[This email was originally sent May 18, 2009]
So, I've been gone a month. Really? Wow, it's going by quickly (though Emily might disagree). I just finished up my two weeks in Qalat as the medevac escort, or "med chase". We flew about 20 hours, which is not too bad since our company is just now taking over the missions from the unit we're relieving. A lot of that time was spent transporting patients who needed care that was only available at the larger airfields (like Kandahar), some U.S. troops, some NATO allies, some locals, no enemies as far as I know. But in case you're wondering, yes we do take care of them also. If U.S. troops get into some junk and take down some bad guys we would still get called to help. We would take them to a U.S. base for treatment, but instead of ice cream, when they wake up they probably get interrogated.
So here's what went on during my two weeks in Qalat. When I wasn't flying, I was either watching 24 (my roommate and I made it through two seasons) or reading. I made it through most of the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. I haven't made it a goal to finish any particular amount of the Bible by any particular time, only to work on it every day. I find that without the pressure of checking the block I have been able to slow down and really take the time to understand what I'm reading. So that's my current Bible reading plan. If you want a different one they're available at Explore Church. Having a study Bible really helps too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend church while I was in Qalat because they didn't have a regularly scheduled service. But I was able to talk about my faith with one of my friends who was there with me, and like I said, I had a lot of time to study.
I also got my new bike assembled. There wasn't really any place to ride it, but I had so much free time I took the parts with me to work on getting it put together. I don't think there was a bolt that Emily didn't loosen in order to fit that thing into a box small enough to mail. She even took pictures of every single step so I had personalized assembly instructions. I showed my friends and told them how much work it took for her to get my bike to me and they were very impressed. They questioned how I was able to score such a babe. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.
There were a few stray dogs running around up there too. My friend had already claimed a young puppy named Dozer that a local found and dropped off with our unit. I took him into the shower to get him cleaned up (the puppy, not my friend). He was not a fan of that, but I had to get him wet to see all the ticks in his thick white fur. I got him squared away and everyone enjoyed his company. As I understand, its very expensive to bring dogs back to the states so he'll probably stay here when we leave and keep the next unit company when they arrive a year from now. Besides, we have enough dogs in my house right now, unless you find a stray dachshund or chihuahua. They're like ice cream, you can never really get enough.
The food was good, we had steak with lobster or crab legs on a few occasions. They also had Baskin Robins 31 flavors, except we only had 4 flavors. Maybe if you mixed those 4 you could come up with 31 combinations. Anyway, mint chocolate chip was one of the choices so I was ok with that. They also served mango sorbet bars which I fell in love with. I spent a lot of my free time consuming them. Sadly, they were made by an Arabic company with shops in Dubai so I don't know if I'll ever see them again. Tear. We also made a habit of bringing out lunch meats for the FOB (forward operating base) dog, Trigger. He was always appreciative, but we realized quickly he only wanted us for our food. If we came out empty handed he wasn't interested in playing with us.
So now I'm back at Kandahar Airfield (KAF). We got in yesterday morning and I was looking forward to some time to get settled into my new room because our company is finally out of the tents, but I was informed I had to be in at 0400 the next morning (today) to fly a mission. It was good to be out doing missions already though and flying with some of the newer guys. I enjoy teaching. Nothing fancy today, just moving troops around the battlefield. Flew about 3.5 hours. Tomorrow I'm shifting to a night schedule. I'll be the primary planner for our company's missions, and all of that work gets done at night so it's ready each morning for that day's flights to be flown, or for the next day's flights to be briefed by the Colonel. One of my responsibilities as a tactical operations officer is making sure everyone understands the planning process; that's why I'm one of the first guys to get stuck on planning duty. I'll probably do that for a week or so before getting back on the flight schedule.
That's all that's happening right now. Our new internet system is currently being set up so I'll be able to post photos soon. Thank you all for staying interested.
- Jeff
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