Back in the Fight

After a three year hiatus, I decided to dust off the old blog and document my new assignment in Afghanistan. I am currently in Kuwait at a place called Camp Virginia, which is basically a launch point for many U.S. service members traveling to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to flying here I attended three weeks of combat training at Camp McCrady, a National Guard base located near Fort Jackson, SC. The experience up to this point has been a long and drawn out deja vu for me, considering I went through the exact same program prior to my Iraq deployment three years ago. This has been annoying and pleasant at the same time. That is, annoyingly repetitive due to the extensive combat training I have received dating way back to October '97 when I joined the Marine Corps, and pleasantly relaxing knowing that I could cruise through it and see my wife and daughters almost every night. Camp Virginia is much different now. The camp itself is like a ghost town as they are preparing to close it sometime in 2012 (so the rumor goes). They keep us here for 5-6 days to adjust to the time change, and I am taking full advantage. Lots of down time, PT whenever I want, decent food, and lots of time to call home and post relentlessly on Facebook. However, Afghanistan is only days away and I fully expect to hit the ground running. Afghanistan is unlike Iraq in every way imaginable, and I am sure this experience will have few similarities with my previous deployment.

Its 0023 (12.23am) local time, and its time to grab a snack at the chow hall. Still adjusting to the new time zone. I miss my girls.