Desert Gypsies

I want to apologize to everyone that we don't have a mailing address to put out yet.

Upon arrival at the Phoenix Academy, we were told that we were going to receive a "truncated" version of the training, because we had to go out on a mission as soon as possible. So, in the very near future, we'll be heading out. Once we get to the AO and I find out what the Public Affairs guidance is and what the OPSEC considerations are, I'll post that information.

So, it's been a whirlwind for the Mungadai. We've signed for the outgoing team's equipment and conducted all of our transition tasks and training. We did our first mounted combat patrol today; everything went extremely well. We'll move out on the operation soon and, as I said, I'll post the details once I'm sure it's okay to transmit in the clear.

One of the surprises in store for us was that we had been "re-missioned." Instead of inheriting our outgoing team's National Police counterparts, who have responsibility for one little slice of Baghdad, we've been assigned to a brand-new unit that has (we think) a charter to act across the nation of Iraq. This complicates our "home base" footprint.

Also, once we complete the upcoming mission, no one is sure yet where the new unit will plant its flag. So, I can't put out a mailing address because the new location is so secret, no one in the Army (US or Iraqi) knows where it will be. Total Ignorance, it's what's for dinner.

Once we know approximately how long the upcoming mission is going to last, we'll know whether we should have mail sent (at least temporarily) to the mission location or whether it makes sense to just wait until the dust settles.

If we had known all this before we launched from Riley, we'd have probably named ourselves the Gypsies.