We spent about 6 hours at the shooting range yesterday. It was basically an empty spot in the desert with targets and sandbags. Very different from the highly controlled and cooridated shooting ranges back home. The idea was for everyone to get familiar with their weapons. We had 9 mm handgun, M-4 rifles and the 7.622 M-240 (this is the door gunner's machine gun. the rounds are the same as those in a .208 hunting rifle for those of you who care).

My rifle had some mechanical issues at first. Needless to say there was sand everywhere. After some tinkering, however, it worked pretty well considering the circumstances. From what I understand the 204s worked great. We all had a pretty good time shooting but got really hot and dehydrated standing out in the midafternoon desert sun. Everyone was ready to get back to the tent when the range time ended. We then spent a few more hours cleaning weapons before everyone passed out in the refrigerated comfort of the tent.

I am scheduled to have my first environmental training flight today. Everyone has to do a few of the desert flights before we move on to Iraq. Things here are still uneventful. I carry my M-4 rifle everywhere I go (but we havnt been issued ammo). Most of my time is spent waiting for our next meal and napping. I expect the pace to pick up a little now that we are doing some traiining.

My brother asked me who works in the taco bell, subway, etc. Its a good question. All of the facilities are staffed by foreign nationals. They are mostly pakistanis, indians, and neplalise. It seems that Kuwaitis do not do manual labor. I dont know who will be working at the facilities in Iraq.

I should be living in a CHU (containiner housing unit) in iraq within the next few weeks and have personal internet access. I just heard that we will have seven people per CHU. That is going to be very tight but pobably better than 50 to a tent.

I am sitting in an air-conditioned trailer filled with internet terminals. I arrived in Kuwait early this morning after a very long trip.

We reported to the Hanger at 1500 and departed for Germany a little after midnight. We then flew for 8 hours to Frankfurt where we waited for 2 hours as the plane was serviced. The saga then continued for a 5 hour flight to Kuwait city. From Kuwait city it was a 3 hour bus ride to Camp Buering.

I must say that I am pleasantly surprised with the accomodations so far. We will be here for about two weeks as we get qualified in desert flying. The area is incredibly hot and barren. The high today will be 102. There are, however, creature comforts. My company is living in a very large, air-conditioned tent complete with a wood floor, electric lights and power outlets. We are sleeping on cots and nearly everyone has hooked up their computers and MP3 players. Camp Buerring has trailers housing a taco bell, a chinese restaurant, a pizza place, an internet cafe, a coffee shop, and two dining facilities. It also has warm showers and flush toilets. Woo-hoo!

It is not perfect, of course. The sand is everywhere and the temperature and wind make it worse. There are about 30 of us sharing a bit tent so there is really no privacy. We have to be in uniform all the time and tote around our rifles everywhere. All in all, however, this is not a bad place to begin the year-long countdown.

Once I have access to a high speed internet connection I will begin to send pictures. I dont have an address to give you yet because, by the time anything would arrive here my company would, most likely have moved on to Iraq.

I guess I wont really know if the waiting truly is the hardest part until I get to Iraq. In any case, the waiting is not fun. I am probably less than two weeks from deploying. I go to PT most mornings, sometimes do a little work, and am usually home by noon. This schedule is pretty boring. There have been a few highpoints, however. For one thing, I handed-off the lance last week. Dave has it now. Fortunately for him, he rarely has to carry it because we are rarely at work. Another high point was the 9 mm range. I always enjoy getting to do some shooting (at least when no one is shooting back).

I have packed and repacked and packed again as more items are issued and as the packing requirements change. We are allowed to bring a rucksack, a duffel bag, and a carry-on bag. Everything on our required packing list must fit in these items. It is a challenge but not impossible. This is in additon to the "tough-box" that we were all allowed to send ahead on the ship with the helicopters. My tough box contains such essentials as a foam mattress pad, an x-box, speakers, a frisbee, lots of extra hygene items, some books, and a lot of writing paper.

Its funny to see how everyone's attitudes change as we approach deployment. The general feeling certainly is to live for today. The soldiers around me seem to be drinking more, eating out a lot, spending money, working out less, and generally doing the things they wont get to do much in Iraq. Everyone (myself included) figures there will be plenty of time to work out and eat right and lose weight and study and save money in the desert.