2009 October « Afghanistan My Last Tour

Miss America joins school supplies drive

Posted on 10/31/2009 by Rex Temple

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Rex has departed on a multi-day mission and asked me to update his readers on a couple of wonderful new developments with our school supplies drive. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet with Michael Hoad, University of South Florida’s Vice President of Communications who is also Associate [...]

Filed under: School supplies project, Videos | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, humanitarian mission, Miss America, Nicole Johnson, SPC Christopher "Kit" Lowe, University of South Florida, USF, USF Bulls, USF Diabetes Center, USF Health, war | 3 Comments »

Halloween in a combat zone

Posted on 10/30/2009 by Rex Temple

Despite being in a Muslim country and on the other side of the world, some Celtic rituals are still celebrated. Some of our energetic MWR personnel made sure of that. They converted the recreation center into a morbid gathering place equipped with skeletons and wooden tombstones with humorous epitaphs inscribed on them. Carved Jack-o-lanterns with [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, earthquake, Halloween | Leave a Comment »

WUSF Radio story about corruption

Posted on 10/30/2009 by Rex Temple

Here is a link to a radio interview earlier this week where we discussed corruption and how some of the ANA soldiers openly discussed how to steal supplies. The story aired on WUSF Radio in Tampa during NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” My Last Tour: Stolen Blankets

Filed under: Radio interviews | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, corruption, Deployment, ETT, mentoring, news, WUSF | Leave a Comment »

Helo mission to FOB Shank

Posted on 10/29/2009 by Rex Temple

It was another cool morning and our 72-hour assault packs were packed. I was still feeling a little bit sore from yesterday’s mission. I swear the Captain hits the bumps fast to see if I will hit the ceiling or pop the gunner out of the turret. Anyhow, we went over to the Landing Zone [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, FOB, FOB Shank, helo mission, Logar, Mai-Wand, photography, U.S. Air Force, war, Wardak | 2 Comments »

Convoy to Airborne – Part 2

Posted on 10/28/2009 by Rex Temple

We dismounted from our vehicles and visited the future office building and sleeping quarters. I could tell by the expressions on my teammate’s faces, they weren’t exactly thrilled about their new digs. But I know with a little bit of elbow grease and imagination, they will fix it up. We walked around the corner to [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Camp Airborne, corruption, Deployment, ETT, U.S. Air Force, war | 1 Comment »

Convoy to Airborne – Part One

Posted on 10/27/2009 by Rex Temple

After yesterday’s entangle with the demonstration, I was sure our mission might be postponed for a few days. Instead, we decided to roll out the next morning. This time the ANA would lead the way and we would escort several 7-ton trucks full of winterization equipment. The air is getting colder in the morning and [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, cement, corruption, Deployment, ETT, Mahmoud Karzai, war | 3 Comments »

Today’s radio story on WUSF

Posted on 10/26/2009 by Rex Temple

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Rex was out on a mission and returned late tonight and was too tired to write a new entry. He asked me to post the latest interview with WUSF Radio which aired this morning during NPR’s “Morning Edition” and again this afternoon during “All Things Considered” in Tampa. My Last [...]

Filed under: Radio interviews | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, demotrations, Deployment, ETT, Kabul protests, news, WUSF | Leave a Comment »

In the middle of Afghan demonstrations

Posted on 10/25/2009 by Rex Temple

After several hours of delay, our convoy departed the camp for our mission. Much of the delays were caused by our unfamiliarity with the various MRAP models. For the past 5 months, the armored HMMVWs have been our vehicle of choice and we are intimately familiar with them. Yesterday we were supposed to have the [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghanistan, demonstration, Deployment, ETT, Kabul, news, photography, war | 3 Comments »

Village Medical Supplies drop

Posted on 10/24/2009 by Rex Temple

Two days ago, we were supposed to visit this village, but didn’t and had to reschedule for today. Only a handful of my teammates would accompany me on this visit as we joined forces with the camp medical personnel. Even though the village was friendly and the camp has been supplying clothing, food, hygiene items, [...]

Filed under: Missions, Photo slide shows | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, humanitarian mission, U.S. Air Force, war | 1 Comment »

Shaken, but not stirred

Posted on 10/23/2009 by Rex Temple

Last night I was struggling to fall asleep. It was R&B night at the MWR center which is approximately 2 B-hut lengths away. The participants had the bass turned up and the vibrations made it difficult to sleep. Just as I dozed off, at 12:21 am my bed started shaking and I immediately sat up [...]

Filed under: Food and living conditions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, photography, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »

Afghanistan My Last Tour

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