hola

hi all, back at al asad now, which is home plate. i was in al qa'im. a bordertown in the west with syria. husaybah is the actual bordertown. it's a pretty rotten place with some rotten people. the marines are heroes who every day have to patrol that poophole. the day we left, a marine patrol struck an ied (improvised explosive device) and suffered casualties. we responded and stayed on station to conduct armed reconnoissance looking for the SOBs who triggered it. we found them. we introduced them to the business end of a cobra. other than that day it has been quite benign. being back in the rear involves working a great deal on the ground job. i have several ground jobs which occupy my time to no end. i have moved into the work spaces with a few other pilots from the squadron because there is simply not enough time in the day to do everything and make the 1 hour one way trip back to the barracks each day. we end up working about 15-17 hours a day, it's pretty rough back here. back at the FOB with no ground job the hours were still long, but you could get away from work and get some decent sleep. not the case around here. been getting lots of mail, props to auntie paddie and dan for their care package, quality stuff!!! i've been reading bourne identity, pretty good book. I had one on winston churchill, but it's going slow and it is still in his formative years so it's rough going now. well i have to get some Z's. early rise in the a.m. hope everyone enjoyed their labor day holiday. i can't wait for fall to start here. love, w