Hello All! To my loved ones: I miss you all so much!
I know that I said that I would keep up with this blog and I am determined to do so. Life has been so busy in the last weeks that I've barely had time to keep up. Mainly, my priorities have been my wife and daughter. I tried to spend as much time as I could with them with what little time I've had.
Well, as you could probably tell: I am now in Afghanistan. I have to tell you it's HOT here! I know that I expected it to be so because of my previous experiences in the Middle East, but knowing what's coming and living the reality of it are different things entirely.
I am currently in Kabul at an ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) base. We finished training at FT Riley on the 11th of July and I went home for 10 days to my wife and daughter. It was a great time although way too short. I hate having to leave them for so long. I spent a lot of time preparing the house and doing some much needed "honey-do" projects. We did spend a few days in Nags Head, NC. We had a hotel room on the beach and we took our daughter to the sand dunes and the Wright Brothers Memorial. I was really happy to see that my daughter (only 16 months old) was really happy to be with me. She sometimes has a hard time with people she hasn't seen before or in a good while. I worry about that when I see her again. I'm going to miss a lot of changes with her. I do get to use a web program called Skype that allows for video calls from PC to PC. This is proving to be an invaluable program for us.
When I returned to FT Riley on the 22nd of July, I took all of my body armor, uniforms and weapons out of storage. We had about a day to prepare any last minute items and we left the night of the 23rd. We had to take a bus from FT Riley to Topeka, KS. From a National Guard Air Base, we flew to Shannen, Ireland, then onto Baku, Azerbaijan and finally to Manas Air Base in Kryzgstan. We stayed there for about 2-3 days before finally boarding a C-130 to Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. Kryzgstan is a very beautiful country. The mountains were particularly beautiful to see.
We arrived late at night in Afghanistan and had to convoy in Humvees (HMMWVs) to Camp Phoenix, which is the American base in Kabul. There we had to endure 2 days of in-processing briefs while awaiting coordination for our transportation to our final destinations. We are all being dispersed to different FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) around the country. I cannot say here where I am finally going to be due to operational security. Once I arrive and have connectivity, I can tell you.
Funny thing about this mission is that I could end up doing any number of things. I don't even know yet what is intended for me. I know that I am here for 1 year and that isn't going to change no matter what my job ends up being. With all of the ever-changing events here, people are moved around all of the time. Therefore; jobs change and it becomes impossible to say that what job you are assigned is the job you will ultimately end up doing. SEMPER GUMBY (Always Flexible).
For the past few days, I've stayed in a tent with about 13 other guys. You get a real good appreciation for having a good packing plan for your gear. You need many things here, but you can (and do) prioritize so you don't have to dig into every bag looking for something. Also, you have to be really well prepared on what you bring. Supplies are limited here and you might not be able to get something if you come up short or have forgotten something. There's no Wal-Mart to run out to here.
One of the first things that you notice when you arrive in Afghanistan is the smell. We arrived late at night, so it was the only thing to notice. Imagine a very large dairy farm. The smell is like that. There's also a very heavy amount of sand in the air, so everyone ends up coughing and blowing their nose a lot in the beginning. OH, and did I mention it's HOT. Easily around 110 degrees on average. Walking fast in full body armor is not technique I would recommend.
The thing I noticed yesterday on the way to the ISAF base was the stark reality of the abject poverty here. I saw a little girl on the side of the road who could not have been much older than my daughter running on the side of the road. She was hoping that we would throw out some candy or food to her. There were other children as well. It was truly heart breaking. I really hope that we can help these people. They are, on the whole, very proud and tough. They do want us here to help, not just give them everything. Their pride drives them to want to improve their country and mostly they are grateful for our assistance.
Now, when I say 'our assistance', I mean all of those countries that are here. I've met people from at least 12 different countries just last night. There are somewhere around 30 countries here, all trying to help the Afghan people. It really is a joint effort. I hope we are helping.
I've included some pictures that I've taken since I left FT Riley. Some are of the plane ride out to Kryzgstan, those of the tent and me are at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. If you have any questions, just post a comment and I'll be happy to reply. Keeping in mind, of course, that I can't talk about certain things.
Later!
