Good day to all that are friends, or family, or just stopping by to visit me. I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and working hard. I promised Antman and a few others i'd keep you updated with deployment life. So here goes, I wake up usually around 4:30am and do my daily hygiene, get my uniform ready and ensure my weapon is in top condition, I then go to my work place to check on what tasks are to be completed that day, and prep all the equipment. Then, I go to breakfast, usually quite a delicious meal (one of the only great things about this place other than being able to log on here and check my mail and tell my parents how much I love them) sometimes the food is more towards onions, in which I can't eat, so I settle for fruit and a salad, never the less a ice cold coca cola! After breakfast I return to my workplace to begin my daily grind of getting everything setup for the duration of the deployment. This continues usually for about 14hrs, (yes, we get lunch and dinner, and of course smoke breaks during the day) then we get to retire to our respective huts. (Small buildings with bunks and wall-lockers to keep our belongings in) We head off to the shower to get all fresh and clean although we've yet to have a hot shower! Then settle in with a movie with a battle-buddy (a friend) or a nice conversation about what we did prior to being Soldiers. By the end of the day, we all pass out and get some well deserved rest. This is just my portion, others don't have it so lucky, alot of people have to climb into the humvees and go outside the wire (the compound) and do missions like picking up parts or doing security runs along the roads, all in the efforts of eliminating the terrorist threat. We all think of home often and dream of our loved ones that we had to say goodbye to, that's part of our motivation to keep moving forward though, to make it home to our families with a little more honor and a little more money to ensure our families are well fed and grow strong. Those with children are the biggest candidates for this, they want to ensure they can have a child that grows up with everything they will ever need, although we don't make near that much, we damn sure try! The landscape of this country is immaculate, mountains everywhere, some with ice-caps, some with none, but there are small towns everywhere. The people are very honorable despite its poverty, they work hard and live with love in their hearts, family always comes first. Finally, I saw my first camel today, actually, make that about 15-20 camels..they were moving across the plain while we were working and could see them outside the walls. I hope this kind of gives some sort of insight to what deployment is like, 14-18hr days, hard work that leaves you exhausted everyday, and good food to fill your belly. Yeah, the pay is nice too. Support your local soldiers, less than 2% of America enlists in times of War, and they would appreciate the extra help or love. Adios my friends and loved ones. (Yes Antman, you're my friend too.)