What a difference a couple years make...

Iraq 2006

Iraq 2011

My boots, my pride, and my gun...

It's that time again. War's over, we can all go home. Aren't we relieved?

Pics and more info will follow once I hit the homefront... almost there.

Emily

Ah, busted. Or, "How I spent 90% of this deployment" 

Are we there yet?

I completely suck at keeping up with this blog. I'm going to blame 50% of it on the internet connection, and 50% on sheer laziness on my part. Oh, the heat. I forgot to blame the heat.

To make up for it, here is a picture of me with a cat.

Me and the cat named Curtis

Lots of organizations send us care packages, and some of them contain Beanie Babies. I like to take these little guys along with me for the occasional flight. You know, show 'em the sights.

Mr. Schweety

August is here. That means that we're half-way there. The end of this nonsense can't come soon enough. I'm ready to see herds of cattle everywhere. Not camels. Things are finally starting to show signs of wrapping up, and there is still plenty of flying to be done. Hard to complain about having the coolest job in the world!

Until the next time I feel motivated, adieu. :-)

Too early to be this hot.

Is it really June first? The outside air temperature gauge bottomed out today... at 55 degrees. Celsius. That's 130 some-odd degrees in the sun. That's a no-good-very-bad-day. Even for flying helicopters.

Rawr!

Didn't take many pictures this week, and not a lot to report on... it's too hot!

Pre-spontaneous combustion

We were able to safely escort a route-clearance convoy back to their base today. It's hard to explain how amazing it feels to be helping the guys down on the ground. That's really why I wanted this job, and I love it.

Maybe next week I'll manage to get some pics from a mission or two... 

Emily.

Finally...

...getting around to putting something here. I had hoped to use this blog to keep friends and family updated, but procrastination got the better of me.

Life is going well here in sunny southern Iraq. We're only an hour away from the Kuwait border, and it's sand, sand, and more sand as far as the eye can see. The Ziggeraut of Ur is right outside the gate to my post, and I'm hoping to get a chance to visit it before we return home. I get to fly over it almost every night, and it's an impressive sight, even from the air.

Me and CPT Murphy aka "Team Affirmative Action"

Flights here are painfully boring, but in my business, I suppose that's good news. The atmosphere here seems to reflect what's really on everyone's mind... the how and when of the draw down.

Getting ready to head out for the night

Although they keep telling us that we'll be in tents and eating MRE's before we leave here, we're still living pretty damn well. Two-person CHU's (Containerized Housing Units), great dining facility complete with salad and dessert bar, well-stocked PX (Post Exchange) and gym facilities. 

Clearly roughing it

I hope that this post finds all of you well, I will try and be more vigilant about keeping this updated!