Yesterday after our mentoring sessions were over, we spent the afternoon readying our MRAPs for what would have been a long mission. Had everything went as planned, we would have been driving on the road at O-dark-thirty hours. Around 0800 hrs this morning, we were given the order to “stand down” (Army lingo to stop [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Camp Phoenix, ETT, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, war | 3 Comments »
The ride north on the “Highway of Death” was pretty much a repeat of the drive south. We stopped at a few more ANA COPs and OPs. At one OP, a herd of sheep was roaming freely about. I didn’t see anyone guiding them, but the thought of savory taste of lamb kabobs was starting [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, Missions | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, COP Conlon, ETT, Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, Eye Infection, FOB Airborne, IED, Internet access, MRAP, MWR, war, Wardak Province | 6 Comments »
From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Rex’s beat up laptop has most likely taken its last breath. It was being held together by tape and sheer good luck when I last saw it in Germany – and now it appears to have died completely. So Rex has to figure out a workaround (hopefully through MWR) or [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, School supplies project | Tagged: Afghanistan, Bagram, Deployment, goldendoodle, MWR, pets missing owners, U.S. Air Force, WUSF | 2 Comments »
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 »
Last night I was struggling to fall asleep. It was R&B night at the MWR center which is approximately 2 B-hut lengths away. The participants had the bass turned up and the vibrations made it difficult to sleep. Just as I dozed off, at 12:21 am my bed started shaking and I immediately sat up [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, photography, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »
We all crowded into our new office and held our first meeting this morning. The plan was to meet our ANA counterparts and tour their facilities. Previously the advanced team was given a quick tour and was introduced to the Kandak leadership. Today the ANA commander along with his SGM was touring another FOB. The [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, Mentoring ANA | Tagged: Abdullah Abdullah, Afghan elections, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, B-hut, corruption, Deployment, ETT, Hamid Karzai, photography, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »
Last night before going to bed, I overheard some contractors talking about Teenie and Boogie. The more I listened, the more I became intrigued. They were talking about the pet names for their scorpions and about the combat matches with camel spiders. Boogie was the former champion scorpion until he met his fate when he [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, School supplies project | Tagged: Afghanistan, camp puppies, Deployment, ETT, pets, photography, U.S. Air Force, war | 6 Comments »
Here is a link to the latest interview with WUSF Radio’s Bobbie O’Brien which aired today during NPR’s “Morning Edition” and yesterday during “All Things Considered.” Topics discussed included Afghan elections, corruption in Afghanistan and, of course, the move to our new base and living conditions there. My Last Tour: A New Base
Filed under: Food and living conditions | Tagged: Afghan elections, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, Deployment, ETT, FOB, news, U.S. Air Force, war, WUSF | 1 Comment »
After numerous delays our convoy was on the road. We drove to another location and swapped out our HMMVWs for some MRAP vehicles. The MRAPs would enhance our capabilities. By mid afternoon, we finally arrived at our staging location. It still looked the same with the drab color landscape and bombed out buildings. The sun [...]
Filed under: Food and living conditions, Missions | Tagged: Afghan elections, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, Military, MRAP, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »
