Photo courtesy of George Cazares

This is the unit I deployed with to Saudi Arabia. I’m 3rd from the left of the flag in desert camo.

Photo courtesy of George Cazares

Contrary to what I thought, Saudi Arabia gets pretty cold in the wintertime. No snow, but the temps hovered around 30-40 degrees. I managed to get some long johns shipped to me about 2 weeks after the weather got warmer.

Photo courtesy of George Cazares

One of my duties was as a M240B gunner. Never found anything worth shooting at.

Photo courtesy of George Cazares

Here I am at the south gate with one of the third country nationals. He was happy to be there.

Photo courtesy of George Cazares

I decided to try to immerse myself in the culture while there. The gentleman standing next to me held a question and answer period for us about Muslim culture. Afterwards we got a chance to try on this “man-dress”, which was actually quite comfortable. Afterwards we ate some of the local cuisine which was also quite delicious.

Photo courtesy of George Cazares

And here I am at the main gate in the vehicle search area. the infantry sign behind me was for the old Army unit that was there prior to us taking over.