Welcome to Kuwait

As the old saying goes, “this isn’t the end of the earth, but you can see it from here.”

After a marathon plane trip with brief stops in Bangor, Maine and Shannon, Ireland, we arrived in Kuwait in the middle of the night—Kuwait time. My body clock was still 7 hours behind the local time, so I had plenty of energy. We boarded buses for an interminable ride to our desert training camp. We were greeted and viewed a series of short orientation videos while our ID cards were scanned to officially begin our service in the combat zone. The whole process was quite efficient and well organized, from the buses that met us at the airport to the carefully choreographed inprocessing routine. It was quite a change from the confusion that seemed to accompany nearly every training event we experienced at our mobilization station.

The heat here is intense, but not unbearable since there is very little humidity. It is very similar to what I experienced during a visit to Las Vegas in August 2006—except that that there aren’t any casinos, prostitutes, alcohol or stage shows. (I suspect I could probably find prostitutes and alcohol out here if I looked in the right places!) The sand is pervasive, though it is more like dust or dirt than the kind of sand you find at the beach. I quickly learned to start bundling up sensitive electronics into plastic bags to ensure they don’t become expensive victims of the climate.

The training schedule has been very light and is intended to allow us to acclimate to the desert environment. My battle buddies and I are back on our physical training routines and usually head out for a run at 5:00 AM or so while temperatures are still bearable. We’ve also had ample time to call home and relax at the recreation facilities. There is plenty to do with idle time including an impressively equipped fitness center. There are also pool tables, a decent theater with recent movies (now playing: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 300 and Premonition) and a variety of other activities. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is also here in full force with several small PX (post exchange) outlets and other concessionaires. There are plenty of ways to spend your money.

The food is plentiful and good. In addition to two contractor-operated dining facilities, there are small versions of several American fast food concerns: Burger King, Subway, Nathan’s Hot Dogs and KFC. There is even a small Starbucks outlet, which was a pleasant surprise since the normal concessionaire is a place called “Green Beans Coffee” (and is also found here). I will have to see if they can brew up a Triple Grande Mocha in honor of Elf.

Did I mention that we are spoiled?