ETT team off-loading 7-ton truck at new location.
For the past few weeks, my Captain and I along with 4 other teammates were part of an advanced team (ADVON) and tasked with setting up operations at a new FOB. Meanwhile, our remaining teammates continued the missions at the other camp. In support of General McChrystal’s master plan, the battle space in Afghanistan has been reorganized and divided between US and coalition forces. Previously my team operated in the Parvan (Parwan) and Kapisa Provinces. Now we have swapped missions with the French forces and are responsible for Lowgar and Wardak Provinces. We are positioned on the west side of the capital city of Kabul, which explains why I frequently post pictures of the city and the people.
Four members of my team have also relocated to another FOB in the southern part of Wardak Province. Their first night at the FOB they received a rude welcome from the insurgents who indirectly fired 8 rockets at their position. Not sure why they call it indirect fire because the enemy’s intention is to hit the FOB. Fortunately they are cowards and their aim is horrible because they set up their rockets attached to timers and positioned with rocks or tree branches. I plan to visit them in the near future (Note from his wife: he must mean he will visit his buddies – not the insurgents).
These past few days have been a whirlwind of activity and I am trying to recollect the events in chronological order. We had to pack up everything from our former camp and relocate it here. This was challenging enough, but the French forces were behind in relocating, so we didn’t have an office space to operate out of. Our daily meetings were conducted in a pavilion and almost every day we were rolling out on a mission. Meanwhile, we were basically living out of a suitcase because our quarters were only temporary.
AF Captain receives certificate from ANA General.
We returned to our former camp and ANA General Zamarai personally presented my Embedded Training Team (ETT) certificates of appreciation for our work in mentoring his troops. I was rather surprised, but my ANA SGM did not attend the farewell ceremony. Afterwards, a few of my teammates posed by a small 2-man tank with
ETT teammates posing by a small 2-man tank.
their certificates. My team returned to camp and in a day or so in conjunction with the Brigade folks, we would convoy back to our former camp and bring them to our new camp
Before leaving camp, I took a picture of our future ANA Kandak performing their daily run. We motored back through Kabul and arrived at our former
Saying goodbye to Justice and Liberty.
camp one last time. I made a point to say goodbye to my camp buddies Liberty and Justice. They both looked really healthy and as usual were taking their morning naps. They must have sensed my presence or perhaps they smelled the Pupparoni in my pocket and rose to attention as I approached. I mistakenly put it there instead of Beef Jerky for me. Not sure how that keeps happening. Hopefully I won’t make the mistake of chewing on it.
Our ANA brothers provided several 7-ton trucks to transport our personal gear and office furniture and equipment and joined our long convoy of armored HMMVWs. This would probably be the last time we would visit this camp. After arriving at camp, we had the task of unloading the gear and putting it inside the plywood cubicles. Just yesterday the contractors finished building all of the cubicles to house my teammates. Previously the French forces resided in these concrete shelters and we had to wait for them to vacate before refurbishing the building.
Marine LTC relinquishes former camp guidon to ANA General.
The very next day we had a change of command ceremony involving the French, ANA, and my Brigade and ETT teammates. The ceremony was held on the LZ and ANA General Wardak was the guest speaker. While my team stood painfully at attention for 40 minutes, the general gave his speech. Since the Afghan media was present, (according to my interpreter) the general repeated himself about 5 times using different words. This is typical of the ANA generals who like to give long-winded speeches. While the general babbled, his high ranking guests were periodically leaving, checking text messages on their cell phones, and occasionally dozing off.
After the ceremony I relocated my belongings from my B-hut to the concrete quarters. My cubicle was about 6 inches longer than the wooden B-hut I resided in for the past few weeks. About an hour after I unpacked everything and set up my room, the Garrison commander inquired why I didn’t move into E-8 quarters. Since there is only 3 E-8’s and one E-9 on the post, we are given some preferential treatment. I inspected the quarters and discovered these were much bigger (by at least 3 feet). I jumped at the opportunity and made a deal so my AF Captain could join me. So we repacked our stuff and moved into the new quarters. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. I plan to stay here until my deployment is over, even if they offer me larger quarters. Now if they throw in a hot tub and a king size bed, I might be persuaded to change my mind.
Last night the camp gave my team and the Brigade a welcoming party at the DFAC. We were completely surrounded by all of the Air Force members stationed at this FOB. We paired up with a complete stranger and was given 5 minutes to learn as much about our new friend as possible. Then we had to introduce each other to the crowd. It was a great ice-breaker to meet our new campmates, although I had already met most of them.
AF MSgt singing Whitney Houston song.
The highlight of the night was the karaoke singing in the MWR center. One of our AF MSgt teammates was a few minutes late for a meeting due to his faulty “knock-off” Rolex watch. As a consequence of his tardiness he was going to entertain us with a song of his choice. He showed up 30 minutes early to page through the thick book of songs. Initially he picked a Jeffrey Osborne song, but it was not available. So his next choice raised a lot of eyebrows. He was going to give us his rendition of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”. He had us all in tears and I joined my teammates with howling at him. But he was persistent and finished the song. Unbeknownst to him, I was recording his crooning and planned to play it at the next staff meeting. But apparently I still haven’t figured out this fancy recorder and when I pressed the stop button, I was actually recording the laughter and conversations after his performance.
The French were departing at 0400 hrs and requested we relocate our equipment. Apparently the camp dogs was irritated by his sour notes that they were all howling in unison too and keeping the French awake. But I have to give my AF brother props for not running away after the howling began. I suppose being the biggest and strongest guy on our team might have something to do with it too. No hard feelings and a great night of fun and entertainment at our new camp.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, karaoke, photography, U.S. Air Force, war
well now i am like confused.