From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Rex has no Internet access today – our 4th wedding anniversary. So I’m using the space to ask for your help. I want to give him a special anniversary present and if you are a regular reader of this blog and like what you see, you can help me. I [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Afghanistan, blogging, Deployment, ETT, media, MILBloggies, Military, military spouse, war, writing | 10 Comments »
My curiosity finally got the best of me and today I would pacify it. I’ve driven past it dozens of times and had hoped to see it up close. Today a handful of teammates and I would visit the 14th century ruins that reside on a portion of ANA land. We were a bit skittish [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: 14th century ruins, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, basketball, historical strutures, Kabul, photography, Tajbeg Palace | 2 Comments »
This week’s conversation with WUSF’s Bobbie O’Brien covered our mission to a girls school to drop off donated school supplies and President Obama’s visit to Afghanistan. The story aired Monday during NPR’s “All Things Considered” and will run again this morning in the Tampa Bay area during “Morning Edition.” Or you can click on a [...]
Filed under: Missions, School supplies project | Tagged: Afghanistan, charity, corruption, Deployment, education, ETT, humanitarian mission, Karzai, news, U.S. Air Force, war, WUSF | Leave a Comment »
Judging by the picture, it appears to be a nondescript worn out tent previously donated by UNICEF several years ago. The tent has holes in its roof and the cloth sides are badly deteriorating held together by dry-rotting rope attached to a metal pipe frame. But upon closer inspection, I witnessed a flurry of activity [...]
Filed under: Missions, School supplies project | Tagged: Afghanistan, charity, Combined Transition Advisory Group, CTAG, Deployment, education, ETT, humanitarian mission, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »
Shortly approaching 11 months of deployment, we are starting to wind down. In fact, we received notice our tours may be cut short by a couple of weeks. The mission we had has changed and the Army is implementing the partnership concept. This means they will work much closer with the ANA counterparts and they [...]
Filed under: Mentoring ANA | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, war | Leave a Comment »
It has been awhile since I have crawled up in the gunner’s turret and took on the responsibility of a gunner. On today’s mission, this was my position. Admittedly, I don’t favor being a gunner because of my height and size (and age) because it’s very demanding and your team relies on your keen sense [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, M-240, MRAP, turret, U.S. Air Force, war | 3 Comments »
Over the past year, I have taken many photographs of sheep in Afghanistan. I never got very close to them. But on today’s mission, not only did I get close, but a baby lamb got quite “intimate” with me. A few weeks ago we received notice that our AF Group Commander, several squadron commanders and [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: .50 cal machine gun, Afghanistan, Air Force, Beanie Babies, Deployment, ETT, gratitude, proud to serve, U.S. Air Force, war | 6 Comments »
From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Due to slow Internet connectivity, Rex is unable to send his blog entry for today. But he managed to send one picture and the first two lines of the entry: Over the past year, I have taken many photographs of sheep in Afghanistan. I never got very close to them. [...]
Filed under: Missions, Radio interviews | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, war, WUSF | 3 Comments »
It didn’t take us long to figure out that the bazaar, restaurants and Px were relocated. So we turned around and drove to the other side of the flight line where the military terminal was. We parked our MRAPs and went inside trying to ascertain the arrival time of our guests. The clerk informed my [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, Kabul, Kabul International Airport, Nuwruz | 3 Comments »
For our ANA counterparts and Afghanistan, Nowruz is the celebration of a new year and for us it would mean a 12-hour mission to new places, new roads, and a new experience. Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of a new year 1389 even though for us and our Gregorian calendar [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Police, ANA, ANP, Camp Blackhorse, Camp Phoenix, COIN, ISAF, Kabul, MRAP, Nowruz, Personal Security Detachment, PSD | 1 Comment »
