I stayed up until about 3AM Sunday morning watching the University of Utah beat the Michigan Wolverines in the season opener. There was a small group of us that gathered by the USO stage and watched the game on the big screen.

Just a quick note to the University of Utah Alumni Association and faculty. Your support of our Task Force has been amazing! We have received so many packages containing U of U banners, posters, flags, water bottles etc. My office as well as several other offices are decorated from top to bottom with U of U memorabilia. Receiving items such as these have provided a huge boost to our morale and helps us feel as though we are still back home. Of all the schools in Utah all but Weber State have shipped care packages to their fans and Alumni. For some reason, Weber State has ignored all requests.

Special thanks to Kyle Whittingham for his signed letter of support! Kyle I will be sending you a U.S. Flag that I personally have flown over the skies of Iraq. The U of U Football flag that we received was flown over Iraq the day after Utah beat Michigan. I will cherish that banner forever.

It has been awhile since I wrote anything so I guess I should catch up a little. We are a little over half way through this deployment.
With approximately six more months to go, some of us are starting to look at what life will be like away from the war zone. Having spent the better part of the last two years building an Aviation Task Force and preparing it for war, many of my soldiers are wondering if they can go back to their regular jobs and settle into a life without the intense pressures we have all faced recently. Although to most of you this probably sounds odd, after having dedicated so much energy to a cause and after working 12 hour days 6-7 days a week, it is not easy settling in behind a desk to deal with problems that seem so insignificant to us right now.

Our entire life while deployed is a singular effort. There is no escaping our environment. Even our time off really isn't time off. Sometimes our quiet times are interuppted by the sounds of alert sirens and we find ourselves scrambling to get to and man our duty stations.

The threat level has remained fairly constent. No real concerns but we remain vigilant.

Nevertheless this has been a good experience. As far as war's go, others have had and some still have it much worse then I do. I really can't complain. I have some worthwhile diversions. We formed a soccer team and I am the goalkeeper. My team consist primarlily of British soldiers with a few americans sprinkled in for good measure! We play other military teams as well as some local teams. The temperatures are insane though. We wait until 7PM and it is still 108 degrees.

I have attached a few pictures. I promise to write a little more frequently.