Happy Thanksgiving

Hi all.

Well, as of today it's officially 2 months of deployment. Yeesh, longest 2 months of my life so far. The first one went so much faster. But, I'm not doing as many patrols now, so it was bound to be more boring.

Even though I'm not doing more patrols, I was still out almost all day yesterday. Instead of securing the city, we go to Iraqi Security Forces meetings and planning sessions. We were at the Old Ministry of Defense complex yesterday (yeah, even though it was Thanksgiving) for a LOONG session of planning. Mostly, we feel like we're the security detail for the boss, since he has to chase his counterpart all over the eastern side of the city. Anyway, we got back in time for a KBR special Thanksgiving feast (not as good as I remember it, but still filling), we played some games that were traditional for some of the guys, mostly involving dice and a lot of yelling. Then I passed out for about 10 hours in a turkey-induced coma.

Today is Friday, and usually we take some time to rest and do maintenance on our HUGE trucks. Today we will be cleaning up some rooms in the Iraqi compound that we are using for a sort of command post/resting place. Our FOB will be closing sometime next year, so we have to find a new place to live anyway. Our new Colonel is coming in a few days, and bringing with him great change. He's a Special Forces officer, and this type of mission is his bread and butter.

So, things are settled, only to get shaken up again, to settle, only to get shaken up again (the Colonel will only be with us for three months or so). The team's spirits are okay, we are all just missing family. We'll see how the SOFA transition works out, and if the violence spikes (it usually does in February, anyway...people get bored I guess).

Ross