Now in FOB Speicher

After a fun night of traveling and getting on the wrong helicopter I'm currently at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Speicher, a large and mostly empty base between Baghdad and Mosul. I've got about 10 people to train here before I board another helicopter tonight for my next destination.

After my two-hour Blackhawk flight through the desert last night, I came to a realization that I thought would not be possible. I was... bored... on my flight. Yep. Bored. Sitting on a helicopter and not seeing any cities below you gets old pretty quick. If I wasnt sitting in an awkward position with the barrel of a .50 caliber machine gun sitting in my lap I might have actually taken a nap. I really need to get some daytime flights in one of these days.

The photo above was taken at FOB Marez in Mosul -- the city of Mosul is in the distance on the hill and the vehicle in the foreground is an MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) Vehicle, which was designed and rushed to production to provide additional protection to troops traveling through cities from IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices).

Regrouping in Baghdad

After several hours on standby at the airfield in Balad, I finally managed to catch a Blackhawk out and back here to my home base in Baghdad. It was a long 8 days away for sure... it rained most of the time I was away and Balad is extremely muddy, which contrasts sharply to Al Asad in the west, which is devoid of vegetation and is mostly covered in rocks.

After a few days to regroup with Brenden here I will be heading back out on the road for another week or so to do some more training. A few things about the traveling I've been doing in Iraq: I dont mind the traveling as much as I or others thought I would - its nice to have a change of scenery every few days and to meet new people; Its incredibly rewarding for me to be able to sit face-to-face with the people that will be using my system when it goes live in a few weeks and get their feedback about what we did right and what we missed... I've missed having that opportunity at some of my recent jobs, and lastly, it is way harder to travel in Iraq than I thought possible, despite what people have said. All of the legs of my travel were delayed by at least an hour, and because mission times and flight plans are classified I usually sit in the passenger terminal at the airfield not knowing when I'd be leaving or even how long my trip is. I know now that for future travel I need to bring several books in my bag to help me pass the time.