On Monday evening we departed Kuwait on a C-130 aircraft and flew to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). At BIAP, I said goodbye to the rest of the people I trained with - they went to get in-processed over two days, I was taken to a depot where, at 2 a.m., I boarded an armored shuttle to get to the International Zone as fast I could in order to meet with LCDR Matt Miller, whom I was replacing. Matt, God bless him, is on his way home.
Matt met me in the IZ and took me to my temporary sleeping quarters for the night. I got in bed at 4:15 am.
Tuesday, I hit the ground running at 0830. Matt picked me up and took me to the New Embassy Complex (NEC), my home for the next year. Let's just say that the NEC is an oasis. Everything here is new - a gym, exchange, dining facility, swimming pool, and offices.
My office is better than anything I had before going to work with the Armed Forces Marketing Council. Everything is modern.
That is, except the living quarters. I live in a CHU in CHUville. A CHU is a Cargo Housing Unit - basically it is a cargo container converted into a small apartment. I share my CHU with a British Army officer who will be going home soon for the birth of his first child.
On Tuesday a sand storm blew in. Now, we endured a sand storm in Kuwait - the sand actually blew and pelleted us. The sand in Iraq is more like talcum powder - so fine you can't feel it. Nonetheless, it got on everything and in everything. You smell it and taste it. It is going to take getting some used to. Let's just say I'm glad I have a Netty Pot to help clean out the nasal passages.
I've been busy since arriving and will be so over the next few weeks, which I hope will help time move quickly.
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