Arrival at Speicher

We left Tagi late last night and after a tour of central Iraq finally arrived at COB Speicher. Yes it is now COB not FOB. It is now a Contingency Operating Base rather that a Forward Operating Base. Lots of changes since the last time I was here. Our BDE TOC is located in the building that used to be the G4 and Property Book Office the first time I was here. I did not even recognise it at first. Lots of new construction. I got settled this morning about 0230 and was up at 0600 to get breakfast and to get a Relief in Place (RIP) briefing from the Company Commander of the company we are relieving. We are ahead of schedule already and have not even started yet. There is plenty of time to get everything taken care of. After that we went out to the UAV facility at the airfield to see how they are set up. Speicher is a HUGE place, so it was about a 10 minute drive to get to their location. They will also live there and they have all of their own facilities. (chowhall, PX, MWR) Speaking of facilities the chow hall is very nice. I better do lots of PT or I could come back weighing about 250! Spent the afternoon and evening giving guidance and signing some paperwork. Looking forward to getting a good night sleep.