This very well may be the last blog I post from FOB Leatherneck. I’m not saying it’s the last one I write, or even the last I write from Leatherneck, but due to an issue that blindsided us today, I may be in radio silence from here on out. We found out today that the Marines that run the power generators out at the FASP are cutting us off tomorrow morning because “The Marines don’t support the Army.” their words, not mine. This is ironic, to say the least, since my and 4 other Soldiers job since May 16 has almost exclusively been to support the Marines at the FASP with 24 hour MHE (Material Handling Equipment; i.e. Forklift) operation. Now we have been helping MALS 40 and CLC 151 and these generator guys are a different unit within the Marines, but don’t thing that we still don’t feel a little slighted. We have yet to decide if we will try and track down a generator (which are near impossible to find) to continue our work at the FASP assisting the Marines, or essentially “taking our ball and going home.” The Navy Seabees are currently constructing the 2 buildings in which the Marines will power both, but until that point, they refuse to power our truck or tent. Construction won’t be completed until long after we leave this place. The main problem is now that when our replacement unit gets here it should be about the same time that our ammo cells are FINALLY completed, but without power they will have no place to track the stocks or generate any of the necessary paperwork. The only other task we do out there right now is escorting the various Army units into the FASP to since no one but FASP personnel can be on the access roster. Once a unit is issued ammo they just can’t take the pallets back and keep them in their living tent. A: It would be a pain in the butt, B: It would be difficult to secure, and C: some of the explosives would not be allowed in the living area anyway. Thus, all the ammo is stored at the BLAHA (Basic Load Ammo Holding Area) between the time the unit draws it from us and the time they come and get it for either a range or when they go out on missions. They have to be escorted on to the FASP though so they don’t stop off at one of the many cells and grab some cool stuff that isn’t theirs. The only thing that could be done, if we stopped work out there, is to make the Marines escort them. Like I said, we still don’t know what’s going to happen.
In other news, last week SGT Trimble and I heard that there was a place down on LSA 2 that had the AFN network and showed NFL games on Sunday nights. We wondered down there at around 2115 and peaked in a couple tents until we found the one we were looking for. LSA 2 is predominantly Marines. We found the TV in the Marine Chaplain’s tent. It was a nice big, probably 46ish’’, LCD. There were only 3 guys in there watching too. They had cots set up to sit on as well as bean bags. They also had all sorts of snacks to include popcorn. Last week we only stayed for the first half of the Patriots/Falcons game since it was so late, but it was glorious. Being able to do something normal like that is always a boost to morale. This week when we went there were a couple more guys in there. We bounce back and forth between the Colts/Seahawks game and the Patriots/Ravens game. This time when halftime rolled around, we decided to finish out the games. We really wanted to stay for the Jets/Saints game, but by that time it was already 0100 and we figured we should probably sleep at some point. Plus, the room filled up with Cowboys fans and we knew we would be hard pressed to get them to change it from the Cowboys/Broncos game. So when we got back to the tent I decided it was already really late so I might as well shower and shave to save some time in the morning, when I knew I would be draggin’. For a couple months after I got back from R&R I was going to bed between about 2030 and 2100. I’ve lately been pushing that farther and farther but I’ve been pretty tired in the mornings. Anyway, so I went to shower only to discover that the water was a balmy 33 degrees. That’s estimation of course. I wanted to guess lower but beyond that it would have been solid ice. It was the coldest shower I can ever remember taking. To make matters worse it’s been getting cooler here, probably down to the upper 50’s at night, and the AC in the shower tent was on full bore. The shower facility was one thing this whole deployment that they just never got figured out. The water was always cold and the bladder was usually empty in the morning before they would come refill it; that is until about a week ago. A few days back they removed the single water bladder that supplied water to the shower tent and replaced it with 3, X gallon vats. Additionally, the very next morning after my ice shower, they installed a HUGE water heater. I showered tonight and almost had my skin melt off. I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror at my chest and back which were scaldy red, and thought “How wonderful!” This place, from a base standpoint, is really coming around. The only things we are missing down here that a base like Kandahar has are fast food joints (minus the Pizza Hut on Bastian 1), an MWR or USO recreation tent, paved roads and modular housing. There are probably more amenities that I’m not thinking of, but those are the ones that stand out to me. We are still crammed in pretty tight here on Leatherneck, but I’m fairly certain that it’s a theatre wide problem with the massive troop surge that we were on the front edge of.
Just in case this is my last post while I’m on this little slice of heaven, I kind of wanted to sum up the base as a whole, similarly to the way I did with KAF when I left there. This will be stuff that the unit replacing us would possibly be curious about, as well as any other inbound units.
Moondust: I’m not sure how the rest of Afghanistan is but when the ‘120 days of wind’ or whatever it was rolls around, this place is the suck. It rained quite a bit in the early months. The last day I believe it rained was April 14th. With the exception of a 15 min sprinkle on June 14th, we never saw rain again. The moondust on Leatherneck has been reduced quite a bit with the rocking of the roads, but out at the FASP it’s still out of control. Be prepared for a dusty stay. Stock up on WetOnes, air duster and screen wipes.
Chow: The food has gotten progressively better. The new chow hall is 100 times what our old one was. It draws in a large crowd even from the other surrounding FOBs. As for the other FOBs, the Cookhouse on Bastian 2 is pretty big and nice too. Only problem is it’s a ways off Leatherneck and the Brits only let you have one portion of one meat. In the American chow hall on LSA 2 they will give you as much food as you want. The chow hall on Bastian 1 isn’t really worth hitting up. Food is average, the tents are crappy and again, only 1 meat. The good things about Bastian 1 are the Pizza Hut, the NAFI (British PX) and Bizarre that shows up ever Tuesday. If you work at the FASP, the Marines have been sending a truck to one of the chow halls and bringing back large containers of food for everyone who works out there; MALS 40, CLC 151 and 295th alike. There is also a new chow hall opening up by the flight line soon, but if you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know how that goes.
Internet: Nothing was more frustrating, amenity wise, while we were here than the internet situation. First we had nothing. Then a computer lab opened up on LSA 1. Then it closed down. Then it reopened a month or so later on LSA 2. There are also internet labs on Bastian 1 and 2, both by their respective chow halls. Towards the end of the tour people found out that you could use the sim cards for our phones in a modem and get wireless internet that way. It is VERY slow and VERY inconsistent, but it’s absolutely better than nothing. At the TOC we have NIPR lines so you can access a few sights from the commands laptops if they aren’t using them. Out at the FASP we have the VSAT. You can access even less with that (only https websites) but its 10x faster than the NIPR. The most important https website that you can access is Gmail. It has a chat function which I used to talk to my wife almost daily. If you want to know about the super secret way to get internet, send me an email.
Phones: Buy a phone in KAF!!! Or wait, buy one from us when you get here. We will actually be having a garage sale to get rid of all the things we have accumulated, which will include probably many phones. Buy phone cards in KAF. Use AWCC and not Roshan. Cell phones are not allowed on Leatherneck. Let me rephrase that. For those of you who haven’t read my earlier posts, this is a Marine FOB. (hence Leatherneck) The Marines are not allowed to have cell phones. They tried to take them away from us when they banned them, but in a compromise we were allowed to keep them as long as we only used them either in our tents, or out of site of the Marines. The only other means of calling are the DSN lines in the TOC area. There are only a couple though, so you may have to wait in line for those.
Missions: Almost no one that is here is doing what they are supposed to be doing. I’m going to get into this more in my last post, but just be aware of that.
Command: The 100th BSB is leaving shortly after we leave so I’m not sure who will be replacing them. Let me just say this; count your blessings.
FASP: The Marines we have been working with hand in hand for the last several months have been primarily cool to work with. It’s been a very interesting experience working around them and seeing how they interact amongst their ranks and do the day to day things slightly different then us. We get along great with MALS 40 and work with them almost daily. CLC 151 has been alright too. We get along alright, but they seem to keep to themselves. We get along with MALS 40 better than either of us get along with CLC 151. Like I mentioned before, when our replacement unit gets here (and we know who they are but I just can’t say) the cells should finally be done. We have 1 expando and 1 tent set up but we aren’t allowed to power either anymore. The buildings aren’t supposed to be done for quite a while. Not exactly sure how that’s going to work out for you, but good luck. Also, the terrain on the FASP is treacherous for our 6 and 10k’s, so be careful or you too could roll one. The FASP is great though. It has been like our own little world away from Leatherneck. The gym is small but pretty nice. I’ve been running a lap around the inside of the burm for a couple weeks now and I’m pretty sure it’s about 2 miles. It’s a bit hilly and moon dusty but I prefer running out there because I don’t partake in the 1000 rules that go along with PT on Leatherneck. Try these on: Must wear PT pants and shirt (no brown t-shirts), must have tennis shoes (no Chuck Taylors or the like), no sunglasses, must wear a reflective belt, run against traffic, no headphones. It’s out of control. At the FASP the Marines don’t care what we do so it’s just me, SPC McLean and CW2 Bohaty and we just do PT however we feel like. It’s a closed in compound and if anyone wants on we have to escort them anyway, so no one can sneak in on us to include the Sergeant Major and Lieutenant Colonel. I’m telling you, if I could have just lived at the FASP, I would have. I never wore my blouse, or hat, or carried my weapon around out there. Here are some of the other wonderful rules to follow on Leatherneck that I wouldn’t have had to deal with if I just lived out at the FASP. If you’re leaving the living area you must have your rifle on you or within arm’s reach at all times. If you’re going to the bathroom you can go in ACUs without your weapon. You must wear a hat but don’t have to wear a blouse to the crapper. If you are working anywhere outside the living area you must have on your hat and blouse at all times. If you are wearing your IOTV you must wear your ACH even when not in a vehicle. Reflective belts have to be worn in Forklifts. No hardhats allowed. No sunglasses in your pen holder or on top of your head; you may wear them around your neck. Your name tape must be on your patrol cap but CAN NOT be on your boony cap. If you go to the shower you can wear flip flops in your ACUs or PTs and get away with not wearing a hat or blouse. No flip flops in the smoking areas. For God’s sake, tuck in your shirt! White socks in PTs must be above your ankle bone. You must ground guide everything in the motor pool, never walk backwards but watch the vehicle you are guiding as you walk…? Welcome to FOB Leatherneck, Afgarristan.
Well, I’ve been typing for quite a while now and hopefully I get the opportunity to post this tomorrow. The next time I post I will more than likely be sipping a double double and eating a cruller. If anyone from our replacement unit, or anyone else for that matter, has any questions about the FOB feel free to email me. I haven’t been super good about responding back to people that have emailed me about this blog, but I’ll try and get a response to you as quickly as I can.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Ok So I Lied… - 2 October 2009 - 1530
Ok, I know that I said I would try and get posts up when I could and I hoped to get them up at least maybe weekly. Well, looks like I didn’t keep up with that now did I. There has actually been a ton of things going on over the last 2 months now since I wrote last. I’m not even really sure where to begin. I’ll start with the base itself. The new chow hall opened up on Leatherneck. It’s huge and stocked with way more food than was offered before. They now have a short order line (fast food basically; corndogs, hamburgers, fries) , a sandwich station where some cooks will make you a samich, a dessert line, a new fruit line (one of my favorite additions), and an ice cream station. It seats probably at least twice as many people, if not more like 4 times, but now feeds LSA’s 1, 2 and 3. I believe that LSA 4 still has a chow hall. They also actually do steak and seafood every Sunday night, the seafood usually being lobster tail or crab legs. Our motor pool/TOC area for the Army has tripled in size. There used to be a Marine compound to the East which we absorbed and a vacant lot to the west which we also absorbed. The laundry service went from up to 4 day turn around to next day. Work on our FASP is still not completed yet though. They just put in a huge new camera tower which I’m told can see for miles. They are approaching completion of the Army’s portion of the FASP, but I don’t think it will be completed while we are still here. They are also starting to work on the permanent buildings, 1 for the Army and 1 for the Marines, which will replace our office truck and the Marines office tents and trailers. Construction on base is an ever ongoing machine that keeps attempting to streamline and expand operations.
Work at the FASP has slowed drastically. We were told initially that we would be taking all equipment back with us that we brought over which included trucks, tools and other various equipment. So we washed everything and packed it up, only to find out that we, in fact, weren’t going to take anything with us. We even set up a tent at the FASP for us to work out of when our office truck as supposed to be taken down. We found that little nugget of intel the day before we tore down our truck. Now that all of our forklifts are washed and ready to be handed over to our replacement unit, they will stay over on Leatherneck and not be available for us to assist the Marines on the FASP. Once they saw we had no more forklifts, they somehow finally wrangled up one for themselves; funny how that works. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anyone that was licensed on that particular model and so it sat and collected dust for a couple weeks. In the mean time our command found us an extra forklift to use until our replacements show up. Unfortunately, when we got it, we discovered that it has a huge spike in the tire and has to be refilled constantly and can’t lift large loads. So, like I said, work has really slowed down around here. Even back on Leatherneck there isn’t much going on now that the end of our deployment is in sight. The woodshop pretty much shut down, we aren’t on tower guard anymore but we do still provide 3 guys a day to escort the Jingle trucks from the main ECP to the class 1 yard. Right now it’s as if our primary mission is to watch as many movies a day as possible. I, personally, am running low on things I haven’t seen. I’ve watch several TV series and I don’t even know how to start estimating how many movies I’ve seen. I started off watching everything that I hadn’t seen but had always wanted to. After that ran out it moved to anything I hadn’t seen and let me tell you, there were some doozies. One thing that I did organize was a Fantasy Football League. We had our draft on the 30th of August. We have all been having fun with that so far. I think out of the 10 of us participating, only maybe 4 of us have played before and out of the other 6 I’d be surprised if 1/3 of them could pick a football out of a lineup. But it’s been fun. It’s something that I really enjoy as it mixes two things that I enjoy; Football and spreadsheets. I tend to get carried away with tracking statistics, but it helps the time pass. I also started a Pick’em tournament with 7 Army guys and 1 Marine Major. Every week we pick every NFL game and Big XII game against the spread. I don’t really want to get into what place I am in in that however. About a week ago we had, what we like to refer to in the Army as, Mandatory Fun Night. That’s when the someone puts on a fun event and the leadership deems it mandatory for everyone to attend. Let me tell you, mandatory fun is a paradox. Someone ordering you to go somewhere you don’t want to be and have fun never works. Basically the Battalion threw a luau where they roasted a pig with a bunch of other food, had tiki torches set up, karaoke and the main event was several Soldiers doing traditional Hawaiian dances in traditional garb. On the surface, it sounds like something like that wouldn’t be all horrible, but like I said, if you get a bunch of people that don’t want to be there and make them be in uniform and carry their weapons, the majority are going to do their best to not have fun out of spite, even if it is. People tried to leave after the first hour of this 3 hour event and they said we couldn’t leave as an intruder was suspected to be on base. What perfectly coincidental timing for the only time that has happened since we have been here, and they just so happened to have 2 more hours of planned activities. I would rather have the ranking officer just come out and say “You’re not going anywhere. Get comfy.” than feed us that b.s..
Today we had our “End of Tour” award ceremony. As the Colonel was giving his little speech about how much we have accomplish over the last year and how our time is nearly up, that it finally set in that we are, in fact almost gonzo. Yesterday we started having our “Go Home” briefings. We still don’t know when the main body is leaving, but it should hopefully be by the end of the month. As for me, I was somehow volunteered for our advanced party back to Fort Sill. This means I’ll leave, with one other guy, a little before everyone else to make sure things are ready for them when they show up so we can get in, do what needs to be done, and finally go home. I can’t say what day I’m leaving, for security reason, but I can say that I do know when it is and that it is within the next 20 days. The time sort of snuck up on me and now I’m well within my last month of being here. I will probably post some things as I’m getting ready to leave and while I am traveling so watch for those in the days to come. It’s pretty exciting though to know that the end is so near. I was also tasked with doing our end of deployment slide show. I gathered up pictures from everyone and have been working on that. Some of the pictures seem like they were taken 5 years ago. We started this deployment September 2 of 08 and now here it is Oct 2 of 09. A lot has changed in that year, but I’ll get more into all that when I finally wrap this blog up in a month or so. I’ve been receiving a few care packages lately also. They have been much appreciated but I’m to the point now, where I’m happy to say, that you can all stop sending them. I’ll throw out some shout outs also for those who have sent me goodies when I wrap this up as well.
Work at the FASP has slowed drastically. We were told initially that we would be taking all equipment back with us that we brought over which included trucks, tools and other various equipment. So we washed everything and packed it up, only to find out that we, in fact, weren’t going to take anything with us. We even set up a tent at the FASP for us to work out of when our office truck as supposed to be taken down. We found that little nugget of intel the day before we tore down our truck. Now that all of our forklifts are washed and ready to be handed over to our replacement unit, they will stay over on Leatherneck and not be available for us to assist the Marines on the FASP. Once they saw we had no more forklifts, they somehow finally wrangled up one for themselves; funny how that works. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anyone that was licensed on that particular model and so it sat and collected dust for a couple weeks. In the mean time our command found us an extra forklift to use until our replacements show up. Unfortunately, when we got it, we discovered that it has a huge spike in the tire and has to be refilled constantly and can’t lift large loads. So, like I said, work has really slowed down around here. Even back on Leatherneck there isn’t much going on now that the end of our deployment is in sight. The woodshop pretty much shut down, we aren’t on tower guard anymore but we do still provide 3 guys a day to escort the Jingle trucks from the main ECP to the class 1 yard. Right now it’s as if our primary mission is to watch as many movies a day as possible. I, personally, am running low on things I haven’t seen. I’ve watch several TV series and I don’t even know how to start estimating how many movies I’ve seen. I started off watching everything that I hadn’t seen but had always wanted to. After that ran out it moved to anything I hadn’t seen and let me tell you, there were some doozies. One thing that I did organize was a Fantasy Football League. We had our draft on the 30th of August. We have all been having fun with that so far. I think out of the 10 of us participating, only maybe 4 of us have played before and out of the other 6 I’d be surprised if 1/3 of them could pick a football out of a lineup. But it’s been fun. It’s something that I really enjoy as it mixes two things that I enjoy; Football and spreadsheets. I tend to get carried away with tracking statistics, but it helps the time pass. I also started a Pick’em tournament with 7 Army guys and 1 Marine Major. Every week we pick every NFL game and Big XII game against the spread. I don’t really want to get into what place I am in in that however. About a week ago we had, what we like to refer to in the Army as, Mandatory Fun Night. That’s when the someone puts on a fun event and the leadership deems it mandatory for everyone to attend. Let me tell you, mandatory fun is a paradox. Someone ordering you to go somewhere you don’t want to be and have fun never works. Basically the Battalion threw a luau where they roasted a pig with a bunch of other food, had tiki torches set up, karaoke and the main event was several Soldiers doing traditional Hawaiian dances in traditional garb. On the surface, it sounds like something like that wouldn’t be all horrible, but like I said, if you get a bunch of people that don’t want to be there and make them be in uniform and carry their weapons, the majority are going to do their best to not have fun out of spite, even if it is. People tried to leave after the first hour of this 3 hour event and they said we couldn’t leave as an intruder was suspected to be on base. What perfectly coincidental timing for the only time that has happened since we have been here, and they just so happened to have 2 more hours of planned activities. I would rather have the ranking officer just come out and say “You’re not going anywhere. Get comfy.” than feed us that b.s..
Today we had our “End of Tour” award ceremony. As the Colonel was giving his little speech about how much we have accomplish over the last year and how our time is nearly up, that it finally set in that we are, in fact almost gonzo. Yesterday we started having our “Go Home” briefings. We still don’t know when the main body is leaving, but it should hopefully be by the end of the month. As for me, I was somehow volunteered for our advanced party back to Fort Sill. This means I’ll leave, with one other guy, a little before everyone else to make sure things are ready for them when they show up so we can get in, do what needs to be done, and finally go home. I can’t say what day I’m leaving, for security reason, but I can say that I do know when it is and that it is within the next 20 days. The time sort of snuck up on me and now I’m well within my last month of being here. I will probably post some things as I’m getting ready to leave and while I am traveling so watch for those in the days to come. It’s pretty exciting though to know that the end is so near. I was also tasked with doing our end of deployment slide show. I gathered up pictures from everyone and have been working on that. Some of the pictures seem like they were taken 5 years ago. We started this deployment September 2 of 08 and now here it is Oct 2 of 09. A lot has changed in that year, but I’ll get more into all that when I finally wrap this blog up in a month or so. I’ve been receiving a few care packages lately also. They have been much appreciated but I’m to the point now, where I’m happy to say, that you can all stop sending them. I’ll throw out some shout outs also for those who have sent me goodies when I wrap this up as well.
Back to the Grind - 5 August 2009 - 1200
I’ve been back in Leatherneck a few days now. The remainder of my stay in Ali Al Salem and Kandahar were remarkably uneventful. KAF sucked as it is insanely hot over here now and there was virtually no where to go with air conditioning that had the ability to keep up with the size of building it was cooling, or if there was somewhere it was packed to the brim with others trying to beat the heat. When I got back to Leatherneck I found my things moved into a new tent, as I knew prior that they would be. While I was gone they consolidated from 12 per tent to 20. I only had to move one tent down, which was no big deal but now there were two people living in the same area previously occupied by one. The benefit of carrying the rank that I do however allowed me to get locked into a bottom bunk even though I wasn’t there to claim it on moving day. Over the past few days one thing I have come to learn about being here is that you should expect a gradual increase at an ever compounding rate of ridiculousness. Every time someone says “Get this…” or “You will never believe…” I’m almost never surprised no matter how outlandish the news. They could be telling outlandish blatant lies and I would probably be inclined to believe them. Even though in my last entry I said the the Army Physical Fitness test was “outlawed” over here, I arrived to find out that not only was one scheduled now, but that I had to take it in 2 days. Needless to say, with no prior warning and me just coming off of a one month hiatus of sitting on my couch eating Amigos, I didn’t fare so well. I passed my push-ups and sit-ups without a problem, but failed my two mile run by 9 seconds, which wasn’t horrible considering I’ve been a bum the last month. Not to mention that in one week I finally bump up to my next age bracket, giving me an extra 24 seconds. It was no big deal though as it was just a practice test. The real test will be in two months, which I will pass with no issue because as previously stated, I’ll be working out quite a bit hopefully in the next 3 months. There really isn’t much else to report right now. I stopped in the new PX that opened up on Leatherneck and it is drastically better than the one we had prior. They are having problems keeping it completely stocked right now but it still blows our old one away by leaps and bounds. Where KAF was extremely busy when I passed through, Leatherneck seems to have taken a step back, or perhaps just spread out more. Lines to the chow hall and laundry and significantly shorter. I started working back out at the FASP again, which hasn’t changed much since I left. We hear rumors of more ridiculous taskings coming down in the near future which sounds like it will tax our work force pretty hard, to possibly include my crew. I suppose we will just deal with that as it happens. Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous entry or not, probably not, but I’m going to try and run a fantasy football league while I’m over here. We will have our draft on Sept 1st and SPC Hartwell and myself have volunteered to track stats and convert them to points manually since we will probably not be able to get everyone on the internet every week. Should be a lot of work but I really enjoy it and it should help to kill what little time we will have left.
Ok, upon going to post this I have discovered that I no longer have the ability to get this on my government laptop to upload it onto this page. I therefore was forced to retype the entire thing as my laptop with not read flash drives or even disks anymore. I force this being a problem in the future….
Ok, upon going to post this I have discovered that I no longer have the ability to get this on my government laptop to upload it onto this page. I therefore was forced to retype the entire thing as my laptop with not read flash drives or even disks anymore. I force this being a problem in the future….
Friday, August 7, 2009
Internet/Technology Woes - 7 August 2009 - 1730
Here's the scoop. While I was gone on R&R our computers went through an overhaul and now I am unable to transfer files by any means from my laptop to the internet. I'm pretty sure it's Nick Kotinek's fault somehow. While I am trying to remedy/troubleshoot this there may be a period of time here (yes again) where nothing is posted. Right now it looks like one of my only options is to completely retype my entries that I have on to my office laptop, which I am less then excited about. I will keep on writing though and once we get this thing all hashed out I will drop them all on A.S.A.P. Sorry for work stoppage.
Monday, July 27, 2009
To Home and Back - 25 July 2009 - 2330
So I haven’t written in quite a while, and let me tell you, I’ve been hearing about it. To everyone who was reading and now isn’t since I took a nearly 2 month hiatus, I apologize. I hope I can snag some of those readers back by word of mouth when this comes out. I also wrote a couple of others a while back that I’m not sure were ever posted so make sure you check the previous few entries for ones you may have missed. I’m going to touch on a few things. First I’ll let you know what was going on between the last time I wrote and the 3rd of July. Secondly I’ll tell you about what has been going on from 3 July up until now. Lastly I want to reflect on my trip as a whole up to this point. It may be a long entry, but let me assure you that currently, time is a commodity I have in large sums. Before I start I’ll explain the break in communications in case anyone was unaware of the situation. I may have covered it in a previous entry but I’m not entirely sure so I wanted to hit it again. The internet lab on Camp Leatherneck was taken down for a period of approximately 1 month or so. They moved it about a mile to the west of where it originally was and reopened it, but now no one wants to walk that far to stand in line for an hour behind 1000 Marines to use it for 30 minutes. While it was shut down there was no internet accessibility, with a few very remote exceptions. There was one exception at our office tent at Camp Leatherneck and another out in my office truck at the FASP (Field Ammunition Storage Point). The problems with these services were that they are secure and can only view a very select few websites, one of which is NOT blogspot. The internet out at my office can access https sites only which basically allows me to only view military sites, with some exceptions. The only way I could have gotten a blog posted, which maybe how I get this posted, would have been to type it up, mail it to my wife, and have her post it. Not entirely difficult mind you, but enough of a hassle that it dissuaded me from going through the loops. Additionally, my work schedule leading up to July 3rd was not very conducive to writing. I was essentially working 12 hour days out a the FASP from 0700 until 1900, therefore between prep for work, eating at night and the drive back and forth I was really up and working from 0630 until I returned to my tent at 2000. At that point I shower, find out what’s been going on that day and what the plan is for the next day and rack out so I can get up and do it again. I don’t complain about my long hours, in fact I like being out at the FASP. Out there it is like our own world and we don’t have to put up with the daily BS that takes place back on Leatherneck. The drawback to having our small crew out there every day is that it has alienated us from a certain faction of the platoon. When I say “certain faction”, it has really caused tension between us and about everyone. Some are just more grown up about it than others. People are upset that we have a steady job that is centered around our actual skill set. The wood workers get angry that we are out setting up our computer equipment and maintaining it for when we finally get the FASP up and running, when that is what my crew mobilized to do. The wood working crew volunteered to do that job and even ordered several thousands of dollars worth of tool while we were in Fort Sill to assist them. I know that there is a lot of shit being talked behind our backs as I have colleges in all the crews that let me know what goes on. Even my friends have expressed a bit of jealousy and resentment towards my crew but they at least bring it to me and I discuss the reasons for how business is being conducted. There has been so much hate being flung around that it puts a real damper on things and further alienates my crew. We have been recently rotating 1 extra person daily from all the other squads to assist us with our FASP mission. They all enjoy coming out and working with me and typically all confide in me problems they are having and issues that they have on a daily basis back on Leatherneck. It’s unfortunate, but I’m glad I can at least give them a day’s worth of reprieve every now and again. We do a substantial amount of work most days. Mostly our work consists of assisting the Air Ordnance Marines with anything they need since they deployed with very little equipment and we have been blessed with an over abundance and not much to do with it. Some days we don’t do much at all, and some days we run the forklifts for 8+ hours. I operate by not freaking out if there isn’t anything to do by making up mundane crap to keep us busy. If we work hard when we are supposed to then I don’t have a problem with us taking time for ourselves since we don’t get much back tent side. Also, we have been working on getting our ammo accountability software up and running which has been giving us fits. We attended a class in Redstone Arsenal Alabama before we left, as I stated in a previous entry, but it was primarily focused around software operations. We really didn’t think we would be setting the system up from scratch right in the middle of a version transition. The piece that most of the platoon fails to see is the struggle we have had with our system. They grill us that we don’t even have ammo so why do we need our computer operators working on the system now? If we waited until ammo started coming in to start setting up and working out all these issues, it is likely that we would not have been ready to operate before we demobilized. The work we are performing now is ensuring that when our FASP is complete and open for business, and ammo starts rolling in, that we can start receiving it immediately. I started working out at the FASP on May 16th, so as you can see from the dates on my blogs that after I started working out there, my time became monopolized. Now, one website that does work out at our office is gmail, so fortunately I am able to chat with my wife from time to time. Since I have started working out there, I have only taken one half of a day off, and that has been my choice. It is sad to say, but I would rather work and keep busy out at the FASP, out of sight, out of mind, then hang out in the tent. It has really helped to pass the time though. June absolutely flew by. We get along really well with our Marine counterparts as well. We have a nice symbiotic relationship. We also have a gym tent out at the FASP which was provided by the Marines, and I try and use it when I can. But that’s the overall snapshot of what my schedule has been like from mid May to early July. Now that isn’t to say there hasn’t been a fiasco here or there or the random WTF moment. We, for example, are now sleeping on bunk beds, 20 to a tent (up from our original 7-10 average. We were also told that we couldn’t run a PT test because it was too dangerous but instead now the Battalion decided that we are going to do a “4 Mile Challenge” run every month in which you have to run 4 miles in something like 36 minutes regardless of age bracket or injuries. So what was the dangerous part of the test if apparently the run wasn’t it? The push-ups? The sit-ups? And if you don’t pass this non sanctioned Army event that no one trains for you will be forced to get up at 0500 to work out every morning. Cool huh. Guys have recently been volunteering to go on convoys with other units with shortages simply to get away from the chaos. A new PX opened up, but I haven’t been around yet to see it. It is about 4 times the size of the last one and I hear it’s stocked with way more useful item than previous. Our chow hall is completely overcrowded and the wait for lunch can be in excess of 1 hour. The large new chow hall, that has been under construction since before we got to Leatherneck, keeps getting its opening date pushed back further and further. I’m not sure what they are projecting right now for an opening date. I usually just eat a poptart for breakfast on the way to work, an MRE for lunch and we typically stop at one of the Bastion chow halls for dinner on our way back to the tent in the evenings.
So why was July the 3rd a landmark date? For those of you who did not know, that was the day that I left Leatherneck to come home on R&R. I was originally supposed to leave accompanied only by SPC Swanson. Right before we left, one of our guys, SGT Gilligan, got a call from home informing him that his wife had just had their 4th child. His leave was bumped up to accommodate him getting home to be there with his family for the occasion. Our flight was supposed to leave at 0800 on the 3rd for Kandahar, but out of the approx 30 people or so that were waiting on that flight, only 5 got on, including SGT Gilligan due to lack of space. The next flight was supposed to leave about an hour later but was delayed by about 2 hours. When it finally showed up, Swanson and I were able to meet up with Gilligan in Kandahar. We had to stay in the transient lodging tent again but it actually wasn’t TOO crowded. We had a briefing that night to find out about our next flight down to Kuwait. We were told that our show time would be at 0100 the next night. That meant that we would have a whole day to kill in KAF. I don’t mind KAF though. As I have mentioned before there are a lot of amenities. The surprise to me was that in the time between then and my last trip they had paved nearly every single main road on base. It did wonders to cut down on the massive quantity of dust generated by traffic. After we spent the day at the boardwalk and at the MWR Rec. tent we packed up our things and went to the airfield only to find out that the flight had been cancelled. The next flight was at 1000 the next morning. We drove back to the transient tents as quick as possible in hopes that our bunks were still there so we didn’t have to find a top bunk somewhere in the dark. Luckily they were still there. The next morning we got up and headed back over to the airport (after breakfast at Timmy’s). We got there at 0900 and didn’t actually end up boarding the plane for several hours. The flight was miserable. There were about 80 of us on a C130 with all of our gear on, in the 110+ degree heat, with no water available sitting face to face with the person across from you so close that everyone had and extra leg between theirs. After we took off it cooled down and we took off all of our gear and tops and stacked them in a corner. It was still a lousy flight to Ali Al Salem, which took about 6 hours. We were in Ali Al Salem for one night and the majority of the next day to complete all the necessary paperwork and clear customs. We then drove down to Kuwait City by bus, about a 2 hour trip, and finally boarded our plane home. That day began at 0600 in Ali Al Salem with our first briefing and we didn’t get on the plane until 1800. It was a hot, exhausting day. From there it was a 6 hour ride to Leipzig Germany for a 2 hour refuel and food restock, and a 10 hour flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. We got in at about 0900 or so at which point we had to clear customs and get to our next gate. At that point Gilligan went his own way, as he flew into Kearney, NE. Swanson and I both flew into Omaha, NE and finally arrived at 1500 on Tuesday July the 7th. I got of the plane and did my best impression of a professional speed walker to the security checkpoint where my beautiful wife was waiting for me. After a hug and many kisses we started making our way to the baggage claim at which point she whispered “Don’t hate me.” I was confused as to why she would say this until we rounded a corner to a boisterous applause from about 20 family members. They had surprised me as our original intention was for my wife and I to simply grab my bags and make for the hills. It was nice to see everyone though; cousins with their families, aunts, the in-laws, and my brother had even come down from Ainsworth, a 4 hour drive, and my mother came from Alliance, a 9 hour drive. After hellos and hugs and we collected my bags, and sent the family off to Buffalo Wild Wings to save us a spot while I went to shower and change as I had was still wearing the same uniform that I left Leatherneck in and had sweat through several times, over the last 4+ days. All and all it was a great 2 weeks though. After dinner that night everyone went back to their homes and I didn’t really see anyone the whole rest of the time with a few exceptions. The in-laws were in Chicago most of the time I was home so I only got to see them for dinner one night before I left. My mother, her husband and my brother also came back down a few days later to spend some extra time with us. Other than that my wife and I spent the majority of the 2 weeks at home, simply enjoying each other’s company. We watched a lot of movies, played some video games, and watched a ton of ESPN to include the British Open (Damn you Stewart Cink). We ate take out and fast food a lot at my request as I was craving a lot of things I hadn’t had in quite a while. Somehow I got it in my head that I was leaving on a Wednesday morning but when I looked at a calendar, 2 days before I thought I was supposed to leave, I saw that Wednesday was the 22nd and that didn’t seem right to me. After rechecking I found out that I actually left on the 23rd which was a very pleasant surprise as it was like getting an extra day with my wife. On the first and last night’s I was home, Sarah and I stayed at her parent’s condo in Omaha which is about 5 minutes from the airport. That last night was tuff, as was the following morning. Having to say goodbye again was just not something that I was looking forward to doing. After a tearful goodbye at the airport, I started my journey back to Afghanistan. We took the same path back. Upon arrival at Dallas we met back up with Gilligan. After the epic trip back to Kuwait, which finally ended at about 1930 on the 24th of July after it began with my first flight out of Omaha at 0825 on the 23rd, we got checked back into Ali Al Salem and got our bags and equipment back. I found at that point that the sleeping bag and pillow that I had strapped to the outside of my bag had been lost somewhere between the check in counter at Dallas and getting to the plane. So here I am now in Ali Al Salem. There are very few flights each week that leave here for Kandahar, so until then we have formations twice a day for accountability, but then have free reign to do whatever we want. I was jet lagged like crazy today so I had to take a nap even though I wanted to stay up and get my sleep cycle back on track. It was a good 4 hour nap in which I got more sleep and better sleep than I did all of last night. So even though my journey isn’t done yet decided that this would be probably the best time to write as I’ll most likely be busy again upon return to Leatherneck.
So as I said I wanted to reflect on my time spent on this deployment as a whole. I wanted to look back as if going home on leave was the end of my tour, and see what I could take from my experiences up till this point. The question, and best way to describe it in the one word that keeps coming to mind is ‘Why’? It has been a completely frustrating and trying event from the very beginning. It started with us coming on full time a month to soon and running out of things to do for the entire month of November. It proceeded to outdo itself when we were put on stop movement because our mission was dissolved but we pressed on to Fort Sill for 2 months of wasted time with not so much of an idea if we were even going to deploy, where we would be going, what we would be doing and for how long. I again pose, why did they send an ammunition unit to a base that had an ASP that will barely be finished by the time we finish our tour? Why could be asked of a nearly infinite number rules, extra duties and debates over what was being asked of us. In my opinion, the entire deployment, up until this point, has not only been a waste of our time and the governments resources, but has pulled families apart. It has been frustrating to feel like we left our families and the only difference we are making is building floors and doorways for tents; that’s not a very substantial contribution to warrant me being away from my wife for what will likely be a year+. Other than the deployment as a whole feeling like a waste, there were definitely good things that happened. Trial builds character, what doesn’t kills you makes you stronger, patience is a virtue, absence makes the heart grow fonder…etc…etc. I’ve made new friend, strengthened some I already had and developed new nemesis’s… nemesi… nemesiseses… It has opened my eyes to a new world that you just can’t grasp from the TV or internet. I finally got a combat patch and can now go to conferences without being heckled and forewarned of my inevitable impending deployments. I’ve had the opportunity to actually lead troops for the first time in my career as a squad leader with a mission (even though it may not have been the original mission). It was definitely a learning experience but I feel like it’s provided me with a skill set invaluable to almost any career I chose to pursue in the future. It has provided my wife and I with some added financial support, as I have been making just over twice the amount I make at home. As I approach the downhill slide of the deployment I can only hope it passes as quickly as June and July did, especially July. Between travel time and leave time, I will have been away from Leatherneck for approximately 4 weeks. Any one stage of the deployment at the time it was happening seemed like it took forever at the time, although for some reason Fort McCoy was still the worst. Looking back now though, you see each time period as more of a relative to the bigger picture and just a small piece of the whole trip. Hastings seems like so long ago. I’m not sure that anyone would be complaining eating Valentino’s and KFC every day again, although, a Soldier isn’t happy unless they have something to complain about (see: www.ssgchrist.blogspot.com). One recurring theme since the arriving in Kuwait for the first time has been the moon. The first night we arrived the moon was full, and from that point on I took notice every single time the moon was full and had a sense of relief that we had put another month in the books. When I was leaving Kuwait this time to come home on R&R, I again notice that, not only were there ice cream vendors on the shoulder of the interstate in Kuwait (oh yes), but that the moon was again full. Upon return, however, there was only but a tiny sliver as the moon was starting its waxing cycle, and it had almost an ominous feel to it. The great thing about the moon though is that it is one thing that my wife and I can still share. After it’s run its nightly course over here, it pops around the other side of the world.
So where does that leave me now? My focus now will be to get back to Leatherneck and finish the job required of us and come home as quickly as possible. Even though I haven’t focused on working out since I have been here, with the exception of June, I’m going to start working hard on getting in shape; and not because the Army says I should. I could be in top physical shape and walk my two mile run just to be a pain. I want to get in to shape for my wife. Everyone loves a tighter, leaner body. We have decided to start living a healthier and more active life style when I get back, so the harder I work now, the more I’ll get to torture her during a run or bike ride. Once I get home I fully intend on exploring my occupational options to include my time in the military as well. Even if the deployment hadn’t put a sour taste in my mouth, I just don’t care to be away from home for this long again. I wouldn’t want to live at the playboy mansion for a year let alone another trip back to this shithole. We’ll, I might go live with Hef I spose. (JK honey!) So I hope this was a bit of a make up for those of you who expressed your utter hatred and contempt towards me for slacking on my blog. I still can’t promise that I’ll update it as frequently as I once did, but I will try to maybe put out something every week. Again, pictures are probably going to be a no go however, as I just don’t have the means to get them up in a timely fashion. I also want to put out thanks again to everyone who has shown their support by sending care packages. I would start naming names, but I’m not at Leatherneck where I have saved every packing list from every box, but I will make sure to recognize those who have aided in due time. I just want to wrap this up by saying thank you again to everyone and I hope to see you all by the end of the year.
So why was July the 3rd a landmark date? For those of you who did not know, that was the day that I left Leatherneck to come home on R&R. I was originally supposed to leave accompanied only by SPC Swanson. Right before we left, one of our guys, SGT Gilligan, got a call from home informing him that his wife had just had their 4th child. His leave was bumped up to accommodate him getting home to be there with his family for the occasion. Our flight was supposed to leave at 0800 on the 3rd for Kandahar, but out of the approx 30 people or so that were waiting on that flight, only 5 got on, including SGT Gilligan due to lack of space. The next flight was supposed to leave about an hour later but was delayed by about 2 hours. When it finally showed up, Swanson and I were able to meet up with Gilligan in Kandahar. We had to stay in the transient lodging tent again but it actually wasn’t TOO crowded. We had a briefing that night to find out about our next flight down to Kuwait. We were told that our show time would be at 0100 the next night. That meant that we would have a whole day to kill in KAF. I don’t mind KAF though. As I have mentioned before there are a lot of amenities. The surprise to me was that in the time between then and my last trip they had paved nearly every single main road on base. It did wonders to cut down on the massive quantity of dust generated by traffic. After we spent the day at the boardwalk and at the MWR Rec. tent we packed up our things and went to the airfield only to find out that the flight had been cancelled. The next flight was at 1000 the next morning. We drove back to the transient tents as quick as possible in hopes that our bunks were still there so we didn’t have to find a top bunk somewhere in the dark. Luckily they were still there. The next morning we got up and headed back over to the airport (after breakfast at Timmy’s). We got there at 0900 and didn’t actually end up boarding the plane for several hours. The flight was miserable. There were about 80 of us on a C130 with all of our gear on, in the 110+ degree heat, with no water available sitting face to face with the person across from you so close that everyone had and extra leg between theirs. After we took off it cooled down and we took off all of our gear and tops and stacked them in a corner. It was still a lousy flight to Ali Al Salem, which took about 6 hours. We were in Ali Al Salem for one night and the majority of the next day to complete all the necessary paperwork and clear customs. We then drove down to Kuwait City by bus, about a 2 hour trip, and finally boarded our plane home. That day began at 0600 in Ali Al Salem with our first briefing and we didn’t get on the plane until 1800. It was a hot, exhausting day. From there it was a 6 hour ride to Leipzig Germany for a 2 hour refuel and food restock, and a 10 hour flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. We got in at about 0900 or so at which point we had to clear customs and get to our next gate. At that point Gilligan went his own way, as he flew into Kearney, NE. Swanson and I both flew into Omaha, NE and finally arrived at 1500 on Tuesday July the 7th. I got of the plane and did my best impression of a professional speed walker to the security checkpoint where my beautiful wife was waiting for me. After a hug and many kisses we started making our way to the baggage claim at which point she whispered “Don’t hate me.” I was confused as to why she would say this until we rounded a corner to a boisterous applause from about 20 family members. They had surprised me as our original intention was for my wife and I to simply grab my bags and make for the hills. It was nice to see everyone though; cousins with their families, aunts, the in-laws, and my brother had even come down from Ainsworth, a 4 hour drive, and my mother came from Alliance, a 9 hour drive. After hellos and hugs and we collected my bags, and sent the family off to Buffalo Wild Wings to save us a spot while I went to shower and change as I had was still wearing the same uniform that I left Leatherneck in and had sweat through several times, over the last 4+ days. All and all it was a great 2 weeks though. After dinner that night everyone went back to their homes and I didn’t really see anyone the whole rest of the time with a few exceptions. The in-laws were in Chicago most of the time I was home so I only got to see them for dinner one night before I left. My mother, her husband and my brother also came back down a few days later to spend some extra time with us. Other than that my wife and I spent the majority of the 2 weeks at home, simply enjoying each other’s company. We watched a lot of movies, played some video games, and watched a ton of ESPN to include the British Open (Damn you Stewart Cink). We ate take out and fast food a lot at my request as I was craving a lot of things I hadn’t had in quite a while. Somehow I got it in my head that I was leaving on a Wednesday morning but when I looked at a calendar, 2 days before I thought I was supposed to leave, I saw that Wednesday was the 22nd and that didn’t seem right to me. After rechecking I found out that I actually left on the 23rd which was a very pleasant surprise as it was like getting an extra day with my wife. On the first and last night’s I was home, Sarah and I stayed at her parent’s condo in Omaha which is about 5 minutes from the airport. That last night was tuff, as was the following morning. Having to say goodbye again was just not something that I was looking forward to doing. After a tearful goodbye at the airport, I started my journey back to Afghanistan. We took the same path back. Upon arrival at Dallas we met back up with Gilligan. After the epic trip back to Kuwait, which finally ended at about 1930 on the 24th of July after it began with my first flight out of Omaha at 0825 on the 23rd, we got checked back into Ali Al Salem and got our bags and equipment back. I found at that point that the sleeping bag and pillow that I had strapped to the outside of my bag had been lost somewhere between the check in counter at Dallas and getting to the plane. So here I am now in Ali Al Salem. There are very few flights each week that leave here for Kandahar, so until then we have formations twice a day for accountability, but then have free reign to do whatever we want. I was jet lagged like crazy today so I had to take a nap even though I wanted to stay up and get my sleep cycle back on track. It was a good 4 hour nap in which I got more sleep and better sleep than I did all of last night. So even though my journey isn’t done yet decided that this would be probably the best time to write as I’ll most likely be busy again upon return to Leatherneck.
So as I said I wanted to reflect on my time spent on this deployment as a whole. I wanted to look back as if going home on leave was the end of my tour, and see what I could take from my experiences up till this point. The question, and best way to describe it in the one word that keeps coming to mind is ‘Why’? It has been a completely frustrating and trying event from the very beginning. It started with us coming on full time a month to soon and running out of things to do for the entire month of November. It proceeded to outdo itself when we were put on stop movement because our mission was dissolved but we pressed on to Fort Sill for 2 months of wasted time with not so much of an idea if we were even going to deploy, where we would be going, what we would be doing and for how long. I again pose, why did they send an ammunition unit to a base that had an ASP that will barely be finished by the time we finish our tour? Why could be asked of a nearly infinite number rules, extra duties and debates over what was being asked of us. In my opinion, the entire deployment, up until this point, has not only been a waste of our time and the governments resources, but has pulled families apart. It has been frustrating to feel like we left our families and the only difference we are making is building floors and doorways for tents; that’s not a very substantial contribution to warrant me being away from my wife for what will likely be a year+. Other than the deployment as a whole feeling like a waste, there were definitely good things that happened. Trial builds character, what doesn’t kills you makes you stronger, patience is a virtue, absence makes the heart grow fonder…etc…etc. I’ve made new friend, strengthened some I already had and developed new nemesis’s… nemesi… nemesiseses… It has opened my eyes to a new world that you just can’t grasp from the TV or internet. I finally got a combat patch and can now go to conferences without being heckled and forewarned of my inevitable impending deployments. I’ve had the opportunity to actually lead troops for the first time in my career as a squad leader with a mission (even though it may not have been the original mission). It was definitely a learning experience but I feel like it’s provided me with a skill set invaluable to almost any career I chose to pursue in the future. It has provided my wife and I with some added financial support, as I have been making just over twice the amount I make at home. As I approach the downhill slide of the deployment I can only hope it passes as quickly as June and July did, especially July. Between travel time and leave time, I will have been away from Leatherneck for approximately 4 weeks. Any one stage of the deployment at the time it was happening seemed like it took forever at the time, although for some reason Fort McCoy was still the worst. Looking back now though, you see each time period as more of a relative to the bigger picture and just a small piece of the whole trip. Hastings seems like so long ago. I’m not sure that anyone would be complaining eating Valentino’s and KFC every day again, although, a Soldier isn’t happy unless they have something to complain about (see: www.ssgchrist.blogspot.com). One recurring theme since the arriving in Kuwait for the first time has been the moon. The first night we arrived the moon was full, and from that point on I took notice every single time the moon was full and had a sense of relief that we had put another month in the books. When I was leaving Kuwait this time to come home on R&R, I again notice that, not only were there ice cream vendors on the shoulder of the interstate in Kuwait (oh yes), but that the moon was again full. Upon return, however, there was only but a tiny sliver as the moon was starting its waxing cycle, and it had almost an ominous feel to it. The great thing about the moon though is that it is one thing that my wife and I can still share. After it’s run its nightly course over here, it pops around the other side of the world.
So where does that leave me now? My focus now will be to get back to Leatherneck and finish the job required of us and come home as quickly as possible. Even though I haven’t focused on working out since I have been here, with the exception of June, I’m going to start working hard on getting in shape; and not because the Army says I should. I could be in top physical shape and walk my two mile run just to be a pain. I want to get in to shape for my wife. Everyone loves a tighter, leaner body. We have decided to start living a healthier and more active life style when I get back, so the harder I work now, the more I’ll get to torture her during a run or bike ride. Once I get home I fully intend on exploring my occupational options to include my time in the military as well. Even if the deployment hadn’t put a sour taste in my mouth, I just don’t care to be away from home for this long again. I wouldn’t want to live at the playboy mansion for a year let alone another trip back to this shithole. We’ll, I might go live with Hef I spose. (JK honey!) So I hope this was a bit of a make up for those of you who expressed your utter hatred and contempt towards me for slacking on my blog. I still can’t promise that I’ll update it as frequently as I once did, but I will try to maybe put out something every week. Again, pictures are probably going to be a no go however, as I just don’t have the means to get them up in a timely fashion. I also want to put out thanks again to everyone who has shown their support by sending care packages. I would start naming names, but I’m not at Leatherneck where I have saved every packing list from every box, but I will make sure to recognize those who have aided in due time. I just want to wrap this up by saying thank you again to everyone and I hope to see you all by the end of the year.
Sec Def - 7 May 2009 - 2300
So it turns out that today was a long one. It started out a little late but made up for itself on the back end. Last night I was chosen, along with 10 others from my platoon, as well as a few from our battalion, a couple Sailors, a couple Airmen and a shitload of Marines, to sit in on a little meet and greet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at around 1030. It was pretty short and sweet with a little bit of Q&A at the end. After the Q&A everyone who was there got an opportunity for a photo op as he shook everyone’s hand and gave everyone a Secretary of Defense coin. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out how and when we were going to assist the Marines moving ammo. Every once in a while these missions come along and we jump at the chance to help, as ammo is after all our job. The problem was that we are stretched so thin with duties that we barely had enough people to cover it. On top of that, tomorrow we start another bullshit duty. Sparing the details, we are now guarding a tent inside a perimeter, which we are also guarding, in the center of our secure base. Like I’ve said before I can’t give out a lot of specifics for OPSEC purposes, but needless to say it’s going to be almost impossible to keep everything manned and not have overlapping duties and still get our “Mandatory Day Off Each Week.” I am so frustrated with the situation that we are in currently. On top of all the crap getting jammed down our throats, leave dates, which have been “locked in” are being moved around and now there are some less then terrific rumors floating around about exactly how long we are going to be over here. I’ll just say Chief threatened to throw his hot coffee in my face if he heard what he thinks he heard. They’ve, and when I say they that is the 100th as well as whoever is handling the logistics for our departure, have sucked the life out of me. I’m so frustrated with my current situation that I could scream, or eat paper. If anyone of any importance in the military or government ever reads this, how can you expect to keep retention numbers up when a unit is misused like we have been? A lot of people, such as myself, who I assumed would be lifers, have told me that they will absolutely not reenlist again and a few have said they won’t go to drill when we get back and let the Army discharge them. This whole thing blows; misused, degraded, and held to double standards. It’s all any of us can do just to get through each day without ripping our hair out. You would think, as miserable a country this is anyway and as crummy a situation as everyone is in that we would get a couple bones thrown our way and people would freakin chill out about stupid shit like brown t-shirts or hats that are worn incorrectly. Have you ever had a boss that you could never tell anything to? It’s their way or the highway, and even if you prove them wrong or point out an easier or more efficient way, it only makes matters worse for you. We happen to have been graced with the privilege of being under two of them. So needless to say I’m going through a bit of a funk right now. I’m keeping track of days gone by and days left, but no one knows how long we will be here so I really have nothing to count down to. My only saving grace right now is my leave coming up in less than 2 months. The Army simply needs to come up with some sort of teleportation system. If I could zap home at night this whole thing would just be like a crummy job, which all of us have had. But as it stands, it’s all consuming and it makes a person feel like they are in prison. Even in prison though, you are given a date that you can count down to with possibility of early parole and you aren’t in Afghanistan.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Home Sweet… KAF - 5 May 2009 - 2130
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Well last night I was minding my own business when I had a bombshell dropped on me; I was going back to KAF. Not for any extended time frame, just for a couple of days to assist with a supply issue. They really didn’t know how long it would take me but they were assuming 2 – 4 days. I was pretty happy with that and was hoping that it would be as long as it could be. We haven’t been doing a ton of work in Leatherneck but we keep fairly busy and we are stretched pretty thin with more taskings on the way. I was looking forward to a nice couple days in KAF to relax and get away from some of the drama and bureaucratic crap we put up with on a daily basis. I had heard that our last 2 remaining guys had been kicked out of our old tent to make room for another unit coming in so we would have to stay in the transient lodging. No big deal, I thought. I pictured the transient lodging we stayed in when we were in Ali Al Salem Kuwait which was a GP Medium with maybe 14 guys in it (for picture check out post “Stuck On Mars” last picture). So that night I packed up and got ready to hit the Bastian Air Field for our bright and early flight. SPC Hartwell and I got there around 0700 and checked in for our 0930 flight. After we had waited for about an hour we were told that the flight was delayed about an hour. About 10 minutes later we were told that it was delay “2 hours, at least”. I didn’t like the sound of “at least”. We decided to stick it out and see what happened. 2 hours later we boarded our C130 and took off towards KAF. After the short 30 minute flight we hopped off and grabbed our bags just as our ride showed up to pick us up. SSG League is one of the 2 still left from our unit in KAF. He picked us both up in his Gator and drove us to the transient lodging office. We got our tent assignment and I was surprised to realize that it was not a GP Medium like I had thought it was. It was, in fact, a giant circus type frame tent, probably at least 4 times the size of the temporary tent we stayed in while in BAF (See pic in “Bumped For Ammo”). Upon entering, what I later realized was the front of the tent, I saw that it was completely packed with people. There was not a single bunk open. We went outside and I remembered that lodging specified that we would be in the back of the tent. I didn’t realize that there was a partition that cut the tent in 2 with a locked door in the middle. We went around to the other side to find the same thing. It was packed to the gills with nowhere to stay. I decided to check the second tent, even though I didn’t sign up for it, since it was right next door. We walked in to see two open bunks in a corner of the tent that had been flooded from a huge rain a couple days prior. We had no choice but to take the bunks. When I went to put my baggage down to claim it I saw that the person in between myself and SPC Hartwell was SGT Shimmin, and in the bunk right in front of SGT Shimmin was SSG Baker. They had both left a day before us for a 4 day pass to Qatar but had had their flight cancelled. A short while later we found SPC Bade a few bunks down who had left a couple days prior to go home for leave, but his flights had been cancelled too. We decided at that point that this was not going to be the vacation that we had hoped for. We had also been told by guys coming back to Leatherneck from a mission to Kuwait that KAF was incredibly full and lines to everything were around the block and internet was basically dead. We decided at that point that we were going to get our mission done as soon as we could and get to Leatherneck. Our first order of business was lunch. We found out that they had opened a new chow hall down on Southpark so we decided to go check that out. When we got there, despite what we had heard, there really wasn’t much of a line at all. The facility itself wasn’t like all the others on KAF. The others are all hardside buildings. This DFAC was almost the same set up as the one in Leatherneck. In Leatherneck the DFAC is made up of several GP (General Purpose) tents connected together with various connector pieces in a maze of tents with a large frame tent for overflow seating. The one on Southpark is several GPs but the first several all have food bars in them and then there are a series of passages that lead into a large cover that serve as entry ways to 4 large frame tents. The food quality was about the same but the selection on Southpark was about 3 times larger. After we ate we went and completed as much of the mission as we could. SSG League told us that the process we needed to go through was exceedingly slow and would take about 2 weeks, but that if we did all the paperwork he would turn it in and let us know when it was ready. SPC Hartwell cranked that out and we made plans to try and head back the next day. We then went and checked out the internet lab, which wasn’t busy at all and then hit the PX which I had definitely seen way busier. SSG League and I then went back out to the flight line to check on flight times for “space a” (space available) flights. Basically they are cargo flights that, if they aren’t overly full, you can catch a ride on. After that I wanted to go hit the Boardwalk, for old time sake. I went to Tim Horton’s first to find absolutely no line. We thought it was closed at first but they were, in fact, open. I got one of each of my favorites; one double double coffee, one cruller, and one cinnamon raisin bagel, toasted with plain cream cheese. It was like I hadn’t even left. After seeing that the lines rumor wasn’t true I started to think that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay here a while. I could just spend as little time as possible in the shitty tent and chill for a couple days. But after tossing it around in my mind a while, I decided it would be better if we just went back and came back to KAF when it was time to pick up the gear. When we got back to the tent that night we found out that SPC Bade’s flight had been cancelled again for leave. Fortunately your 2 weeks of leave doesn’t start until you get to Texas, so unless he had specific plans made for a specific date, he’s really just getting extra time off. My wife and I decided to rent a cabin on a lake in Maine for a week when I get home on R&R. It’s going to be a little risky since we paid a deposit and bought plane tickets already, but we didn’t schedule the flight until 5 or so days after my leave is scheduled to start, so hopefully we will be ok. I took the opportunity to add several pictures to my facebook while up here but still didn’t have the time to add them to my blog. I was, however, able to talk to my wife for more than 20 minutes at a time which was a very welcome perk. So we are going to try and leave tomorrow sometime to get back to Leatherneck but I may be back in a week or 2. I appreciate everyone’s concern while I wasn’t writing. It’s an issue with internet availability and PS2. I’ve been playing a fair amount of Tiger Woods 09 with my free time. I actually had my wife buy a small TV and PS2 from Wal-Mart.com and send them over. She and her mother have been a saving grace with all the care packages they have sent so I wanted to make sure I recognized their contributions. They have, as well as everyone else who has supported me in one way or another, helped make a lousy situation almost livable. We are now 40% done with our 400 day order. We have heard rumor that a unit has been identified to replace us, but I’m not going to go into any details about who or when. It’s just a relief to know that it’s being worked, because I had a real fear that we would be forgotten about, living out in the wilderness, where we really have no business being right now, and someone would realize at some point “Oh crap, who are you guys again? How long have you been in Afghanistan now? 2 years? Doing what? Oh you built this camp. Keep up the good work.” It looks like we should be home at least by when we were originally supposed to be.
Well last night I was minding my own business when I had a bombshell dropped on me; I was going back to KAF. Not for any extended time frame, just for a couple of days to assist with a supply issue. They really didn’t know how long it would take me but they were assuming 2 – 4 days. I was pretty happy with that and was hoping that it would be as long as it could be. We haven’t been doing a ton of work in Leatherneck but we keep fairly busy and we are stretched pretty thin with more taskings on the way. I was looking forward to a nice couple days in KAF to relax and get away from some of the drama and bureaucratic crap we put up with on a daily basis. I had heard that our last 2 remaining guys had been kicked out of our old tent to make room for another unit coming in so we would have to stay in the transient lodging. No big deal, I thought. I pictured the transient lodging we stayed in when we were in Ali Al Salem Kuwait which was a GP Medium with maybe 14 guys in it (for picture check out post “Stuck On Mars” last picture). So that night I packed up and got ready to hit the Bastian Air Field for our bright and early flight. SPC Hartwell and I got there around 0700 and checked in for our 0930 flight. After we had waited for about an hour we were told that the flight was delayed about an hour. About 10 minutes later we were told that it was delay “2 hours, at least”. I didn’t like the sound of “at least”. We decided to stick it out and see what happened. 2 hours later we boarded our C130 and took off towards KAF. After the short 30 minute flight we hopped off and grabbed our bags just as our ride showed up to pick us up. SSG League is one of the 2 still left from our unit in KAF. He picked us both up in his Gator and drove us to the transient lodging office. We got our tent assignment and I was surprised to realize that it was not a GP Medium like I had thought it was. It was, in fact, a giant circus type frame tent, probably at least 4 times the size of the temporary tent we stayed in while in BAF (See pic in “Bumped For Ammo”). Upon entering, what I later realized was the front of the tent, I saw that it was completely packed with people. There was not a single bunk open. We went outside and I remembered that lodging specified that we would be in the back of the tent. I didn’t realize that there was a partition that cut the tent in 2 with a locked door in the middle. We went around to the other side to find the same thing. It was packed to the gills with nowhere to stay. I decided to check the second tent, even though I didn’t sign up for it, since it was right next door. We walked in to see two open bunks in a corner of the tent that had been flooded from a huge rain a couple days prior. We had no choice but to take the bunks. When I went to put my baggage down to claim it I saw that the person in between myself and SPC Hartwell was SGT Shimmin, and in the bunk right in front of SGT Shimmin was SSG Baker. They had both left a day before us for a 4 day pass to Qatar but had had their flight cancelled. A short while later we found SPC Bade a few bunks down who had left a couple days prior to go home for leave, but his flights had been cancelled too. We decided at that point that this was not going to be the vacation that we had hoped for. We had also been told by guys coming back to Leatherneck from a mission to Kuwait that KAF was incredibly full and lines to everything were around the block and internet was basically dead. We decided at that point that we were going to get our mission done as soon as we could and get to Leatherneck. Our first order of business was lunch. We found out that they had opened a new chow hall down on Southpark so we decided to go check that out. When we got there, despite what we had heard, there really wasn’t much of a line at all. The facility itself wasn’t like all the others on KAF. The others are all hardside buildings. This DFAC was almost the same set up as the one in Leatherneck. In Leatherneck the DFAC is made up of several GP (General Purpose) tents connected together with various connector pieces in a maze of tents with a large frame tent for overflow seating. The one on Southpark is several GPs but the first several all have food bars in them and then there are a series of passages that lead into a large cover that serve as entry ways to 4 large frame tents. The food quality was about the same but the selection on Southpark was about 3 times larger. After we ate we went and completed as much of the mission as we could. SSG League told us that the process we needed to go through was exceedingly slow and would take about 2 weeks, but that if we did all the paperwork he would turn it in and let us know when it was ready. SPC Hartwell cranked that out and we made plans to try and head back the next day. We then went and checked out the internet lab, which wasn’t busy at all and then hit the PX which I had definitely seen way busier. SSG League and I then went back out to the flight line to check on flight times for “space a” (space available) flights. Basically they are cargo flights that, if they aren’t overly full, you can catch a ride on. After that I wanted to go hit the Boardwalk, for old time sake. I went to Tim Horton’s first to find absolutely no line. We thought it was closed at first but they were, in fact, open. I got one of each of my favorites; one double double coffee, one cruller, and one cinnamon raisin bagel, toasted with plain cream cheese. It was like I hadn’t even left. After seeing that the lines rumor wasn’t true I started to think that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay here a while. I could just spend as little time as possible in the shitty tent and chill for a couple days. But after tossing it around in my mind a while, I decided it would be better if we just went back and came back to KAF when it was time to pick up the gear. When we got back to the tent that night we found out that SPC Bade’s flight had been cancelled again for leave. Fortunately your 2 weeks of leave doesn’t start until you get to Texas, so unless he had specific plans made for a specific date, he’s really just getting extra time off. My wife and I decided to rent a cabin on a lake in Maine for a week when I get home on R&R. It’s going to be a little risky since we paid a deposit and bought plane tickets already, but we didn’t schedule the flight until 5 or so days after my leave is scheduled to start, so hopefully we will be ok. I took the opportunity to add several pictures to my facebook while up here but still didn’t have the time to add them to my blog. I was, however, able to talk to my wife for more than 20 minutes at a time which was a very welcome perk. So we are going to try and leave tomorrow sometime to get back to Leatherneck but I may be back in a week or 2. I appreciate everyone’s concern while I wasn’t writing. It’s an issue with internet availability and PS2. I’ve been playing a fair amount of Tiger Woods 09 with my free time. I actually had my wife buy a small TV and PS2 from Wal-Mart.com and send them over. She and her mother have been a saving grace with all the care packages they have sent so I wanted to make sure I recognized their contributions. They have, as well as everyone else who has supported me in one way or another, helped make a lousy situation almost livable. We are now 40% done with our 400 day order. We have heard rumor that a unit has been identified to replace us, but I’m not going to go into any details about who or when. It’s just a relief to know that it’s being worked, because I had a real fear that we would be forgotten about, living out in the wilderness, where we really have no business being right now, and someone would realize at some point “Oh crap, who are you guys again? How long have you been in Afghanistan now? 2 years? Doing what? Oh you built this camp. Keep up the good work.” It looks like we should be home at least by when we were originally supposed to be.
Jacks Of All Trades - 23 April 2009 - 1330
It’s now been 3 weeks since I arrived in Leatherneck. Not much has changed. The temperature has gone up a bit I suppose. Our destiny still appears to be the Base Slaves for the foreseeable future. They aren’t sure if we will even start receiving Army ammo during our entire time here. We were told that we are laying the ground work for future units to come in our place. That’s all well and good, but I’m relatively certain we aren’t the only Army unit out here. Whenever a big project comes up we start the morning with like 20 people from our Battalion and like 20 from us. By the end of the day you look around and everyone from the 100th, save 3 or 4 have strategically snuck off during the day. We have now set up around 15 or so tent only 1 of which was actually ours. Again we were told we would be helping, but to me help implies that we are assisting another group, not acting as indentured servants. 1st squad is our wood construction squad. They build floors for all the tents that my guys put up, floors for other peoples tents, and desks and tables and such for various units. One Soldier approached one of the 1st squad guys and asked how they could get a desk built by our carpentry unit. People out there don’t even know what we are supposed to be doing. I really don’t mind a long, physically demanding day of work even though I was supposed to be over here sitting behind a computer the whole time, but it really gets me worked up when we are the only ones out there working. Yesterday we finished building two gym tents and setting up the equipment. After that 3 of us got roped into digging 3 trenches for some internet cable through the rock with a pickaxe and a shovel. Not easy work, but it was for our office tent and our Battalion office tent so I really didn’t mind doing it. If we had to dig trenches for the rest of the tents we put up without assistance, it would be a different story. Recently a Sergeant Major move into across the street from our tent. We have been getting railed by him over not being in “proper uniform”. Before he arrived the whole base was doing PT (physical training) in their pt shorts and our normal brown work t-shirt instead of our PT shirt. Reason being, we only get 1 – 2 pt shirts and if you’re working out in them you have to do laundry like every other day which doesn’t fly when there is only like 8 washers. Also, the policy in KAF and Leatherneck (before SGM arrived) was brown t-shirts authorized. Well when he showed up he just started busting chops without letting anyone know that he was changing the policy. We were also hammered on several other issues which were easily fixed. It’s frustrating though when you’re working your ass off for these people and they bust your balls for doing thing the way you were told, especially for something as small as walking to the bathroom in a brown t-shirt. So that along with some of the crappy tasking that are coming our way, and our HQ acting like we have 100 Soldiers instead of the 40 we have at any given time, we are stretched thin and moods have been a little edgy. On a lighter note, tonight at 2000 Toby Keith is playing a USO show like 50 feet behind my tent. Even if I don’t go, which I probably will, I should still be able to hear it from my tent. I know a lot of you have been asking what I could use here in a care package. Well, 1st and foremost is coffee. We burn through coffee like it’s going out of style. We like whole bean since we have a grinder. Our favorite is the Starbucks Sumatra but really as fast as we go through it and as often as we are out, we would take about anything at this point. Also, Kool-aid Singles are always a good. Everyone is always after my orange and grape so those are good ones to send. Jerky is always good too, any kind any brand. Also, calling home isn’t cheap and neither is calling me from the states. I have to have a special Afghani phone card so I let Sarah call me most of the time since they are hard to come by, but her calling me is kinda pricy. Anyone looking to donate phone cards we would greatly appreciate it. Those would have to be sent to Sarah though. Any other junk or snack food that you send is welcome too. If someone gets something in that they don’t really like it goes into a central pot for everyone else either in our living tent or in our office tent for the whole Platoon. During Easter our candy stash runneth over. As for pictures on here, the internet café is incredibly busy at any hour of the day and by the time I catch up on my emails and upload pics to my Facebook and such I just don’t have enough time to get more photos on here right now. Sorry for those who don’t have my Facebook. I’ll try when I can but no guarantees. I got my hair cut at the new barber shop two days ago here on post. It’s like being at a Cost Cutters or something similar back home only all the barbers are Russian ladies. Anyway as I sat down in the chair, I looked at myself in the mirror and realized how long it had been since I had really seen myself. There are mirrors in the bathroom but they aren’t great and I usually still haven’t wiped the sleep from my eyes when I’m in there. I shave with an electric razor at my bunk and brush my teeth outside the tent with a bottle of water everyday so I really don’t check myself out very often. It was just kind of strange. I looked weathered and my face looked heavy. I also got a pretty sweet sunburn the other day on my arms and face while we were setting up tents so I have any awesome raccoon mask from my shades. Above all else, I just looked tired. It’s been some long hard days in the sun lately and I’ve been taking a bit of a beating. I can’t wait to get back to the states on R&R. We get 2 weeks at home, but after all the traveling to and from, it will be closer to 3 weeks away from work. I know it will go by fast but even so, that will be 21 days closer to being home for good.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Busy Work - 10 April 2009 - 2100
I have been on active duty now for 136 days and been overseas now for 62 and in Leatherneck for 8. I’m still learning the ropes of Leatherneck and the surrounding camps associated with it. I’ve been trying to keep as busy as possible, but it hasn’t been the easiest. I was put on a mission that I was told was going to take a lot of time, driving one of our trucks around hauling materials. Turned out that we were support for the Marines and we got it done in 3 days, 2 of which I was the NCOIC for our crew. (Noncommissioned Officer In Charge) Since then not much has been going on. There are random odd jobs that I try and get in on every now and again, but they really are small projects that don’t take up much time. Like I had said in a post a long way back, we were supposed to be running the Ammo Storage Point (ASP) here for the camps, but it isn’t even built and won’t be for quite some time. Until then, we are basically the hired help for whatever crappy project needs done. Before I got here they were on everything from Force Protection duty to setting up tents for our Battalion. We are doing neither right now; in fact we aren’t doing a whole lot of anything. One small crew is still our construction crew, building tables and cabinets and all sorts of things from the Battalion. The mechanics stay pretty busy too fixing everything we break. We even provide a couple people to run the computer lab every now and again. Me personally, besides that 2 day mission, I have been watching a lot of ‘Lost’, drinking a lot of coffee and teaching SPC Kotinek how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. I’m such a good teacher that he nearly has it and it hasn’t even been a week. I talk to my wife on my cell phone whenever she calls, which is every other day or so and we still trade emails, but not in mass quantity like we had been. The internet lab is closed a lot of the time. I think whenever someone is killed they close it so families can be properly notified, but I’m not 100% on that. Anyway, there is no place for me to hook up my laptop and with the lab being closed a lot and it being full it’s hard for me to get my pictures uploaded to facebook and transferred over to the blog so be patient. Time is going by fairly quickly but when I look at my calendar there is still so much left to do. On Monday, we passed our 1/3 mark for time spent on our 400 day order. My leave, scheduled in July, will be a welcomed break and by that point we will have passed our halfway point. I wish I had more to talk about right now. I apologize for not writing more of late. Like I said, I’m still trying to feel out how everything works around here and kinda where I fit in. The food at the chow hall is pretty decent, but I can tell already that it’s on a short rotation and it will get pretty old before too long; brown stuff and rice, brown stuff and noodles, bbq’d brown stuff… you get the point. I’ll get some pics up soon, and make sure to check my Facebook for more pics.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Leatherneck - 4 April 2009 - 1630
I arrived in Camp Leatherneck Afghanistan on Thursday evening the 2nd of April. To the best of my knowledge this will be the final stop on our tour. I said that when I got down here I wanted to wait a bit before I wrote to get a feel for the place before I jumped in and started bashing it. I arrived at around 2100 so it was dark by the time we landed. The flight from KAF was only about 30 minutes long. I traveled here with one of the guys who escorted our problem child to KAF while the other one escorted him a little closer to home. When we got here two of our guys were at the airfield waiting to pick us up and drive us back to our new “home”. At night it was hard to get a grasp on the route or where things were, but they were trying to show me the lay of the land as we drove. I knew which way was north from the moment we landed. Whenever we get somewhere new it always seems to be dark and clear. One of the first things I do when I step off the plane is to catch my bearings. It only takes about 5 seconds to locate the North Star, especially out here in the desert on a clear night and I’m good to go. As we drove they pointed out the different Camps; Bastian 1, Bastian 2 and finally Leatherneck. We didn’t drive by all of them but there are two more camps associated with the collective of camps. When we reached Leatherneck we unpacked the little baggage that we had and I was shown where all the tents in our control were including mine and my squads. The majority of my squad is staying in a tent with most of 4th squad and I am staying in what is basically the senior NCO tent. The females have their own tent as do 3rd and 1st squad. That gives us 5 total. My tent has 7 occupants right now, 8 when the escort returns. It’s not overly crowded although if the 2 that remain in KAF come down they are slated to stay in our tent. That would pack us in a little tighter. The tent is the same tent we had on Southpark as is the shower tent and the latrine tent. Plus side now is that they are both right next to our tent along with a laundry tent that I have heard most of the machines are broken in. I came in and found my cot where all my bags were waiting for me since I had sent everything down ahead of me. After I put down the baggage that I had I went and found SSG Moorhead who I had spoken to prior and had told me he was holding my care packages for me. I had 3 packages waiting for me. Two of them were from my wife and her family. They had mostly things I had asked for; jerky, face cleanser and sever other misc items that they had included. The other package was something that I had scored while I was in KAF. I wrote the Tillamook jerky company and asked if there was a way I could get a bulk order shipped to an APO since I had heard that there wasn’t much down here. One of the managers wrote me back and told me that if I sent him my address that he would “take care” of it. When I got here there was a 22 pound box filled with Tillamook jerky. I was thinking about hoarding it and keeping it a secret but the manager wanted some pictures of us with it so I’m going to have to spread the wealth, a bit. But before I ever even opened my packages my first order of business was to take off my socks. When I packed everything on the pallet I only left 2 extra pairs of socks so the ones I had got a little ripe. I wanted to go through everything I had and organize it but I was tired and decided to hit it in the morning. I made my cot up and turned in for the night. The next morning I woke up after not so great of a night’s sleep. I think sleeping on this cot is going to take some getting used to again. As I got up Chief told me to get ready and that he was going to take me on a tour of the base. I got ready and went out into the light of Leatherneck for the first time. It is a desert just as KAF or Kuwait. Way off to the North there are mountains, but unlike KAF, there are none in any of the other directions. Here, the sand is so fine that everyone refers to it as moon dust. In some spots on the road the moon dust can be over a foot deep. You drive through it and it just billows everywhere. I got a tour of Bastian 1 and 2 first. Bastian is where all of the British troops live along with small cells of other countries including some US forces. I got to see where their PX and British version NAAFI were located along with a very aesthetically nice coffee shop and a Pizza Hut. I had breakfast at the coffee shop and it was no Tim Horton’s but it wasn’t bad. We then drove back out to the flight line and then to the ASP where we will be working when it is complete. After that we doubled back around and drove back to Leatherneck. I still never really saw the other two camps but I’ve heard one is a little ways outside the wire and I’m not sure about the other. Once we were back on Leatherneck I got a little tour of our area. In main living portion it is about the size of Southpark, but they are heavily expanding and building. The chow hall, tiny PX, and computer lab are all about a 3 minute walk away and there is another chow hall about 3 minutes past that one that which recently opened. The computer lab was put in just before I got here too I guess and I went in today and it is actually pretty comparable to the one on KAF. There are no fast food joints on Leatherneck though so I’ll be eating Army food a lot more now. The Pizza Hut that was on Bastian 1 is about a 10 minute drive so it’s not something I foresee me eating all that often. What I’ve had of the chow hall food though so far it’s not that horrible. It seems to be right on par with KAF which is pretty middle of the road. The guys who have been here for over a month now came into some lumber and built all kinds of things for their tents; lofts for shelving, computer desks, and tables. I think I am going to track down some tools and either build a computer table that me and SPC Kotinek can put between our beds and both use or a loft so I can have some shelf space without taking up floor space, which may come as a premium soon. The other amenity that comes with being in the Senior NCO tent is one of our two refrigerators. The other is in our office tent, TOC (said like the word talk which is the Troop Operations Command). So far since I have been here I haven’t done a whole lot. I am still trying to get a feel for what everyone is doing. I went for a drive today to take 2 of my guys to the flight line for their leave and I have the main routes down pat already. The bases all take up quite a bit of area, but there isn’t a lot of traffic and they are pretty spread out. I’ve been told that while we were getting rocket attacks about every other night in KAF that they haven’t had a single on here. The thing about the base as a whole is that they are just now connecting them with secure routes. So now you basically have burms with razor wire on either side of a connection road between bases as all the protection we have between us and Hodgyland. Today the mail came in for the first time in about a week I guess and I had another package from my Aunt and Uncle Mike and Katie. It was filled with a bunch more junk food and some other misc things like a Husker’s Illustrated magazine. I think that I might end up getting fat over here with all the snacks I’m eating, especially since I’m not walking 6+ miles a day just to go eat. I’m gunna have to step up my workout regimen. So I now have 2 nights down and the second on the cot was no better than the first. I’m hoping they get us some beds or at least some pads of some kind. Anyway, that’s about all I know for now. Thanks to everyone for the care packages that I finally just caught up to. It’s nice to be able to sit here and eat junk from back home instead of god knows what in the chow hall sometimes. My leave dates aren’t set up yet but when I find out I’ll let people know although I probably won’t see very many of you. Sarah and I are trying to plan a little getaway, kind of a pre-honeymoon honeymoon. Oh, I have a new address now too. Evidentially that changed right before I got here as well. If you sent something to the old one don’t worry though. I have been told it will still make it here for a while. Here it is and thanks again to everyone for all the support. I’ll write again soon.
CODY CHRIST
295TH OD CO
FPO-AE 09372
pictures coming soon
CODY CHRIST
295TH OD CO
FPO-AE 09372
pictures coming soon
Monday, March 30, 2009
Priorities - 29 March 2009 - 1100
As I lay in bed last night, with my mind wandering from one topic to the next, I took a minute to really listen to my surroundings. I could hear the backup alarm from a truck doing construction on Southpark. I could hear generators buzzing from the light sets outside and the AC/Heating unit providing a little climate control. I could hear the nonstop roar of jets taking off and landing as the Flightline is only about a mile away and missions seem to pick up at night. They are all sounds that persist all day and night, but fade into the background, much like the traffic in NY City must to residents. Also as I lay in bed, there is a certain degree of fear that at any moment a rocket could come through our tent and I’ll never make it back home. It’s a thought that I have almost every night and it’s unsettling to say the least. But as I lay there last night some things occurred to me. The other day while I was watching our Private at the hospital on suicide watch, I asked him if he knew what they were going to do with him. He said “They are going to put me with the next unit going home and then discharge me from the Army.” I asked him “Is that what you wanted?” He reply “Yes, the Army just isn’t for me.” I told him “You wanna know secret? It’s not for me either. He is an interesting kid. He just joined the unit right before we got deployed. While we were in Hastings he committed a minor crime and now has a warrant out for his arrest. More than likely when he gets home, he’s going to jail. He is one of those guys that you just know, one day, is going to go postal. Chief told him in Fort Sill “When you go off the reservation I’m hiding behind SSG Christ.” I get along with everyone in the unit pretty much and I made it a special point while we were in Fort McCoy to get on his good side in case he did go banana’s which I guess he did. I’m just not the same kid I was 8 years ago when I signed up for the military. Since then, and since my last contract signing even, I have had a major shift in priorities. I’m no longer willing to come over here and risk my life when I have someone depending on me at home. When you’re fresh out of high school you really don’t have a long list of concerns. You’re more than likely looking for money to keep yourself alive and maybe go to school, but other than that, your only concern, is you. That all changes when you get married. When you promise your someone that you will be by her side for the rest of your life, suddenly a year in the desert isn’t quite as fun and adventurous. There is also a shift from only being concerned with yourself, to having someone else become more important thing in the world. If I had to go to war and protect her against an enemy directly threatening our countries safety or way of life, I would not hesitate. I would trade my life for hers without a second thought in my mind, but this war does not meet that criteria. I am over here in Afghanistan taking rockets and mortars almost nightly to help the Afghan people become free of the anarchy of the Taliban. Will my wife stay safe at night in Nebraska if the people of Afghanistan are at war with the Taliban? Of course she will. Do I agree that we should be over here and this is a righteous cause? Absolutely. I just don’t feel like it’s my war to fight. 3 years ago it would have been another story. I was single, not going to school and not even working. My only source of income was our monthly drill check and occasionally going in to assist at the reserve center for a couple days at a time. Let those who have no spouse or children come fight this war. I did somewhat volunteer for this, but I’ve had a bit of an awakening of late. I wanted to go to war for my own selfish reasons. I didn’t have my wife’s best interest in mind when I agreed to deploy. Now am I going to go on suicide watch? Absolutely not. I know that I may be second guessing my decision to come over here but I do fully intend on accomplishing the mission because right now that’s the only logical way to get back home to my wife. Will I be reenlisting in Feb of 2013 when my contract is up? Probably not. And it’s not just because of how terribly this deployment has been managed. It’s because I’ve put in my time and served my time. I want to put that part of my life behind me and move on to the next stage. When I leave the Army I will have served 12 years. I’ll be over the hump for my 20 year retirement, but there are a lot better ways for an intelligent guy to earn pension than going over and fighting other countries wars. And a year is just too long. The Army is the only branch of service performing 12 month rotations. The other branches and nations are all pulling 6-9 month stents. That’s not saying there isn’t the occasional marine unit that pulls a 15+ month or other similar scenarios, but those are units that are extended, not put on orders from the word go for 400 days. I’m still in KAF. You’d be maybe surprised from this post I just wrote, but I am in fairly good spirits. I’m counting down the days until I’m home again, where I’m supposed to be.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Psych - 27 March 2009 - 1330
Oh, if only you knew how clever that title was. So on my last night at KAF I decide to go get Timmy’s one last time and video chat with my wife over Skype for what could be the last time I see her for quite a while. I just get done talking to her when 2 of our guys come up and sit with me with their dinner in hand and inform me that the other 2 who were supposed to be leaving for Bastian were still leaving, but I wasn’t. After calling them liars for a while and probably other names that I shouldn’t mention, I realized they were telling the truth. Let me back up a bit. Yesterday morning I came back from breakfast to find 3 sets of armor in our tent from guys who had left for Bastian in the first group to leave. After inquiring why they were here I was informed that one of them had a meltdown in Bastian and threatened to commit suicide. He was thereby escorted up to KAF for a psych eval and a meeting with the chaplain. They decided that he needed to be put on suicide watch and would have to be guarded 24h a day. While he was signing papers for who knows what, I guess he started eating the paper. They tried to take it from him but he pulled it away like he was an animal hording food. I was left back to assist in the watch detail. Between the 5 of us left we split the shifts into 3 hour increments. My first shift was from 2230 to 0130. All I did was sit in the hospital with a Marine Gunny Sergeant who had been injured and watched 24 episodes from a couple seasons back. Our nutty buddy just slept the whole time. My next shift was supposed to be at 1330 but as you can see, I started typing this at 1330. They guy that was supposed to go before me had a meeting at Battalion and so we switched shifts. I went down at 1030, after I got lost on the Gator, and talked with him for a while. The kid is a bit slow but I’ve never had a problem with him and he seems to like me. Anyway, we were talking with a nurse from Holland about America and whatnot for about 30 min when the rest of the guys came with the Dr and said he was getting released from the hospital. Now it sounds like they are sending him home with an escort or two on the next flight they can get him on back to the states. So once again, here I am after I told everyone I was leaving, but I’d be lying if I said I was surprised. I am, however surprised at the reason that I was required to stay this time. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the guys who came back on escort from Bastian about the FOB. They say it’s not too bad and one of them even prefers it to KAF. It’s short on amenities, i.e. beds and restaurants, but they said there is hardly anyone out there which is kinda nice. They are gunna start working tomorrow on getting me another flight down to Bastian. I’ve asked where they have my bunk reserved at, since my bags are all already down there, since it was already palletized 2 days ago and shipped, and I guess I’m in a tent with almost the same people that I stayed with in Ali Al Salem which was a pretty good crew. I’ll hopefully know for sure in a couple days when I finally get down there. BTW, I haven’t been mentioning it cause it’s been nothing too exciting, more annoying than anything, but we’ve been taking rocket and/or mortar fire about every other night. That siren is getting quite the workout. Nothing has been close from what I can tell as KAF is big and the alarm can go off and the rounds might not be falling very close to base at all, but usually you can hear the mortars dropping in off in the distance. It’s rained here I think every day for the last 7 or 8 days. Nothing too heavy other than the storm I wrote about, just sprinkles and wind. I really kinda need to get down to Bastian soon now since 99% of all my gear is there. I did pack smarter this time, however. I kept a couple extra shirts and pairs of socks on me as well as all my hygiene stuff, towel, pillow and blanket. Other than that all I have is my armor, weapon, laptop and a few snacks. Oh, and the cell phone I bought. I can get free incoming calls from the states, but either way, whoever is dialing is paying over a dollar a minute. It’s been nice though having my wife call me a couple times though. It helps in the whole “me trying to stay disillusioned that I’m actually here…..” thing. Like I said in the last blog, we are a little more than 30% done if our projected date stands. It’s kinda funny to think that I have been basically moving towards Bastian since 2 September and here it is 27 March and I’m still not even there. Talk about a waste of money. Anyway, hopefully in my next post I can finally say that I’m there and get a change of scenery.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Things I’ve learned from KAF - 25 March 2009 - 1330
Seeing as this is possibly my last night on KAF for a while I thought I would post some things I have learned about it so that others coming here may read this and have a better idea of what they are walking into. I know when we first heard we were coming here the first thing most people did was hit the internet and find out what they could about it. The things Soldiers want to know about are the amenities; the little things that make a base more like home. I’ll start with the restaurants. Boardwalk consists of now Tim Horton’s Coffee, Green Bean Coffee, The Igloo, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway and a French Café and the new Kabob House. For coffee, donuts or a bagel I suggest Tim Horton’s unless you’re in a hurry. There is always a line at Timmy’s and rarely at Green Bean’s. Green Bean is good too, I think Tim puts crack in his though. The Igloo is a small ice cream stand that must be open seasonally. Pizza Hut runs out of stuff on occasion, like beef and larges. How you run out of something intangible like a size I have no idea but they get ‘er done. The subway usually is out of everything except for seafood. The Burger King is usually out of beef for their Whoppers which only leaves the Chicken Royale which is out sometimes too. I haven’t tried the French Café but I hear its good. I tried the Kabob House last night, it was alright. They just opened a couple nights ago and either ran out of everything instantly or just didn’t order very much. Out of there 14 menu items they had 3 to pick from last night. There is also a restaurant that I was unaware of right behind the Boardwalk named The Four Seasons. It’s a little spendy but decent quality from what I hear. The there are several Chow Halls here on KAF but they are all run by Supreme. They just can’t compete with KBR in my opinion. I’ve mentioned them before but they are the Far East (Asian), The Niagara (American/Canadian), and the Luxemburg (German). There is one more that is closed for renovations right now and I hear that KBR is opening one down here in Southpark. The Far East is terrible in my opinion and I never at the Luxemburg although I heard it was average at best. Most people agree that the best one is the Niagara. We walk an extra half mile, right past the Far East, 3 times a day to eat there. Not that its great food but if all three were serving shit, you’d still want to eat the best tasting shit. Every Wednesday is Taco day, it’s my fave. There is also a Green Bean in one of the MWR tents. For you gym rats, there is a pretty decent sized gym with all the equipment you need (I hear) ;). KAF takes rocket and mortar fire not too infrequently. There are shelters everywhere and it’s a pretty big post so the odds are in your favor. Every Saturday there is a Bazaar. A bunch of locals bring in goods and you can go bartar with them. I actually haven’t hit that either in an effort to thwart money spending. Southpark is the Tent City. I’ve also heard Southpark being called Harvest Falcon, so that maybe the “official” name. It was pretty baren about a month ago when we showed up. In fact we were almost the only unit out here then. Now, this place is filling up like crazy and they are setting up modular housing units, shower and latrine trailers and like I said, I know they are setting up a DFAC out here and we hear it will be KBR run. There are lots of ways to get on the internet on KAF. There is no Wi-Fi in Southpark but as fast as they are building out here I wouldn’t be surprised to see it make an appearance. The Boardwalk has free Wi-Fi, just ask someone there which network they are using, the people are generally very helpful. It’s “quick” most mornings and brutally slow at night most of the time. There is also internet jacked into the housing trailers that run between the Far East and Niagara. There is an MWR Computer and Phone lab. Usually not much of a line, depending on the time of day and they are pretty quick, again depending on time of day and I’ve noticed, maybe the weather too. There are several general stores all over post. Each of the major countries that has a presence on KAF has a PX or their version of it. There is also a duty free store right behind the Boardwalk and a ton of little shops all the way around the Boardwalk. If you want to find where one of the countries hides its PX, ask um. I get asked several times a week where they moved the US PX too. If you are given a vehicle or a gator, if you have the room and you see someone walking, pick them up. Nothing pisses a guy off more than to see one guy roll by in a 15 pac van and then see that van down at the PX or Boardwalk, or coming the other direction, end up back at Southpark. The Air Force wins the taxi award as I have been picked up about 6 times in my month here; 5 by the AF and one Civilian. If you read this and have any other questions give me a holler. There is a laundry drop off service with next day turnaround from what I hear, but I never got to use it. They have a bunch of laundry trailers, which are usually pretty empty since most people probably use the service. I’m kinda sad to be leaving (maybe) tomorrow. But on the brighter side, if we stay here for as long as our orders are cut for, today we are exactly 30% done. Hopefully I have a lot of good things to write the next time you hear from me, which may be a few days while I figure out my new home. I hear I have 3 care packages already waiting for me so thanks already for your support. It’s hard to be optimistic though that this flight will go off like it is supposed to since every other flight this deployment has had issues. Talk to everyone again soon.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Weather is Here. I Wish You Were Beautiful! - 23 March 2009 - 1945
So last night walking back from the Boardwalk with my coffee I had the thought “I should write about the weather when I get back.” It was pretty dreary and it fit my mood. I got back to the tent and decided I need to write my wife a letter instead. Well this morning I woke up and went outside to find that maybe it was a good thing I waited a night to write about the weather. The last 2 nights it has rained a bit and today, well today was a cornucopia of magical weather. Early this morning I walked down to the computer lab to drop off my email and hit the coffee shop. At that point it was just kinda grey and overcast. The benefit to having an overcast day is obviously a break to the relentless sun and heat. A couple of us have been lying out on top of our rocket shelters during midday to take advantage of the rays. Anyway, by the time I got back to the tent around 1000, the wind had picked up and the sky had grown dark. Off to the west I could see a wide column of rain in the distance headed for us. By about noon the rain had come; and did it come. All and all it rained quite intensely until about 1700 with a decent amount of hail, but none bigger than pea I’d say. Most everyone here says that the rain is a good thing for more than just the shade it brings with it. Over here there is dust in the air almost all the time. When the wind picks up is stirs up even more of the silt. A particulate that fine and light stays airborne for a long time. When it rains people say the benefit is that it knocks down the dust, which is partially true. When it rains it’s not like the drops obliterate the dust particles; they collect them. When the drops finally start hitting the ground it’s like it’s raining mud. It coats everything; vehicles parked on the roadsides tents, and people caught out in it. I’m not sure how much rain we actually got but I would venture to guess a couple of inches. I’m not sure if Afghanistan is in a rainy season right now or if the last few days have just been a bit out of the norm. I have heard that one of my troops who is down in Bastian was inside a tent within the last day when the wind blew it over on top of him. I only have bits of the story but it sounds like when they got to him he had taken a pretty good blow to the head and was unconscious. I hear he is doing alright though. I’m not sure if it was from our little storm today or not but there were some pretty decent gusts that accompanied it too. Well like I had said, last night I was feeling a bit dreary. As I mentioned, in an attempt to reconnect with my wife, I have been writing her, A LOT. In the past few days I’ve typed about 35 pages worth to her. None of that counts the couple pages I’ve typed on here. It’s been really good to share so much and vent, but the ramification has been that it has made me pretty homesick. Once you start writing about all the things you love about someone, you realize just how much you really miss them. So all you wives who I tried to convince to go crazy, tread lightly. It’s still been great though. We are learning a lot about each other. I’m still in KAF BTW. Sounds like maybe Thursday now; I don’t know, I quit guessing. I heard that the guys down in Bastian had a pretty go BBQ the other night. I was jealous for all of… no seconds. I would trade 100 BBQ’s for each day I could stay here and not go down there. It’s not that I think it’s going to be horrible, it’s just that I’ve built up a level of comfort and seclusion that I’m going to miss when we step out into the wilderness and catch up with the rest of the 43 troops who will be there. It’s been nice to be a little group of 6 here kind of out of sight out of mind, free to do pretty much whatever we want as long as we didn’t have anything else going on, which isn’t often. But it will be good to get busy doing… something, although I’m not quite sure what that will be. I would be nice to lose track of time a bit instead of sitting around counting the minutes until I go home. (right now I have about 405,857minutes left… give or take)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Staying in Touch - 19 March 2009 - 2030
Our date to leave KAF keeps getting pushed farther out little by little. It was going to be Saturday, then I heard Sunday. Now it sounds more like Monday. I don’t think there is as much of a hurry to get us there as there was a week or so ago. It sounds like they got some support from some of the Marines who are there. I heard from Chief Bohaty today that SPC Harris, one of our mechanics who is in Bastian, fabricated some workout equipment from scrap around post. Sometime during the night last night someone stole some of the stuff he built. Needless to say, people aren’t very happy about that. I would think it would be hard to hide something like that though so if they sent out a search party I’m sure they would show up. It’s just a shame that you can’t trust your fellow brothers in arms enough to not have to keep things bolted to the ground. Today was fairly productive for me. Got up early and walked my laundry down to the laundry trailers. I then walked to the computer lab to send my wife an email and check some other things. I then walked to the Boardwalk to drop off my hat to get my rank sewn on it. While I waited I went and had some coffee and donuts from Timmy’s. I went and change my laundry over to the dryer and went and picked my hat back up. I then walked down to the barber and got a haircut. After that I check my laundry, added more time and went back to the computer lab. This time I caught my wife online on Skype. I talked to her for about a half hour, got my laundry and headed back to the tent. Not a bad little morning. Tonight I went back to the computer lab to email my wife, ate some dinner, got another Timmy’s coffee and watched some hockey. I really regret the fact that I won’t be able to stay here for the fact that I would love to get on a hockey team. Oh well. The guys who are at Bastian would have a hard time recognizing Southpark now. They put in those trailers, put up concrete barricade rows in between every other tent and put up a bunch of new bomb shelters. This morning when I got back I found that they had stacked wall lockers in front of all the tents. It’s obvious by the amount of work that is being done out here that Southpark has high visibility by the base command. Tomorrow I need to go back down and drop off my other hat to get rank sewn on. I would have taken it in today but it was filthy and I had it in the wash. I also need to make a run to the PX, hopefully with the Gator that SFC Wolf has acquired, to pick up some things like a cell phone for me and a TV and PS2 for SSG Moorhead who is already in Bastian. It seems like the hobby that has started chewing up most of my time now is writing. It seems like I spend the majority of my days now either writing blogs or writing to my wife. In my last post I mentioned that I wrote my wife a huge blog-like email, well she wrote one back. We have collectively decided now that rather than waste this whole first year of our marriage we are going to write each other and just write and write and write. Each of our emails so far are around 4 pages long (3000ish words). I’ve sent 4 and receive 2 so far. We both agreed that it’s a great idea and we are actually learning quite a bit about each other. I do those just like my blogs; I write them here in bed and paste them in an email when I get to the internet. Saves a lot of time at the computer lab especially since there is a 30min time limit there and I would feel rushed to try and write something and inevitably leave something out. Wives out there reading this, and I know there are many of you, I really suggest it, but don’t tell your guys I told you that. I’d probably get beaten down. I have heard little rumors that a few guys have actually decided to start writing a journal after reading my blogs. I don’t think, however, that they will be posting them online. It’s getting warmer and warmer over here. It rained the other night for only the second time since I have been here, and it wasn’t anything substantial. They have more dust storms here than rain storms; it is a desert after all. Please, if you’re curious about something that I don’t cover about being over here, or if I skim over something, taking for granted that civilians may not fully understand some jargon, please let me know and I’ll address them. For instance, am I tired of seeing Chief Bohaty’s bare ass yet? Yes, yes I am. And that’s just one example!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Incoming - 17 March 2009 - 1945
So do I start with the exciting/scary part or go in order of events for the last couple days. Let’s leave it for the exciting climax to my story. So the equipment that we have been waiting for in KAF finally showed up. We spent all morning over at our Battalion area learning how to set it up and operate it. Now that we have it we need just a little to get a little bit more info on it and we will be good to go. Sounds like, with the exception of 2 of us, the rest of us will be heading to Bastian on Sunday…ish. Figure in the cancelled flight that I’m sure we will have and maybe Tuesday/Wednesday, we’ll see. After our lesson this morning I pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon working on my Microsoft Paint photo. I’ve been working on one picture for 3 days now and I think it will take a couple more to finish. I tried it a different way this time. I’ll post it when I’m done with it. My wife is in Florida with her mother right now for spring break. Since she has been gone I haven’t really been able to speak with her much. Even though I put most everything that is going on over here in my blog, there are things that I can only share with her so I decided to write a gigantic blog-like email to her. I find that writing is a really good way to keep me mellow, and since I can’t sit down and talk with her face to face, the email will have to do. So this evening Chief, SGT Martin and I walked down to the computer lab before chow. While there we ran into SPC Taylor. We waited for everyone to get done and then walked to the Niagara chow hall for dinner. There are currently 3 chow halls open on post; The Niagara (the American/Canadian style food), the Far East (the oriental food) and the Luxemburg (I think that one is Australian… haha German). The best one is the, I think, is the Niagara, go figure. It’s about a mile from our tent but it’s a degree better than the Far East, which is horrible, but only about a half mile from the tent. So we all ate our wonderful food and went our separate ways. My nightly ritual is to go to the Boardwalk for coffee and a donut and watch some hockey. So that’s what I did while the other 3 went to the PX for some “must haves.” Watching the game I was small talking with a guy from what I would assume would be eastern Europe. I’d seen him down there a couple times before. I recognize him because he looks like a bigger George Costanza. I’ll try and get a picture of him all covert like. Anyway, I’d only been there a short while when I heard a noise. I looked around and no one else seemed to hear it. I didn’t think much of it and asked Ole’ Georgie Boy, “What the hell was that?” kind of half jokingly. It sounded like a laser beam off of a movie or whirring sound like incoming in a war movie. A couple seconds later the bases missile alert siren started to blare. Everyone dropped to the ground where they were. People dove under tables and along side walls or anywhere they could find shelter. The guys in the hockey rink all just laid down where they were. The protocol is to find shelter and wait for the “All Clear” siren to sound. About a minute after the alarm, we were yet to hear an explosion, so people started to beat feet out of there, I followed suit. I got about a quarter of the way back when a second income alarm sounded. I was by the gym which is surrounded by concrete barricades so I jumped in behind them. Off in the distance I could hear several small explosions which sounded like mortars. I waited a while there until I saw several other people running off and I continued on my way back to home base. Most of the way back there are concrete barriers on both sides of the road, so I stayed up next to them. When I finally got back to the tent I found no one inside. I figured that the other guys would have been back by then so I check in the surrounding shelters around the tent. No one was around. I hung out in one of them for about 5 min when the “All Clear” alarm sounded. I went back inside and waited for the rest of the guys to show up. When they did they said they had still been in the PX and that they had kicked them out when the siren went off and herded them all into the blast shelters. After the all clear they hoofed it back. So what started out as a good night, turned into a waste. Whatever the first one that I heard was it must have been a dud. The Taliban use a bunch of old junk munitions left over from past wars with Russia. One good thing that I forgot to mention was that Tim Horton’s ran out of game cups, so now instead of having to wait in excess of 30 minutes for coffee, the waits are no more than 10 minutes at any given time and usually more like less than 5, it’s glorious. So I have heard though the grapevine that there is concern over my mental/emotional state over here. Here is what I have going on in a nutshell (this is not an attack BTW). I’m in a desert, 10,000 miles away from my wife and family for a year, getting bombed on occasion, having to deal with potentially doing a job that is outside of what I joined the Army to do. Food sucks but the coffee shop is great, health is decent with better than average living conditions for the region (and getting better). I have constructive hobbies, albeit odd hobbies, and a way to vent. You guys just so happen to be on the end of my venting so you get all the crap of it. I promise everyone that despite my sometimes bleak outlook on BlogSpot, I am actually in pretty good spirits. I consider myself lucky that I am one of the few who got left back in KAF and am grateful for the break I caught. So hopefully that squashes any concern that may be out there. Besides, I’ve had so many Suicide Prevention briefings that they almost make me want to kill myself. KIDDING! Great, now someone is going to read that and I’ll have to go talk to the Chaplain. Oh well. I hear that I’m getting packages showing up in Bastian already for me. Thanks to everyone who is sending care packages. Consider this my Thank You note because, as I’m sure my mother knows from high school graduation, and my wife knows from our wedding, I have what I like to refer to as an inability to write an actual Thank You. It’s a disease, look it up. I can’t help it. I’m sick. Sorry! But seriously thank you and hope everyone back home is doing great.
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