I Have Arrived

Welcome to the Afghan Update.  I started this blog on my last deployment to keep friends and family informed while I'm away.  Since I just arrived in Afghanistan for my third, year-long, all expenses paid vacation, I figured it was time to re-launch the site.

First things first.  If you want to receive an email notifying you whenever I update this blog, send me your email address and I'll add you to the list.  I'm not sure how often I'll get to post.  Last time I came close to publishing about once per month.  It should be at least as often this time, but I promise not to flood your inbox.

Here's what's happened so far.  On Tuesday, September 20th, I left Ft. Bragg on a chartered commercial jet with probably way more gear that I needed and a couple hundred of my closest friends.  We always joke about not being able to carry four ounces of shampoo while each of us are carrying an M9 pistol or an M4 rifle.  We stopped in Maine for fuel and got welcomed by the Maine Greeters.  I posted a short video of this on my Facebook page.  (Still not on Facebook?  Resistance is futile.)  From there we got gas again in Leipzig, Germany before landing at Manas Air Base in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Manas is a "gateway" stop the military uses before sending troops into a combat zone.  Video of this stop is also on Facebook.  Here, we do some last minute training about how to use our first-aid kits, how to survive a vehicle roll-over (they actually have a simulator that rolls upside down from which you have to egress), and get briefed on the local culture and climate we can expect.  Most people don't like this stop just because of the transient living and not wanting to unpack everything just for a couple days.  Others, including me, have no problem with it.  There is zero work to be done, and the chow hall is decent.  I would miss the flying, but would gladly serve my year there instead of in Afganistan.  One thing everyone talks about in Manas is that it's last time we get to enjoy real milk.  It's served in plastic a bottle, like you might find at a convenience store, they keep it very cold, and it's so much better than the shelf-stable, juice-box style, milk-type beverage we drink in the chow halls in Afganistan.  But, all good things...

On Sunday we got onto an Air Force C-17 (Google this if you haven't seen one.  They're impressive) and flew into Bagram Air Base in Eastern Afghanistan.  More transient living.  More training.  More inprocessing.  Unloading all our bags.  Reloading all our bags onto pallets.  Not sleeping much.  I've developed a cold by this point and join everyone else in no longer wanting to be traveling.  We finally get a flight scheduled out of Bagram and we're in the air for less than 30 minutes.  On Wednesday September 28th, (8 days of travel for those keeping track at home) we landed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank and I got my first look at what will be my new home for the next year.  And that's about all you've missed so far.

More to follow about life at Shank.  Stay tuned and thanks for reading.  Feel free to leave comments in the section below for public discussion, but the best way to stay in touch with me is to email me directly.