Middle East - Iraq Al Asad, Taji, Spiecher

(Its been a while since we have had an Internet connection fast enough to be able to post due to weather conditions and access issues)

Day 3 - Camp Al Asad. The camp that Sadam used for his main air field. We flew in on a helicopter which was a pretty cool experience. The camp is known as a "Cupcake" camp due the the easy living conditions compared the other bases here in Iraq. The food at the bases are amazing. I eat better here then I do back at the states. I'm talking lobster tails, salmon, and rip its!

Day 4 - Camp Taji. Upon arrival by helo, we were told that yesterday that camp took on rocket fire, but not be alarmed because it happens all the time. The camp is so large that it did not pose that much of a threat to us, but its always in the back of your mind. Taji is also the main site were they keep the detainees, the bad guys. When we landed at Taji, we had to land at a different location first because they were bringing in a load of prisoners who were all blind folded and zip tied. Pretty intense. The band played 2 shows at Taji, one earlier in the day for the prison guards in the North side of the base, then the other show at night for the rest of the gang, which was a great turn out of a couple hundred troops.

Day 4 night/ Day 5 - Wow. All I can say. There is a lack of communication here because there are no cell phones or an easy way to get a hold of someone. That being said, long story short, our helo ride to our next location, Camp Spiecher, was a 4 hours adventure for what should have only been a 30 minute ride. Nothing is set in stone here as far as flights. What we are told and what actually happens is crazy. We have to arrive at the pick up spot early because the air craft will not wait, and if we were to miss a flight, it could be up to 3 days to get another one. So we arrive early to find out the helos are delayed 2 hours. Then there are other troops that need to go to different bases that are with us, so after two or three stops and refueling we finally reach our destination, which they were not even aware we were coming. But we made it, pulled into camp around 4:30 in the morning. Camp Spiecher is pretty amazing. 22 thousand troops in total. Today is our day off at the camp. They have a BBQ planed for us then a movie later on. I hear they also have an Apache helo simulator that I am going to try and hit up. That is pretty much it for now... we have a race in the morning and a show tomorrow night. I believe we are here for 4 days, but again, that is just what we are told, we could be out of here sooner, who knows! Oh yeah, it was 120 when we woke up today. Yaaahhoooooooooo