Afghanistan My Last Tour

Today’s mission was canceled and will be rescheduled for a later date.  I purposely did not take any pictures this morning because I was looking forward to visiting a village.  So the only picture for today’s entry is some puppies sleeping by the main gate.  They wandered in a few days ago and seem content staying with the soldiers.  I went looking for those elusive newborns I heard about, but I haven’t found them yet.  Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow.

I read today’s newspaper and was surprised the Taliban haven’t commented on the election runoff.  I’m sure it will be only a matter of time before they voice their opposition or intentions.  In the interim, the United Nations announced they will try to replace 200 of the 380 district election chiefs.  Coincidentally the IEC (Independent Election Council) who was handpicked by President Karzai are also the ones who hand-picked the election chiefs.  Perhaps this explains why the vote-rigging and ballot box stuffing and other irregularities were permitted to fester and the largest percentage of fraudulent votes was cast for Karzai.  It’s kind of like the fox guarding the hen house.

Just for grins.  Last night at midnight I counted my paces to the nearest latrine which happens to be a Porta-Jon.  I stepped off forty-seven paces.  These paces will grow to become more critical as winter sets in.  Today I noticed there was snow on one mountain peak seen in the distance.  It was also reported that there was snow accumulation in the higher elevations of the Hindu Kush mountain chain.  I already miss the indoor plumbing of my former camp.  I’m not looking forward to trekking through snow to take a shower.  But it’s a necessary evil and I know other soldiers who would love to be here because their accommodations are much more rustic.  So please note I am not complaining and only pointing out an observation.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, U.S. Air Force, war