Alright, I´m stuck at another base waiting on someone, so I figured I should make use of the time. We´ve started to get a little ´wintery mix´of things, with some rain/snow mix, with more to come tonight. Maybe winter has finally arrived here. Not sure how long it´s supposed to last, but it sure does make a muddy mess out of everything.
Alright, I´m going to try to tackle another subject while I´m here. Though it´s one of those I´m not sure I can properly explain and if anyone else really cares. Anyway, as you´ve seen in the news lately, there´s a lot more U.S. troops headed this way as part of a ´surge´. What does that mean to me? Plenty, as far as work wise, as it´s all a matter of logistics; though I don´t really want to get in to that here. What else it means is that ´Team America´ is arriving in droves at our quiet NATO base.
And, honestly, Team America rolling in is a bit annoying. You come to appreciate the differences, both good and bad, in the way that Team NATO approaches and works certain things. This of course is relating to the staff here, as I have no experience with actual tactical operations (though you hear plenty about the differences there as well). So we now have cramped offices, more tents going up everyone, longer dinner lines, more annoying Army acronyms and a general decline in appreciation for the way other countries operate. After all, many of these countries have had strong and effective militaries well before we were even a country. Anyway, I guess enough on that.
This post was started a few days ago when I was at another base. Then I tried to continue it here only to learn our Internet was down. Like anything else, I thought it might be a few weeks, but surprisingly, it was fixed again within a few days and, hence, I am able to finish it now.
That's about it for now. Today was our 'Freeky Friday' morning, so I slept in until about 9am. Tried to get caught up on some emails and thank you notes; still plenty to do next week.
Oh ya, and that 'wintery weather' hasn't turned out to be much just yet. A little colder, but just a sloppy, muddy mess around here. Hopefully it will freeze up (hardens the ground) and we can get a little actual snow. We'll see.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Mountain climb
Last Friday, on our usual half day off, instead of sleeping in we decided to 'go climb a mountain'. Bruno had made arrangements with some of his fellow Frenchmen for the little adventure. We left base around 5am, linked up with some others at Camp Warehouse (where we ate at the French dining facility before) and headed to another base where we could access the trail/mountain.
Once there, we proceded to make the one hour climb to the top of the mountain (I have the name of the mountain, just not right now). The goal was to make it there for sunrise. We didn't quite make that but the morning was pretty hazy anyway. The pictures below are from the trip. The group photo is those of us who went from here. From left to right, Thomas, Bruno, myself, Jaap, Cath and Larry.
At the top, the French contingent broke out a couple bottles of wine, fresh bread and cheese. We settled for some water, power bars and crunchies (trail mix). It was a nice view and a good break in the routine. We headed back down and made it back to base around 1030am.
Anyway, that's about it. I think I may have figured out this blog thing. I'll load the pictures during the day, save the draft and then come back to add the comments at night. Note that I cannot access this website from work any more, as the 'fun police' have blocked all such sites.
Once there, we proceded to make the one hour climb to the top of the mountain (I have the name of the mountain, just not right now). The goal was to make it there for sunrise. We didn't quite make that but the morning was pretty hazy anyway. The pictures below are from the trip. The group photo is those of us who went from here. From left to right, Thomas, Bruno, myself, Jaap, Cath and Larry.
At the top, the French contingent broke out a couple bottles of wine, fresh bread and cheese. We settled for some water, power bars and crunchies (trail mix). It was a nice view and a good break in the routine. We headed back down and made it back to base around 1030am.
Anyway, that's about it. I think I may have figured out this blog thing. I'll load the pictures during the day, save the draft and then come back to add the comments at night. Note that I cannot access this website from work any more, as the 'fun police' have blocked all such sites.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Ramp ceremony
Just a quick post tonight, as I don't want to deal with the very slow picture upload process. Anyway, two nights ago, I witnessed my first 'ramp ceremony'. The night before that (now 3 days ago) a soldier passed away (non-hostile related) here on base. So the ramp ceremony is a military send off of his remains. Similar to what you probably saw President Obama do at Dover Air Force Base a few months ago.
It is not a common occurance here, as the majority of the remains depart Afghanistan from Bagram or Kandahar. The command here organized it well and most of the base turned out to support. The road from the hospital to the airfield was lined with service members from every nation here. A helicopter flew in from Bagram and we all saluted until they departed. A bagpipe playing Amazing Grace was an added touch.
Anyway, it made me think of the movie 'Taking Chance' with Kevin Bacon. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend renting it or catching it on HBO. It's one of the very few military movies that's entertaining for non-military people and 'proper' (i.e. an accurate portrayal) for those of us in the military. Unfortunately, I think this movie is/was only popular with the military community; so I would encourage everyone to 'depart from the norm' and view it sometime.
Alright, so not to sound too morose (is that the correct usage of the word?), I'll end on a completely unrelated good note. The sunrises and sunsets here continue to be spectacular. Must be all the dust and crud in the air that reflects it just right; unfortunately my camera is too awful to capture it.
It is not a common occurance here, as the majority of the remains depart Afghanistan from Bagram or Kandahar. The command here organized it well and most of the base turned out to support. The road from the hospital to the airfield was lined with service members from every nation here. A helicopter flew in from Bagram and we all saluted until they departed. A bagpipe playing Amazing Grace was an added touch.
Anyway, it made me think of the movie 'Taking Chance' with Kevin Bacon. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend renting it or catching it on HBO. It's one of the very few military movies that's entertaining for non-military people and 'proper' (i.e. an accurate portrayal) for those of us in the military. Unfortunately, I think this movie is/was only popular with the military community; so I would encourage everyone to 'depart from the norm' and view it sometime.
Alright, so not to sound too morose (is that the correct usage of the word?), I'll end on a completely unrelated good note. The sunrises and sunsets here continue to be spectacular. Must be all the dust and crud in the air that reflects it just right; unfortunately my camera is too awful to capture it.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Herat trip
Last Wednesday, I traveled to Herat, Afghanistan for a quick (two night) visit. Herat is in western Afghanistan and is where Regional Command (RC) - West is headquartered. RC-West is primarily ran by the Spanish and Italians. At the base, there was also a significant Albanian and Slovakian presence. It's always interesting to see how other countries run an operation (i.e. the Italian espresso stampede at 9am sharp or the Spanish dining hall being open for dinner from 8-9pm (just about past my bedtime)).
I flew out in a Spanish C-295, which is the aircraft in the picture below. It was a pretty short trip (especially compared to the Japan - U.S. flights I'm used to) and we had a short stop in Mazar e Sharif (in RC-North). One thing that was noticed immediately was the cleaner air. Quite a difference from the Kabul crud I'm used to. Another picture below is of one of the sunsets there at Herat. It was also nice to see a full sky of stars, as there's no city or base lights to get in the way (unlike here in Kabul).
The final picture is just a bit of proof that I actually work :) That's a picture of one of the fuel facilities we were there to see ('we' being Leo and I). It's also what I'm supposed to get excited about as part of my job - large, modern 'vertical tank' storage of fuel. Interesting, but still can't shake the feeling of a glorified gas station attendant.
Anyway, I think that's about it for now. These pictures take about 10 minutes each to load, as the wireless Internet in the room is nice, but extremely slow at night when everyone is on.
I flew out in a Spanish C-295, which is the aircraft in the picture below. It was a pretty short trip (especially compared to the Japan - U.S. flights I'm used to) and we had a short stop in Mazar e Sharif (in RC-North). One thing that was noticed immediately was the cleaner air. Quite a difference from the Kabul crud I'm used to. Another picture below is of one of the sunsets there at Herat. It was also nice to see a full sky of stars, as there's no city or base lights to get in the way (unlike here in Kabul).
The final picture is just a bit of proof that I actually work :) That's a picture of one of the fuel facilities we were there to see ('we' being Leo and I). It's also what I'm supposed to get excited about as part of my job - large, modern 'vertical tank' storage of fuel. Interesting, but still can't shake the feeling of a glorified gas station attendant.
Anyway, I think that's about it for now. These pictures take about 10 minutes each to load, as the wireless Internet in the room is nice, but extremely slow at night when everyone is on.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Another week down
So once again, I realize it's been a long time (a week this time) since my last post. Well, things have been a bit busy and/or I wasn't it the most social mood some of those days.
Anyway...the big news (to me) is that I'm now living in the building instead of the tent. I'll post a picture at the bottom of this post so you can get an idea. I didn't mind the tent by any means, but the building is nice. Each 'bay' has four bunk beds for up to eight people. They've been putting six to seven to each bay. Right now our bay only has two people (a third just came tonight but he should be moving out shortly); so we have lots of room. We also have wireless Internet in this building, so I should get better at posting, answering emails, downloading pictures, etc. We shall see.
We also went down the street to Camp Warehouse the other day. Camp Warehouse is where the Regional Command (RC) Capital Headquarters is located. There are mainly Turkish, French, Macedonian and Georgian soldiers stationed there. We went for a couple meetings (so officially for work), but timed it so we could have lunch at the French dining facility. It was excellent - filet mignon, fresh bread and cheese (of course) and fresh crepes. They 'do it right' there for sure.
The other two pictures on this post is from Camp Warehouse. One of me by a totem pole of signs pointing out various European cities. The other picture is of 'the gang'. From right to left is Bjorn (Norway), Bruno (France), Leo (Dutch), Gordon (UK), Larry (US), Thomas (Germany), Jaap (Dutch) and 'baby Bjorn' (Norway). Our get together doubled as a farewell for Bjorn who leaves tomorrow for Munster, Germany where he's stationed with the Ger/Neth Corps. 'baby Bjorn' is his replacement (I can't understand, let alone pronounce, his name just yet).
It's those good days (enjoying a coffee on the rooftop in the middle of 'less than ideal' conditions) that I really enjoy. There are many bad days (doing stupid stuff or working for a bad boss), but I know I will miss the good days when I leave active duty (in less than six months now!). Anyway, just interesting to me that regardless of nationality or situation, 'soldiers are soldiers', you get along pretty well and make the best of it.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
2010 underway
Well, I guess 2010 is well underway by now. Today is officially the last day of the Christmas season (I never knew the '12 Days of Christmas' went this long), so we finally get to take down all of the Christmas decorations. I'm also currently watching the first half of the Iowa game, so hopefully they can pull out a big Orange Bowl win.
I think the only other excitement around here is the ongoing 'billeting migration'. I'm still on schedule to move Saturday out of the tent and into a building. Yea, indoor plumbing!
Lets see....don't feel like writing too much this morning; just one of those days. I did download a few pictures last night. The picture below is a sign that's posted in the 'loo'. A step by step instruction in case you forgot. I am particularly fond of step 3 - don't forget to put some sweat and effort into it!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to everyone out there! I hope everyone celebrated appropriately and wish all the best in 2010. New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful out here. The dining hall did have an excellent dinner, with some nice roast beef and grilled chicken. Then the coffee shop had some music playing, but most people gathered at their 'NSE'. NSE stands for National Support Element. Most countries have a small office space, a few containers or a tent of some sort for personnel from that country to gather. Most of the time it consists of a lounge area, maybe a dart board, music from home playing, etc. However, some are nicer than others, depending on the number of people from that country and, usually, the amount of money that country allots for it. Anyway, if national rules allow it, most NSE serve a bit of alcohol from home as well. So, needless to say, that's where the majority of folks found themselves on New Year's Eve.
Of course the U.S. does not have an NSE and personnel cannot drink alcohol at all while over here. It amazes us that we can spend a whole lot of money on a whole lot of things, but we won't shell out a few hundred dollars to set up a little lounge area where people can relax.
Last night, we went down to a 'Holiday market' of sorts. Basically a few NSEs put on some food and music. The Belgiums, Spanish and Dutch offered up bratwurst, french fries (originated in Belgium), waffles, some Spanish rice medley and drinks. It was a really nice atmosphere, though cold since it was outside. Again, it was amazing to see that three relatively small NSEs put on a little something for the base; something that the U.S. would never think of or be able to do. There's so much paperwork and it's such a process for us to get money we can use to entertain personnel from other countries; it's actually quite embarassing.
Anyway, I think that's about it. I must say that getting access to this computer is getting more difficult, as we have more people in the office and have to share the limited computers. I will try to post about some random things, as I find that if I wait for a 'special occasion' (like New Years) I won't be posting much (as everday is the same here :).
Of course the U.S. does not have an NSE and personnel cannot drink alcohol at all while over here. It amazes us that we can spend a whole lot of money on a whole lot of things, but we won't shell out a few hundred dollars to set up a little lounge area where people can relax.
Last night, we went down to a 'Holiday market' of sorts. Basically a few NSEs put on some food and music. The Belgiums, Spanish and Dutch offered up bratwurst, french fries (originated in Belgium), waffles, some Spanish rice medley and drinks. It was a really nice atmosphere, though cold since it was outside. Again, it was amazing to see that three relatively small NSEs put on a little something for the base; something that the U.S. would never think of or be able to do. There's so much paperwork and it's such a process for us to get money we can use to entertain personnel from other countries; it's actually quite embarassing.
Anyway, I think that's about it. I must say that getting access to this computer is getting more difficult, as we have more people in the office and have to share the limited computers. I will try to post about some random things, as I find that if I wait for a 'special occasion' (like New Years) I won't be posting much (as everday is the same here :).
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