Iraq I Knew...: From Saddam Hussein to Weapons of Mass Destruction to Al Qaeda in Iraq (Book I: Into

Colonel Burl Randolph, Jr., felt that way after each combat deployment to Iraq. In The Iraq I Knew: From Saddam Hussein to Weapons of Mass Destruction to Al Qaeda in Iraq, the series chronicles Colonel Randolph's adventures on each deployment.

In Book I: Into the Storm, Randolph recounts his experiences as a new US Army Field Artillery Captain from the alert and deployment to Desert Shield to learning to live in the harsh deserts of Saudi Arabia. Randolph's unit, part of the famed 1st Cavalry Division, deployed to Saudi Arabia in 60 days that seemed like 60 minutes.

The horrid conditions of living in a desert were nothing like rotations to the National Training Center (NTC). Constant temperatures were over 105 degrees during the day and down to 50 degrees at night, with frequent windstorms and only the fabric of flimsy tents to protect you. And the putrid smells of feces burning daily from the burn barrels, as the smoke blackened the sky, mixed with the strong scent emanating from the pee tubes, was nauseating. But those aggravations were only the beginning of the odyssey.

As the months slowly ticked by and between SCUD alerts requiring hazmat suits, infighting between battle buddies, and scant connections with the civilized world, all diplomatic solutions eventually failed. As Randolph and crew transitioned to Desert Storm combat operations in Iraq, the enemy rained artillery, FROGs, and SCUDS missiles, making MOPP IV the uniform of the day. As the unit executed its perilous and vital missions to help liberate Kuwait, the enemy response was setting the trenches on fire to darken the skyline like night.

We won the war and were treated to a hero's return, but the rigors of the deployment, war fighting, redeployment, and transitioning back to reality began to take their toll. The lives of Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines were affected for years to come by the battles of the mind and toxins they were exposed to. And this was only the start of our nation's Middle East excursions.