The grind continues....

So, another day here and not much different. Things at work are picking up a bit, which is a good thing since it makes the time go by faster. Larry (Team USA) left for two weeks of R&R (rest and recuperation leave) back in Germany (where he's stationed and his family is). Can't remember if I've already covered this, but R&R policies between countries is a bit interesting. For Team USA, you get 2 weeks for 12 months deployed. Hence why I do not get any (only a six month deployment). On the other end of the spectrum is Team Norway who get four weeks (on up to three different trips) for a six month deployment. So you throw a couple of travel days on either end of each trip and the Norwegians are gone for six weeks out of their six month deployment. On top of that, they get paid something ridiculous like an extra 300 Euros ($500) per day. Not too shabby.

Tonight we did have a USO Tour stop through. Again, one of my favorite charities. Rose McGowan (Gilmore Girls, I think), 'Tony' and 'Paule' from the Sopranos, and a New Orleans Saints football player (an offensive linemen who didn't even have his Super Bowl ring) were on this trip. As always, despite jetlag and general exhaustion, they put on their best show and graciously signed autographs and took pictures. Always nice for any break in the monotony here.

I traded Bruno (Team France) an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) for one of the French rations. I'll have to get a picture here soon and post. It cracks me up as it's relatively big and heavy because "we must have our wine" as Bruno tells me. I think I'll bring this one home and have a romantic MRE dinner with the wife.

Anyway, apologize for the random and 'non-flowing' thoughts. Oh, thank you Sebastian, Cheryl and Melissa for posting a comment; nice to know someone is bored enough to read this :)

I'll post a few pictures tonight while the connection is good. One is me and Paule from the USO tour tonight. One is a couple of local 'Afghani muts' who call KAIA home. And the last two is of our wonderous NATO medal parade which I'll have to explain more on another post. Hopefully you can figure out which picture is which :)

One more month

Well, I think I'm officially at 30 days or so of work days left here in Kabul. Of course it will take me about a week to get back to the U.S., then maybe 2 weeks in North Carolina before I can finally get back to Massachusetts, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. On Sunday, we have our "NATO Medal Parade". We find it quite amusing, as it's a NATO awards formation where they present the NATO medals to those who are leaving within the next month (the one on Sunday includes me!). It's a hodgepodge of nations, different military customs, procedure, etc. And it's all topped off by the playing of the NATO hymn (not sure the proper name) which sounds like a French funeral anthem. Anyway, I'm sure it's one of those 'have to experience it to fully understand it'. Also note that's it's a medal for simply participating in 30+ days of a NATO mission (i.e. nothing special).

Today they had a small Afghan Women's market. They invited maybe 20 small businesses / handcraft stores that are owned/operated by women in Afghanistan. It was a lot of handmade women's clothes, jewelry and other hand crafts. I did my part to support (Kaylem has a gift on the way :) and it was good to see the pride in the local women. Anyway, that's about it from here for now.

Happy Nowruz

Today is Nowruz, or the Afghan New Year. So be sure to change your calendars, as we're now in year 1389 according to whatever calendar they use.

Anyway, I happened to be in Mazar-e-Sharif, or MeS, the past couple of days or so. MeS is where Regional Command (RC) North is headquartered and is largely run by the Germans, with a strong Latvian, Norwegian and Sweedish presence there as well. I'm attaching two pictures from there. One is of what is more or less a Bier Garden area; small plaza with some cafes around (Germans sure know how to set up a camp). The other is the lovely accomodations we had (note to self: cots are not good for the back).

It was a good break from the routine here in Kabul. The area around MeS is much more scenic ('the garden spot of Afghanistan'), the air is cleaner and the camp is much more organized and kept up. It will be interesting to see it once 'Team America' rolls in heavy in the next few months.

Anyway, that's about it from here. I only have another month or so, so time is really starting to fly by and I'll be back before I know it!

Back from Bagram

A few days ago, I headed to Bagram Air Field in Regional Command - East for a quick visit. I've posted two pictures from that visit. One is just a random picture of the base; trying to get the mountains in the background as we had beautiful weather there (it's currently a nice 81 degrees F here in Kabul this week). The other picture is of the sign outside the Egyptian Field Hospital. Just a little reminder of all the countries that are represented here (this hospital fully staffed, funded and equipped by Egypt).


I headed over to Bagram on Thursday, the 11th with Bruno (Team France) and a small French contingent/convoy. It was a nice hour or so drive before we were there. I think Bagram is the largest base here, with something close to 28,000 people stationed there. They also bring on a few thousand local national workers each day to work. And it's about 18 kilometers around the base. I spent three full days or so there and I probably saw a quarter of the place. So you get the point...big, busy (continuous construction) and big. I flew back to Kabul on Sunday morning on a small prop plane, contracted by Blackwater/Xe to move U.S. mail; only about a 15 minute flight (slept through the whole thing since I had to be at the terminal to check in at about 3am).


Anyway, it was a productive visit and I'll try to post another couple pictures from there (though my camera is awful).

Another day

So, I sure don't have anything new to update....it's been a while since my last post...I know I'll have some new pictures and I'm sure a story or two in a few days, so please bear with me. A couple of random thoughts...


As you've seen in the news, Secretary Gates visited here recently. We saw his plane arrive here a day or two ago. Kind of hard to miss as it's a big 747 type aircraft that looks like Air Force One with US painted all over it. Evidently his plane really can fill in for Air Force One as a command and control type plane if need be. Anyway, it was also interesting seeing it leave today. As Secretary Gates arrived in a couple of CH-47 Chinook helicopters, accompanied by a few other helicopters. Quite the show.


The end for me is inching closer. A couple days ago I was informed a bit about my departure schedule. I will have to go through at least Bagram, then Kuwait, and eventually BWI back in the States. Probably another stop or two thrown in there. A few days of travelling, but should be back Stateside at the beginning of May. I've also been in touch with my replacement. It's another Marine Corps Captain, who's currently stationed in South Carolina. He's active duty and voluteered for this deployment which are always good things.



Gordon (Team UK) is leaving about 2 weeks before me and Larry (US Army) is going on R&R in April as well, so we're all basically looking forward to leaving soon. We manage to pass the days here largely by 'pissing on' (UK term) one another. Basically poking fun at everyone's quirks. Everyone has a pretty good sense of humor so it manages to keep things moving along. Plenty of those 'inside jokes' or 'you had to have been there' stories, which of course don't lend themselves well to an online post.



Finally, I must comment a bit on my actual job. A basic way to put it is that I do everything 'Fuel related' in theater. I've found it to be an extremely rewarding mix of different levels of work. For example, I do a lot of very menial customs paperwork signing and stamping. Basically stuff I could train a monkey to do. But it has a direct effect of allowing our fuel trucks in or out of the county, so you can see a tangible result of your effort. On the other end of the spectrum, I feel I have a lot of 'strategic level' influence. Meetings with General Officers about strategic fuel posture and subsequent policy. A lot of power point briefs and philosophical discussions; which you seldom see any immediate tangible benefit but which will surely affect future operations. Anyway, I had been begging to get on deployment for several years, so at least when I finally did (and missed significant events at home :) it's been a more rewarding experience than most (that what I would have been doing if I was doing my real speciality of Aviation Logistics).


That's it for now. Promise to have some more interesting material on the next post.

Happy March

Okay, so I have to post for a few reasons. One, it was a gorgeous day today, clear air (it had rained the previous 2-3 days), sun and probably 50 degrees or something. Two, the Internet connection has been really good lately, so I have to take advantage when I can, as you never know how long that will last. Three, it's officially March, so I can officially say I'm going home next month. Not too bad eh?

Anyway, here's a picture of the nice weather. That's Adrian Sileanu striking a pose in front. Adrian is a Major in the Romanian Army and one of the new crew that came in a couple weeks ago now. He attended the US Army Captain's Course a few years ago in the States and he speaks about perfect English. Married, no kids; yup, that's Adrian. I'll try to snap a few pictures of the other guys as well in the next few days.

That's about it. It'll probably be a week or so before I'm able to post again; hopefully some of the snow back home might melt some by then. Later!