A Little Louisiana

Hi all. I'm back in New York. I spent a few weeks down south in sweaty Louisiana. Do I have pictures? No. Why? Well, it just so happens that I forgot my phone charger and my phone just so happens to double as my primary camera. Not the first time this has happened. I think Andrew is still bitter because my camera died in Sicily and I couldn't recharge it. We will always have the memories.

Anyways, Louisiana. It was very hot. And humid. Sometimes the air conditioning worked, sometimes it didn't. I spent most of my time briefing powerpoint slides. No joke. I definitely drank more than my share of coffee. Is this telling of my upcoming deployment to Iraq? Only time will tell. If so, keep the coffee flowing like the mighty Tigris.

New York To Louisiana

Hello everybody! Tomorrow, I will fly down Fort Polk, Louisiana for roughly 3 weeks of high-quality, faux-Iraqi training. One thing I know: it will be hot. And humid...it will definitely be humid. Of course, the training would not be realistic without the wear of the 28-pound IBA vest and the mich helmet. Needless to say, I will sweat. "Hydrate or die!" as they say.

This is my first trip to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and my first trip to Louisiana. Sadly, there will be no Bourbon Street parousing or Louisiana Delta swamp boat touring. It will be all business. I will get back to Ft. Drum roughly at the end of July. The battalion will work for a few more weeks, and then at the end of August, there will be a 17-day period of block leave. Which reminds me - I still need to get a plane ticket...where to, I'm still not sure. Then I will work most of September and part of October, then it's off to Iraq.

I'll try to put up some pictures of the non-classified happenings. I'll try not to pull a Geraldo. Later!