Mission to Baghlan

Went here last week and we had the opportunity to take a military photographer with us and he brought back some great pictures.

Enjoy!

Fording the river at Dutch Bridge

Chillin’ at Ayback

Fording the River at Dutch Bridge

on another note….

Yesterday. That would be Christmas. I got tagged to brief LTG Caldwell. I was one of three selected out of two hundred.   

Yes. I am tooting my own horn. Live with it.

I am Captain Awesome.

dadgum masters degree…

I am enrolled in one class. Just signed up for another that starts next week. And have two more left.

Ugh.

Yes. Christmas occured. Still irritated with the fact I am having to take these classes.

Reading about places you’ve been in the New York Times….

Weird.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/world/asia/16kunduz.html?_r1&hp

Watch Restrepo…

Cant say enough about the new documentary Restrepo. I first heard about it a year and a half ago from Ann and Mike, then read the book this summer, and finally got to see the movie this week. To me the movie said three things:

1. The camraderie between soldiers living in a hard area.

2. Dealing with Afghans.

3. The trauma of losing a close friend.

This is not an easy documentary to watch but it is something everyone should see. Also, one word of advice do not try to stereotype Afghanistan off this one place. This place is considered extreme for a reason.

Closing in on 5 months…

In about a week I will be at the 5 month mark. Considering how quickly the months have gone by I am pretty pleased that it is has gone by this fast, so quickly. The way I measure it is this:

I have Christmas in less than 3 weeks. Then Bowl Season. NFL Playoffs. Super Bowl. College Football Signing Day (Yes this is a momentous day for me).  College Basketball gets serious again. March Madness. And I am hope for RnR. By the time I get back I will be into the double digits of time left. Having completed over 270 days in theater at that point would be a huge accomplishment.

I started another masters class this week and will start another at the end of the month. And when I get back in April, I will start another course. By the time I am done with this deployment I should have completed my masters degree! Checked that block.

 Regarding the Ag’s. I am really excited to see that this team has done so well after starting out the season so poorly. It has been a terrific season for the Ag’s and hopefully will result in a Cotton Bowl over the Swamp Kitties. It’s not talked about but A&M and L$U have an old rivalry which goes back to 1899. We have played 50 games over the previous years but havent played since 95.  Considering we are playing in the 75th Anniversary of the Cotton Bowl it just increase the history around this current team.

On Patrol…

I couldnt get this picture in yesterday, but here was a decent picture that was taken of me when I was on patrol.

Massive Picture Update

These are a bunch of pictures I have taken over the last month. The ones starting with sleeping bags and ending with the shot out the back of the Chinhook were all of my trip to Darzab. The rest are pictures around camp over the last 60 days. Enjoy!

Looking out across the Camp

 This is the view from a spot on camp looking south towards the mountains. The area in the background towards the right hand side of the picture is where the last Mounted Charge of Modern Warfare took place…for now.

Major James Christie and I at German Re-Unification Day

James and I work together in RSC-N and we had this picture taken last month at Camp Marmal.

 

 

These were our sleeping arrangements in Darzab. I did not sleep on a cot. Im the guy in the green sleeping bag ;-).

 

 

This was a standard morning Darzab. The Germans had an instant tea mix which felt good with the boiling water we had and then fresh naan along with german marmalade. Not a bad deal. There are Swedes, Germans, and Americans in this picture.

 

 

We saw a lot of this all around the area. These were two boys who herded sheep.

 

 

 

I noticed some donkey’s that were being used for transport and paid some kids $10 to borrow them for a few hours.  This was so we could get the boss to ride them to an OP that was about 300M above our COP.

 

 

VICTORY(Sort of)! Col Calbos was kind of to have his picture taken but he wanted no business riding the donkey up the mountain. And frankly I dont think the donkey did either!

 

 

The below picture is from the OP above Darzab.

The above picture is more of the view.

 

The below picture was our going away dinner that we paid for in Darzab. Naan, Rice with Lamb, and shiskabobs with lamb. A good warm meal after 3 days of MRE’s.

  

Four days of dirt, no shaving, austere conditions and patrols. Good times!

 

Flying out of Meimana on our way back home

Briefing General McGuinness

 

I briefed BG McGuinness last week on what the FSD does.

 

And here is a standard meeting. We all look thrilled. And yes I am texting.

Office Meeting



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On what I do and the “streak that must not be spoken”….

I wanted to shed some light on exactly what I do over here. I am the Logistics Officer for Regional Support Command – North. We are in charge of all Logistics Development for the Afghan National Security Forces (Police/Army/Border Police/Air Force) in Northern Afghanistan.  We work to build up and make sustainable the logistics processes within the Afghan Security Forces so that they can “do it on their own”.  We work in an area that is 2500km across and covers the Bactarian Deserts (yes, I have seen camels with two humps) to pine forests of the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs. The area around here can be very bad as it is where 1-87 is right now out in Baghlan to wander around downtown MeS and not worry about much. 

I sit at the foot of the Hindu Kush right next to a mountain referred to as “The Bear” in the book the “The Horse Soldiers”. In what was probably the last mounted charge in recorded history occurred only a few miles south of where I sit.   

I work for an Army Colonel who has been a grunt for the previous 28 years and is trying to indoctrinate me into the Army way of life.  Hence, us going on patrol in downtown Darzab and me “humping” a 80 lb ruck through a tepid LZ.  It’s been a great experience.

In other news the Fightin’ Texas Aggies have decided to do something that they havent done in a while. Win Football Games. I am beginning to treat this streak we are on as one does when a pitcher is throwing a perfect game, dont talk about it.  With Nebraska this weekend and a “Bottom Has Fallen out” t.u. to end the season the Ag’s are looking at a possible 6 game winning streak to end the season, when was the last time THAT happened. If we get a little bit of luck our away we might even be able to sneak into the Big 12 Championship. The talk right now is that this like 1984 all over again.  Those were heady days for the Ag’s.

Good Stuff from a deployed Army unit…

These guys are few hours down the road from me. I recommend you browse the site a little bit.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/battalion.html#/1-87