Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Back to Iraq Journal Entry # 5 - Kate Norley

Good ole 'Castle Gate'… hearing of or passing through it again was never something I considered since my last visit in '04.  But after winding through checkpoints along a route all too familiar from before, I was back.  Welcome to Taji! All of the sights and sounds of a place I had once feared to call home for several months of my deployment in OIF, bounded me once again. This time though, after shaking off some of the initial jitters stemming from the realization that I was in fact back, I came across a sense of relief.  After taking in several accounts from those currently serving in Taji, I discovered the general mood towards their mission to be positive.  Referring not only to the benefits of handling operations through a camp the size of Taji, but also the reports of significant wane in morter and RPG attacks, the general consensus expressed feeling productive.  With all that said, the temperature reached 130 degrees and wiped me out big time.  Will be pushing out early again tomorrow, so more highlights from Taji to follow.

Driving on,

Kate