Kyle’s Iraq Deployment Journal: First Entry

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 #1 of 17

12 Dec 06
9:10AM

I'm about 20 minutes from landing into Frankfurt, Germany; the flight left at 7:30PM(e). Starting to get a little nervous about Iraq, I'm just glad I got to talk to everyone I wanted to before I left. I think maybe we'll take a train into Rammstein AB in Germany. Time to get my war face on. "

From Kyle, today:

I can recall this flight over to Germany in preparation for the C-17 flight over to Balad, Iraq. It wasn't the best feeling ever, I was in a middle seat, in the middle row of a big commercial jet, smushed by two larger gentlemen on either side. I did get into a conversation with one of the two big guys about 2 hours (out of around 13 hours if I remember correctly), so that helped to pass the time a little bit. He was a businessman that worked with the U.S. Embassy in Belgium, if I'm remembering right. "

This is the first 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 - things will start to get more interesting soon!