Transfer of Authority Ceremony

Today we had a Transfer of Authority Ceremony, this means that we officially replaced the unit that was here before us. For security reasons I cannot disclose the name of the previous unit because they have not made it home yet.
This picture is of my commander, unrolling the unit flag while the First Sergeant removes the casing. While they are doing this, the other unit is rolling up their unit flag and putting it back into its case signifying the change of authority.

Thanks to the Norfolk/Wayne Family Readiness Group

Today we received boxes full of Christmas stockings from the Norfolk/Wayne Family Readiness Group. The group is made up of family members of the soldiers that are deployed over here with the unit. Thanks again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq!

When I woke up this morning at first I didn't realize it was Thanksgiving until I sat down for breakfast with my commander, I then noticed all of the Thanksgiving decorations in the DFAC. (I would have pictures but cameras aren't allowed per the OPSEC restrictions, sounds silly but there are good reasons behind it.)

It was a pretty normal day here, we kicked off the day as normal, went to work, but then around noon my 1st Sergeant let me off work so it was nice just relaxing this afternoon. I didn't go to lunch at the chow hall for the Thanksgiving feast because the line was around the block so some of my fellow soldiers and I went down and had pizza at Pizza Hut.

I was surprised when my platoon sergeant brought me two packages, one from my Aunt Sandi (I can't say Thanks enough for your support!) and one that was from P.E.O. Chapter HH in York, NE. I can't express enough the thanks to this organization for their gift and willingness to take care of local area soldiers.

This afternoon I thought a lot about everyone back home and reflected how fortunate I am to have a good support system. I can't wait to be back.

My Mailing Address in Iraq

Please address any packages, letters, or post cards to:

SPC John R. Brown III
189th Transportation Company, HQ Plt
APO AE 09331

Now in Iraq

Sorry I haven't been able to update the blog lately. I have a lot to catch up on from the US to Kuwait to now Iraq. Hopefully I'll be caught up in the next couple of weeks so you know what has been going on.

Flight to Iraq

The flight to Iraq was pretty interesting. We took off from Ali Al Salem, Kuwait in a C-130 at about 8:30am. The flight even packed as you can see was pretty fun.

Kuwait

More pics from Kuwait...

This is a pic of our showers. We have to take combat showers which basically works like this... You turn the water on and get wet, Turn it off, Soap up, Turn the water back on to rinse off, then you're done. Water for the showers is only filled once per day so you have to conserve as much as possible so everyone can take a shower.
Everything around here has Arabic writing on it. As you can see even this coke can has it.
This is a general picture of the area looking out from our tents which are on the edge, not to mention away from EVERYTHING, we do a lot of walkin.

USO - Drowning Pool

Our second day in Kuwait and we already have celebrities coming to visit us. Drowning Pool came to perform. It was a really good concert. I got some good pics and video to bring home. Here are a couple of them.

First Day in Kuwait

First day in Camp Buehring, Kuwait was a sandy one. The sand blows like snow does in Nebraska. It gets everywhere, eyes, nose, ears, mouth. It's horrible. Here are the tents we are staying in.