Starry Night

No clouds in the sky tonight.  The sky was full of stars.  Even the Milky Way was visible.  The mountains, sky and scenery is all wonderful to look at, too bad there's people on the other side of the fence waiting to kill anyone who wants to help rebuild and provide some order.

 

On a different note, our Corps force protection had some excitement this morning.  I had some surveyors coming on the FOB this morning to survey a project.  The process to get on is they have to have ID, can't bring on electronics, have to search vehicles, and have to pass through other security.  While checking out the vehicle one of the Force Protection sergeants noticed that the blocks they brought to set on the ground to level their equipment were still wet.  They said they were just made yesterday.  He picked one up and the corner came off exposing a bag of opium mixed with tobacco.  Some people mix opium into a dip and chew it to get high.  Of course the rest of the blocks were busted and everyone denied knowing it was there.  That'll be a fun letter I'll get to write tomorrow, "Sir, Please tell your workers to try to not smuggle any more drugs onto our FOB.  If they do, we will be forced to put you on our black ball list.  Have a nice day.".

 

WAR EAGLE!!!!  Enough said.

 

Had another pre-con with an Afghan company.  First time being a prime and using QCS.  They're a small company that has done some subcontract work on Corps jobs so they kind of know what we expect.  However, they'll have to be drug through the process.  Hopefully we can get them trained so they'll be more prepared for their next job.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  Sera is trick-or-treating as a vampire, Lily as Snow White (though she said a Kitty Cat when I talked to her today) and Christian as either Iron Man, Indian Jones, Superman or Spiderman; whatever mood strikes him at that moment.  Sera asked how we were celebrating Halloween.  I told her that they don't celebrate it over here and she had an extremely hard time putting coping with that fact.  Once she could breathe again she asked "Aren't there any kids over there?".  I assured her that there were but unfortunately they were denied the joys of Halloween.  And me?  Well you guessed it, a Corps employee!!

Snow Capped Mountains

FOB Shank is a black out base.  When the sun goes down there aren't any exterior lights and the windows are blacked out.  Up until last night we had the moon to help light things up.  But, with the clouds rolling through you could barely see a couple feet in front of ya.  The sun was shining this morning so we got to see the snow that the fell on the mountains last night.  I guess it's only a matter of time until we get some.  Maybe we'll get a chance to go sledding :)

 

The view of the mountains was short lived.  We got a wake up call at 0640 that sent us to the bunkers.  Luckily I'm an early riser and I was already in the office.  Most were in the shower or just getting up.  It's a little chilly to be heading outside straight from the shower.  As long as I have a cup of coffe it's all manageable!!!

 

We had a weekly project meeting with one of our Turkish contractors.  They had some Turkish pizza and bread for us.  The pizza was really good.  It's on thin, floopy dough with mincemeat, garlic, tomato, red pepper, parsley and a few other things I imagine.  It's nice to get a little change from the normal DFAC food.

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  Little Man informed Katy that he was ready to go back to Disney World.  He missed it.  Katy told him that she would love to go back to and asked if she could go with him.  He got a big smile and said, "Yep.  I'll drive.  And don't forget to give me the car keys!!". 

 

I talked to Lily on the phone today while they were watching Sera cheer at the Pop Warner football game.  She got on the phone and said, "Hi Daddy.  I'm playing with that girl and that girl and that girl.  Bye Bye Daddy.  I love you.".  I guess next time I better say something exciting so I can compete with her playmates. 

Rain!!

The photo is me gettin my M-ATV certificate.

Well, a little bit of rain.  It's cold, dark and windy today and then we got some sprinkling action.  I doubt it was enough to knock the dust down, but we'll see tomorrow.  This whole area is desert-like with waddies running through it.  There are a bunch on the FOB as well.  I was told this afternoon that when they got a big rain in the summer the waddies filled up and people were tubing down them.  Sounds like fun, unless you tube right out of the FOB!!  That wouldn't happen but it'd be kind of funny at first.  I'll take a picture of a waddie so y'all know what I'm talking about.

 

I forgot to mention that we ran out of water sometime 2 nights ago.  It was not a good feeling when I hit the shower handle yesterday morning and nothing happened.  I went out to the pump house to see what was going on because the relays on the pumps have a hard time pulling in when needed.  The pumps were fine, just no water.  We finally got some about 6:30 that evening.  Hopefully that won't happen again for awhile.  Trying to get water at the last minute is like trying to get a last minute to the Iron Bowl this year, it's gonna cost ya.

 

Also, I just got done helping disable the fire alarm panel in the bunk house.  Electricity isn't really their thing over here.  There aren't to many Afghans proficient in electrical installation.  Panels tend to spark, wiring not correct, people getting shocked, etc....  We found the sensor causing the problem, but I'm sure we don't have any spares.  It'll have to be worked on tomorrow, along with labeling the circuit breaker panels, labeling the wires, etc, etc.....

Another Busy Day

Another busy day.  Pre-con most of the morning, a Clif Bar for lunch, M-ATV training, catch up on email, more incoming so head to the bunker and some night M-ATV training.

 

We had a pre-con with an Afghan construction company who is doing their third job for the corps.  Their first job was kind of disaster.  It was one of the first ANP HQ built.  So it was the first iteration of plans, they didn't know how the corps worked and it was on the side of a mountain.  However, they have seemed to learn from it and were pretty knowledgeable in our system.  One of the challenges is getting people on base daily and the other is that we typically don't allow Afghans to stay in Man Camps on the FOB.  Hopefully we can get some security issues straight so we can get the job started and stay on time. 

 

The adviser of the company that attended the pre-con spoke pretty good english (as did the QC Manager).  When we mentioned that fact he said that we got his masters in the US.  He had a degree in agriculture, came to Michigan State and got a M.Ed.  He's 66, so he was in the US in the mid 60s.  We asked if he still kept in contact with anybody in the US and he said that with all the civil wars that have happened he has lost everything, even the papers that he had addresses written on.  It has been a struggle for people to get educated and learn a skill.  We require our contractors to recruit, hire and train local Afghans.  They have to try to hire from the trades schools in the province that they are working to help build the skilled work force.

 

Driving the M-ATV with the DVE is pretty cool and it takes some getting used to.  It's hard to tell elevation changes on the screen so when you drive down into a waddie you hit the bottom before you realize it. It's pretty fun though.  It's a little easier driving with it at night because it seems to pick up the heat differences better.  Since I didn't crash it I guess I can say that I saved the taxpayers a million dollars this week :)

 

We have a good sized blimp that is anchored over the FOB.  It's our eyes in the sky.  Unfortunately, the Area Office and Resident Office are next to where it is anchored and the Taliban tends to target it occasionally.  This afternoon they lobbed some explosives into the compound and got pretty close to it.  It was loud enough to shake the building a little.  The IED teams also had a big controlled detonation just outside the FOB this afternoon.  When they find an IED they leave it in place and blow it up, which tends to throw a lot of smoke in the air.

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  My son is now harrassing his sisters in a whole new way.  He'll hid on the stairs and grab them as they walks by.  He then starts to sing "I'm a grump ol' troll who lives under the stairs!".  I feel sorry for him when Lily gets a little older and her and Sera can gain up on Christian.

M-ATV Training

Spent part of the afternoon and evening driving the M-ATV.  I posted 3 pictures in the photo bucket.  That thing is awesome!!!!  You can drive up and down waddies (that's what they call the dry river beds) without any effort, over rocks, around obstacles and it flies for it's size.  Unfortunately they are a little out of my price range so I won't be getting one any time soon.

 

The base is getting kind of crowded as new troops arrive in preparation for the current ones leaving.  There is a big increase of C-17s coming and going and Apaches flying around.  Unfortunately, it impacts the line to the DFAC.  It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get a little angry when I get hungry.  But, I've adapted, I carry beef jerky around with me to snack on in case of emergencies.  JACK LINKS - it's premium cut, slow cooked and mesquite smoked, AND it FEEDS YOUR WILD SIDE!!  It's also the only kind that the DFAC stocks so there isn't much of a choice.

 

I believe the PX was closed again today with a sign saying "Too Few Items to Sale".  Day 4 and counting I think.

 

One of the sergeants on our Force Protection team gave our Local National interpreter that works for us a bike to ride on the FOB today.  I don't know if he has ridden a bike before, I think he has.  They were giving him a lesson on how to ride it anyway.  You could tell he was pretty happy and excited by the grin on his face.

 

The kids must have been good last night so there isn't any news there.  We had an incoming round this morning which is kind of unusual.  Tomorrow I have a meeting with an Afghan contractor from Kabul.  I'm looking forward to meeting them and curious as to how they operate.  They haven't done Corps work before but I got them on to QCS and have been trying to teach them the process.  Part of the job is to teach them some of our construction process and help them succeed.  I'm looking forwared to it!

 

The Turks Sacrificial Lamb

I got to learn and operate the comms in the M-ATV today.  It's some pretty cool stuff.  We also learned a little bit more about the DVE (Driver Vision Enhanced) system and saw some videos of it in action.  It's looks like it's going to be fun.  I'll try to video it, so you can see it in action.

 

It's been a long day of training and trying to get new projects up and running so I just have a quick story for tonight.

 

One of the projects we have is the building of a Rotary Wing landing and maintenance area.  It's a pretty big project, lots of concrete.  A Turkish firm won the bid on this project and set up camp.  When I say set up camp I mean they pretty much have to live and work on their site until complete.  They put up perimiter fencing, build DFACs, have bunk houses, security guards, office trailers, dig wells for the batch plants and put up the batch plant.  Once everything is established and it's time to get to work there is only one thing left to do.  Gather up all your concrete equipment and sacrifice a sheep.  Now, that is taking construction to a whole new level!!

 

My Water Truck is Better Than Yours

 

 

In case you ever find yourself wandering around, lost in thought, contemplating the virtues of life and you look up to see a brightly colored truck in front of you.  I'll give you a hint; you're not in Kansas, you're in Afghanistan.  Seriously,  these guys rock out to a completely different artistic style.  I think they call them Jingle Trucks.  Some guys have tassles hanging from the mirros and bumpers.  One guy driving a drum roller had important Afghan people (I assume) plastered on the upper windows of his cab and pictures of women around the bottom. 

 

I also added a couple of picures of the Logar Resident Office and barracks.  We can crawl to work if need be and sprint to the bunker as the need arises.  The bunker did get used this afternoon but I didn't hear anything so I have no news on what happened.  I also added a picture of the Area Office across the road.  Oh, and yes those are trees in the foreground.  I think the Afghans laugh at us for trying to grow trees, but, I think we can do it.  If not, we'll throw them in the fire pit and roast something.

 

The picture of the M-ATV is my version of the Jingle Truck.  It's a little drab by traditional standards, but what it lacks color in makes up for in performance.  I'm taking a class on driving it this week.  Classwork up until Wednesday, then we get to drive in the day and night on Wednesday.  Thursday we get to drive in the day and night with the VDE, which is a thermal imaging type screen that you look at to drive.  At a minimum the M-ATV will go 65mph, up inclines and declines of 60% and can handle driving on the side of a 40% slope.  If all goes well, come Thursday evening I won't have flipped, got lost, drive through the perimter or crash into a Jingle Truck. 

 

HOME FRONT NEWS:  Travelling with 3 kids in the car can be challenging for parents as well as the kids.  Sera, being the oldest is usually called upon to help out with the babies.  Sera is a sweetheart and loves the babies, but she does have her breaking point.  Well, on the way back from Alabama Christian got Sera to that point.  She had enought and yelled at him "IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL BRAINWASH YOU UNTIL YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S UP!!".    I'm assuming he backed off, but I won't know until I talk to him.