Kyle decided before he left for Iraq in December of 2006, that he would keep a journal of everything that was going on. That didn’t happen, as he was OBA (Overcome By Activity). However, he did manage to keep it up all throughout, here and there, whether he wrote something every other day or once a month. His journal was for his time there, events, work, emotions, everything; in order to share it for future generations to come, and now for you, our loyal listeners:

Entry #15 of 17:

14 June 07
7:20PM
H/C 65+

So I've finally left Ramadi, I'm back at Balad now. It's not bad here at all. Compared to where I've been, this is like a vacation. I'm sleeping in something other than a tent, I work only 12 hours, without being called in let alone a workload of any type. Here, when we get bombed, they are nice enough to warn you, and they have "controlled detonations" too... they tell you about those before-hand as well. My replacements should be arriving shortly,, meaning I have just short of 2 weeks left in Iraq. It feels good to get home after almost 9 months away. I never thought that I'd be looking forward to getting back to San Antonio.

The helicopter ride back was terrible. It took almost 5 hours, and was extremely hot. You just can't win with these helicopters. My flight to Ramadi back in early December was extremely cold. Oh well, I'm almost done, and that's what matters.

My last week or so at Ramadi was not fun in the least. For starters, I got shot at 3 times in 4 days, and a mortar exploded about 100 feet ahead of the truck I was driving down sniper alley. Whatever dimwit decided that putting a set of 2 speed bumps on sniper alley, deserves to spend a day out there and see how often he gets shot at, and how stupid his idea was. Well, I should get some sleep. The way I figure, the more I sleep, the more I recuperate, and the quicker the time will go by. "

Kyle Mills - Ramadi, Iraq
Kyle Mills - Ramadi, Iraq Sky
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Kyle Mills - Ramadi Iraq
Kyle Mills - Joint Operating Center (JOC)
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From Kyle, today:

It was nice to get to a main base that has more amenities for the last little bit of the deployment. I was sleeping in an actual solid facility (basically a barn with 25 bunk beds in it). The last month of so in Balad was just to train the new guys coming in, and get debriefings. The new batch was heading out to the forward operations bases like the one where I was. "

This is the 15th of a 17-part series, that will cover my entire journal, from my deployment to Iraq from December 2006 – July 2007. Check in next week for the next installment, when I work on figuring out the logistical issues that go in to hopping on the C-17, and flying out of Iraq.

CLICK HERE to see last week’s installment of this 17-part series.

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