Back at work today in Lafayette, California.

I will be posting more of my pictures above.

Happy Birthday Amber!!!!!!!!!

I posted a whole bunch of pictures because I finally had decent internet for a minute.

Made it into Kuwait last night and slept in a tent. In about 12 hours we have our flight back to the US!!!!!

Finished up my work here in Al Asad, Iraq, but the next open flight out of here isn't until June 13th. With all the bad sand storms recently the flights are backed up and there are a lot of people trying to get out. My camera finally took on enough sand and dust and it has stopped working all together.

I am looking forward to getting back to Kuwait and eventually back to the US.

So after 12+ hours in the terminal waiting for the weather to clear up enough to fly, we made it to Al Asad. It was a two hour flight and we got in at 3:00Am. We had to sleep in a cot in a tent that first night. The weather here is horrible. It is hot and windy and the dust dries out your eyes and gets into everything. It has been two days and we are about done here. We will be trying to fly back in to Kuwait tomorrow or the next day hopefully. This base is run by the Marines and it is very very strict.

Hopefully I can post some of my pictures from teh whoel trip when I get back to Kuwait and get decent internet.

OK, I finally got some internet access. I am flying out of here and heading to the next base, Al Asad Air Base in the Anbar Province. The conditions there are supposed to be worse in terms of living conditions, but better in terms of safety.

There was a dust storm here yesterday and last night and the base was hit with about 6-8 mortar rounds. During a dust/sand storm the helicopters can't fly and chase insurgents. Nothing really close to where we were, but they make you jump a little when they go off. They have an alarm that sounds and there are cement bunkers everywhere for cover. But I am leaving here safely in an hour and will update if I can get internet access at the next base.

I got into Anaconda Air Base today. The base is located in Salāh ad-Dīn (صلاح الدين) Provence, Iraq. I will be here until June 7th. It is late and I am tired, I will post more tomorrow.

Just got back from a walk through Fahaheel, Kuwait. It is 12:30 in the afternoon here and it is 118 degrees. Took a video on my digital camera for you guys. I fly into Iraq tonight so I am not sure if I will have any internet for a while.

My first stop in Iraq will be Anaconda Air Base in Balad, Iraq. I will post more about it when I get there.

Downtown Fahaheel, Kuwait

Traveled to two US Military Bases in Kuwait today to get all of the paperwork finished to go to Iraq. Got our military IDs at Camp Arifjan, then traveled to Ali Al Salem Air Field to have our passports processed. We will travel back to Ali Al Salem tomorrow to receive our helmet and body armor, then our flight into Iraq will be sometime Monday night.

Landed in Kuwait last night (around 7AM California time) and everything is going well so far.

I took a walk around Fahaheel, Kuwait this morning and it was 100 degrees F at 5AM. It is supposed to be 113 today. I took some pictures of the buildings and they are posted above.

Packed and ready to go

I am flying out first thing tomorrow (Friday) morning for Kuwait. I will be in Kuwait for 1-2 days while my passport and visa are processed, then off to Iraq on a military transport flight. My first stop is Anaconda Air Base in Balad, Iraq. Anaconda Air Base is located approximately 50 miles north of Baghdad.

For those who don't know what I am doing in Iraq, I will give you a brief explanation. I am working for an environmental engineering company based in Lafayette, CA. The project I am working on is helping in the transition of hazardous materials facilities from military control to a civilian company at several air bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will be auditing two of the facilities in Iraq on this trip for compliance with US EPA and UN regulations. I will be in Iraq for two weeks, with forecasted daytime temperatures between 112 and 122 for those two weeks.

Updates and hopefully pictures to come...