Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Outside the wire- desert for miles and miles
A decorated blast wall- this one from Rochester, NH unit

Early morning dust hangs over the horizon, tan port-a-potties are clustered in threes. The sky is an endless blue.

Fine particles of sand find their way between your teeth when the wind is blowing. We are in Kuwait. Camp Buehring (named after Lieutenant Col. Buehring, one of the highest ranking soldiers killed in Iraq).

The sandy roads are crowded with uniforms- the desert digital pattern of the Army, the brown and tan tiger stripes of the Navy, similar to the British and Australians who are also here in numbers. Every once in a while we see a troop of Kuwaiti soldiers wearing the red, white and green patch on their arms.

It is a place of contrasts. Huge domed tents house our Army cots. There is good air-conditioning. Bottled water is plentiful. The water out of the trailer faucets is not potable. The showers are hot. We are told to shut off the shower between washing and rinsing.

We start the day with made-to-order omelets, real french toast, hash browns fried by Kuwaiti cooks behind the counter. There is a Starbucks behind a tan bunker on the road leading to the mess hall. It costs the same as in the States, although the baristas are more difficult to understand.

The USO tent has the latest Nintendo 360, non-stop ESPN, Forrest Gump on a big screen and an extremely slow internet connection.

This is a staging area- most soldiers are either coming from or going to Iraq, but some are here to stay for their entire deployment. They're lucky, the older soldiers say, while the younger ones say they can't wait to get "in country".

Today some are learning how to tow two and half ton trucks, some will spend three days in the desert. A My Space-sponsored concert is starring Jessica Simpson and the Pussycat Dolls. The courtyard between the Taco Bell and the AT&T call center will be packed to the gills with standing soldiers.

I am writing this blog while a reality show featuring the Pussycats Dolls drones on the big screen in the USO. A soldier behind me is asking another if he saw the Pussycat Dolls in the mess hall this morning. Truly surreal.