First Impressions

So I have been in Iraq for a about a week or so and it reminds me of the movie "Groundhog's Day" with Bill Murray.

I have read stories of many other military personnel with regards to their experiences in Iraq or Afghanistan and it seems they are all grunts, if you pardon the phrase. I am not. A grunt that is. I guess you would call me a "pogue", I like to think of me as a winger.

I work in an environment that is a cross between a very large CAX, part Futenma, and something about "Behind Enemy the Lines." I will explain:

CAX:
A quarterly exercise that happens in a desert. So if you looked at the map of the US it would be the center of the "O" in Mojave Desert. The airwing does the same job day in day out for 12 to 15 hours a day.

Futenma:
An airbase in Japan where there really no real entertainment and you need a vehicle to get to anywhere because of the vast stretches between one place to the other.

"Behind Enemy the Lines":
I picked this movie for the "hero" is wearing a flight suit, carrying a pistol, and is being shot at through the whole thing.

So I think that sums it up quite nicely.
I work 12 to 15 hours a day = long day(in fact I have no concept of what day it really is)
I have no vehicle = walk everywhere
On the base there is a gym = I don't need the gym because I have no vehicle
I wear something like a flight suit = a winger
I carry a pistol = Flak, plates, pistol, ammo, more ammo
Being shot = (I personally have not) Medivacs constantly, which in turn = give blood