Entry # 52: June 14, 2006

Camp Buehring, Kuwait (Somewhere near the Iraq border)

The World Cup is alive and kicking in the land of sand. My LT buddy Mustafa “Moose” finagled a satellite hookup and big screen TV for us diehard fans of communist kickball as my Cross-Country coach, Coach Stovall, often referred to it. Moose is the brigade liason officer. He handles the local nationals who work for us. Somehow he managed to acquire the equipment and I didn’t care to ask how. I was just ecstatic that we can now watch the games.

Unfortunately (fortunately?), I was unable to catch the U.S. vs. Czech Republic game. So much for my prediction of a tie. It appears many of the U.S. players got stage fright and forgot to show up for the game. I guess that is what separates our team from the top tier. Great players perform their best on the grand stage. Ours wilted away like tulips in the desert sun. C’est la vie as the French say. Of course, their team is good.

It looks like I’m gonna be taking on two jobs at once here. In addition to my role as platoon leader, I’m also gonna be the S2X of a new task force we’re forming. The S2X is a pretty new role that has been conjured up, but it is a vital position in the War on Terror. Basically, I’m the HUMINT (human intelligence) officer for the task force. It’ll be my job to handle sources and brief patrols on what to look for and other such things. I’ll also debrief them when they return or sometimes even accompany them, circumstances dependent. It’s a much different role than my job as platoon leader, but one I’m looking forward to.

Life’s not too bad right now. The dust storm that lasted the past five days has moved on. I’m learning my new job. I’ve got the World Cup on a big screen. Nobody is firing at me for the time being. All I need is a pint of Guinness and I’d be set. Four and a half months and counting down. And so the Soldier’s life continues…