The Time That is Given to Us

On November 28, 2008 Alpha company of the 949th Brigade Support Battalion, 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, waited in tents at a Kuwaiti airfield waiting to board their C-17 transports for the 45 minute trip to Baghdad International Airport. It was the culmination of months of training and the beginning of an eight month tour as a driver and gunner escorting convoys in and around Baghdad. For me it was the most stressful moment of my life. This is my record of the year and a half that I spent training and fighting as a soldier in the Texas National Guard. It is a combination of my own journal and posts to my blog. It is not so much a record of my activities as it is a record of my thoughts and feelings. It is a small window on my life as a soldier.