On my way
Today is the big day. The day I leave for my very first deployment. I have been in the Air Force for 5 years, I am a staff sergeant and this is the first time I've been deployed. I barely have any experience in the desert. not to mention that my first deployment is to Iraq. Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. To tell you the truth, I'm really not that scared. The part I was dreading was saying good bye to my wife. I hate good byes. She's took it tough. Its only a 4 month deployment but it's the longest we've been apart sine we've known each other, 3 years, married for 2. No the worst part is over. I'm excited and nervous. We left Spangdahlem at 1000 and drove to Frankfurt to Rhein Main Air Base and flew to Aviano Air Base Italy. Spent a couple hours there while they fixed the plane..(typical). Now, I'm on the plane headed for Kuwait where we'll catch a flight to Kirkuk. I am going with 3 great troops. Nick has been to Kirkuk before with a combat communications unit. He doesn't have any CE experience and very little MEP-12 experience but he is good at fixing generators regardless. He's very smart in that capacity. He'll do fine. Nick is 27 years old and from Mississippi. He's a senior airman with a line number for staff sergeant. You can tell he's from the south because of that southern drawl. He's a funny guy that's fun to hang out with and drink with. The other guys have never been deployed but have only been in the Air Force for about 2 years. Brian, known to everyone as Spooge because his last name is Spugnardi, is 21 from Kentucky. He's an airman 1st class. I'm his supervisor. He's a good troop who gives me no trouble at all. I got lucky to have him as my first troop. Brian is a nice guy with a heart of gold who would do anything for you. Siliatu, known as Atu or Lilly, is a 22-year old Samoan from Utah, also an airman 1st class. He's a funny guy who has a joke for just about every situation. We all get along great and work well together. None of us have experience operating a power plant. I think that they'll all do fine. Hopefully we'll have some experienced people there with us and I'll learn quickly. Other than that, we just have to worry about rocket and mortar attacks. I'm not that worried about that too much. I hear they're bad shots and never hit anything. You never know though. Of course my family back home freaked out when I told them that I was going to Iraq. Maybe it hasn't hit e yet where I'm going. I've heard so much about that place that I feel like I've been there. We'll see what happens in the next 4 months. Should be interesting.