In-processing at Ft. Bliss El Paso, Texas

10Jul04 departure from Ft. Bliss, El Paso. Next stop Kuwait/Iraq.


I arrived at Ft. Bliss on 4July04 for one week of in-processing. Military and civilians a like must go through in-processing before they are allowed to enter Kuwait or Iraq. There was a total of 128 military and civilians being processed the week I was there. The week before there was over 300. A different group is processed every week. The in-processing consisted of medical screening and shots, gear issue (hemet, flake jacket, sleeping bag, boots, rain gear, canteens, and some other good stuff), I.D. card, dog tags and lots and lots of briefings. Going through this process with me was two other ITT employees; Rocio Vega and Steve McKinney both from San Diego. We became good friend and called ourselves "The Three Amigos". I'll post a photo of us three next time. The photo above was taken on the day we flew out. It's a requirement for everyone to lay their luggage out so the bomb and drug dogs can check them. They all passed the tests. The plane departed at 1:30am Saturday and landed in Kuwait Sunday 11th 7am.