We are in Kuwait.

Our flight left Fort Bragg and we arrived in Shannon, Ireland. It was dark outside so I can say that I've been to Ireland but I can't say that I've actually seen it. I managed to resist the urge to buy Guinness memorabilia and made no silly comments about how lame it was to be in Ireland and not able to drink. Still, I look forward to the day when I can visit properly. Besides, I felt more than a little guilty being in Ireland without my wife.

After our short layover in Eire, we flew into Kuwait. The airport looks remarkably similar to the way it did in 2004. It was a bit disconcerting to see as many old Russian aircraft there as American. Interesting how times have changed.

A few hours later we moved to our temporary home, a base southeast of the Iraqi border.

It occurs to me that I should mention that this blog will always be intentionally vague on certain points. We have something called Operational Security (OPSEC) and it makes the bad guy's job a little harder by not inadvertently divulging intelligence. Contrary to popular thought, most intelligence is developed from "open source" intelligence, like blogs. Intelligence is really a big puzzle and I'm not going to give the bad guys any pieces.

Anyway, we'll be here for a while training and acclimating. It is pretty cold here at night with day time temperatures in the 60s but with a very stiff wind. The standard of living isn't bad. There are coffee shops (including, believe it or not, a Starbucks), Taco Bell, Baskin Robbins and all sorts of little boutiques run by Filipinos, Pakistanis and a handful of other nationalities. Funny, after so much study of the Arabic language that none of us have needed it yet. We live in 60 man tents and have Port-O-Johns and shower trailers. The water is always very cold but there is no such thing as a bad shower in the desert.

Clearly, internet is available. I am writing this sitting on my cot in our tent. The connection is slow and very spotty. Still, I cannot complain. Any communication is good communication.
And now, duty calls. Perhaps my next post will have something more interesting...