March 10th Update

The past few weeks have been busy as I’ve been preparing for my upcoming deployment to Iraq. Last week, while I was in San Diego for mobilization processing, my deployment orders changed. I’m still going to Iraq, but now I’ll be supporting the UN Mission as a part of the Washington DC based, United Nations - US Military Observer Group as an Assistant Military Advisor. This job is located in Basra, which for those of you who don't know, is in the southern part of Iraq. At this point that’s about all I know about Basra, but I should be hearing back from the guy I’m supposed to replace soon and I’m sure he’ll give me all the gouge I need about my new assignment. One of the differences with this job is that as a member of the UN Military Advisor Team, I'm not allowed to carry a weapon. This, as you all know, is probably the best for everybody involved. Plus I’ll get to wear one of those fashionable powder blue berets. Additionally, like it or not, I probably won't be able to leave the compound due to the decreased availability of the level of security required for US service members to travel outside the wire. But I'll take being a little stir-crazy over having to traipse all over the Iraqi countryside without proper support at this point.

Right now I’m in my first week at Fort Jackson, SC for some very basic combat training. We’ll mostly be shooting a lot and learning how to use/wear all the Army gear we’ve been issued. It’s been weird wearing an Army uniform the past few days and I’m looking forward to getting to switch to the Navy Desert Camouflage Utility (DCU) Uniform when this training is over.

An added bonus to the UN gig is that I have to do an additional 3 weeks of classroom and field training in Quantico, VA which begins on April 4th. I’ll have about 9 days between Ft. Jackson and Quantico, so I'll go back to San Diego for a few days at the end of March, and then head out to DC a few days early so I can make some stops in VA/MD. So that’s it for now. I wish everyone well and I’ll be back soon with further updates.