New Beginnings

Today I officially am no long part of 3-29FA and have become a Silver Lion with 1-68AR. My Platoon Sergeant and I met with the Commander and he actually did a stint with 3-29 a few months back so its good that he knows where we are coming from and the training that we have already done. I also met the COL that will be the head of the PRT cell we will pull security for. He seems like a fairly laid back and relaxed guy for being a full bird COL. We also heard about what to expect for our living situation and it may not be as desirably as we had all hoped. The Brigade size element our battalion is replacing is currently staying in all of the nice facilities and they dont actually leave Basra until mid July. Therefore, we are getting pushed out to a different area that is pretty much a tent city with trailers for showers, sinks, and bathrooms. Oh well I guess I just need to accept it and deal with the suck of the situation. Hopefully they have Internet I can get in my room and I dont have to go to a centralized location like I have to do here in Kuwait. I am also just getting over being really sick, with what I dont know, but it has really affected me the past few days. I didnt get much sleep and I felt like complete crap but its starting to get better so thats a good sign.

Its kinda weird right now because as much as I cant wait to get on with this experience it sucks that I wont be working with any of the LTs I have come to know and become friends with. They all start heading up within the next few days and I will be here in Kuwait until the 19th. I am not worried at all about meeting new guys to spend time with not to mention I get along really well with all the guys in my Platoon its just a new beginning and time to start over to say the least.

Oh, and by the way, I had to go out and run another M4/M16 rifle range the other day and everything was going really well until me got the worst natural event I have ever been a part of. The dust storm that hit us was like a fog over a lake in the early morning. It came out of nowhere with 50 mph winds and kicked up dust and sand everywhere. It was completely miserable. I was laying in the prone position trying to fire on my target and the sand hitting my eyes hurt so bad I was crying. It was hard to breathe with all that sand rushing into your mouth and up your nose and when I get back I was literally digging sand out of my ears. It was just incredible and it was so bad that range control forced us to stop shooting and shut down the range. I couldnt even believe it but at least it was something new to experience right. Not every experience will be good but it was still neat to feel what its like living out here.