Made it to Riley

We finally made it to Riley. Traveling with the Army usually involves a lot of waiting. For us, it entailed leaving Baghdad on a Thursday and arriving at Riley on a Sunday night. Along the way were two plane rides (one of which was around 20 hours, counting fuel stops), no less than four bus trips, a very invasive Customs search in Kuwait, and lots and lots of waiting. For the next couple of days we will do some outprocessing stuff: Turn in some equipment, get a bunch of briefings, go through some medical screenings, talk to some counselors, and be told lots of things not to do. We are back in the same barracks we were before we deployed. The redeployment people have assured us they do this a lot and will get us home as soon as possible. Last night's stuff actually went pretty smooth, I was surprised. We should be done and on our way home by Wednesday.

It is a bit of culture shock to be home. For one, the weather is cold for us. When we left, it was still into the 100s during the day, and here it is cloudy, overcast and in the low 60s. There are also trees here, and there is also rain. Another wierd part: We turned in our weapons last night, and today is the first day that we are unarmed in a year.

Some guys did the inevitable last night and drank for the sake of drinking. The Big Army thinks that if they can make it difficult for Soldiers to get alcohol, then we won't drink it. Foolish thinking, and it makes some guys want to get it more, just to spite the system. Our team was subdued compared to others.

It was good to catch up with some of the other teams and hear their experiences. Some teams did well, some teams made a lot of progress, and some didn't. We all have similar stories, and we are all coming to similar conclusions about the future of Iraq. I read in the news this morning about two big car bombs in Baghdad, and also of the failed attempts to reach agreement on Iraq's new election laws. I chalk this up to growing pains. Most of our conclusions were similar: The Iraqi Government will come to grips with itself over time, and things have to happen on their schedule. It won't be pretty, and it certainly won't be Western, but it will have to be by their way if it is to be lasting. That's not overly optimistic, and it won't be pretty, but it does have potential.

Off to mandatory briefings and Powerpoint death. You would have thought that since we all spent 20 hours on a plane together, we could have knocked out some of the mandatory post-deployment stuff, but no. Oh well.

It is still good to be home. Take care.
Ron