Afghanistan My Last Tour

It’s 3 am and I am startled from a deep REM sleep. I struggle and rise from my bed as if in a drunken stupor. My alarm clock is chirping incessantly. The off switch is hidden strategically behind the clock and is the size of a pin head. Somehow my stumbling fingers find the little off button and all is quiet for a few seconds. As I regain my senses, I am quickly reminded this is not an alarm clock malfunction and it’s time to wake up for our mission. It’s rather chilly outside but I walk or perhaps stumble 47 paces to the latrine to shave and brush my teeth. The cold air is nipping at my toes which are thinly protected by a pair of flip-flops. Today’s mission is to visit Bagram Air Field (BAF), turn in 5 older model HMMVWs and pick up 6 refurbished MRAPs for the Marines. Say goodbye to Marine Master Guns and drop him off at the air terminal for his flight home. Sounds simple, but it wasn’t.
Everything was going as planned until it was revealed a convoy member didn’t have his M-4 rifle. Apparently he left it unattended at the DFAC and it was confiscated by someone. This debacle would cost us several hours of delay. The weapon was secured by the Garrison commander and eventually released back to the member. By now the sun had replaced the moons and stars, but we were on our merry way.
We departed the camp with a 5-vehicle convoy. The city was awake and the streets and roads were filled with people, wheelbarrows, donkey carts and small herds of sheep. We drove past the Serena Hotel housing the UN guests which was attacked several days ago. The ANP were out in full force providing additional protection to this landmark. As we continued on our journey, I took a few snapshots of the pedestrians and the vendors along the route. They looked rather cold, yet they were still wearing their flip-flops. But I did notice more people were wearing socks and shoes than on previous trips. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an older man hobbling along on his crutches. He is one of the thousands of amputees in this country. I pondered for a second wondering what caused his misfortune. Perhaps a hidden landmine or perhaps he was a former mujahedeen fighter and lost his leg while fighting the Soviets. I will never know.
The road to BAF was all too familiar including going down the wrong road to a closed gate. Since I wasn’t the convoy commander, I made an assumption that the gate was reopened, but it wasn’t. So round the round-a-bout we went with the entire convoy. The sidewalk was packed with people staring at us as we drove by. They didn’t seem too surprised, so I figured this is a common occurrence. Fortunately there is a round-a-bout leading back out; otherwise, it would be a dead-end street.
We made our way to the storage yard and the MRAPs were neatly parked to each other. So far, so good, but this is BAF and like an albatross round our neck, something just didn’t seem right. We spent several hours prepping the vehicles, unloading and inventorying all the contents. We transferred all our gear, cots, weapons, etc. to the MRAPs. Then just like a bolt of lightning parting the clouds, problems arose. The communication radios did not arrive like they were supposed to. Technical problems arose with the Electronic Countermeasure systems (ECM). But there was still a glimmer of hope, the radios would arrive in the afternoon and we could quickly install/program them and continue our mission. The glitch in the ECMs would be worked out and we could leave bright and early tomorrow. In the interim, we would check into billeting and be assigned a tent for the night and bid farewell to Master Guns. We would also enjoy some lunch at the DFAC.
For brevity’s sake, I have decided not to detail every facet of this trip because we had so many frustrating delays and technical difficulties. Instead I will provide you some of the highlights and share some of the pictures I took with some explanations. Part Two..to be continued…..

Filed under: Missions Tagged: | Afghanistan, BAF, Bagram, Deployment, ETT, HMMVW, MRAP, photography, U.S. Air Force, war