How are you guys? I'm okay over here at Camp Bucca, Iraq. I've been here for a week and a half! There's no real sense of time. It's not too bad over here. There are a different set of rules (Dad I know you know exactly what I am talking about). I never wear the coat to my uniform, usually not the hat, no formations and no saluting. I shave every other day. All you have to do is have your gas mask handy and point your loaded weapon at the floor at all times.
Driving across the zone from Kuwait into Iraq was quite the experience. There was a 15 foot sand burm with a fence line and all the English! Arabic signs became Arabic only. Half the locals were cheering us and the other half was throwing things at us.
They're letting a lot of the prisoners go every day. The big rumor is that we'll be packing up to go in a few months. I hope so. The heat is crazy hot. The day I got here was the worst because I wasn't used to it. It's usually 105 to 110 when there aren't sandstorms with cloud cover.
Me and Soto (she works for me) live in the supply tent because we have to guard the ammo and weapons in here. Because of this, we have more living space than anyone here. Plus my computer is here with power from the generator. So at night we all meet in here and watch DVDs on the computer.
There's a little area sectioned off for privacy, so at night I fill my personal little canvas field shower up with water and shower down. I'm doing what I can to be comfortable. Believe it or not, I work out at least once a day here in the supply tent.
There's so much bottled water here for the military. Trailers show up all the time filled with it. You never have to drink from a canteen. I heard Desert Storm was the same. I pour it in my Camelbak.
People are getting a horrible 72 hour virus over here which has them throwing up / diarrhea. Luckily I have not gotten it yet. I guess it's the local's version of the common cold.
The sand is a problem. You cannot get away from it. I put flooring down on % of my tent floor, and it's always covered in sand no matter how many times it is swept. It's in my bed, in my food, ect. Basically you just have to accept it.
There's no running water, you have to burn the toilet drums, .... Well it's rough living. But it's amazing what you can get accustomed to. I thought it would be way worse than this. Honestly I don't have much to really complain about except that I want to be home. It looks like this will hopefully be a short mission.
The other day I took a day trip into southern Kuwait to Camp Arifjan. They have it so nice. They have a little pizza place, so I brought a few personal pizzas up here for some friends. You should have seen their faces when I showed up with them.
M y day isn’t too bad as the supply guy. I get MRE’s, bottled water, fill up the 400 gallon water buffalo, manage ammo issues, try my best to get supplies for the guys and stuff like that. It’s the best job to have here (I think).
