I don't even know where to begin...

Sorry folks, but I am at a loss for words this AM. (Ha ha ha... I know that's hard to believe!) But let me explain... Last night I wrote (what I considered to be) a very interesting and humorous description of the 8 hour convoy I'd just gone on. As this was my first Operational Mission and part of my new job I thought that it would be interesting to write about.



Then as I'd attempte to save it, so that I could go back in and add a few photos prior to posting it, something went wrong and I lost the entire BLOG posting. Even now, I'm just not quite capable of attempting that one again. I think I'd invested, at a minimum, an hour describing the whole event.



I will say this... We got lost - kind of... I guess not so much lost as the route that we wanted to take became "unnavigable." So our detour added about 2 1/2 hours to an already rather long trip.



I got to see a lot of the countryside, ate a lot of dust, bounced around the back of a HUMVEE for several hours and still have all my teeth, (I was afraid some of them would be rattled from my head during some SEVERE offroading) although I'm still trying to get the sand and grit out of them. I might be a tad bit shorter when you see me, as I'm pretty sure that my spine has been compressed, as well.



Suffice it to say, it was not quite as fun as I'd hoped, we didn't get to shoot or detain any bad guys, I was nearly comatose after 8+ hours in the back of a HUMVEE being jostled around in a VERY cramped place. I may attempt a re-write of the original BLOG, but no promises.

Have a great day!

Iraqi Challenge

Let me try this one more time... Sorry folks, but if this doesn't work I will just have to email it out to anyone that wants a good laugh. But you'll have to write me and ask for it...

Iraqi Challenge

Okay, I really hope you can view this. This is a video of Iraqi soldiers trying to do jumping jacks for the first time. I think its hysterical and I am pretty sure that I laugh harder everytime I view it. You be the judge...

Great picture...even better caption!

'Dear Lord: Thank you for bringing me to Timmy's house and not to Michael Vick's -- AMEN!'

Back in "the Stan"

First let me apologize for my long absence from writing, but I recently took my R&R leave back to the states. I won't go into great detail, but let me say that I had a wonderful trip, met my beautiful niece Cecile (4 mos old), got to spend some time in the cockpit of my chariot, the mighty MH-60S, attended the wedding of my good friend Haji Sharif and met some wonderful people along the way.

I traveled from West to East and North to South, arriving first in my hometown of Seattle where I visited with family and friends. For those of you I missed, my sincere apologies - and I promise to make it up to you upon my return. After ten days in Seattle I flew to Virginia and checked into my squadron for a few days in order to get some much needed (and sorely missed) flight time. From there I went to Tampa, FL where I attended Haji and Sabrina's wedding.

My return to "the Stan" took me from Dallas to Kuwait where I spent Thanksgiving. Let me first say that what I'm about to tell you is not for pity sake, but for humor and entertainment purposes only.... That said, I have to share with everyone that my Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a McDonald's "McRoyal" value meal. Yes folks, that's right... I had a Mickey D's Burger for Thanksgiving. Mind you, this was by choice, as they did serve a Thanksgiving dinner in the DFAC (dining facility) there at Camp Ali al Saleem in Kuwait. However, they served the same meal at lunch and after one helping of processed (and extremely dry and tasteless turkey) I opted for the slider... Now, the McRoyal should not be confused with the infamous "Royale with Cheese" of "Pulp Fiction" fame, but it was, as Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) said in the film, "a tasty burger." Of course, in the movie he was referring to the Big Kahuna Burger, not a Royale w/ Cheese... Am I moving too fast for you folks? Please try to keep up.

Since my circadian rhythm was completely shot (not to mention the mattresses which seemed to be chiseled from concrete), I was unable to sleep at all the first night. I fought thru my exhaustion the entire second day and managed about four solid hours of sleep the second night. I spent the majority of my time in the MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) tent watching movies, episodes of the second season of 24 and reading.

From Kuwait we flew into Bagram where I encountered much of the same hostility... I mean hospitality... complete with dried out turkey and brick like mattresses. At least the F-15s and EA-6B Prowlers waited until 0500 to take off. In case you aren't following, F-15s and EA-6Bs are two of the loudest freaking jets in the US inventory and litterally shake the ground for a 1/4 mile in every direction when they take off. I was roughly (i.e. just shy of) 1/4 mile from the approach end of the runway - that's where they take off from....

At both bases I was rather shaken (physically and psychologically) by multiple very loud, and seemingly quite close, concussions. I never did find out the cause. The lackadaisical reaction led me to believe that it was US or Coalition forces detonating UXOs (unexploded ordinance), or that it was in fact enemy activity - just quite commonplace in the daily ongoings around the camps... Suffice it to say, that is not the case where I currenly reside.

Upon my return I have learned that a new job awaits me. I will no longer be saddled with the thankless and daunting task of being the "glorified travel agent" for the Northern Region, with which I was previously employed. I will soon be taking over the position of the Liaison Officer (LNO) / Operations Officer (OpsO) for the Police Mentor Teams (PMTs) - ultimately to become the "Battle Captain" for the teams. I have to be quite honest in admitting that I am not quite certain what any of that means at this time. More than likely it means attending boring meetings and generating useless reports, but one can only hope... At any rate, I don't expect it will put me in the line of fire from the evil and sinister Taliban.

About the pictures: It seems that I missed some very interesting things while I was gone. The Embedded Training Teams, which work directly with the Afghan National Army (ANA) participated in a joint exercise with German, Swedish, Norwegian and Afghan forces and launched an offensive to the West. We killed or captured five high value targets and took another 19 or 20 detainees. There was also an extensive sand storm here, which limited visibility to about ten meters for most of the day.

The guy here on the left, I believe is Swede Spec Ops, has been shot three times, and was a primary factor in the recent offensive.