18 Days to Go!

That’s right folks, I’m still alive, and I’ve only got 18 days left in country. On March 16th I fly to Dubai where I get to have my first drink in 120-something days, and then on the 18th I fly into Atlanta and the warm embrace of hearth and home.

Obviously I haven’t been writing for a while, and yet plenty has been going on. So rather than write in detail about everything, here are some brief descriptions and pictures from the last month or so.

I don’t think I ever mentioned seeing Senators McCain and Lieberman out here. They were visiting one of the FOBs I was working on, the same trip where I got to climb the hill/mountain. Pictured with them is Lieutenant Colonel Frank Jenio, a true badass who was very nice to me while simultaneously, and involuntarily, intimidating the shit out of me.


Let’s see, what else. Ah, there is the terrific rainstorm that flooded KAF, leaving lots of big ass tactical vehicles stuck in the mud, for instance the MRAP and the Hemmet pictured below. I’m sure something heroic had to happen to get these guys back out of the mud.





Here’s a picture of the side mirror of our truck as we crossed a stream over a flooded bridge.


Of course there’s my current assignment, we’re at a base in Uruzgon province doing an install and I got to take my first helicopter ride to get out here. We took a Chinook, which is that gigantic chopper with the two blades on top. Below you can see another one that was flying with us, pictured out the open rear door of the bird, along with a door gunner, looking pretty similar to the B-17 door-gunners of yesteryear.





And as always, there was a good time by the fireside up here, though this time with the benefit of a little backyard barbeque. Sadly the only guitar in this camp belongs to the chaplain, and the neck is so irrevocably bent that you can’t fret the strings.




Also, for you music lovers, we did an install for a platoon that calls themselves The Misfits, complete with awesome stencils.




Later on I'll have to detail the story of the guitar and maybe the harrowing adventures I've had doing phone support until all hours of the night on the whim of our boss out here. Yes, I said it: phone support adventures.