The countdown begins...

I didn't expect to have another opportunity to blog before leaving, but it seems we were lucky enough to make another run to the coffee shop before our flight. This afternoon we plan on going to a local establishment (Chesterfield's) for what we hope will be an excellent steak dinner. I still vividly remember my "last good meal" in El Paso, Texas before leaving for Iraq...it was at a Mexican restaurant with four other lieutenants that I didn't really know. Even though I didn't know them we all shared the same common goals, fears, and loneliness that comes with a deployment. Thankfully this deployment I'm with three teammates whom I have grown to share a great bond with and a common desire to come home in one piece as quickly as possible!

Sometime in the next couple of days we'll be leaving Camp Shelby and headed to an airport for our extremely long flight to Kuwait...and then Afghanistan. The flight to the war zone is possibly the longest day known to man, some call it the "36 hour day." We'll be in flight / on a tarmac / loading / unloading for some 24-28 hours and on top of that we'll lose 9.5 hours due to time zone changes. FYI: A little nugget of knowledge for you...Afghanistan is the only country in the world that has a time zone on the half hour. When it's midnight in beautiful Cullman, AL it will be 9:30 a.m. in Afghanistan...that in itself should tell you there's something odd about the country. We'll spend some period of time in Kuwait before heading to Afghanistan, not real sure how long, all of that depends on how many people are needing to get in / out of country.

The pictures below are from here in Hattiesburg at USM and at Java Werks (they spell werks differently). After leaving the coffee shop one day we went across the street and walked around the University of Southern Miss (most famous alumnus = Brett Favre). USM has a beautiful campus and they are celebrating their bicentennial year in 2010. The old growth of trees reminds me a lot of my own alma mater, the University of Alabama! We walked over to the campus and it just so hapened that the gate into the stadium and then onto the field was wide open...I promise! Enjoy the pictures.

One of our new favorite pasttime...Skyping with our families! This is Rich talking to some of his people, likely his wonderful wife Renee.


Me in a state of awe at the sheer amount of "stuff" that is required to deploy. I've got three full duffel bags, a massive rucksack, and a computer bag full of personal gear.


Jeff talking to his son on Skype.


The 1960th on USM's football field, known as "The Rock."



I'll do my best to update the blog again as soon as possible, surely I'll have more pictures at that time to show. All I ask is that you say a little prayer for us and our families upon reading this...it's a tough time, but as I keep telling Loni...this too shall pass.

DUTY. HONOR. COUNTRY.