Lunch with the Commandant

First, welcome to December! I can't believe that officially one of my six months is already in the books. It's all downhill from here :)

Anyway, the day after Thanksgiving, I had a chance to meet General Conway, the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He's our top four-star General. I think he was down south on Thanksgiving day, serving meals to some of the Marines there. When we saw him on Friday, he was on his way out of Afghanistan, bound for Iraq that night before heading back to the States. We had a chance to eat lunch with him and his entourage (which was another one-star General, like 6 Colonels, a couple aides and a reporter or two) and then take some pictures afterwards. He was really nice and I received one of his 'challenge coins', which is quite the hunk of metal.

Alright, I do have a pretty funny random picture as well (let me know what you think Tana). Here's a picture of the ATM that's on the south side of the airport (and the only way I can withdraw money). It's basically in an abandoned terminal area with a pile of receipts scattered about. As a bonus, since "Afghanistan International Bank is promoting their new ATM service, they're waiving the service fee until 2010"!

Freaky Fridays

Fridays are called 'Freaky Fridays' around here because Friday is the equivalent to our Sunday, or religous day. They're 'freaky' because we kind of get the morning off. It's the only break in the routine throughout the week. So normally scheduled meetings and briefs are at different times on Friday, thus making it 'freaky'. I know, it's the little things here. My Friday routine usually consists of sleeping in an extra 2 hours (until maybe 8am), organizing some laundry and maybe getting over to the South side to look at the shops. Once a month or so, you have duty and come into work at normal time. Even though we don't have to be in until around noon, by about 9 or 10 am, everyone's in to work because there's not that much else to do. Here's a quick picture I took the other morning. You usually can't see all of the mountains because of the smog/dust/crud, but sometimes in the morning you get a nice view like this one.

The last couple pictures I'll post is of my lovely sleeping area. It's really just a bottom bunk, with some improvised shelves (which I'm quite proud of) to try to organize some of my gear. I have probably two sea bags full of gear that I won't use at all while I'm here. They're full of extreme cold weather gear, gas mask, chemical suit, etc.

Two other quick things...I ran into General Conway today. He's the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps' top four-star General. I think he was in the area to serve some Thanksgiving meals to some of the Marine units in the area. He was very nice, I shook his hand and had a picture taken.

Also, I think I said it was a low of -5 degrees F on one of my other posts. I meant -5 degrees Celsius (only like 26 degrees Fahrenheit). You'd think I'd be better at all of the conversions after 2+ years in Japan, but..I'm not.

Happy Thanksgiving

A quick post to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving! I just finished our Thanksgiving dinner at the DFAC (I think that stands for Dining Facility; it's an Army term). It was actually pretty good. Carved turkey, mashed potatoes and corn bread were all above average, while the stuffing doubled as sawdust. Can't have everything I guess.

It was a clear, brisk day today. You could see the snowy moutains really well this morning, before the smog/dust/crud rolled in and obscured it. That's about it from here. Hope everyone enjoys the gluttonous and glorious day!

Meet the team

I must admit that the days here tend to blend together. Before you know it, it's been four days since a post and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I was planning on trying to update this every day, but it looks like every 3 days or so is a more realistic goal. Anyway, I took a few pictures of the people I work closest with here and thought I'd introduce them a bit.

Thomas, officially Captain Kortenbrede, is from Team Germany. He's the one standing by the vehicle with the first aid kit (with red cross) in front. He's what we'd refer to as a 'Limited Duty Officer' (LDO), meaning he has prior enlisted experience in logistics. He achieved the equivalent enlisted rank as a GySgt (E7 on an E1-E10 scale) before switching over to the officer side. I think he's been in about 19 years now. Originally from Munster, Germany, he's married with one daughter.

Next (if this thing formats correctly) is Gordon (standing by vehicle with sunglasses). Gordon, or Major Cooke, is from Team UK. He's also an LDO type, having achieved the highest enlisted rank (SgtMaj or E10 equivalent) before going the officer route. He's originally from Scotland and is also married. He started his military career 28 years ago with the equivalent of a junior ROTC (high school training) program. Gordon arrived just 3 weeks before me, so we're pretty much on the same rotation schedule. He drinks a ton of coffee and we have a running inside joke that he's really a German spy (he's obviously not).

Finally, there's Leo from Team Netherlands. He's the equivalent of a SgtMaj (highest enlisted rank). He (along with Thomas) are from the 7th German/Netherlands Corps, which is the main unit here commanding the Headquarters. They all arrived in August and will be departing in February; being replaced by a unit from Poland. Leo's a funny guy, fluent in English, Dutch, German and who knows what else. We joke that he's more German than Thomas since he lives there and has done more German things (i.e. festivals, sightseeing) than Thomas. He's also a big American Football fan. He's been in the Army for 26 years now, with another 14 or so to go.

Couple other quick comments...US military almost always get out at the 20 year mark (i.e. at age 38-42) because you can retire at 50% pension at that point. Other countries (i.e. Germany, Netherlands, UK), if you're career military you stay until age 56 or so, completing close to 40 years of service, but still retiring earlier than most. It's hard for some of us (US military) to fully comprehend.

Finally, just want to add, that I type these posts as I think about it...there's no spellcheck option and I don't even re-read for accuracy. So apologize if there's grammatical errors and whatnot. I did go to a technical college after all. Anyway, that's it for now.

Camp life

Okay, so I still haven't taken too many pictures around here, nor have any interesting stories. It's early, dark and cold when I go into work, and late, dark and cold when I leave at night. It's somewhat difficult to get out of work and go 'sightseeing' around camp. Anyway, the one to the right is a picture of the airport terminal building (on our side, the military side) and 'flag circle'. I'm assuming that's all the countries participating here, but I haven't counted or checked or anything.

The second photo is of a couple of medical vehicles parked outside of the clinic here. They're obviously European, but I don't know the name of the vehicle or even what country they are from. Our medical clinic is currently staffed by Spanish and Portugese medical folks. You can also see the snow capped mountains in the background. The little building between the vehicles and the mountains is our laundry shop. We can drop off laundry there and get it back (nice and folded even) about a day later. It's a nice service; just have no idea where/how the clothes are actually washed.

I think that's about it for now. It's getting a bit colder here. Lows of about -2 degrees Fahrenheit and highs of around 58 degrees. I guess I have to sort through all of the cold weather gear I received and see what I can actually use.

Mission(s)

Alright, I think I need to try to explain something, but I'm not sure how clear it will be; I didn't know myself until after I got over here. So here goes...

The U.S. is more or less involved in two missions here in Afghanistan. The first is Operation Enduring Freedom. That's the U.S. mission basically to seek out and destroy the Taliban (and 'win hearts and minds of the local populace'). This is what the majority of U.S. troops are involved in and the vast majority of the Operation is in the more volitile southern region of the country. So it's a more dangerous mission in a more dangerous location.

By the way, the U.S. forces here are affectionately referred to as 'Team America' from the movie of the same name. Everyone seems to get a kick out of it. If you don't quite understand the full humor, must be because you're not stuck in the sandbox with the crud :)

U.S. troops are also part of the NATO ISAF's humanitarian mission. There are 26 nations with NATO; 40 with ISAF (additional countries like Austalia, Finland, Sweden, Macedonia) participating in this mission. The country is divided into five areas, which one or two countries take control of an area for 6-12 months before handing off control to another country. For example, the northern region is primarily German and Swedish; the western region is primarily Spanish. The U.S. has the southern region, again the more volitile area. That allows Team America to combine some of our resources for both the Enduring Freedom and ISAF mission.

So I am part of the NATO ISAF mission. I am in Kabul, in the central/eastern part of the country. I'm also at the Headquarters element. We have at least 8 General Officers here, including three American Generals. Obviously, the Generals and the Headquarters are going to be in a safer part of the country.

Being part of the American contribution to the ISAF mission is very unique. First, we have American Generals in our chain of command and follow U.S. regulations in addition to the NATO rules. So, you can imagine, the U.S. forces are used to more dangerous missions and take all precautions. Team Euro sometimes pokes fun of us here because we're more uptight. Hopefully you can understand why, as most of the U.S. leadership here have had very different experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To summarize, I take more precautions and have more rules to follow, am part of the safer of the two missions, in a safer part of the country, at a safer base and with more protection than most because of the senior leadership and importance of this Headquarters. That's why I stress not to follow the news too closely and hope nobody is worrying too much. Also, there's many (maybe 20) different bases and compounds here in the city. So if you hear anything about 'Kabul' it's like hearing something about 'California' - it's a big place with lots of good spots and a few bad spots.

Alright, that's my two cents I needed to get out. The Presidential Inauguration is coming up in a few days here, so we're plenty busy with lots of planning for that. That's about it for now!

Third photo

Alright, finally, this is a picture of our Marine Corps Birthday cake cutting ceremony. LTG Rodriguez (Army 3-star general) and MajGen Redner (Marine 2-star general) were there, along with all of the Marines pictured, which is just about all of the Marines who work on this base. It was done at 7am in the morning, so it was probably 30-32 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

This was obviously taken at my base (KAIA) here in Kabul. We're standing inside a circle of flags representing all of the nations there. And you can see those tents in the background - I live in one of those. Then there's the mountains in the far background. I'm getting some pictures of that other stuff (especially my tent so you can all see where/how I live) and I'll get those up in the next few days.

Second photo

Here's the second photo. I hate pictures of myself. This is me on the C-17 from Kuwait to Bagram. There was maybe 45 other passengers on there, along with 8-10 pallets of ammunition and other explosives. I took a short video which I'll try to post to YouTube a little later. The flight was about 3 and 1/2 hours. It was also the smoothest landing I think I've ever had (who knew?). After I arrived in Bagram, I spent just a few hours there and then got on a C-130 (much smaller than a C-17, but still good-sized) for the 15 minute flight to Kabul.

Photos!

So I'm pretty excited that I figured out how to get pictures out. I had to download them to my laptop, burn them to a CD and then load them on one of the networks here. Anyway, the first picture is one of the tent I stayed in during the week I was in Kuwait. There was maybe 10 bunkbeds in there, with usually about 8 people in there at night. It was freezing in there because the air conditioning (filling the tube in the upper right of the picture) was on full tilt and I didn't want to unpack my sleeping bag (because I didn't think I would be there as long as I was.

Okay, this thing isn't letting me post more than one picture without screwing up the formatting. So I'm going to make three separate entries real quick.

Also, if possible, leave me a comment or something if I say something that doesn't make sense or if you have a question or something. I think it'd be a little easier to post with a little feedback :) (it's like talking to a wall :)

Arrived

Alright, I know I have a lot to update....

First, thank you all for the Birthday wishes. The Marine Corps birthday is also the same day, so every year we have a cake for that which is quite nice. This morning, at 7am out in 31 degree weather, we had a nice cake cutting ceremony with all of the Marines here at this base (maybe 20 total), the Marine two-star General and two other Army Generals.

I'll try to update some from the last post...
I got out of Kuwait on Friday, the 6th (I think). Left the base around 11pm, got on a bus, waited, got on the plane, waited, and finally departed around 230am. It was a 3 1/2 hour flight to Bagram, which is 1 1/2 hours ahead of Kuwait as far as time zone. So I arrived in Bagram like 9am. I checked in there, did some quick Admin work and lucked out by getting on a flight to Kabul around noon. It's only about a 15 minute ride from Bagram to Kabul. Even got to sit in the front (back of cockpit) of the C-130; I think because the co-pilot had a crush on Marines :)

So I got into Kabul on Saturday, the 7th. That day (after not sleeping at all flying the night prior), I was running around until about 10pm. Checking in, getting set up and getting right to work. The Marine I was replacing was leaving just two days later on the 9th. With that work and lack of sleep, I managed to pick up the 'Afghan crud' or a nice little head cold. The next two days was spent working a lot, trying to get all of the information I could out of John (guy I replaced) before he left.
Things are finally starting to slow down just a bit. I'm also finally getting rid of the 'crud'.

I'm working at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command (IJC) Logistics division. I'm working on everything fuel related. A lot of customs issues in getting fuel into the country and where it needs to go.
I work with a diverse team. An Army (US) officer, a German, a Brit, two Dutch and a Frenchman. It's a good group of guys and we all get along well. Basically a Dutch-German team are running the show here (obviously augmented from other countries) until February when I believe the Polish will take over primary staff duties. So a lot of the team will turnover in February.

I think that's it for now. Need to get some sleep before 'Groundhog Day' starts again tomorrow.

Still waiting

I would update this blog more often, but right now there's not that much to update. I'm still in Kuwait, awaiting a flight to Bagram (and I'll go onto Kabul from there). I check in once or twice a day, wait to see if any flights are available and then there's the whole process of who gets boarded first. So no luck so far; will check again tomorrow.

I have managed to watch an impressive list of DVDs while here, including I Am Legend, Sweeney Todd, The Wrestler and Delta Farce. I also sleep a lot and eat; that's about it :)

I did think it was interesting to learn that all Kuwaitis are paid a monthly stipend from their government (probably similar to the Meskwakis). So none of them work the menial jobs. The jobs on base and at the food places at the airport (really the only two places I've seen) are worked by Philippinos (like I'm back in Japan), Sri Lankans and other immigrants. Meanwhile you see dented up Mercedes abandoned on the highway because it was easy for the Kuwati to buy a new one than fix that one. Must be nice.

Waiting in Kuwait

So the second full day here in Kuwait is coming to an end. Yesterday, only 3 of my 4 bags showed up at the airport. I'm hoping the last one shows up tonight. Can't do much else until I have all of my stuff.

My days here are spent sleeping (the blasting air conditioning makes the tent plenty cold), eating (food is good, not spectacular), checking the Internet (I have to sign up, wait maybe 20 minutes, then have a 20 minute limit), watching movies (you can check out a number of DVDs) and that's about it. It's extremely boring and I'm ready to move on already.

Today there was plenty of blowing sand. Visibility was less than a mile and you got to taste some sand anytime you went out side. Naturally most folks stayed in their sleeping tents or one of the large MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) tents. I guess that's it for now.