2009 November « Afghanistan My Last Tour

Will he make it?

Posted on 11/30/2009 by Rex Temple

This morning we all sat in the office in anticipation wondering if our teammate would be able to board the helo from FOB Shank. Due to the large turnover Replacement in Place/Transfer of Accountability (RIP/TOA) taken place, helo flights are at a premium. In layman’s terms when your replacement arrives, you get to go home. [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANP recruits, army supply system, Deployment, ETT, HMMVWs, MRAPs, President Obama, troop increase, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines, war | Leave a Comment »

Camp puppies

Posted on 11/29/2009 by Rex Temple

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: For some reason Rex had terrible Internet connectivity problems today and could not send his blog entry. But he did manage to send the photos of the new camp puppies. Apparently there are nine of them and they are way too cute.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Afghanistan, camp puppies, Deployment, dogs, Military, pets, photography, photos, pictures, war | 4 Comments »

Two video reports from ABC News

Posted on 11/29/2009 by Rex Temple

U.S. Marine battalion trains local forces in this ABC News video report by Miguel Marquez. ABC News: Marines in Delaram Here is another link to a piece by Martha Raddatz about what the new additional troops will do once they arrive and how long it will take to get them into Afghanistan. ABC News: What [...]

Filed under: Videos | Tagged: ABC News, Afghanistan, Martha Raddatz, Miguel Marquez, news, Taliban, U.S. Marines, war | Leave a Comment »

Move over Pony Express

Posted on 11/28/2009 by Rex Temple

I’m not sure when Benjamin Franklin created the US Postal Service, he envisioned US mail being transported by armored HMMVWs and protected by machine guns. But that is one of the methods used to transport mail to the awaiting soldiers in remote combat outposts and camps throughout Afghanistan. Today’s mission was to retrieve the mail [...]

Filed under: Missions, School supplies project | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, photography, picking up mail, SSgt Richard Brown, war | 4 Comments »

Time of Thanks

Posted on 11/26/2009 by Rex Temple

The war is not going to stop today, nor will it stop tomorrow. But for a brief moment in time, I am going to take a departure from writing about my daily activities and write something different. Today the traditional Thanksgiving holiday is being celebrated in millions of homes in the United States and around [...]

Filed under: Food and living conditions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Air Force wife, Deployment, family, military spouse, Thanksgiving, U.S. Air Force, war, wife | 10 Comments »

This week’s radio interview with WUSF Radio

Posted on 11/26/2009 by Rex Temple

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: This week’s radio interview with reporter Bobbie O’Brien from WUSF Radio was a bit different. You can hear both Rex and his friend SPC Kit Lowe chatting about the school supplies drive and Rex’s latest village medical mission. Here is the link: My Last Tour: A mission and a friend

Filed under: Radio interviews | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, news, SPC Christopher Santiago Lowe, war, WUSF | Leave a Comment »

Nov. VMO to Charkh Slide show

Posted on 11/25/2009 by Rex Temple

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Here are all the pictures from Rex’s recent village medical mission to Charkh.

Filed under: Photo slide shows | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Charkh District Center, Deployment, ETT, FOB, FOB Altimar, HMMVW, humanitarian mission, Taliban, U.S. Air Force | 1 Comment »

VMO Conclusion – Driving back to camp

Posted on 11/25/2009 by Rex Temple

It was another cool night sleeping in the tent, but knowing we were leaving, nobody really complained about the cold. Instead, we were like a hive of bees packing up our gear, prepping the MRAPs, mounting the weapons, and getting everything ready for our return ride back to our camp. Our escort showed up on [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, ANA, ANP, Charkh, Deployment, ETT, FOB Altimar, FOB Maiwand, Kabul, MRAP, Taliban, U.S. Air Force, war | 3 Comments »

VMO Day 4 – Taliban determined

Posted on 11/24/2009 by Rex Temple

Before going to sleep, another heater was brought to our tent. The females found refuge in the ANA tent that were burning firewood and their tents were hot in comparison. In turn, we were given their heater stove. I also walked around the tent and sealed off all of the openings I could find to [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, U.S. Air Force, ETT, multimedia, photography, war, HMMVW, ANA, humanitarian mission, Taliban, Afghan National Army, VMO, Charkh District Center, Logar Province | 4 Comments »

VMO Part 3 – Insurgents attack again

Posted on 11/23/2009 by Rex Temple

As expected, it was a bitter cold and uncomfortable night. I woke up around 3 am and all of my teammates were buried inside their sleeping bags with their heads covered. You could see your breath as you exhaled. It was freezing cold inside the tent. When we awoke early the next morning, everyone complained [...]

Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Charkh District Center, Deployment, ETT, humanitarian mission, Logar Province, night letters, Taliban, U.S. Air Force, war, white phosphorous | 2 Comments »

Afghanistan My Last Tour

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