My New Life in Afghanistan

Hey everyone, I hope this meets you well. I am doing well and finally getting settled into a routine. I get up around 6am, go to the gym for some cardio, come back, hit the shower, get dressed, make a morning protein shake for breakfast, read a bit and head to work where I fix my morning tea and start off with a daily 0830 stand up meeting with the brigade commander and rest of the staff. At that time we find out what going on around the country and get battle field updates. Not to much unlike my day back at home working at Boeing actually.In the afternoon, I head back the the gym for a mid day cross-fit session with some of the guys in the office.

The Post Exchange (store) here is pretty bare because the Pakistan border is closed. We have the basics and stuff that is flown directly into Bagram Airfield (BAF), but some stuff comes via the port in Pakistan. My understanding is that there are trucks waiting to cross that border. Remember we had coalition forces fire on a Pakistan outpost and kill about 24 Pakistan soldiers a few months back. I guess they still have not opened the border for supplies.

Christine has been sending me some items to make my room more comfortable, like a few lamps. This way I can turn my lights on and off independent of my 2 other roommates. We each have a part of the room which is partitioned with 2x4s and plywood. Not a bad setup. Here are a couple pictures of my living area. The last guy left the chair.

This is where I lay my head at night. Yep, that is a cordless hone on the wall. I hook up a Magic Jack to my computer to call home from my room. It works pretty well. Don't do much but sleep here other than that.

This is the outside of my billets. The buildings are made of con-exes (shipping containers) made constructed into buildings.

Last week as I mentioned we took a convoy (my first) to a remote location (for operational security, OPSEC, I will speak in generalities for some stuff). The ride was kind of cramped as you can see from the pics, pretty tight quarters. We were in an MRAP, remember I posted pictures of those previously. The trip was about 6 hours round trip. We had a gunner, so he snapped some photos of the countryside as we were driving along so you can get an idea of what it looks like here outside the base.

Getting in our MaxPro.

My NCOIC on the right, SFC Fowler and our vehicle dismount on the left. He is part of the PSD (Personnel Security Detail).

Picture with the guys we went to support. Beautiful view in the background.

This is the pre-convoy brief we receive each time we go out. All these guys are there to protect about 3 of us actually going out on a mission. Never felt so important. All these guys are from the Ohio National Guard.

View from inside the MaxPro

Hindu Kusch Mountains

Half built abandoned building. These are all over the place.

There is only one major highway in Afghanistan and trucks are everywhere.

Not Kentucky Fried Chicken, Halal Fried Chicken!

Any taker?

I am now carrying my camera on me at all times, so I will snap pics whenever I see a good opportunity. I will also try to post more frequently with smaller bites about life here.

Until next time, TTFN…