Just a Quick Update

Whew, another quick couple of weeks. In the past two weeks we found out that the Task Force that we have been working with for the past 4 months has been ordered up to a new sector in Bagdhad and they will not be replaced. Instead of a new unit, another unit is expanding their area to cover ours. Because the new unit is stretched kind of thin, one of the things that we have had to do is move from JSS Tuwaitha to COS Cashe South.

We had to say goodbye to the Iron Knights and hello to the Gators, our new task force. We have also had to leave the quiet JSS and move to the bustling COS Cashe South. It was tough saying goodbye to the Knights, great bunch of folks, easy to work with, great support for the team. The Gators have been working in the area just to our south, so they are no strangers to us or the area. BG E has worked with the Gator's commander before and I have talked to him once or twice, everything should work out pretty well. LTC M, the Knights Commander, was pretty bummed out, they had been here for 10 months and had made a lot of personal and emotional investments in the community, they will be sorely missed.

Some of the side benefits of the move from the JSS for SWATT: A real chow hall (no more microwaved pizza pockets and hot wings for lunch), a much larger gym and new living quarters: A Containerized Housing Unit (CHU), ours happen to be Wet CHUs meaning they have a bathroom (shower, toilet, etc) attached to the CHU. Basically they are about the same size as a small single wide trailer. Nothing too extravagent and we are all trying to figure out if we are better off here rather than over at the JSS. Hmmmmmm.

One of the side challenges is that we haven't figured out the internet situation, so I have not been able to update the blog too much. I can hit email from the military line, but that is about it. There is a computer lab here that has internet connection, so I am currently typing with about 35 other soldiers right now.

Also today I start my mid tour leave: I am heading down to Australia for a weeks worth of diving and general hanging about in Cairns, Australia. I will let you all know how that goes. The first step is going up to Bagdhad to catch a plane to Kuwait, then off to Germany to figure out the rest of the trip. Should be interesting. I am booked for a live-aboard dive trip in the Coral Seas and on the Great Barrier Reef and my sister (not gonna say it was my older one, she doesn't like it when I point that out for some reason) is sending my underwater camera to the Dive Shop where I am getting on the boat. If everything works out and I can get some good photos, I will post them here to the blog.

First task once I get to civilization: Connect to the Internet and find out what happened on Survivor. Don't send any mail traffic about the show, I haven't seen the latest episode.