Early this morning PFC Ryan Smith (my brother) left on an airplane to Iraq. He will first be arriving in Kuwait where he will endure some training to get accumated to the climate, culture etc. He then will be arriving to his station: Camp Delta.
Camp Delta is about 100 miles south east of Baghdad, near the border of Iran and on the Tigris River. Camp Delta is in the city called Al-Kut. Al-Kut has a population of about 400,000 people. It is a site of British defeat to the Turks in World War I in which case the majority of the city was destroyed but has now been rebuilt. Al-Kut is known for it's agriculture (definetly not it's tourism!) it is a market center for dates, grains, fruits and vegetables and has a large carpet industry. There are marsh lands that encompass the city where the canoe is common transportation. The current temperature in Al-Kut is 61F and it is currently 12:25 a.m.
Camp Delta is a tent city but there are hot showers and hot food available for the soldiers. The training of Iraqi soldiers is done at Camp Delta. Ryan will be in Iraq for 15 months, return date is in January of 2009. I will update this blog as much as possible with news of Ryan.
PFC Ryan Smith we will be praying for you and anxiously awaiting your return!
Isaiah 6:8
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? And I said, 'Here I am, send me.'"
