It'd be a lot cooler if you did

It's been a few weeks since I last updated this thing.  Reliable internet is about as prevalent as literacy around here, and I have been doing some traveling of the countryside the past few weeks.  I hope that is an acceptable excuse to explain why I have not posted in over a month.  The part of Afghanistan that I am in is mostly agricultural, with small family farms surrounding mud-walled compounds that dot the countryside.  The FOBs are usually in the middle of grape and wheat fields, which are two of the largest cash crops that Panjwa'i district farmers produce.  The number of legitimate farmers planting these staple crops pales in comparison to Afghanistan's top exports: Narcotics.  The illicit farming in the surrounding fields is staggering given the amount of poppy and marijuana cultivation that goes on.  90% of the world's opium is produced in Afghanistan, and much of that production is in the southern portion of the country right near where I currently live.  The Arghandab valley is known for opium fields, but it's climate is best suited for marijuana.  It grows like a weed here and is the way many Afghans put food on the table. 

All my top bros call me ditch weed

Currently all the poppy fields are empty, but the Marijuana fields are getting ready for harvest.  If the wind is right, the smell of pot is overpowering and the running joke is that even MREs (Meals ready to Eat - Meals rejected by Ethiopians - Mr. E's - Mysteries - you get the idea) start to taste good and help satisfy the munchies that a stroll through one of these fields gives you. 

General Order number one governs bad behaviors by soldiers, and includes a strict ban on drug and alcohol use.  We routinely do drug screening for the soldiers, just to make sure the temptation to pick some of the local foliage doesn't go without consequences.

The smile is because the Redskins are 2-0

The local Afghan population is pretty ambivalent to the illicit trade that goes on, but the bad guys get a big chunk of their income by 'taxing' the farmers and transporters of the harvest. 

I am planning on decorating one of these 6 foot monsters as the Christmas tree at my aid station.  I will definitely upload some pics of the Sticky Xmas Tree, and instead of cookies, Santa will probably enjoy some space brownies.  Of course I am kidding, kind of.

A Little Redneckery

A little more insight into the construction odyssey. 

There are a few sayings in the military that spill over pretty well into 'regular civilian' life.  One of them is working to improve your position everyday.  In tactical terms this usually is applied to a fighting position, meaning improving the defenses against attack, or making your fighting point more advantageous.  In the medical part of a battlefield, that doesn't directly apply.  We have spent our time making our 'fighting' position more comfortable, safer, better organized, easier to work in, and/or just plain better. 

All of these improvements are done with the help of redneck ingenuity, thanks in a large part to the non-commissioned officers in my platoon.  They hail from all over the country, but they have all spent time in one way or another earning an hourly wage doing some form of manual labor - making them a much more valuable medical asset than any trauma training the U.S. military has funded.

We build or plan to build some redneck project daily.  We have accomplished some pretty amazing stuff considering there is no Home Depot down the road.  Most of our materials are scavenged or 'procured' from other parts of the FOB.  We 'borrowed' heavily from the Canadians when they were still around, and haven't had to take anything at gunpoint, yet.

We built our aid station using this redneck know-how, and my boss told me that 'red neck' and 'aid station' should never be used in the same sentence.  Having lived inside this redneck trauma bay for the past two and half months,  I have to politely disagree with him.  Below are some pics of the work done constructing our field hospital.



Typical of the medical platoon: One person working with three supervising



Building some living quarters: 'Jack Shacks' in infantry terms.  NOTE: one person working, two watching - three if you count the guy behind the camera

We Built This City

So connectivity took a hit after I was so excited for isolation to be a thing of the past.  The majority of the last 10 days I was still marooned on an island of limited ability to access the world wide web.  Not a problem unless you are trying to keep your friends and family updated about what's going on in your life from half a world away using a blog on the aforementioned information superhighway.

The next few installments will demonstrate to all of you what has taken up the majority of my time since leaving the comforts of KAF: Construction.



I may get worse at medicine while I am here in Afghanistan, but if the doctoring thing doesn't pan out, I can probably earn a decent wage as a handyman.  We arrived at a FOB(remember? from before, Forward Operating Base) that was not really built other than the outside walls (and for any of you concerned about my safety, they are approximately 20 ft high, 8 feet thick and filled with dirt and rocks; if you aren't concerned about my safety, you should ask yourself if continuing to read this blog is a good use of your time), so the first order of business was to construct sleeping quarters.  Not a simple task with temperatures well into the triple digits.



A tent raising



As I explained in previous entries, the US Army puts everything into a box.  We had arranged sleeping quarters for 120 people in 7 crates worth of equipment.  A crew of 10 people is supposed to be able to set one of these up in about 1 hour.  Fighting the elements and maybe a bit of ineptitude, we had one done inside of three hours.  With some serious sweat and hard work the soldiers I flew into this new home with were able to put up three of these before the sun set, and I did not have to sleep outside. 

 



It's electric.



The best part? Completely mortar-proof.



 

After a couple of more days of seriously sweaty, hard work, we had air conditioning.  We were even able to set up the movie theater(I told my command that I needed a projector and surround sound in order to do powerpoint and medical education lectures- as you can see, they bought it). 




This tent started to smell like feet immediately after this photo was taken

 

"Anyone for a McConaughey rom-com marathon?" 

"No?"

"Nobody?"

"So we're just going to watch Apocalypse Now, AGAIN?"

All in all not too terrible considering my surroundings.  Thanks again for continuing to read this thing.

Creepy in every sense of the word.

So it's been a month or so since my last entry.  Good news.  We now have an internet cafe.  This affords more reliable connectivity than even the most secure, high speed, government, secret squirrel broadband connection.

I may not be able to communicate medical situation reports to my headquarters, but Facebook updates and reading McConaughey's blog should be a 'go' 100% of the time. 

What that really means is that I am going to be able to update this thing a lot more frequently.  Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I am going to give you as much insight into my current life as I can.  I thought I would start by including some info on my not-so-friendly neighbors that I share this part of the world with.  Anyone who has set foot into a U.S. medical treatment area in this part of the world was probably greeted with this terrifying poster:

 Creepy Right?

Good thing I am not scared of scorpions.  Oh wait.  Or spiders. Then come to find out that this part of the world is home to this camel spider which is some demonic hybrid between a spider and a scorpion.  Awesome.

Still, the optimist in me was convinced that I would be spared these horrors and not have to worry about actually coming across any of these nightmarish creatures. 

Lucky for me these were some of the first neighbors I met when arriving to my new home.



Small pincers + Big tail = Terrible house pet



The spider is more terrifying than the mortar tube it is climbing on

Yeah, so these things are disgusting, and I am constantly checking my boots and sleeping area for uninvited guests.  Especially the kind with eight legs.

The Electric Strawberry

So I finally can get on and do this.  I apologize about the delay, connectivity, like indoor plumbing, is almost non-existent in this part of Afghanistan.  I have been here almost 7 weeks now and this country has lots of dust, sand, heat and narcotics trafficking.  I only like one of those things, and it usually needs clear, blue water and a surfable break next to it for me to really enjoy it (and no, the answer is not narcotic trafficking, Dico) 

Since I have been here for over a month I now qualify to wear a patch on the right sleeve of my Army Combat Uniform.  Every Army unit has a designated patch that is worn on the left sleeve as part of the normal uniform.  After 30 days in a combat zone a soldier is authorized to wear the patch of the unit he or she is serving with on the right sleeve.  The soldier is then allowed to wear that patch on the right sleeve even after leaving the deployment or leaving to serve with another unit.  This used to be called the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia--Former Wartime Service, now called the 'combat patch'.  It's also called earning your 'bookend' signifying the same patch on both sleeves, or for some it's my 'been there, done that' symbol.

Mine looks like this, and it's the symbol of Tropic(Arctic in my case) Lightning for the 25th Infantry Division:


http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/images/25id.gif

Connectivity is pretty terrible, so uploading an actual photo was a non-option, sorry to have to link the pic.
The nickname for this patch is the electric strawberry, which I think is pretty self explanatory.  Tropic Lightning is where the title for the McConaughey flick Tropic Thunder comes from, and the unit earned this nickname since the division is headquartered in Hawaii. 

Thanks again for anyone who has stuck through this blog hiatus.  I track 18 followers as of the last time I actually posted anything.  If you are all still there, thanks.  I can't promise that connectivity will get any better, but I will continue to keep writing as often as I am able if anyone is willing to keep reading.

Back, Kind of - The title is the only thing I can type into. But I am here, and safe and it is hot. Like Sahara hot. If you're still with me in this blog thing, I will update further when I don't have to type everything in the title box.

Signing off from KAF

Sorry about the delay between the last few posts.  The past couple of days have been hectic around this part of the world.  I wish I could say that that won't happen again.  Unfortunately that would be a lie.  I am about to leave KAF, and therefore internet connectivity, somewhat functional air conditioning, (mostly) indoor plumbing, and reliable electricity.

As soon as I am able, I will update again, but I am unsure when that will actually occur.  So in case I don't make it on before, congrats to Erin and Dan - wish I could be there to celebrate with everyone.  I hope you don't have any Wedding Planner style hijinks, I know you two will have a special day and I know Avery will do something regrettable.  I wish I could be there to be my lovely wife's date for the evening.  And to see what Avery is going to do.  Mostly, to be my wife's date, but kind of because of the gravity of the stupidity that will no doubt happen.

Oh and happy birthday to Baby Dico - you have to let me cook for you. 

National Pastime

In the United States, the traditional pastime is baseball.  Spring training happens in early March, the season shapes up by June, the All-Star break is in mid-summer and then the champions are crowned in late October.  There is the seventh inning stretch, Fenway Park (another shout out to the Boston Dunstans and Miguel Jones), peanuts and Cracker Jacks, nickel beer night and shagging fly balls.

Afghanistan doesn't have baseball.  The closest thing that they have is fighting.  Not like boxing, martial arts or any sanctioned sporting event.  The fighting they do instead involves improvised explosives, ambush and guerilla tactics and its been going on for hundreds of years in the same pattern.

In late spring, the beginnings of fighting season start to take shape.  After crop harvesting is complete, usually around the end of May, the fighting picks up and moves forward until the dominant players start to take charge in mid July.  In late September/October, those left standing are usually considered the champions and best set to take charge heading into the off-season.

The Afghanis aren't too particular about who they fight.  They will fight anybody, and they love to fight with each other.  They don't really discriminate though, if it moves, and is disagreeable to them in any way, they will fight it.  Currently they have the NATO/ISAF folks to pick a fight with, and despite not having electricity, they are pretty good at it.  I guess they have to be good at something, in the U.S. I would say we are good at having indoor plumbing, not such a priority in this part of Asia.    


 So let's all root for our home team, how about it?

How Bazaar

Saturdays on KAF are not that different than any other day.  In a combat zone there are no real 'weekends', things just sort of chug along as they normally would.  One exception is the KAF Bazaar near the NATO end of the air base.

The  بازار  as it is spelled in Urdu ( I couldn't find the Pashto translation) is a collection of merchants who pay a fee to set up stands on the end of the airfield that is the most cosmopolitan with the largest mix of NATO forces living close by.  

The tent scene where everyone offered me "Good quality. Number one price"

The merchants feature everything from beautiful, hand stitched Afghan rugs and exotic looking antiques and wood carvings, to precious stones and jewelery and just about every fake purse brand and knock-off Rolex watch you could ever want.  

There was even a nice collection of the discarded military issue items that I can only assume were cleaned by the locals who do the garbage collection and then placed for sale back to the same people who threw them away - a great way to limit overhead and increase profits.

There were also numerous DVD 'retailers' offering the same selection of films that are currently in theaters back home in the U.S. which aside from the titles being written in Mandarin, are probably just really nice advanced copies that I am sure were obtained through legal channels.

Not one of these 'entrepreneurs' had a McConaughey section, and I suggested to more than one of them that if they really wanted to increase their bottom line, that would be the way to go.

If you don't have the OMC hit in your head already, here it is:
http://youtu.be/TfJe8hQ8ha0

I'll take what's in the box

So for the longest time, a way over-used, cliched catch phrase has been "Try to think outside the box"

I have never really understood what that meant. I guess it's supposed to be a way to apply new ideas to a complex problem.  Now the U.S. Army has not been insulated from this phrase and I have been told on more than one occasion since arriving in Afghanistan to "Do some outside the box thinking."  This is thrown around quite frequently when discussing counterinsurgency strategies, and how best to win over the Afghan population.

Despite this outside the box rhetoric, it seems that the Army has instead taken a page out of Justin Timberlake and Lonely Island's playbook and put everything into a box.

Much like the  Enigma 'code breaker in a box' made famous in the WWII Navy film U-571, the military continues to create useful items packaged "In a Box"

Here is a small list of the items that the Army currently fields in OEF that come conveniently packaged this way:

RIAB (pronounced ReeAb) Used for PsyOps(Psychological Operations) its is the best acronym in the bunch - Radio In A Box.
CON 150  - FOB(Rember this one? Forward Operations Base) in a box that can house, feed and has bathrooms for 150 people and can be set up in a few short days
Interrogation center in a box - this one is pretty self explanatory (no water boarding area though - I asked)
USO in a box - computers and phones for soldiers to call and email home from anywhere in the world that can again, be set up in just a few days.


That is just a small list of the latest and greatest ways to fight a war in neat little packages.


Here's to celebrating Friday the 13th the Lonely Island Way - Step One: Cut a hole in the box.

Man, remember the first fifteen guys you saw with that Halloween costume.  2007 was fun.

Another Man's Treasure

I have been scouring Kandahar Air Field for medical supplies.  Not that I don't have my own.  I ordered thousands of dollars of medical and trauma equipment before leaving Alaska planning to sustain the medical needs of 800-900 soldiers for three to four months.  A great plan, with high-speed, cool gadgets and the best field equipment tax money can buy.

Unfortunately it is still sitting in shipping containers in Karachi, Pakistan.  Now, you don't need to be an expert in geography to know that it does not help me deliver meds and supplies in Kandahar province.

So I have been on a Fool's Gold style treasure hunt for the past week begging, borrowing and stealing in order to provide equipment to the 200 plus soldiers currently on the ground, and the other 600 plus due in over the course of the next week.

I have managed to order some supplies through legitimate channels, borrow some from the unit that is preparing to go home, and on more than one occasion been told in no uncertain terms that I would not be getting any help from a certain country that shares a common northern border with most of the United States. (Turns out that 'F*ck Off' translates pretty well from French to English)

I think my biggest score was a set of reasonably used golf clubs in a dumpster behind the Air Force hospital.  Not that these are the nicest, but I also managed to get some gently used medical storage containers from the same spot.

So after a great deal of wheeling and dealing, along with a touch of dumpster diving, I have four fully functioning aid stations worth of medical equipment and medications that are on their way to the little FOBs and COPs(Combat Outpost) that we will begin occupying this week. 

Bleep - that one was for you Baby Dico

Beer Bust at the Boardwalk

I know, I know, I went an entire blog entry without referencing a McConaughey flick.  I promise I won't let that happen again.  So while my Friday night in Kandahar didn't quite rival a 70's high school kegger it was a pretty good time, all things considered.  KAF has a main central area with coffee shops, and souvenir stands.  This area, called 'the boardwalk', even has a KFC and TGI Friday's (complete with the 'It's Always Friday in Here' sign).  There are even a few shops that serve non-alcoholic beer that complies with General Order #1 forbidding consumption of alcohol. 

CPT Dickman, 1LT Maffey - my Headquarters XO(executive officer) and I sat down to enjoy some 'Near Beer' and stop talking about the responsibilities of a battalion surgeon and instead catch up on old times.  We toasted to a successful and safe deployment for Mike and his unit of stryker cavalry. Mike spent the last 11 months here in Afghanistan,  not far from where the unit I am assigned to will be working.

Dr. Dickman has been a great help passing on lessons learned as I have been working to plan medical operations, and it has been nice to see another friend so far from home.  He also happens to be the guy who helped me get into and out of a bunch of trouble during our time together in residency - which means we spent the bulk of the night laughing about the good times DeWitt Army Hospital afforded us.

In fact, if it weren't for the F-16's taking off and landing every 20 minutes(and that the beer contains 0.3% alcohol), it wouldn't have been that different than grabbing a drink and catching up back home.  We had so much fun that we decided to make a pact and meet back in Kandahar every year on May 6th at that exact same spot.

Dumb and Dumber

That last part was made up, sort of.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

So part of my job while deployed is to plan medical operations.  Not like the buzzing, battery operated board game by Milton Bradley/Hasbro, but instead it involves figuring out where to put the pieces of medical equipment on a battlefield to help save soldiers' lives. 

Piece of cake right?  They teach that during second year of medical school.  Maybe there is a merit badge for that.

Oh wait.

I have never done this sort of work before, and every time I accomplish something or figure something out, I learn just how much I don't know and how much more work I have to do.

Factor in that the people who have been doing this job the last few years speak French as their primary language, and the learning curve has been steep and communications have been pretty difficult. 

The worst part has been walking all over on a wild goose chase to track down maps, medical supplies, battle group and task force contacts.  I have averaged a longer commute on foot here at KAF than my worst day of Washington DC traffic.  Now the Army gave me two very nice, very expensive mountain hiking boots right before coming to Afghanistan that were lovely to use in Alaska.  They are probably great for the rocky, mountain terrain where I will be when I leave this lovely air base, but for just putting miles under your feet, they have proved to be awful. 

Enter the fobit boot.  A Fobit is someone who never leaves the comfort of the base area or FOB(Forward Operations Base).  Another term for them is POG - people other than grunt.  Right now I definitely fall into both of these categories and so I purchased a pair of boots that are more basketball shoe than combat boot.  They are completely unauthorized for regular uniform wear, and have a zipper on the side for quick entry and exit.   I am sure that they were manufactured in a sweat shop that is probably not that far from here and they even have a Converse brand label on them  I am going to let you all in on a secret though - they are fantastic.  They have changed my entire perspective on KAF.  I now have a spring in my step. So even though it makes me look less infantry (which is an uphill battle as the nerdiest member of the infantry battalion staff), I am celebrating my fobit boots as I walk to my next stop on the scavenger hunt of planning medical ops.

This picture sums up the difference between the Fobit and the 11Bravo - the military specialty for infantryman.

Cheers for now

13 Conversations About One Thing

Yeah, that about sums up my first week in Kandahar.  For those of you who have been here, you know how big this place is, and how much of the same thing exists over and over again.  I think there might be a redundancy department of redundancy here. 

Everywhere I went to get an answer over the last week, I was met with a "I can't help you, but here is where you need to go to get that information."  What's beautiful is that everywhere requires at least a mile walk and the temps have crept into the triple digits by noon everyday.

Not that I can complain that much.  Dr. Michael Dickman has been here during the past week and I have really learned a lot from his experiences.  He and I went to residency together and worked closely for a couple of years sharing the 'Man Cave' office prior to its early termination.  He is leaving Afghanistan (he wears the ACU pattern I mentioned last time)  and has spent the last two months in the area where I am about to move to.  He has done some great things and is another hero that gets to go home to his wife and four (I know right?) kids back in Germany.

Internet is slow, but now works in my bunk area and I will be better at documenting and sharing. 

Oh yeah - did you guys hear that one of the higher ups in Al Qaeda was killed?  It was like a bad rumor in high school as the news spread amongst the 40,000 people who call this little place home away from home.  Everyone is bracing for some retaliation, but fighting season still has a few weeks before it really gets going. 

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Failure To Launch

Yup, just like the McConaughey rom-com, I was all ready to go, just to turn right back around.  We loaded a C-17 with 160 soldiers, airmen, marines and all of our luggage.  We took off while sitting in a less than comfortable 'seat' only to turn around 45 minutes into our flight because some mechanical issue wouldn't allow the plane to perform the required 'combat zone landing'.

I am a big fan of getting delayed in an airport for mechanical reasons.  I want that stuff fixed while me, anyone I care about and the plane are still on the ground.  It is much less comforting to have to announce this issue an hour before entering an area where you have to wear a kevlar helmet and they turn  the plane's lights off so as not to make a large 'shoot at me' target in the sky.

After landing back in Kyrgyzstan - which is just as lovely in April as you have probably read about, we sat around for another 8 hours(of course we had to reload all the people and bags) before boarding a different C-17, one that had fully functioning flaps. 

When we were 25 minutes outside of Kandahar, they turned on some red cabin lights, made everyone put on their helmets and then proceeded to take us on a roller coaster ride provided by the U.S. Air Force where we shed 25,000 feet in a very short time to touch down in Kandahar Air Base.  So a full 12 hours after I was supposed to arrive, here I am, sitting in the heat of Kandahar Air Field.  Waiting to start the next phase of my time in this hot, stinky country. 

Hope you all are well.


Pedro

Manas

I do not know how to pronounce where I am at right now, and I think that is something I am going to have to get used to over the next few months. 


I am sitting at the main transfer point for everyone flying in and out of Afghanistan, a very busy little Air Force base in Kyrgyzstan.  (kerr Ges tan) - I think
Right now I am patiently waiting to board a flight to Kandahar.  This leg of the trip will also have a different packing list than I am used to.  Now I am flying on a USAF(United States Air Force) plane into Kandahar and this requires a Kevlar helmet to be worn along with either an IOTV(Improved Outer Tactical Vest) or Armored Plate Carrier (Fancy titles for bullet proof vest).  Not your standard JetBlue DCA to BOS luggage.(That was for you Michael S.Jones and all of my Boston Dunstan family)

This place is pretty interesting with men and women from four branches of the armed forces including soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.  There are also soldiers from Poland, Georgia, and Canada.  This means lots of different languages and lots of different uniforms.  In fact, the US Army is even wearing two different patterns depending on when the soldier arrived in Afghanistan.  The unit I am with, the 1-25 SBCT is outfitted in the new, OCP (Operation Enduring Freedom Camoflage Pattern) but the standard ACU(Army Combat Uniform) distinguishes those soldiers who have completed their time in Afghanistan and are packing there old uniforms and going home.(Napolean Dynamite voice - "Luckyyyyy")

Here are the different patterns:



OCP - The Going to Afghanistan Pattern



ACU - The Coming home from Afghanistan Pattern

I think Mr. McConaughey might take some of these ideas for his j.k. livn clothing line - from what I hear in central Asia, camo is the new 'black'

Pay attention to the poll at the bottom, you've probably already missed some good stuff.

Pete

also notice that it says I posted this Friday evening - not so, its actually 6 am on Saturday where I am at - I am typing to you from the future.

World Air

So flying en route to a war zone is different.

It's definitely not the G5 McConaughey's character Rick Peck enjoys in the movie 'Tropic Thunder'

For one, there is no security to speak of, unless you count the off limits holding area with razor wire surrounding it where we waited for 3 1/2 hours prior to loading on to buses so we could drive to Eielson AFB only to wait another hour at the Air Field for our chartered flight. 

Next, the big difference is what's allowed for your carry-on items.  Mine included a M9 9mm pistol and an M4 carbine rifle.  This is what my storage under the seat in front of me looked like:

Kind of crazy right?


There were three movies, and I was awake for at least the first few minutes of the A-Team.  No McConaughey to enjoy, but Bradley Cooper will work for me in a pinch.

We leave again in the next hour or so, so this is a quick blog entry.  Next stop: Kyrgyzstan.  That is apparently a real place that you can find on a map and actually fly into.  To me it sounds like the home of an evil villain in a bad spy movie.  Either way, I hear it's beautiful this time of year.  I can hardly contain my excitement.

See you all soon.
Miss you all, but mostly my wife.



Pete

Keep Your Head Down

That is the equivalent of pre-deployment 'Good Luck!!!!!'

I have decided that much like I wouldn't wish Mr. McConaughey "Good luck" before he is about to head out on stage and instead would say "break a leg", people tell me to 'Keep your head down' as their way of wishing me well prior to heading into 'the shit'.  (This deployment euphemism is pretty self-explanatory)

I am not sure what the proper response is to this sentiment, but I must admit I am guilty of firing this line off to my friends and colleagues before they go in to harm's way.

For most people, they tell me to stay safe or be safe or if they know me really well, not do anything stupid.  People in the military usually use the 'watch your six' (meaning keeping an eye on your rear - like six o'clock) particularly if they like to talk about how awesome they are or what kind of cool stuff they have accomplished in the army.  If the person I am talking to has soft spoken about their prior combat experience, then they will always tell me to 'keep my head down' right before we exchange a hug, shake hands or get off the phone.  This goes for junior soldiers I work with now to my grandfather who is a veteran of three separate wars with combat experience ranging from France in 1944 all the way through the Vietnam war. 

There are other movies that don't star Matthew McConaughey that people sometimes quote.(Hard to believe, I know) and I always get a kick out of the 'Office Space' prison reference of 'watch out for your cornhole' - noted, wait for it, shout out warning - thanks Gus Tyler. 

No matter what the sentiment, know that for this soldier, it is appreciated and I will do my best to do all of these things:

Stay safe - this one is somewhat beyond my control given the neighborhood I will call my new home
Don't do anything stupid -  this is always a challenge for me
Good luck - I will take whatever luck, karma, dharma, omens etc. that I can get
Watch your six - shut up douchebag
Watch our for your cornhole - things like that don't happen to people like me
Keep your head down - Roger, Wilco

See you all soon,

Pete

Thank You For Your Service

I have seen an outpouring of this sentiment over the past few weeks.  I was embarrassed over the weekend by my friends and colleagues when I was recognized as about to deploy to Afghanistan at the local arena league football game, and had to stand up in front of thousands(okay maybe hundreds, it's the Fairbanks Grizzlies after all) and I turned a nice shade of pink after a round of applause from the crowd. 

I have been thanked countless times while wearing my uniform, and people have even paid for coffee or picked up a dinner or lunch tab for me. 

All of these things are nice, but I have to let you all in on a little secret:

It really makes me uncomfortable.  Like, really, really uncomfortable.  I usually mumble a 'you're welcome' and then stammer a 'thank you' back to them.

I am sure there are people who like that sort of attention.  They probably star in films and get their shirtless picture in magazines(sorry Matthew), but for me, a proper sense of how many people are out there that are making bigger sacrifices than me and have done more important work than I have makes me unworthy of that sort of recognition.

A healthy perspective is important, and that is probably what motivates people to thank soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors for their service.  And because of that, I will continue to say you're welcome and thank you awkwardly to anyone who is nice enough to buy my coffee for me.  It's why I now pick up the tab for young soldiers I see who probably feel that same uneasy sense of gratitude that I have awkwardly tried to convey over the past few sentences.

Happy Easter to all and to all a good night.

L-I-V-I-N

So part of the pre-deployment process is sitting through briefing after briefing about where you are going, what you will be doing and how you will get there.  Today was different though because today we were supposed to bring our families so they could get some more information. 

Now the information presented was no different, and the one theme that has not changed is just how much is unknown about this deployment.  But they always show pictures of the map of Afghanistan and today the leaders of the brief spent a bunch of time going over information about what would happen if families need to get in touch with their soldier while he or she is in "the box" (another deployment euphemism that has nothing to do with corrugated cardboard,  temporary storage,  a colloquial term for female anatomy, and/or a terrible movie starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden).

 What was different about this briefing (most civilians refer to these gatherings as meetings) was how open and not secret it was.  Normally when there are no spouses or family, you have to turn in your cell phone prior to taking your seat to ensure that no information leaves the room and you are reminded constantly about operations security or OPSEC.

The last briefing of that variety I attended outlined all the rules that the U.S. forces must follow since we are part of a NATO mission and we fall under the ISAF - the International Security Assistance Force. 

This briefing was two hours long and consisted of all the things we are not allowed to do.  Most of it had to do with the difference between U.S.  culture and the other NATO countries and the Pashto and Muslim culture of Afghanistan.  This list of don'ts was pretty extensive and included zero tolerance for alcohol, pornography, and interacting with Pashto women.  Many other things were covered to include what to do with human remains and how to dispose of sewage waste.  I was reminded of Matthew McConaughey's character David Woooderson: 

"The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin', man. L-I-V-I-N."
So after two hours of everything and anything that you can't do in Afghanistan, I have to agree, take it one day at a time and just keep on livin.

All for now.

Pete


speaking of just keep on livin', check this out.

http://jklivin.com/index.php

All right, all right, all right.

These words, spoken by Matthew McConaughey's character David Wooderson, are some of the most quoted of the iconic film, Dazed and Confused.  They are also the first line ever spoken on film by the actor, and for that, he credits them as his favorite line from any movie.

The Ted Nugent shirt makes his statutory rape jokes much more believable

I don't imagine my first entry in this blog will have the quotability of any movie lines, nor will it become a lucrative career.  Maybe it's because I don't get my shirtless picture put in magazines, or maybe it's because this is a free website with millions of other people too cheap to shell out the $17 to host your own blog website.  Anyway, I do hope that my first blog motivates me to keep writing, keep updating and hopefully keep anyone who reads it a bit entertained along the way. 

Blog appears to be a hip thing, and as with most things that are hip, I am pretty late to the party.  I don't think that my life is so very interesting that I would need to share it over the information superhighway, but I definitely would like to update all my friends and family while I am in Afghanistan.  So this is an avenue for me to share some thoughts and stories about what I am doing, seeing and learning while I am "down range" (this euphemism has nothing to do with kitchen appliances, mathematics, distances something can travel, or a series of mountains - but all of those things will likely be addressed on this website one way or another over the course of the next year).  It does mean being somewhere that is probably dangerous, separated from family and friends, and has a whole lot less indoor plumbing than back home.  It is Army jargon for spending time deployed.  In my case this deployment has been an on again, off again roller coaster of shifting deployment dates, jobs, and missions that will probably change several more times before I actually settle in to my small role in Operation Enduring Freedom.

As it stands, my departure is one week away from tomorrow.  There has been lots of training and planning and packing and tossing and turning waiting for this day to come.  I am actually putting off my final packing by spending time writing this. 

I hope this hasn't bored you to death, maybe it even makes some sense.  I promise more insight in future posts, but all in all, my first blog didn't treat me too badly.  Hopefully people who read this far feel the same way.