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.