Kuwait

1/31/2011 They say we are in Kuwait, but I feel like I'm on the moon. There was no fan fair, no yelling, but there was a feeling of being a farm animal being herded. We were taken off the busses after a grueling 2-3 hour road trip from the airport. I can't really remember as I was asleep most of the time trying to recover from the 22 hour plane ride to get here.

After we were herded off the buses around 0500 Kuwait time, we were taken to a large tent and given our "in-brief". The brief consisted of things like, "Hey just cause your in Kuwait, doesn't mean your safe…." or "Terrorists hate you because your either white, an American, a soldier, and or in their country…unfortunately their is nothing you can do about that." The other part was about always drinking water here because it can get up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily we are in monsoon season and don't have to worry much about the heat quite yet. The last part, probably most disturbing was the wildlife brief. A slide with a sand viper, scorpion, and camel spider was shown. Words of wisdom: "don't mess with the wildlife" is an Army axiom I live by most thoroughly. However, when added as an afterthought "we currently have no anti venom for the sand viper available", I grow a bit concerned.

After our mandatory briefs we were able to go to the chow hall and eat breakfast. Breakfast was much like our dining facilities back home or DFAC as we say. However everyone serving my food was Arab. Now, I don't mean to sound racist or bigoted, but the US Army is trusting guys who don't think its necessary to wash or that sex with animals is bad, to prepare, cook, and serve my food. No wonder Day 2 I have had the scoots….sorry TMI I'm sure.

Kuwait isn't all bad, they have shops for just about anything you would need, a movie theater and they even have a Starbucks where the wifi is the best.

We finalized our day by having a meeting and going over the training schedule for when our companies arrive in full force. Charlie doesn't get in until the end of the week so I'm lucky I guess. As soon as the meeting was over it was time for me to go call the family. I bought my little wifi card ( which works poorly where I'm sleeping) and headed over to Starbucks.

Day 2 has consisted of a fratricide prevention class, CREW system class (CREW is anti IED stuff) and IED identification and avoidance. There is nothing like a really good IED class to make you feel so screwed. The bottom line is you have to look for anything out of place in a country that treats their backyard like a waste dump. The class was good, but you definitely get the feeling like your going to miss one some time.

Day 3 consisted of some rollover training. This training was good and a bit disorienting as you are put into a mock truck and literally rolled over several times and then while upside down you have to get out in an orderly fashion. We did this several times in various positions. The statistics don't lie, this training saves lives, and helps soldiers not panic when faced with a rollover or worse, a crash in water.

I also discovered one of my fellow officers is a crossfit cultist as well. We made the discovery that Kuwait has a crossfit gym and we should be getting our "swell on"…as it were.

Currently, I am prepping to receive my company later this week, and get them all through the mandatory training and the rifle ranges we have set-up. All in all my job is pretty boring and easy right now. My hardest task is to get rid of the jet lag, and get on Kuwait time. I think I'm there as I had my first real nights sleep last night. But I'm not worried, as that is what ambien (sp?) is for.