I have a pal who has just deployed to Ramadi, where he will be spending the next year or so.  He's letting me post his e-mails with some key details censored.

E-mail #1:

This letter is to let you know that I arrived safely at Camp Blue Diamond, Ramadi, Iraq with the Marines and Sailors of my Government Support Team (GST), of which I am the Officer-in-Charge (OIC). After months of Pre-deployment Training Program (PTP) courses such as combat lifesaving, enhanced marksmanship program (EMP) and many others classes that were invaluable in preparing us to do our job here, we were ready to go.
However, we had a few adventures along the way. It almost reminded us of the Movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" with Steve Martin and John Candy. After saying our goodbyes at 5th Battalion, 10th Marines headquarters at Camp Lejeune, we departed at 5:00 PM, Thursday, March 8th, arriving around 6:00 PM at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point to await our flight. The USO graciously provided us with beverages and snacks in the meantime. 
At about 9:30 PM, we were called to start loading our plane, a World Airways McDonnell-Douglas MD-11, a very comfortable aircraft. Unfortunately, to get there we had to drag our two carry-on bags and weapons about 500 feet across the tarmac and climb up the outside stairs which had been rolled up to the aircraft fuselage. Interestingly enough, this is the first time most of us have been allowed to carry weapons onto an aircraft. Some of us "special" Marines got to carry a rifle and a pistol onto the airplane. This was undoubtedly the safest aircraft to be aboard at that moment in the United States. The senior officers, including me, and senior enlisted Marines were seated in 1st Class. Very nice! Ah, rank does have its privileges! After settling in on the airplane, we took off at around 10:15 PM, arriving at Bangor, Maine International Airport at approx. 12:10 AM on Friday, March 9th, where the temperature was a crisp zero degrees Fahrenheit. After leaving the aircraft we were greeted to the gracious hospitality of the Korean War Veterans of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) who applauded us for our service. The VFW has been supporting service members departing for and returning from duty in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom since 9/11.
After aircrew preparations were completed for the transatlantic flight, we departed at approx. 2:00 AM. The overseas flight lasted about 6-1/4 hours and we landed at Leipzig, Germany at around 1:30 PM. We loaded up onto shuttle buses and went to the terminal, a stark grey-looking building that looked suspiciously like a holding cell, except for the very small gift store. After about one hour on the ground during which we cleaned up and shaved, we re-boarded our aircraft and took off at around 2:30 PM.
We landed at Kuwait International Airport after about five hours flying time at 10:30 PM. Our pilot bid us farewell and wished good luck and a safe tour of duty in Iraq. For those of us that landed at Kuwait International Airport during the fall of 2002 and winter of 2003, in the days leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom I, the sight of the tall bulbous flight control tower there was like "déjà vu all over again." We departed in buses for Camp Virginia, Kuwait at 1:30 AM, Saturday, March 10th and arrived there at around 2:45 AM. During two day stay there, we lived in white "sprung shelters" which consist of a plastic-like exterior covering on a steel-frame structure that looked sort of like very large Quonset huts. During our stay at Camp Virginia, we enjoyed excellent amenities such as an excellent dining facility, phone centers, internet cafes, McDonald's and a Green Bean coffee shop, among many other facilities.
Finally, we had to leave Camp Virginia, or be in imminent danger of being placed on the weight-control program as a result of the great chow. We mustered outside of our billeting area at 2:30 AM on Monday, March 12th. We had our bags staged by 3:30 AM and departed in buses for Ali Al Salem Airfield at 5:00 AM. We arrived at the airfield about a half hour later. You could still see the damaged hangars which had been bombed by U. S. forces in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. We ate a quick box breakfast and boarded a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airplane and took off at 10:30 AM. We wore our flak jackets and helmets on board the plane, since we would soon be flying over a combat zone. However, it does give one pause when you see you Air Force pilot, co-pilot and flight attendants (known as crew chiefs) wearing flak jackets too. We subsequently arrived at Camp Taqqdum (known as "TQ") airfield about one hour later. We spent the rest of the day there coordinating our onward transportation to Camp Blue Diamond, Ramadi.
At 2:30 AM, Tuesday, March 13th, after dragging our seabags and carry-on bags from the tarmac onto two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, we boarded and took off for Ramadi. The airfield was totally "blacked out" as was the helicopters. The pilots and crew chiefs all wore night vision goggles. As we took off, the two helicopter crew chiefs "lock and loaded" rounds into the .50 Caliber machine guns mounted in the doorway windows on either side of the helicopter. Talk about an attention getter! As a result of the previous incidents of U. S. helicopters being shot down, which were widely reported in the news media, one couldn't help but anticipate that the insurgents would try to shoot us down enroute to our destination. Let's just say that there was a certain "pucker factor" during our helicopter noisy helicopter flight. Fortunately, our flight proceeded without incident and about twenty minutes later, we arrived at Ramadi. Unfortunately, the helicopter pilots deposited us at Camp Ramadi, not Camp Blue Diamond which is a few more minutes flying time from Camp Ramadi. Those dirty @#! helicopter pilots! We were picked up there at 3:00 AM by MSgt Wilson, one of our 5/10 advance party Marines, and taken to a temporary billeting site, consisting of wooden sheds with racks (i. e. beds) inside of them. At 3:30 AM, after just settling in to get a few hours sleep, MSgt Wilson and 1stSgt Erickson woke us, saying that we had ten minutes to get back to the landing zone since there were helicopters waiting to take us to Camp Blue Diamond. So we quickly got dressed, repacked and reloaded ourselves and our bags back onto the High Mobility Medium Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs - or as the civilians know them, "Hummers") and went back to the landing zone. However, when we got there, the helicopters had already left. Those dirty @#! Helicopter pilots! So we off loaded our bags again and tried to get a few hours sleep, sleeping on hard wooden benches or on the plywood floor, in a shed next to the LZ.
Finally, at 8:30 AM, the 4th Civil Affairs Group (CAG) Marines picked us up and convoyed us to Camp Blue Diamond, where we arrived at 8:15 AM. They were very happy and eager to pick us up since we are their replacements. We loaded our rifles and pistols and rode in "up-armored" HMMWVs "gun trucks" (which had machine guns mounted in the vehicle turrets) for this convoy. Again, there is a certain pucker factor in riding in a convoy, knowing that there was always the possibility of getting killed by a concealed roadside improvised explosive device (IED). Along our route of travel we noted the presence of numerous U. S. forces and Iraqi Police at key intersections and bridge crossings. We soon found out why. We had arrived on a very significant day for Al Anbar province. The following VIPs were all at Camp Blue Diamond the day we arrived for a very important political engagement meeting: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his ministers of the interior and defense; Al Anbar Provincial Governor Maamoun and several of his Director Generals, plus several key sheiks from the area; the Commanding General of Multi-National Force Iraq, General Petraeus; the Commanding General of II MEF, Major General Gaskin (Commanding General II MEF Forward) and his Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Allen. The fact that the Prime Minister and his key ministers visited Al Anbar province is a symbolic and tangible sign of the importance that the central government of Iraq (based in Baghdad) is placing on Al Anbar province. This bodes well for our tour of duty here.

E-mail #2:

Marhaba, al-Salam Alikum (hello {or welcome], peace upon you),

As I mentioned in my last letter to you, my Government Support Team arrived at our base of operations at Camp Blue Diamond, Ramadi, Iraq on Tuesday, March 12th. We have generally gotten over our jet lag and fatigue from our travels, and are settling in to our new surroundings. Camp Blue Diamond is named after the logo of the 1st Marine Division, which previously had their headquarters here. During the Saddam Hussein regime there were two palaces and several luxury villas here used by the elites of the Hussein regime. These buildings overlook the Euphrates River. One of these palaces is nicknamed "JDAM palace" after a type of bomb that hit that building and caused extensive damage to it. Currently, the U. S. Army and Iraqi Army have units stationed here with a small contingent of Marines, including us. Eventually, we will return this cantonment area completely back to Iraqi Government.
We occupy a small compound on this base, which we share with the State Department (DOS) Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). We have trailers, referred by the troops as "cans" for our office space, recreation area (i. e. TV room) and about two dozen trailers for our living spaces/private quarters. Most of these trailers are divided into two rooms separated by a small entryway and shared bathroom. Thank God for running water. Officers and senior enlisted Marines and civilian DOS employees have rooms to themselves. Sergeants and below may share a room with another Marine. These living areas, although austere by civilian standards, certainly beat living in a tent, particularly since we have climate control and to repeat it again, running water. During our first few days here, we have familiarized ourselves with the layout of the base. There are many conveniences here that make our lives more comfortable. There is an excellent dining facility (i. e. chow hall) here and, once again, we are in imminent danger of being put on the weight control program. Also, there is an internet café, phone center, gym and post exchange (PX, a small convenience store) that we have already made good use of.
We have also started our "brain drain" via "fire hose" applicator, which is to say we have started the process getting "up to speed" on the duties we will be assuming from the unit we were sent here to relieve, the 4th Civil Affairs Group. It's a lot of information to absorb in a very short time.
There are many sounds that the residents of Camp Blue Diamond get used to in a short period of time. The sound of vehicle convoys entering and exiting the camp; the exotic sound of the Muslim call to prayer five times a day; the buzzing drone of an overhead unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) providing over-watch of our cantonment area; and the occasional sound of gunfire and booms of distant explosions. On Wednesday night, March 14th, we heard one of the perimeter security posts adjacent to our compound (about 200 feet away) "open up" with a .50 Caliber machine gun on some "target" outside of our camp.
Thursday, March 15th was a memorable day for the GST. That evening we helped two USMC Colonels...by providing an escort detail for Governor Maamoun (the Iraqi governor of Al Anbar province) and about 20 more VIPs. We met them at the small helicopter landing zone (LZ) area between two palace buildings that formerly belonged to Saddaam Hussein's family members. As we waited for the entourage to arrive, I noted how beautiful the view of the sun setting over the Euphrates River was as viewed from that location. They actually arrived via an U. S. Army ground convoy at around 6:30 PM. We then escorted the VIPs to the camp dining facility where we had dinner with the Governor and many of his Director Generals and key sheiks, especially Sheikh Sittar's (of the Abu Resha tribe) older brother. We found that escorting the Iraqi VIPs was a lot like "herding cats." After dinner we went to one of the palace buildings (the undamaged one). It is said that one of Saddam's sons actually killed someone carrying his baggage in the lobby of this building simply because he wasn't moving fast enough. The GST Marines met with Brigadier General Ali, the deputy Commanding General of the Iraqi 7th Infantry Division, at his office while the Governor and the other VIPs met with Major General Murthi, the 7th ID Commanding General, in his spacious office and conference room suite. At around 8:15 PM we escorted the VIP entourage to the LZ and loaded them aboard two CH-46E helicopters. As the helicopters took off enroute to Baghdad, where the VIPs would be attending an economic conference, I noticed that the moonlight illuminated the Euphrates River. The moon appeared yellowish in color and looked like a pale lemon wedge.