final location, we don't know yet, depends on our team and transportation to there, may be another helo because it's quite a drive but we don't know for sure. Anyway, not sure if I will have a chance to blog for a while, so until next time, take care!