Camp Cupcake

As I have said previously in this blog, I originally volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan with the 27th Infantry Brigade back in September.  I was excited about the chance to go there and experience another war...just like my dad who served in the Pacific in WWII and Korean during the Korean War.  But "big Army" decided that the 27th wasn't needed in Afghanistan this time around and we were off ramped from there to Kuwait instead.  Then two week before we were to deploy to Kuwait as a Brigade, we were told that the Brigade would not deploy as a Brigade but would be broken up in to small pieces and sent in all directions.  As of last week, I was suppose to deploy with C Company, 27th Brigade Special Troops Battalion which was headed for Bahrain.  That changed on Monday, when the Army told me that I was not going to Bahrain but was staying in Kuwait and heading down to Camp Arifijan, the home of Patton's own, the 3rd ID.  The 3rd Infantry Division is Headquartered at Arifijan and I am now assigned to ASG-KU, which stands for Area Support Group-Kuwait.  I am working in the JAG office as the NCOIC of the section, working primarily in military justice.  Fun job.  And although we get combat pay here, this place couldn't be more different then what I experienced in Iraq or what I would have experienced in Afghanistan.  For one thing, we handed our weapons in as soon as we got here.  No walking and sleeping and showering with your m-16 or m-4.  Kiss that baby good bye for at least 6 months.  Next, we can wear civilian clothes around here and that's something we could never do in Iraq...hell we couldn't even do that at Camp Shelby.  Third, we get to go off post on our days off to places like Kuwait City where there are malls and special attractions like we have back home.  There is a movie theater, lots of American fast food, a swimming pool, apartment-like barracks, and lots of other amenities.  This place looks like a military post back home.  For those of us who have deployed before, this place is nothing like what we experienced in Iraq or Afghanistan.  On the map, it says we are serving on Camp Arifijan...but to most of us we know it by another name...Camp Cupcake.  I'll try to endure.  Ha ha.