Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I wasn't going to be posting so soon, but I just have to add a link to a reuters story, considering that I was quoted in it. I'd like to think that my quote was so eloquent that she had to include it in her article, but really I think Scott's uncanny ability to knowledgably discuss sports with anyone from anywhere in the world tipped the scales in our favor. Check out the article at this link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AQ7ID20081127

And now, I will be going, as it is time for breakfast. I'll try and call home later, so everyone have a great day.

Thanksgiving Day

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, although by the time I post this, it will be Thanksgiving day in Afghanistan. It’s been a busy few days, as we were out on another dismounted mission. Technically it was an air assault mission, which might sound fancy and dangerous, but really it only means that instead of walking out the front gate, we took a helicopter ride up into the mountains, then we walked about 2 miles after the helicopter dropped us off in a small dried-up river bed. It was a lot of fun, and was one of the things I was really hoping to do while I was in country. I was slated to do one back in June, but it was called off due to safety concerns. Anyway, the mission went well. We were with the same scouts we were with a couple weeks ago, but this time the weather was slightly warmer. Scott and Nisar were with us this time, so we nearly had a full team, just 1 member short. SSG D is on leave, on the way to his cruise of the Mediterranean. The days were pleasant, and the nights were cold, but not as bad as last time. Part of the reason was that the weather was a few degrees warmer, and thankfully, we took much more snivel gear (the official military term for coats, sleeping bags, jackets, gloves, hand warmers, etc.) We all looked quite funny wearing our “marshmallow” suits around, but they do keep you warm. We had a productive time, and now we are kind of in limbo. It sounds like we’ll be heading out to Zerok in a few days, but we’ll see. We did take a lot of good pictures, and I will post them on my facebook when I get the chance. That being said, if you want to see my pictures, just join facebook. It affords the pictures some privacy, as I can limit who sees them quite easily. Still no snow, at least not below 10,000 feet. I hear rumors it might start soon, but at this point, I’ll believe it when I see it. I posted a movie on facebook. One of the frames is a video of me firing the 120mm mortars. They give off quite the kick. If you ever get the chance, don’t forget to plug your ears, and be glad you’re not on the receiving end.
Hard to believe it, but November is rolling by, and December is going to be here before you know it. I do want to give a plug to a company called roadID. http://www.roadid.com/ makes an ID bracelet for runners/active people, in case of anything. I ordered one last year, and decided to have a team bracelet made to remember our deployment. Deeanna called and placed the order, and when the owners found out what it was for, they gave us the entire order of 11 bracelets for free. So if you like to run, bike, jog, camp, exercise etc., I would highly recommend the product, and the company. I’ve gotten a couple emails from company employees thanking our team for our service, which has been very nice.
On to politics, in case you didn’t notice, America didn’t implode when President-Elect Obama was elected. To hear a couple of guys in my platoon talk, you would think that we are experiencing the climax of the Book of Revelation. It’s amazing just how conservative some of the guys in the Utah National Guard are. Fortunately, I come from a team of moderate independents (definitions for “moderate independent” differ- in Utah this means blazing left wing liberals, while the rest of America would probably say moderate Republicans) It’s all about perspective.
Things are going well, and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I know Deeanna and the kids are heading to her parents for the holiday, which should be a good time for them all to relax. We are all quite excited here because KBR (a contractor that provides food and other services) is taking over all of the base’s services tomorrow. It sounds like Thanksgiving dinner is going to be their debut at OE, and we can’t wait. I know it won’t compare to grandma’s homemade stuffing, but again, it’s all about perspective. Well, This is getting to be too verbose already, so I’ll simply end by saying happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll see you all in a few more months.

The countdown is on!!!

Well, the countdown is on, but only to the BYU game. Things here have been quite busy, which helps the time pass. I can barely remember the last time I wrote, which might be because I’m lazy, but also because I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. To start off with, Nisar (one of our interpreters) and I went to OE for 4 days to refit. We got our laundry done, gathered our winter gear, cleaned, etc. We also ate lots of local dishes (Nisar has many friends at OE, and they hooked us up with some authentic food.) I will try and post some pictures, but the internet is busy 24/7 right now, because we have more than 10 times the normal number of soldiers here at Zerok right now. After we returned to Zerok, Amin went back to OE for his 2-4 day refit. However, the day after he left we got word we were going to on a dismounted mission to the Afghanistan mountains the next day. Fortunately, Joe got back from leave, and he and Amin flew back to Zerok. We had our full team for a few days, however, Joe, SSG Demarco, and I were on sleeping out in the freezing, bitter, windy, winter cold during most of that time. Scott stayed back here with Nisar so that we had someone working while our element was moving. The hike up was extremely difficult, but not as bad as last time. Part of the reason for that is that we took a better route, and part was that it wasn’t 95 degrees, and we only carried 2 days worth of food and water. While we were there the days were pleasant (at least I thought they were pleasant, although some people thought the days were cold). The nights on the other hand, were unbearable! It was so cold that it was impossible to get a good night’s sleep. The packing list we were given suggested taking the light sleeping bag, a wind jacket and a sweater. I took the heavy sleeping bag, and was very glad I did. We had several guys have to leave due to cold weather injuries (frostbite, trenchfoot, altitude sickness, etc). Bottom line, it was cold! The scariest part of all was the hike down. For some reason, the people we were walking with decided to take the long way back. We finally got to an outcropping where there was nowhere to go but straight down (literally). We had to slide down one at a time, so that the falling rocks wouldn’t hit anyone below. Somehow, we all made it down safely, although it’s not a climb I would try again without some rope. After we got back we enjoyed a nice hot steak dinner, and we got to sleep in our warm beds. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, we’re going to get at least a few more winter camp outs, it’s just a matter of when they happen. Fun stuff. Then, yesterday we took a team picture with all of our current team (no offense intended to Jones, Little, or Presnell). Of course, after the picture SSG D got on a bird to go on leave.
The biggest news of all is that THE BYU game is this week. After the Cougars win, it sets up nicely for BYU to get a BCS birth, especially if Boise State loses at Nevada next week. I even bought a BYU sweater in OE (they have a shop that sells sports memorabilia) to wear during the game.
I’ve been taking lots of pictures, although my camera might be broken. It got hit by a dust storm from a helicopter yesterday, and it isn’t working very well. I have a canister of pressurized air for electronics, and I’m hoping that it will get it working again. We’ll see.
Among the really good news is that I’ve gotten a ton of mail recently. Lots of packages have been arriving, which is fun. Thanks to Becky, Heather, Dad, Deeanna, Amazon.com and some lady who is a friend of a friend who decided to put together some care packages for soldiers. It’s been nice. That being said, with time winding down and Christmas slowing down the mail, it’s probably best to slow down with the packages.

Time flies

It’s hard to believe, but yesterday was already my birthday. Fun stuff. Actually, it was a pretty good day. It started off with a video call on the webcam to Deeanna and the kids. They had made a cake for me, and sang happy birthday. Dasha was very concerned about how I was going to eat it- was I coming home for a day, or were they sending it to me? Then, yesterday afternoon several guys “surprised” me with cake and a pot of homemade borshch. It was delicious (although when one of the cooks randomly wished me a happy birthday, I knew something was up). October has been a good month thus far. I’ve been out on a few more patrols, which have been productive, although they’ve been short, and we’ve always returned to the COP to sleep. I’ve also gotten several items of mail. I got a package from Heather, from the mayor and city of Eagle Mountain, along with several letters from the kids, including Tommy’s Christmas wish is (wishes). As far as the team goes, the two replacements are both gone, and I am now with Scott and SSG D, which is good. It’s just better being with teammates. Mr. Baird is on leave right now, which is good for him. He is a great team leader, and he works hard to make things as efficient and logical as possible, which isn’t always easy where the Army is involved. He should get back in a couple weeks, but then SSG D goes on leave, so I don’t know that we’ll ever have our full team together. Crazy. Actually, Team Bronco the only time we were all together was a couple of nights in Orgune back in September. I never had thought of that. That could well turn out to be the only time that the four of us are together. We’ve really had quite the transient team, when you start to think about it.
One thing I have been doing is Christmas shopping. Hopefully the kids like what I’ve gotten. Tommy sent me an email yesterday informing me that if Santa doesn’t bring him a set of drums then I have to buy him one. He’s quite obsessed with them. Actually, I think I only have one more thing to get for Justin, and then finish up Deeanna’s shopping, and I’ll be mostly done. Deeanna will have to get some of the fillers together, but it should be a good Christmas, especially if Santa comes through, which he always does. I did buy myself a pair of astronomical binoculars. The stars are so bright here at night, that I decided it would be worth it. And they’ll be nice for camping trips and looking at the stars back home.
The engineers have continued working on improving Zerok, and they have also been building a new road, which is good. Yesterday one of them did us a favor and installed a new light fixture for us. Ours was falling apart, and we had to tape the light tubes in, to keep them from falling out. Exciting.
Well, with November around the corner, I’ll try and write again soon. Now that I’m on facebook, I haven't updated my blog as much. But I really think these last few months will fly by, with the holidays and then are replacements arriving and handing over the equipment and, more importantly, the job.

Another month gone!

Well, it’s a General Conference Sunday back home, and it’s been a few days since I wrote an entry…surprising how time flies. Tons of stuff has changed in the last week. To start off with, two more of the guys on my team Chief and Sgt. D both went to Bagram. That means that I am now with two new team mates- Sergeant A and Lawerence. Sergeant A is a staunch Utah fan, and a BYU hater, but he knows the job, which is good. It is a little tough to have your team change so much, but what do you do. But things should stabilize once everyone gets back from leave. Something else that happened this week is that I got back on a serious study/workout schedule. I’m doing a couple hours of Arabic/Iraqi and reading Harry Potter 4 in Arabic. I’m also reading a military history of Afghanistan from Alexander the Great to America’s invasion in 2001. It’s amazing how much you can do when you work 8-10 hours a day and have nothing else to do. There’s rumor that they might put in satellite TV, but nothing so far. The food has continued to impress. Last night we had BBQ ribs and chicken wings. Tonight we’re having steak marinated in non-alcoholic beer. (they don’t allow any alcohol in country, for obvious and entirely non religious reasons.) Another crazy thing happened this week, and I’m not sure that anyone noticed, but it is now OCTOBER. It’s hard to believe, but last time General Conference was on we had already been at Fort Lewis for over a month! I started doing some basic Christmas shopping on the internet, mostly to try and keep things simple for Deeanna, this year. Deeanna and the kids went down to Lyman to visit her parents. In other news of life here in Afghanistan, still no mail. Apparently, our unit forwarded our mail to Orgun-E, but then OE forwarded it to the wrong COP. Trying to get mail from the Army can be terribly annoying. Trying to get a straight answer can be like talking to Pinocchio in Shrek the Third. Prince Charming asks him where Shrek is and Pinocchio responds, “Well, I definitely don’t know where he’s not…unless that’s where he isn’t.” BYU continues to win. I’ll be very impressed if they can win out, but they have a couple very difficult games left.

Got to Love the Engineers

Well, it’s been a few days, and the only reason that I haven’t written is that I haven’t written. Kind of funny how that works out. Anyway, for those of you who haven’t seen, I’ve created a facebook profile for myself, which has been fun. You can read my blog entries there, now, as well as here. The weather here has started to change. Most mornings are sunny and warm, but we’ve had rain (and even some hail) in the afternoon. I have been reunited with Team Bronco (we even got an email from Bronco Mendenhall a week or two ago), however, due to leave rotations and other things, I will soon be the only member of Team Bronco on Team Bronco, at least until Scott gets back from leave in a couple weeks. Life here at Zerok is very different! The army brought in a platoon of engineers, who have been busy improving our humble abode. They’ve added more rooms, more amenities (we have hot running water for showers), 2 large fridge/freezer units and more Hesco barriers (large metal boxes that are filled with dirt used as bunkers). Anyway, it’s amazing at how much things have improved (Some how the Pentagon got word of what life at Zerok was like, and suddenly we had generals and colonels tripping over themselves to get some improvements made). Morale of the infantry troops has also improved, for obvious reasons. We’ve gotten to fire tons of weapons systems, as well. The new First Sergeant believes in test firing the weapons often, and so we’ve fired the .50 cal machine gun (still my favorite weapon in the Army’s arsenal), the Mark-19 automatic grenade launcher, 120mm mortars, the M14 sniper rifle, the M203 grenade launcher and more. Things here are going well- I’ve read a couple more books, which has been good. I just finished “Not a Good Day to Die”, about Operation Anaconda, which took place not too far from where I’m at. It was a semi successful operation that took place in March of 2002. It was an ill-conceived operation, which could have ended in tragedy without the audacity of a few individuals. Of course, for the individuals who were killed because of bad decisions, it was a complete tragedy. Now I’m reading “Relavtivy- the Special and General Theories” by Albert Einstein. The intro says that anyone with a high school education should be able to understand it, but I’m not sure I buy that. I've also been reading some of the Army's doctrinal manuals, learning more about the way things are "supposed" to happen (SUPPOSED is the key word of this sentence). I've reviewed some of the briefings that we received when we were preparing to deploy, in the hopes of improving the next group's training. Anyway, I’ll stop now, and just say that things are going well. By the beginning of November my team should be done with our leave cycle, and we will most likely spend the rest of the deployment as a team, which will be nice.

Ramadan and other news

Well, it's been a boring week, as I've been mostly just sitting around here at Salerno. I should be leaving soon. I've read 3 books, including Strike Force, which my dad gave me before I left (thanks dad). Other than that, I've done almost nothing. Of note is that it is currently Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset. Some of the interpreters here at Salerno invited us (SSG Johnson and my interpreter) to break their fast with them a few nights ago. We had some delicious food, which included rice, beans, stew like soup, Afghan flat bread, Afghan cinnamon bread, and, of course, some green tea. It was a nice cultural experience, although SSG Johnson found the food to be way too spicy. Now I'm packed up and ready to head to Orgun-e, although we've been waiting all week, so hopefully it happens soon. I did send some letters to Melanie, Tommy, Justin, and Dasha, so they should be getting some mail in a couple weeks. I've heard from the people who have access to mail that it takes 10-14 days to get home. At Zerok we didn't have a chance to send any mail, and now, because of the newly enforced mail polilcy, we probably won't get mail anymore. (We used to get mail whenever someone went on leave and came back, but now, in order to deliver mail, you have to attend a "Mail Handler's Course", so we won't get mail unless one of the few people in our company decides to hand deliver it to us...I'm not holding my breath) I can still count the number of times I've received mail on 1 hand...although each time I've received several items, so thanks to everyone for the things they've sent. It's hard to believe how time moves. I've been back from leave almost a month! 1o more days until dad's birthday, then mine in October, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Tommy's birthday and then home a couple week's after Valentine's...not that I'm counting days yet (months and major events, maybe, but not days).