Afghanistan My Last Tour

Sunset at King Zahir's Lake House

By the time we arrived at the Lake House, most of the sun had disappeared behind the mountain crests.  Everyone was tired and sweaty from the long day.

ANA soldier handing out educational flyers

Yet we all felt a sense of accomplishment.  The smiles on the children’s faces and those of the local villagers were evidence that at least for a day we had won the hearts and minds of the people.  The true litmus test will be with what happens in the future and whether our troops will be continually subject to attacks or hidden IEDs.
We stopped at a small market place in Serobi and purchased some cold drinks and snacks to supplement our MRE meals.

Yours truly in front of the Serobi dam

While we were there I took some pictures of the hydroelectric dam and the rapid river.  Afghanistan would like to capitalize on its electricity producing capability and build additional dams so it can sell the excess capacity to other countries. I found this rather interesting since most of the villages we visit do not have electricity.

HMMVWs parked at the Lake House

We parked our vehicles much closer to the Lake House to shorten the distance we had to carry our gear. After unloading our cots and gear for the night, I climbed the adjacent hillside for some additional photo opportunities.  The sun was sinking rapidly and took on a different persona today.  But there was still enough reflection from the sun and I wanted to experiment more with the camera.   When I get my room connectivity back, I plan to do some additional research online about camera settings and tips for better angles and lighting.

ANA soldier diving into the lake

Pictures really do say a thousand words and it helps me to share my experiences with my wife by capturing images on my camera.  Of course there is nothing better than being there in person and seeing it with your own two eyes.  Regrettably Afghanistan is not a safe tourist haven yet.
The view of the lake and the still water was just too tempting.  It didn’t take long before a group of my teammates and ANA soldiers were stripping down to their boxers and started diving into the icy lake water.  The lake is fed from the melting snow of the Himalayan mountain chain, so it stays cold year round.  The females changed into their PT gear and joined in the activities.  I was a bit more timid and chose to walk down the stairs and wade into the water with my uniform pants on.

Homemade flotation device

At first the water felt frigid, but then I acclimated to it and it felt great!  I had concerns for possible E-coli, so I chose not to submerge my head under the water for fear of ingesting contaminated water through my nose or mouth.  Everyone was having a blast and diving off the railing into the 100 feet deep lake.  One female used a homemade buoyancy device constructed from empty water bottles to stay afloat.
For the next few hours, we temporarily forgot about being in a combat zone.  Team members also took advantage of the water to bathe and shampoo their hair.  It had been 2 days since anyone took a shower and after sweating profusively throughout the day, it felt good to wash some of the grime off the body.

AK-47, boxer shorts and a Stetson ... Priceless!

The ANA allowed us to hold their AK-47’s as props for some posed photos.  I’m not sure they understand why American military personnel do this.  It’s not often you get the opportunity to pose with an AK-47 rifle or RPG launcher.  Note the Stetson on the Army soldier in the picture.  These guys are extremely proud of their Stetsons and wear them in official ceremonies too.

Beef kababs and bbq chicken

After the festivities died down and the sun descended we were ravenous for food.  Prior to the swimming activity, we pitched in money for some local cuisine.  A group of ANA and interpreters were going to bring it to us.  The food finally arrived and we had enough to feed a small army.  Our dinner consisted of BBQ chicken (Afghan style) and beef and chicken kababs with vegetables rolled tightly in fresh Nan bread accompanied by some large bottles of Orange soda and Mountain Dew.  The soda is manufactured locally and tastes similar to that of US made, but it’s still not quite the same.   I haven’t been able to pinpoint the difference but narrowed down my hypothesis to lack of carbonation or refrigeration.  The local food vendor is also very enterprising and spares no expense by using the daily newspaper to wrap the food in.  We had enough extra food so we could treat the ANA guards.  We gave them a box full of the kabab wraps and BBQ chicken.  You could tell by the expressions on their face, they were excited about being given this food.
After dinner the team was visibly exhausted and rested in their cots looking up at the immense star lit sky.  Tomorrow morning we would return to camp to hot food and hot showers and prepare for future missions.  I watched a shooting star streak across the night sky and then disappear from sight.  I sighed a moment of relief and dozed off.

Stubborn donkey crossing the road

The next morning we packed the HMMVWs and headed towards camp.  We made a small stop at the COP in Serobi to pick up the empty trailer and hitch it to my vehicle.  The only thing left to do was to climb the steep switchbacks on the J-Bad Pass.  We were only a quarter of the way up and two of our vehicles to include mine were overheating.

J-Bad Pass switchbacks

Instead of stopping our first control measure is to shift down to second gear and turn on the heater.  This technique usually keeps the engine gauge from staying in the red.   It was already 90 some degrees and turning the heater on full blast would only add to the hot temperature and our misery.  But it was a necessary evil and eventually we made it to the top and were able to resume using the air conditioner which circulates the hot air in the HMMVW.
We made it back to camp uneventfully and off loaded our gear, weapons, and parked the empty trailer.  The only thing left to do was to call my wife, shower and hit the hay on my lumpy mattress.  Another successful VMO!

Filed under: Food and living conditions, Missions Tagged: | Afghanistan, AK-47, ANA, Deployment, E-koli, ETT, HMMVW, J-Bad Pass, medical mission, photography, Tagab Valley, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, VMO, war