Ben There

The Great Meal-Ready-To-Eat; En route to Kuwait I’m not completely alone in this, but MREs — Meals Ready to Eat –are really not that bad. There are a variety of entrees available, giving the options of choosing one’s own poison, so-to-speak. Here at Camp McGregor, MREs are the required lunch. Well, that is, if one […]

Without a shot; Camp McGregor, NM   The “cha-chink!” of a pistol bolt being drawn and released is distinctive. It’s often used with menace in many a scene of a movie thriller. The bad guy is about to plug the hero, or a helpless victim. He has that thousand-yard stare, and draws back the slide […]

Camp MacGregor, near El Paso, Texas, 12:30 p.m. This training camp is associated with Fort Bliss, but not part of it. It is the barest of places, windswept, dusty and cold. Humvees patrol the perimeter, guards are posted in front of a mock Iraqi palace made of spray-painted fabric mounted on wooden frames. The soldiers […]