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.

Cold Weather Gear has Arrived

 

Here are some pictures from the other day when I was out looking at some job sites.  As you can tell, it's brown and there is a lot of dirt.  It has been really clear the last couple of days so you can actually see the mountains and villages really well that are around us. 

Yeah!!!  My other duffle bag finally arrived.  It's been pretty cold here at night and in the morning and I didn't have any of my cold weather gear.  I've been in the south too long and I have a little harder time adjusting to the cold weather now, that and I just don't like it.

WAR EAGLE!!!  Didn't get a chance to watch the game last night but I did get up to watch some to gamecast of it.  I fell back asleep sometime in the 2nd quarter but got a great news when I woke up!!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll start M-ATV training.  Somehow I'll have to get my project work done as well.  I guess it shouldn't be too hard since there isn't much else to do.  I usually get up around 5:30, get breakfast and get to work around 6:30.  Typically I'll work until around 6:30 that evening.  Do some errands and eat.  Around 8 a few of us usually will watch an episode of a series and then I'll blog or catch up on work email or do some work training.  Nothing too exciting.

A few of the jobs I got going on the FOB are a brigade headquarters, relocatable troop housing and building the new area office.  Some of the other projects on the FOB are new rotary wing landing and maintenance areas and a fueling compound.  Outside the FOB we are building roads, relocatable housing on some smaller FOBs, ANP stations and training centers.  There is no infrastructure on the base so all the projects have to have stand alone utilities; water tanks, septic tanks and generators.  The first part of the base is the standard 110V power like in America.  The new structures that we are building I think will eventually be taken over by the Afghan Army and so all the power and receptacles are European Standards.

HOMEFRONT NEWS:  Katy and the kids went down to Alabama for the weekend.  On the way down Katy stopped at a truck stop to get some gas.  When she was getting the kids out to go in the truck stop Christian decided he was going to test out the emergency pump shut off.  He succeeded in shutting down the pumps to the whole station.  Katy said the attendant was able to get everything back up and running quickly so a riot didn't ensue. 

That's about it for tonight.  There are some interesting things here that I will write about, just need to find out some more information before I post it.

Settling In

I've been getting settled in over the last day or so.  We stay pretty busy working so there hasn't been much time to explore yet.  Here's a rundown of what I know so far.  There are 3 gyms and 3 DFACs, the majority of the tents have been sprayed with an insulating foam (I'll get some pics), there are ANA, Jordanians, Czechs and Americans on this base, there are local Afghani shops on base, it's a blackout base and the laundry is free.  I probably know more but I have to save some stuff for later.

DFACs - The DFACs are basically two big, arched white tents.  They are probably about 50' wide with one tent about 50' long and the other maybe a 100'.  There is a short order serving line, a meal serving line, a salad and sandwich bar, drinks and ice cream/dessert spot.  The salad/sandwhich bar and snacks are available 24 hours a day and meals are served breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight.  The meal tonight was steak, lobster, fried shrimp and vegetables.  I ended up having fried shrimp, the steak looked kind of tough.  There is plenty of food available and it's kind of hard to hold back at times. 

Tonight a couple of guys and I went to a bakery on base that is part of the little local Afghan strip of shops (the resident engineer was stationed here with the air force for 6 months so he knows all the places to go).  This place looked pretty sketchy from the outside (as most of the places do).  You walk in to a little holding area where a couple of guys are in a window.  You just tell them what you want and go have a seat.  Now, I say it's a bakery, but as far as I know they only serve nan (plain, garlic or cinnamon and tea.  Nan is a baked flat bread that the Afghans eats as a staple with their meals.  The seating area has a couple of round tables with chairs, a couple of couches and a bench.  The best part is that the there are three fluorescent lights illuminating this place, one red, one green and one yellow.  It feels like you're in a club.  Local nationals that work on the base hang out here as well.  The Afghans were really nice, the bread is awesome and the tea is really sweet.  The nan, tea, hanging with the locals and their cloud of smoke could be yours for the low price of $1.  Not to bad.

Made it to Shank

The first picture is of my bunk house at Qalaal House, the second is Kabul, the third is look back through the pass to get to Kabul and the last is a community near shank.  All the houses and fields are surrounded by walls.

Something I meant to blog about yesterday but I forgot.  The Corps hires nationals to do things like clean the barracks and offices and to cook and work in the DFAC.  They also provide security and work as inspectors on our jobs.  We pay them pretty good money for over here.  It provides some of them the skills they need to better building back their country, a good income and compensates them for risking their lives to work for us.  To my point, one of the cooks was a jet pilot for the Afghan Army but now works for the Corps as a cook.  First, I didn’t know that Afghanistan even had jets.  Second, that’s just plain crazy.

It’s been a pretty busy day.  I had to get up early and get all my gear out to the compound so it could be loaded for the trip to the airport.  We drove by the US Embassy on the way out.  

OBSERVATIONS ON THE TRIP TO THE AIRPORT:  The houses were even worse shape than I remembered.  It looked like a pretty bad place outside the green zone.  A lot of people living in tents.  I did see some horse drawn carriages racing down the street trying to keep up with the traffic.  I also saw some dudes riding around in the back of trucks with guns.  They weren’t insurgents, I think they had something to do with the local police.  The Afghani National Police has a lot of different factions, some more professional than others. 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLIGHT:  I actually saw some water!  There was one lake or reservoir on the other side of the mountain from the Green Zone.  There are a ton of houses in Kabul.  I don’t know how many people live there, but they are packed in tight.  I also saw some houses in some strange places on the way to Shank.  Once outside the city most of the houses were built along river beds in the ravines of the mountains.  One valley had one house in it along a small river bed, I’m not even sure how that person gets to their house.  I didn’t see any roads and it was in the middle of nowhere. 

FOB Shank is a pretty big base.  It’s real congested at one end and pretty wide open at the other.  That’s where the runway is and where we are also building some of our projects. 

Well, I think I’m calling it a night!

What Is That Smell???

After dinner I started smelling a kind of stinky feet type smell while in my room.  I didn’t think too much of it, I was going to go work out and it was probably my roommate that smelled anyway.  I would smell it every now and then while I was on the treadmill and I thought, hmmmm, maybe it was me.  Oh well, I was gonna shower after this anyway.  So I showered and noticed that my bandage on the small pox shot was coming off.  I got back to my room and kept smelling this smell.  My roommate was in here again and I thought, well, maybe it was him.  I sat on my bed and the smell was getting worse.  I’m sniffing around and caught a huge whiff right where my small pox shot was.  I took the bandage off and man, that thing stunk.  So I cleaned it off and rebandaged.  If my whole body was full of those smelly pox I’d have to wear a gas mask or something.  Being a small pox victim must be a hard life.

A couple friends and I had to make up some training today that we missed from last week.  It was kind of fun being the peanut gallery and watching all the people that just got here yesterday afternoon try their best to stay awake.  Also, by this point I knew most of the presenters and personal people in charge of the briefings so they didn’t mind the heckling too much.  They’ll probably be glad to see me go tomorrowJ

My boss keeps emailing me new assignments and updates.  I think I better hurry up and get down there before he assigns anything else.  One of my projects is ongoing and I’ll be getting into the middle of it.  The other 3 are just getting started.  It’s going to be interesting dealing with the contractors.  One company is from the Turkey and the other three are from Afghanistan (with 1 having Asian backing I think).  I’ve already been exchanging emails with them and the English is what you’d expect (wrong use of words, wrong tense, etc.  One email even referred to me as “your excellency”)  communication and culture are going to be things to overcome.  Should be fun.

I’ve said my good-byes, packed up my things and took care of the last minute errands.  Off to bed and anxious to get on with the next move.

The Mongolians

Camp Eggers is home to an army of multiple nations.  It’s interesting seeing the different uniforms and figuring out what country they are from.  Every time I go over there these big Asian looking dudes with AK-47s are coming in from patrol.  They look mean, or maybe they are just mad because they drew the short end of the stick and have to do all the bad patrols.  We thought maybe they were Koreans, they were too big to be Japanese, we just didn’t know.  Well, we just figured it out yesterday.  They are Mongolians.  If Ghengis Khan had a bunch of these dudes following him around it’s not surprising they once controlled most of Asia.  I wonder what they would think about the Mongolian Barbecue day at the Ft Jackson O-Club. 

An expansion on Afghan culture from yesterday.  I keep forgetting not to use the bathroom in our dorms around lunch because that is when the local national cleaning lady finishes cleaning the restrooms.  It takes a while to air out.

I hit up the ACU dump box trying to find me a pair of ACUs to wear so I won’t stick out so much.  I found a pair of pants and a shirt I thought I could squeeze into.  Well, no go on the shirt.  So I’ve got the patches, hat, and a pair of pants.  Almost to the point where I can blend in.

My co-worker from Ft Jackson, Patricia, arrived today.  It was good seeing a familiar face and catching up on the news with her. 

I got a roommate today.  Almost made it out of here without having one.  Just two more nights and I’ll be on my way downrange. 

Not much going on tonight.  Outta here.

Singing the Auburn Fight Song to 200 co-workers and Afghani Culture

The comments from a couple of posts ago made me realize that not everyone has read some of the same briefings as I have on Afghani customs and cultures.  But first, the House meeting.

Every Sunday the Colonel has a house meeting were outgoing awards are presented and new people are harassed.  Part of the harassment usually entails standing in front of the 200 or so people at Qalaal House and state who you are, where you’re from, where you’re going, what you’re doing and something that is supposed to be embarrassing.  In the past it has been things like saying a nursery rhyme, saying why you are famous, or singing a short children’s song.  Tonight the Colonel played into my strengths.  First, he was going to give me a microphone and make people listen to me.  Second, he said we had to sing the fight song of either the college or high school we went to.  My mike time “My name is Chris Zell.  I am coming here from Ft Jackson by way of Columbia, SC.  (Spattering of cheers from the army soldiers who went through Ft Jackson, part of my plan)  I’m heading down range to Shank to do some project engineering.  I come from a school where the football team tends to score like a basketball team.  Now, don’t get upset if I mess up a few words because I’m usually singing this with a drunken mob.  SING FIGHT SONG HERE”  If I can brag on myself for a second, this was probably the best rendition of the War Eagle Fight Song ever heard in this part of the world.  It was sung loud and true.  And yes, I received a rousing ovation!

Some Afghani cultural items. 

-Yes, Afghanis use their left hand for rear end hygiene purposes.  It is considered an insult to use the left hand with dealing with them.

- Bathing seems non-existent.  The odor is noticeable for quite some distance.  The security force on this compound are required to bathe when they get here because they share our DFAC and it was becoming an issue. 

- They tend to hold a hand shake for a very long time and stand very close when conversing.  They greet with kiss on the cheek and an embrace.

- The soles of feet are considered dirty.  Do not ever show the sole of your foot to them, it is considered an insult. 

- Man-Love Thursday.  I shouldn’t have to explain this, the saying is “A man is for fun and a woman is for having babies”.  I thankfully haven’t witnessed this but others have.

- Afghans tend to be more lax with time.  They’ll get there when they do.  They will socialize and take their time before getting to the business at hand, if they do.

-Afghans are very honorable in that they have a set of rules that they live by and honor.  If they invite you to their house they will spare all they have, they tend to give gifts, and will make sure harm doesn’t come to their guest.  On the flip side if they feel dishonored, they will seek revenge.

- They have a saying “God Willing” that is used if they don’t want to say no or to explain something that has happened, “God’s Will”.  They tend to live for the moment and don’t make future plans.  They will be here tomorrow, God Willing.  It comes into play in our contracts because if you pay too much up front they may take off before the job is complete.

Most of the Afghans around the Green Zone have been “Americanized” as far as they are more used to the way Westerners act.  They aren’t as offended as the Afghans that are downrange and in more rural settings.  It’ll be interesting how true some of this becomes when I get downrange.

Game Day in Kabul

Sometimes it’s hard to remember what day it is over here, but when your watch says it is Saturday…..WOO HOO!  Now, the routine is not the same.  Here you have to go to work, eat dinner, take a nap, and wake up sometime in the middle of the night to watch your game.  AND no beer is involved!!  I guess as long as Auburn keeps winning I don’t have to worry about drowning my sorrow in beer.  WAR EAGLE!!

GAME DAY OBSERVATIONS:  1.  Ole Miss will now be the Rebel Black Bears?!?!  I would have thought that they could have picked something a little more fierce, you know what I mean if you’ve seen the pictures.  2.  Is the Chicken Curse broken?  Can the Gamecocks follow up last week with a win over the Wildcats.  3.  Once again, I have no beer on game day L

I am still in Kabul.  My movement to Shank has been pushed to later in the week.  I guess I’ll hang out here and try to finish up some training I have to do. 

I passed my driving test this morning.  Not much to it.  I had to drive one of the up-armored vehicles around the green zone.  I got to practice my aggressive driving and found out taking speed bumps too fast in one of these vehicles is not good for your head.  The hardest part was trying to drive with all the ballistic gear on.

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Just got off the phone with Katy.  Katy and the kids are off to the state fair when Sera gets done cheering at the football game.  Apparently Sera hit Katy up at a weak moment last night and convinced her to take them to the fair.  I’d have to have quite a few beers in me before I agreed to something like that!

The Milk Has Arrived

Things were getting desperate around here.  The DFAC was down to the last of it's milk, and it was strawberry milk.  I'm not a big milk drinker so I wasn't bothered to much by this catastrophe, but I couldn't help thinking that if I had a few cartons of milk stashed I could have made some money.  Besides, we still had ice cream (which is the best form of milk anyway) and if you were really desperate you could melt it and add it to your cereal.  But at lunch today I sat down at a table outside and realized I was surrounded by pallets!!  It's been almost a week now since the Pakistani's opened the border and we're just getting some of the supplies.  I can only imagine what it'll be like at Shank if the borders are closed again.  As long as we've got water, bacon, trail mix and those awesome cookies they have I imagine I'll survive.

Unfortunately I caught either some sort of cold a couple of days ago or the small pox vaccine has kicked my butt.  I'm finally coming back around and am feeling pretty good.  My vaccinated shoulder is nice shade of red and really hot.  I changed the bandage yesterday and it is one huge blister looking thing, I'll spare you the details.  Just remember to pass on this vaccine unless it is really needed.  Which reminds me, I have to get another anthrax shot Monday, that'll be fun.

Not much for me to do here since I won't be working here.  I had to take a few short classes, met the Chief of Construction and a few other people in the construction office up here, got my intel breifing for the area I'm going to and was issued my cell phone and personal locator.  Tomorrow I will be taking a driving test and I should be set to ship out on Sunday.

I went over to Camp Eggers today to browse the Bazaar.  They had Afghan rugs, DVDs, pottery, jewels/stones, places to get suits made, electronics, stone mosaics and old war artifacts.  Of course when I told Katy that I went the first thing she asked was what I bought her.  At one of the tables they had old knives, guns, swords, AND some sort of Viking looking helmet (I'm assuming it was Mongolian or something along that line).  It was awesome!!  I know I could design a Halloween costume around that.  I didn't buy it because I figured it was probably made in China.  :)

Qalaal House is pretty small.  It only takes a few minutes to walk around the entire complex.  It's pretty comfortable though.  The main building used to be the Iraqi Embassy.  It has a lot of huge pine trees on the compound that were planted by the Russians when they occuppied this area.  We have a DFAC, gym and a bunch of stacked conexes that serve as bunks and offices.  The complex is guarded by an Afghani security firm.  They also handle all the security of the local construction and service workers admitted onto the compound.

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Every time I talk to Sera she asks if I still have enough toilet paper.  She is very concerned that I might have to indulge in the local customs.

Stranded Near the Runway

 

Well, the plan on trying to get some sleep last night didn't go as planned.  First a truck would drive by and cause the door of the hut to shake, then a C-130 would take off and shake the hut, followed by a helicopter taking off and of course the F-15s and F-16s couldn't be outdone.  They had to take off with afterburners and shake everything for a good 10 or 15 seconds.  Repeat every 45 minutes.  Needless to say it was not conducive for a good nights sleep.

We were supposed to fly to Kabul this morning but the flight got cancelled.  It was pretty foggy so I guess the crew from Kabul couldn't come get us.  The plane finally arrived around 1100.  It was a small fixed wing prop plane with a British crew.  They dropped off some people and weren't going to let us on because we weren't on their manifest.  After a few phone calls we got the OK and boarded.  Here is how a ride from Bagram to Kabul is done:  1. Input the coordinates to Kabul airport in the Garmin GPS (I'm not kidding, it was a little bigger than a car Garmin and showed terrain instead of roads).  2.  Take off. 3.  Climb hard and fast while making a sharp U-Turn as soon you are sure your wing won't hit the runway.  (ok, I exaggerate a little on the height before the u-turn, but not by much).  4.  Keep climb until your get over the top of the mountain.  5.  Once over the top of the mountain point the nose down.  But make sure you clear the next ridge in front of Kabul.  6.  Once over the ridge bank left.  7.  Perform a 1/2 circle to the right.  8.  Land on the runway (20 minute flight).  9.  Slam on the brakes because you almost missed your turn off the runway, however you do make the turn (give yourself a pat on the back).  That's it, anyone can do it :)

The fun part of the flight was that no one arranged for Force Protection to pick us up.  So we waited next to the plane just off the runway for 1.5 hours.  The pictures above (L to R) are of the area around Kabul, me waiting next to the plane, me in front of the military helicopter graveyard (I think), and the area across the runway and how closer we were to the runway.  No airport security there.  Notice the guy to the right clean the helicopter blades.  That must be his only job because that was all he did the whole time we were there.

Once force protection arrived we climbed into the up-armored Suburban and Expidition.  I was the only person in my truck other than the driver and shooter.  So my safety breifing was basically 1. Don't open the doors no matter what.  2.  If the driver is hit, pull him out of the way so the shooter has a clear shot.  3 Take the M-4, load and defend.  4.  Next, take the 9mm and hit the red button to call for help.  Then we took off.

We've all read and seen pictures about poor place and deplorable living conditions.  Well, they have it here, at least on the way to Qalaal House (Corps Headquarters).  There were destroyed homes/buildings along the perimeter of the airport.  The guardtowers/lookouts were basically CMUs stacked with a machine gun and shooter behind them.  All the buildings are made of mud bricks or CMU and a stucco of some sort.  For the most part they were all rundown or half destroyed.  Cows were stacked in empty lots.  There were alot of peddlers along the road selling mostly food or some sort of pots.  There were kids everywhere.  Some had backpacks.  I don't know how many actually go to school, but 1:30 in the afternoon they were all out in the street.  There is a ton of people in general out milling around.

After passing through about 8 checkpoints/drop arms we arrived at Qalaal House.  Nothing exciting to report here.  Just a lot of buildings in a really small space, an acre or two.  I have training for a few more days and then hopefully I'll catch a transport to Shank on Saturday.

That's about it for now. 

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Sera was horrified about the video I sent her of the bidet and how it operated.  She was relieved when I showed her that I had roll of toilet paper.  This morning I emailed her and told her that in Afghanistan people use their left hand to wipe their booty and it was offensive to them if you used your left hand for anything.  You always have to use your right hand.  Katy said she had a look of terror on her face that transformed to panic and she said "How's Daddy going to go 3 months with one roll of toilet paper?!".

OUT.

The Lady in Black

Nothing exciting to report from Dubai.  I'd like to say that I hit all the hot spots and partied like a rich oil Arab.  But, actually all I did was e-mail Katy and made a video for the kids.  I sat down to watch TV and woke up a couple hours later, turned everything off and went to bed.  Overall I am handling the time change pretty well (8.5 hours ahead of est) and am able to sleep at night.  Tonight might be a different story with all the planes and helicopters constantly taking off at Bagram.

So, I get up early this morning and take a taxi to the airport.  I walked in to the terminal and everyone and their brother was in the line for Bagram.  After about an hour and a half I got my bag checked in and had to go through passport clearance so I could get to my gate.  One guy had people flying through his line so I figured I'd go there, no problems.  At the last minute they called in "The Lady in Black".  She was wearing the traditional abaya and looked all business.  She called me over to her station and asked for my passport and boarding pass.  At this point I figured she stamp it and send me on through.  NOOO, she looks at me, then at my passport, me, passport, me, passport.  I smiled and thought that she was doing a thorough job.  Well, my smile, charm and good looks had no affect on her.  She looked at me again and said, "Take off your glasses!".  Now, my tourist passport picture is a couple of years old and I have a beard now but not in that picture, but, surely she can still tell that it's me.  Next she holds up the passport and looks at me, passport, me, passport.  So now I'm reaching in my pocket to pull out my other passport so I can prove that I am me when she slams it down on the counter and sent me on my way.  It sure would be a tough explanation to call the Corps to tell them I'm in custody because I don't look like my passport picture.

Flying into bagram we had to fly around a mountain range and come over the top of it to hit the runway.  I don't think the pilot decreased his airspeed until we were half way down the runway.  It was one of those hold on to your seat and brace yourself stops.  Bagram is in a flat plain surrounded by mountains.  It's desert"ish" with scrub plants and lots of really fine sand.  The mountains still have snow at the top of them.  When we were flying in I could see villages and houses.  All the houses and fields were surrounded by walls. 

Bagram is a pretty busy place.  Plenty of people from all countries.  Constant movement of armored vehicles going out on patrol and planes, jets and helicopters always moving. 

I'll be flying to Kabul in the morning.  It's supposed to be like a 10 minute flight.  Shouldn't be to bad.  Well, I'm off to hit the shower and climb into bed with the 7 other guys sharing our little hut.  OUT.

In Dubai

It was an uneventful trip to Dubai.  The people that were hired to move us through customs did a great job.  I didn't even have to think for myself until I got to the hotel :)  Didn't see much of the city, it was drak when we flew in.  What I did see was prett cool, big buildings, need architecture, etc.

One interesting thing I forgot about concerning the malaria pills.  They make you sensitive to light.  That ought to go well with my fair skin.

I was talking to Sera before I got on the plane and telling her that I was waiting at the airport in Washington, DC.  She asked if I had seen the statue of Abraham Lincoln or any other statues in DC.  I said no, I only saw the airport, then went to Virginia and came straight back to the airport.  Her response, "Daddy, that sure does seem like a wasted trip!!".  Too funny.

Flying out in the morning.  More tomorrow maybe.

Hanging at the USO

The good news is that this airport has a USO since everything in the airport is crowded and they don't have free WiFi.  The USO has free WiFi, food, drinks, a place to sit and TV.  At least the Alabama - USC game is on.  I'm torn.  I really don't want Alabama to win, but, I can already hear all the Gamecock fans whining because they won't be ranked #1 if they do win.  Then the next thing they would be talking about is how they should have beat Auburn.  Well, it didn't happen.  At least I'm not going to have to listen to them.

So, I'm reading a welcome letter from Qalaal House (Corps AEN Headquarters) regarding Malaria drugs.  We were given doxycycline to take.  It has to be taken everyday.  They do have a drug that you can take once a week, mefloquine, but it can cause psychotic episodes and crazy dreams.  Well, I for one am glad that I'm taking doxycycline. 

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE WEEK:  1. There is such a thing as a stupid question.  And some people will look for every opportunity to ask them.  2.  You can learn something new everyday, even if you've been trained on it multiple times.  3.  The dude at the South Carolina - Alabama game wearing a muscle shirt and Dale Earnhardt mustache and sunglasses is hilarious.  Could be my next Halloween costume.  4.  Why is it that the most annoying guy in the class always seems to be a little guy.  I don't know when he flies but I sure hope he is not on my plane. 

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Lily asked Katy if I was at work in Afistan (as her and L'man call it).  This happened while she was on the potty, which is were we probably have our most in-depth conversations.  Well, I guess she could be asking about me when she accidentally steps in dog crap in the backyard.  It's a joy being referred to as the dog crap picker-upper by the kids :)

This will probably be my last post for a few days unless I have internet in Dubai (or I get bored and post something else later). 

Hurry up and wait

Well, this title needs no explanation.  I got my ticket from Dubai to Bagram this morning.  Checked it out and they had me flying into Bagram tomorrow instead of Sunday.  When trying to change my ticket we were told that the flight on Sunday was full so they have me flying in on Monday now.  Then we had to change my ticket going to Dubai to tomorrow.  So I am stuck in Winchester one more night and get to fly to the Middle East by myself.  FINALLY, THIS THING IS BECOMING AN ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!  I'm just hoping I make it through in one piece.

Other than that not much exciting happened today.  Finished training, worked out, killing time.

SHOT UPDATE:  The band-aid covering my small pox immunization has a bulge in the middle.  I'm not changing the bandage until tomorrow, but I'm assuming I now have small pox.  YIPPEE!!

The Missing Sock

 THE DAMN SOCK

So, I decided to do some laundry tonight so I would have some clothes to get through the next couple of days.  I load the washer per instructions:  soap first, put in clothes loosely (I had 3 days worth of clothes), close lid, deposit your $1.50, choose temp/cycle and hit the start button.  I come back 20 minutes later to make the change to the dryer.  Once again I follow the directions:  clean lint trap, insert clothes, shut door, insert $1.50, choose temp/cycle, hit the start button and come back in 45 minutes.  I get the very few clothes, take them to my room to fold and guess what, I'm missing a damn sock.  So I head out the door, retrace my steps, check the washer and dryer and what do I find?  Not a damn thing.  And that is my story of the damn sock.

Above are the pictures that the "no coffee lady" took Tuesday morning.  I guess she did know what she was doing.

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Christian was supposed to talk to me on the phone and let me know about his Halloween costume.  Here is a transcript of the conversation:  ME: Christian, what are you going to be for Halloween?  CHRISTIAN:  A Superhero!!!  Gotta go!!!  (I guess he's too busy to talk to his Daddy tonight)

Nothing else exciting happened today including the class I intended.  I had to spend 8 hours listening to someone tell me how to use RMS, which is like listening to someone spend 8 hours telling me how to use Facebook. 

I'm outta here!

Training is Complete.........Well, Almost

Got luggage shipped off this morning followed by an IT briefing.  We got all our previous passwords reset.  Supposedly none of our email from our home districts will be lost.  I'm not going to bet any money on that one.  The question that took the prize when it came time to create new passwords was:  INSTRUCTOR: Any three letters in a row cannot create a 3 letter word in the dictionary.  STUDENT:  What if we capitalize one of the letters?  Is that allowed?  Does that still make it a 3 letter word?        WOW!!!

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon practicing first aid.  Last night Sera offered me the use of her book,  "The Daring Book for Girls".  Today when I told her what kind of first aid we had to practice (amputations, tourniquets, open wounds, heat stroke, etc) she said, "Daddy, that kind of stuff is not in my book!  I hope you paid attention and did a good job."  Too funny!

I am definitely leaving Friday evening and get to Dubai Saturday evening.  Sunday me and another guy fly into Bagram AFB, Afghanistan.  The guy I'm flying with grew up near Tuscaloosa and is an Alabama fan.  I guess if we can get along for 15 hours in an airplane I imagine there is hope that other Auburn and Alabama fans can get along as well.  Yeah Right!!!  Actually, he's a pretty good guy and was stationed at Shank not to long ago when we was called up with the Air Force Reserves.  He said it was a pretty good FOB and I shouldn't have any problems there.

SHOT UPDATE:  The small pox is starting to itch but doesn't look to bad yet.  I guess it should start blistering any day now.  Since it is a live virus I hope I don't infect anybody on the plane ride over.  I'd hate to be the cause of a small pox outbreak.  That would be kind of embarrassing.  The anthrax and Hep B shots have made my tattoo look like it's got a mountain in the middle of it.  I call it Mount Auburn.

Tomorrow and Friday I have AOU training.  This is training on the software system that construction offices use and other construction management tools.  Since I come from a construction office and have had training on this stuff, I predict I will be kind of bored.  Oh well.

HOME FRONT UPDATE:  Apparently Christian and Lily have been fighting over who gets to marry Katy.  Those little rascals are trying to move in on my territory.  I might have to send them one of my video emails to lay down the law.  Also, Christian took my instructions to heart.  I asked him to be the big boy of the house and help Momma out while I'm gone.  I told him he could try and do some of the things Daddy does.  Soooo, the first chance he gets he starts trying to rearrange Katy's curtains.  When she told him to stop he said, "I am now the boss!  I'm the big boy."  I guess I didn't make it clear that Katy was in charge :) 

Well, I'm out for tonight.

Photos, Gas Masks and Briefings

This morning started off with individual and group pictures.  The lady taking the photos either didn't like her job or ran out of coffee this morning.  She fired off 2 photos of everyone in record time, whether you were looking your best or not.  I'm just hoping my eyes were open.

It was mostly a day of briefings.  Some of them good, some somewhat boring.  My favorites dealt with making sure my pay was straight and stays that way.  The rest of them dealt with family readiness (could have used it before this point), force protection (I don't mind the constant reminder to drive fast, break the law and don't get out of the up-armored vehicles), HR (more pay stuff), IT (don't use thumb drives and blow up your computer) and legal (don't buy archaeological artifacts, military items, or download copyrighted items).  Along with force protection we were taught that if you were being chased in a vehicle and a donkey, child, woman and old man were in the path, do not hit the old man.  The Afghanis believe that all are replaceable but the wisdom of an elder man.

I did eat lunch with another electrical engineer.  His family fled Afghanistan in 1987 (about the time the Russians were ousted from Afghanistan and civil war started with the eventual take-over by the Taliban).  This is his first time back and he is hoping to meet up with some of his cousins while in Kabul. 

GEEK ALERT/INTERESTING FACT:  Kandahar, one of the biggest cities in southern Afghanistan, only has about 20 MW of power feeding it.  To put that in perspective, the last paper mill I worked at took about 20 MW of power to operate.  It had 3 generators, one of which was a 30 MW generator that was used to put power back on the grid.  Part of the power provided to Kandahar is provided from a hydro-electric plant built right after WWII (it would have been built by either the Russians or America) and the rest is provided by diesel generators installed by the Corps of Engineers.  Most of the people outside the center of Kandahar are lucky if the get 4 hours of electricity a day.  Two current projects the Corps has in Kandahar are helping to get two more generators operational at the dam and installing 4 new 10 MW generators around the city.  The generators were picked because they were designed to fit on military aircraft and can be flown in, which is beneficial considering the problems with trucking items in from Pakistan.

This afternoon we finished off with gas mask training.  We had to get our masks on in under 9 seconds, which wasn't to difficult.  You just have to remember to not breathe, close your eyes and clear the air inside your mask.  Then you should be good to go.  Oh yeah, my two favorite indicators to put your mask on:  animals are dropping around you and other people have their masks on.

I'm packed and ready to ship some gear over tomorrow.  We are also spending most of our day in first aid training tomorrow.  Other than that I guess I'm ready to call it a night and start all over again tomorrow.

Gear and Shots

Well, I forgot to take pictures of me getting my shots.  Not much to see really.  I thanked the nurse for not paralyzing me or killing me with the Anthrax shot.   I think she got used to my sense of humor in between giving me the Anthrax shot (which has a delayed reaction that is not nice), Hep B shot, Yellow Fever stabbings, and 7 months worth of malaria pills.  If I can get over there without getting sick from all the shots over the last couple of weeks I'll be in good shape.

We got all our gear issued today.  Now the fun part is trying to figure out how to get it all there.  We get to ship some stuff over on Wednesday.  It'll take about two weeks for it to get there.  The rest of the stuff we need to survive on we have to take with us.  We can only check 44 lbs of baggage and carry on 15 lbs in a carry on.  I think I'm going to make it due to my master packing skills and willingness to live on nothing but my knowledge and good looks for the next two weeks :)

Tomorrow is more briefings, gas mask training and we have to wear our uniforms to make sure we can dress ourselves properly.  It's an early day, they're picking us up at 6:45.  The early pick up coupled with the fact that we have "one of those guys" in our class that feels the need to comment on everything, it should make for an interesting day.

 I should find out tomorrow if I'm flying out on Thursday or Friday.  Also, it looks like I will be flying into Bagram instead of Kabul.  I guess as long as I get to the right place at some point it's all good.

Made it to Virginia

 

What a busy week!!  Spent the week trying to get little odds and ends done around the house, packing and getting things ready for deployment, and spending time with the family.  I was able to take each of the kids to breakfast or lunch (see pics above) and spend some individual time with them.  Friday night some great friends came up from Augusta to spend the evening with us.  Saturday we had a busy day.  Little Man and I got hair cuts, Sera had to cheer at a football game, we went to the open house at the Ft. Jackson Fire Department, Sera and I went to Gator-Fest, and we ended the evening with a movie.

This morning we ate breakfast together.  I had to finish packing and giving instructions to everyone.  I think everyone was probably tired of me giving last minute instructions on how to take care of everything.  The house will probably be more efficient without me there to get in every one's way :) 

After the tire got changed on the airplane it was a pretty uneventful trip.  The driver that brought us to Winchester, VA gave us history lessons the whole way.  I got lessons on the Revolution (passed the farm that had been in George Washington's family for 140 years, numerous roads built for military purposes), Civil War (the three battles of Winchester and the various brigades/regiments involved, the driver has also been a re-enactor for decades), the French and Indian War.  He was also in the Army and Air Force (he missed the Korean War because he had become a Ward of the State of Maryland), but I'll spare you the details.  It was a very informative trip.

Tomorrow it looks like we get medical reviews, SERE training, Afghanistan briefings, and equipment issue.  If you're lucky maybe I'll get some pictures of me getting some shots!!