Rand called Monday - once at 2 in the morning and then again about 10 pm! He reached Al Assad Air Force Base in Iraq. Everyone is safe and sound - it was so good to hear his voice! It's going to be hard to get used to going back to sleep after the middle of the night phone calls! The 10:00 phone call was much nicer - we had a good visit. Rand is in very good spirits - Al Assad is an AIR FORCE base: meaning there is good food (ribs!) and a full gym and even shops. With this brief respite, the men are spending their time working out, eating, getting to know each other better, and preparing for the missions ahead. Rand says they will spend 3 or 4 days at Al Assad.

Rand says when they reach Camp KV, they will be at sent out on missions for about 10 days and spend about 3 days in Camp. He's ready to get started so time will go by faster.