Day 8

We have been in Kuwait for a week now and I'm starting to settle in. Yesterday we went to the range and did a few shoot houses, it was a good time. It was also the first time I have been to a shoot house with live ammo. The day was long though we had to get up at 0230 and didn't get in till the next morning around 0100. A lot of the day was spent on the bus riding between ranges and stuff like that but still, what a pain. Our squad is getting to know each other pretty well, and there are no problems. We had a deserter-Arceneaux decided not to show up on the day we deployed. So far the major events have been a sandstorm, going to the range, briefings on foreign weapons and IED's, and going to the rec center and the various fast food places. For some reason they don't pave the base and you have to walk a fair distance in the packed sand to get to the PX or the chow hall. Our barracks is a large tent, one that might be used for agriculture. We sleep on cots. Everyone is well behaved and their equipment is squared away.

Day 10

Today we went to the range in our strykers which just got here. Me and Thompson fired the 240B machine gun on a tripod mount. Zimmer was there to coach us or whatever. He kind of made me mad because he has an odd way of helping, kind of getting in the way. at any rate, we fired at dumpsters out in the desert with 200 round belts with tracers. It was pretty cool, even for a hot day. we woke up early to go out there but there was no point because people had to go refuel and we got out there late. The army is such a huge operation that it takes a lot longer than you think it would to get things done. The 240 is a really cool machine gun. They also trained us on the Russian designed PKM machine gun which is basically the same thing. Back at Fort Lewis I got the chance to fire the AT4 missile which was really cool. The days keep on passing by quickly even if there's a lot of work to do and I haven't had any anxiety or worries. I don't even miss home. Hopefully they'll give us leave coming up in June or July.

Day 11

Today I didn't have any work to do, so I sat in the tent most of the time. The other guys went out and downloaded stuff from the strykers but I didn't. At some point in the afternoon I went with some guys from the other platoon, SGT Graham and Zamudio to go and see if we could get the mortar tubes bore scoped. I guess that's like boresighting, I'm not sure. They couldn't do it though, so we ended up walking over a mile in the hot sun and waiting in the weapons maintenance shop to find that out. Shit like that happens all the time, I gave up on caring about efficiency because it's basically nonexistent. For dinner I had a few hot dogs and then played a few games of chess on the computer. That's about all I have to say, this place is getting boring. We should be on the road to Iraq in less than a week.

Day 12

Yesterday we went and fired the mortars out in the desert. The area we went to had an observation tower but it could barely be called a range. We had some fun, I didn't get to see the countryside driving out there because I was sitting in the back while Zimmer and Sergeant Lofstrom rode in the hatches. That's alright though because I didn't get sunburnt either. So we fired both the 60mm and 120mm mortars. We've been going to a lot of ranges, this is no joke. This morning we got word that we're going to a town in the north of Iraq, not Baghdad. It's more violent up there so I'll definitely get to shoot the 240. Today is command maintenance day, messing with the strykers. Kind of a pain in the ass, but whatever. We have to do something I guess. I just want to get up to Iraq, that's when this blog will get interesting.

Day 13

There's still not much going on here besides the ranges we go to. Yesterday me and Bowles went and played darts at the rec center, I beat him the first game but the second game both of s failed to hit the bullseye after an excessive number of tries. In the evening me and Rocci went to chow and then I came back and finished the novelization of the movie doom. What a fucked up read. In the morning we went out and got the trucks squared away.

Day 15

Today we're going to load up the Conex, I guess we're getting ready to go to Iraq. That could be bad because yesterday I took my laundry to get done and it's still at the laundry place until tomorrow. I'm not worried though because everything goes so slow that we're getting ready to go means another 5 days. Somebody blabbed about where we're going on the phone to their wife last night and it's an Operational Security violation. They held a formation and made a big deal about it. They just shouldn't tell us this stuff if we don't need to know it. Yesterday we went to another range and our squad played Op 4 which is the opposition to our forces in a drill. I didn't participate because I didn't feel like getting shot with the pellets they were using. The days continue to slide by easily and I think even if it sucks really bad in Iraq that the time will go fast because we are always busy and everything is new. Each day is a new thing. I've been getting a lot of E-mail from my family and friends of the family. I get along with Thompson and Faichney and Adamson and Rocci, not so much the leadership becuase they choose to separate themselves and form their own group. They expect the lower guys to grovel but I don't care. Zimmer, my team leader is the worst. I just don't talk to him.

Day 16

It's early in the morning and there's not much to do today. We hardly did anything yesterday either, except the bravos left for Iraq. We don't have a plane scheduled yet so we have to wait. Some time in the next five days they said. We're just sitting in the bay ready to go. I saw Brian Cheek a few times over the past few days, we were good friends back at Fort Lewis. He's a real social butterfly and seems to get along with everyone. I could never be like that. I went and lifted weights yesterday. Rocci the sniper who is affiliated with our squad is serious about all the supplements and all that stuff. After lifting we talked for a while about the different benefits of protein and amino acids and all this other stuff. A lot of the guys are looking to get buff in Iraq, I just need to gain some weight.