Visiting Soldiers of Alpha Battery

It's been a while since I've had the priviledge of having Soldiers under me that I am directly responsible for. So far this command has proven to show me why I continue to choose to serve...because of those Soldiers.

I have travelled around to seven various COPs/FOBs to visit with my Soldiers (who are spread out at 5 locations). At each location, the Soldiers have less than ideal living conditions in some way. My guys aren't the ones at the big FOBs where they have all the nice accoutrement. One of the FOBs was without functioning showers/laundry for weeks because their water delivery truck (and civilian) was attacked and destroyed by insurgents and prior to that the delivery guy got water that looked like chocolate milk with how much dirt was in it. Another of the COPs is aptly named, "Wilderness" due to it's terrain and location. My platoon there has done a superb job at defending the COP against rocket attacks by honing their skills on direct fire of the howitzers. At the COP I am now visiting, the Soldiers have to use burn barrels to go to the bathroom, and are crammed into a tent living in bunkbeds. Each of the locations has Soldiers who regardless of the conditions, work hard and keep a fairly high morale every day. The Soldiers are proud of what they do to provide artilery support to the guys outside the wire and it shows. They continue to improve on a daily basis by training and improving on their knowledge and skills. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the next fire mission, the young Soldiers are learning the skills and tasks required of the next higher positions on the guns, and in the fire direction center. When they're not improving the firing point, they are training for a few hours each day. The Soldiers don't ask for much, and they take pleasure in the little things. One of the section chiefs here made dinner last night that was amazing, using a rice cooker and griddle. He has a bachelor's degree in culinary arts and regularly makes meals for the guys using items that the cooks from the dining facility will give him to feed the platoon. You might ask, "Why he would cook for his guys when the DFAC already does?" He does it because the platoon is a family and he cares about their morale and well-being. Most of the food he makes, he doesn't eat because he is on a diet. This is just one example of what the Soldiers do to take care of each other and make the best of it.

These are the types of Soldiers that make being their commander worth while and will continue to motivate me to improve their quality of life out here.

Check out the article on my 1st Platoon that I took out for our BN's first ever Air Assault Artillery Raid. We were on top of a mountain at about 9,100 ft. above sea level for about 7 days. (I took the picture that PFC Holton is given credit for): http://www.army.mil/article/58506/Field_artillery_regiment_completes_first_air_assault_mission_in_battalion___s_history/

I am proud of what we've done over the past month and am looking forward to seeing what we accomplish over the next 6.

Beginning a new adventure

Well,

I've inventoried the first platoon of four. Right now, on Easter Sunday, I'm away from everyone I know, travelling, and stuck at a random FOB waiting on the next flight out because the pilots are taking a half day to celebrate the holiday. But, I'm still probably the happiest I've been in a while, knowing that I'm at the beginning of what looks to be a great adventure. I take command of Alpha Battery, 1-6 Field Artillery on 15 May. I'll have 4 platoons at four different FOBs supporting three different BNs. My headquarters element will be at another location and I'll be working every day to make sure my gun platoons have what they need to provide timely and accurate artillery fires in support of the ground maneuver Soldiers.

So far, the Soldiers of my future 4th platoon have impressed me. Their continuing position improvement and dedication to supporting the manuever element is outstanding. The Soldiers seemed receptive to my coming to take command and were very helpful, going out of their way to make sure I was comfortable with all of the property inventories.

Hopefully next time I visit, I'll be able to see them conduct a fire mission. The Soldiers seemed in relatively high spirits and it gave me motivation to do the best possible job I can as their commander. I'm starting to learn some of the challenges I'll face, resourcing and managing the dispersed battery, and I hope that I'll be able to break down some of the barriers with a new vigor coming into command.

My only concern is the lack of time I'll have getting to know the Soldiers. That is something I will endeavor to fix. I plan to do a fairly hefty circulation plan in the first month to simply get to know my men. As a leader, in my mind, that is the most important thing you can do to effectively lead your organization: Know your people.

I think one of the Army's weaknesses comes from leaders and personnel managers who make decisions about Soldiers and their careers based off a numbers game, without regard for the many aspects of that Soldier's life, family, and strengths/weaknesses. I hope that I will be able to make as many informed decisions as possible, and not fall into that trap.

I am thankful that I have Robyn at home, to help as a great asset in being able to link into the other side of the Soldiers...their families. I believe that is one thing I have to strengthen my command that my predecessor lacked since he was single. I just hope that it doesn't over-stress Robyn! She has so many things on her plate that she is working to accomplish daily. I am so proud of her. With her job working as the Survivor Outreach Services Financial Counselor, she gets to help those families most in need. Lately, we have had those families newly mourning, within our Brigade...and they need someone like her.

Soon, I'll be off to the next FOB, looking at the next platoon's equipment and meeting the rest of my future Soldiers. Hopefully along the way, I'll be able to have a positive impact on them and the organization as a whole.

Memorial Ceremony - inspiration

We just had a memorial ceremony yesterday for one of our Soldiers who was killed in a recent firefight. I have saluted the Soldier's cross (boots with an upside down rifle and helmet with dog tags) at least a dozen times now. Each time, whether I've personally known the Soldier or not, it has brought about a certain kind of pain. A pain that knows it won't be the last time I render such a solemn salute. A pain that prays to God that others won't have to render such a salute to me because I never want Robyn and Porter to have to suffer through what that means.

But this was different than the other times. This was the first time since my first deployment that I have attended a ceremony while down range. The first deployment, I was still a new LT, and it just seemed surreal. I followed the person in front of me, did not know the Soldier, and rendered a salute as was the custom. The pain and heartache of those around me was not my own, because I had not experienced the loss of someone I knew, and I was still somewhat neive to what it meant to lose a Soldier to one of these bastards.

This time was different because I am acutely aware of the fragility of this life, and have been the one comforting the family through the painful notification; through the funeral and the aftermath that goes with the loss of their Soldier. When I see the memorial for this Soldier whom I've joked with at least once or twice and seen around the FOB, and I'm sure for all future memorial services, it brings to mind all those I've known who have gone before. It brings to mind the families of those who've gone before and the strength and pain that I have witnessed in them.

Watching the Soldiers in the company and platoon who really knew this Soldier, crying, and hugging each other as they mourn together on this day, I feel for them. I am proud of them. Their strength and courage to continue on a daily basis when millions of Americans back home know nothing of their sacrifice, brings me strength. After the ceremony, they'll have time to share stories and remember their brother in arms. But, after that day, they'll be back out, conducting patrols, making damn sure that the sacrifice of their brother was for a reason. Many of them will use his memory to serve as the fervor to spurn them further on the several mile dismounted movement, carrying nearly one hundred pounds of gear, halfway around the globe away from their loved ones.

Perhaps what is more admirable is the restraint and courage that the platoon and company have shown in the wake of this loss. They rose above and refused to take it out on the local population of the villages in the area that they took fire from...although it can be most certainly said that the people in the area probably knew who conducted the attack, and where they went with their injured/killed insurgents. Instead, they realized that these people are in a difficult place...help the Americans today, face the insurgents tomorrow who come and beat or kill them when the Americans are at another village or back at their FOB.

The Soldiers will not let this stop them, and will be back out there after the insurgents who hide like cowards in plain sight, intimidating the locals into submission. I am proud to be a part of this. I am proud of our batallion and look forward to seeing their progress throughout the rest of the deployment.

field trip

Well,

I got assigned as an investigating officer for what's called a 15-6 investigation. They do these whenever someone has a bad accident, or in my case, loses something very valuable and sensitive in nature. So, I have to hand off my duties to my NCO for a couple days and go interview a bunch of people about what they know and what they're roll was in the loss of the item. It takes precedence as my primary duty now, and I'm the only one in the BN Staff that can do it because I'm the only one that outranks the company commander...besides the two majors...and they aren't about to do it. So, field trip for me! I'll make sure to take some pictures and some day...maybe I'll get some pictures up on here. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the bottom of this thing kind of quickly so I can get back and catch up on the real work I have to do. I'm just looking forward to being the commander so I don't have to do these silly staff tasks. I know there will be a plethera of other retarded things to take care of, but it will be nice to be off of staff! Only another two months! On another positive note, they are telling me that I don't have to take leave before I take command, so that rocks! I'm slotted for Sept-Oct right now, so Hawaii here we come:) Hopefully I'll be able to avoid losing stuff like the company I have to go investigate...just crappy circumstances trying to changeover property at the same time as trying to learn a new AO and get ready to bring the fight to the bad guys. I don't think I'll have the same challenges since my platoons aren't really going outside the wire...they just man the guns on 4 different FOBs and provide artillery support where it's needed. Anyways, I have to get going, so more to follow when I get back from my field trip;)

The "wall"

I am borrowing the idea of this from my future BN CDR's wife. She wrote in her blog about the 'wall' that spouses hit during a deployment. With this being her 4th deployment and this our (Robyn's and my) 3rd, I can relate and understand what she's taking about. I am writing from this side of the pond on the 'wall' that we hit over here. It comes on this side too. Generally around the same time, 2-3 months into the trip after you realize, "holy crap...this is going to be a long deployment." It comes once everyone figures out the terrain, their take on what they think the enemy is doing, and when they get a handle on their individual job to a point where the thought process and discovery learning aren't as involved. Not that there aren't new challenges daily, but the routine is established, and there's time to be bored and the xth briefing set of slides you prepared or mission you participated in isn't that much different than the rest. Then there are the stupid things about a deployment that generate the inevitable discussions from the nay-sayers about why we're here. The casualties, the accidents, the Soldiers getting in trouble for doing dumb things like negligently discharging their weapon after cleaning it. After a couple months of energetically searching out a better way to do business than the unit before us and getting stifled in one way or another, by the weather, by the system of beaurocracy, or the chain of command being too busy or focused elsewhere to notice...it limits one's motivation to continue to knock down walls. The chain of command gets into their comfort zone too...they get to a point where they have their grasp on the situation and another way to solve it is less readily accepted. I think that is true of most leaders when we find a way to solve a problem that we think will work, our openness to trying another way decreases exponentially as time goes on. It is my goal to break this cycle, recognizing that I have gotten to this place, and most of the unit has as well. I will work to continue to find new ways to fight and win, and I will endeavor to ensure my Soldiers do not become comfortable with the way things are. We can and will continue to improve. If we can't, then why bother after being here for almost 10 years? In an unclassified news release, GEN Petraeus said he thinks the TB are going to bring it pretty hard this year. I know our BN is welcoming the challenge and looks forward to helping them find their Allah and give these people and the unit that follows us some peace in the future.

Ground hog day

I've been here for just under two months now. After two months it seems like nothing is really changing. Things go on the same schedule every day...which is not that bad because it makes things go by a little faster I think, but it also makes all the days kind of blend together. Your perception of time skews when you do the same thing every day with no weekends. The only thing that really helps me keep track of the days are the various meetings that are scheduled to mark the weeks that we plan off of. That's one of the reasons I'm so looking forward to going to take command. Not that I'll work any less than I do now, but it will be a change of pace. That's one of the reasons I enjoy being an officer in the Army for. Every year or so you get to change jobs or at least who your boss is. For now, I enjoy my boss and who I work with, but I've been working for the same boss now for almost a year and a half. That's long enough for me! I don't know how I would do in the civilian world if I had to have the same career or specialty for my whole life. Not that I'm knocking that, I just think I would get so bored. I see why people go through mid-life crisis...I wonder what the correlation to that is with their job satisfaction? Interesting study for someone like my sister-in-law.

On another totally random note- I got an email from an old friend from high school today who happens to be over here in Afghanistan as an F-15 pilot in the Air Force! Kind of neat considering he is a couple years younger than me. It seems like our school had a LOT of service members per capita...word to recruiters, go see Tully High school in Central New York! Kind of makes you feel like you're from a place with the right priorities. Found out my cousin (also named Joe Mroszczyk) is on a Human Terrain Team in Iraq right now too. With less than 1% of Americans serving their country, I feel blessed to know so many. Kind of makes me wonder what the rest of the country is doing? Oh well, motivate your friends and have them go see a recruiter! That's all for now, I'll rant some more later!

The leave problem-forgive my vent.

Leave is always a good thing right? I mean, who wouldn't want some time off? Why not take it when you can get it? Well, when you know that it's going to be the only time in one year that you get it, and that the rest of the time you'll be working 16-18 hour days in a combat zone with no breaks outside of meals and gym time, you make damn sure you get it at the most opportune time. That is, if the Army allows you to. Why wouldn't the Army let you take leave when it best suited you? Well, there are several competing reasons, and I'll lay down a few.

1. Only 10% of the unit can be on leave at any given time.
2. You get 18 days of leave, plus almost a week depending on travel time on either side. So essentially, you're not doing your job (so someone else is picking up the slack) for a whole month.
3. There are only 8-9 months during the deployment that we can take leave...so if you think about the 10% rule...you should need 10 months to make that work right? So it has to be managed very carefully.
4. There are priorities to leave. People who have due dates are generally given priority for those times. Then there are other scheduled things like surgeries for loved ones, or graduations for Soldiers with seniors in high school. All those things need to be weighed by the leadership.
5. Then there's the obvious, how many people can do the same job you do to cover down while you're gone? When will it hurt the unit least to have you out and still be able to accomplish the mission? For folks like myself in a rather key staff job, there will need to be a serious effort put into the several aspects of my job by other staff members splitting it up on top of their normal duties.
6. As a commander, your presence effects the morale and direction of the unit. Continuity in planning and execution are critical from the CDR. Normally that applies to maneuver type units like an infantry company. I will be taking command of a firing battery of artillery. That battery is split of accross Eastern Afghanistan in 4 locations and I will not be present at any one of them for more than a couple days a month due to that. The platoon leader at each location steps up to control that platoon and receives guidance from the CDR whenever possible. The difference is, the missions for them don't really change. Shoot here, shoot there, keep the guns working, make sure they have enough ammo and that they're doing the right things right. So, would my absence for a couple more weeks as a commander from a platoon like this make much difference while I'm on leave? How about if you consider my having an executive officer to visit and take charge in my absence. Or my 1SG being able to do the same.

These are the arguments I have about the unit wanting to put me on leave in a few weeks...with 9 months left in the deployment by the time I get back. I understand there are factors to consider, but for heavens sake, let me and my guys work around it when the time comes. I just can't go home so early after Porter and Robyn are starting to adjust to things and mess that all up and then leave for even longer.

I AM thankful for the opportunity to command the battery and do not want to downplay the commander's role in that. There are many aspects that I will affect for the better of the battery, but when does the Army factor in my personal concerns too? That's a problem I have seen accross the Army. Soldiers are taken care of by leaders and officers, while senior level officers assume that junior officers aren't bound by the same emotions and concerns as their Soldiers. Officers are expected to simply deal with the extra time away and still want to remain in a position where we are undervalued, rarely thanked or appreciated for our contribution, and if we exceed the standard, usually given even more work to do to make up for the lazy officers who somehow get by making the same amount of money with less stress.

Hopefully, if I am ever in a position of authority of which I am complaining, I will remember this plight and not repeat the same mistakes.

Please pray that I hear good news from West Point about my application to teach...I have heard bad news from 2 of the 5 departments already. I'm still trying to figure out what my plans are if they all come back with bad news.

Please also pray that I'll be allowed to take leave later in the deployment while in command. Deployments are hard enough...taking leave at the wrong time...interfering with plans for another child, and Robyn's new job (that she won't have leave for) will only compound the pain.

Well, hopefully the next post finds me in a better mood and with happy news! Goodnight.

The weather

Well, since my last post was about the rain...why not follow it up with snow? Last night began the onslaught of snow here. By the time we woke up in the morning, the front of our tent had collapsed from the weight of the snow on the roof. One of the guys that sleeps on the top bunk said he woke up and felt like he was suffocating from the ceiling in his face! The camo net hanging in front of the tent had collected a bunch of snow too, and made the extra weight too much to bear. Hopefully the poles aren't completely broken and we'll be able to get it fixed here soon. Part of the problem is that those of us who live in the tent all work about the same hours and when we're not at work (or in the MWR) we go back to the tent just to sleep. So, that doesn't leave much time to fix the tent. Part of the problem is that I'm so dang short that I can't reach the ceiling to try to fix it without help. Maybe tomorrow night I'll get one of the guys to help me with it. We've been working to update all the old unit's stuff to transition over to our ways of doing things. In part of the transition from my perspective, we've been fixing some of the errors with pre-planned target packets (very time consuming). Each time we shoot, there's a packet that goes along with it, and the locations, imagery, etc. all have to line up. While I was reviewing one of the target packets that the old unit had done, I noticed that there were a couple of discrepancies, so we went back and looked through all of them. Well, time's up on the computer, more next time!

Rainy Days in combat

Rainy days in a combat zone can be many things. Just like back home, they have their place in the world. Rainy days at the right time can help you get some peaceful sleep at night, the rain drops on the tent, lulling you into a stupor. Rainy days can also complicate things, make everything muddy, harder to see, and slower to get the job done. One thing rainy days do in combat though is prove how hard our Soldiers are and what they can accomlish despite adversity. Soldiers still pull guard, man their weapons, and remain vigilant. Our ability to fight in any condition is what keeps us ahead of the enemy. With the weather the other night, one of the Soldiers asked if we would still shoot one of our fire missions...
"Hell yeah!" was my reply.
"But, Sir, isn't that dangerous? Couldn't the round drift somewhere it's not supposed to?"
"Artillery is an all-weather weapon system...we're not the Air Force. We're going to shoot, and we're going to do it to make sure they know we can."

It's times like that when I love being an Artilleryman. Guys out there, manning the guns, putting rounds out no matter what.

Targeting 101

As the BN FSO, part of my job is to coordinate all the different assets that we have in the BN and make sure that everything is synchronized in coordination with the BN Operations Officer, and following what the BN Commander's intent is. So, the way that I accomplish that is through what we call the targeting cycle. This cycle uses the intel that we collect to align our operations and then places all the different operations on a calendar together with the assets we're trying to use for each to see how they lay out. With several companies in the BN to coordinate, each one planning multiple operations over the cycle with multiple assets for each, it can be a bit daunting to try to make sure they're coordinated.

Tonight was the first meeting in the cycle that we call Mission Analysis. We go through the intel and talk about what we think the bad guys are doing in our area, then we go through our lines of effort along our campaign plan and evaluate where we stand along Governance, Development, Security, and Information Operations. After some discussion on that, we go through all the operations that the companies want to do for the upcoming cycle based off the intel that was briefed (which was sent out to the companies a few days prior to allow them to plan). Once we get through the CONOP (concept of the operation) slides, we'll go through how they will lay out on the calendar as planned with the assets that each requested for their operations. I brief the calendar and the conflicts associated with operations overlapping with different assets requested, etc. and then recommend possible fixes. After that, the BN CDR gives his planning guidance for the cycle, and the meeting is done. Tonight's meeting lasted roughly an hour and a half and we went through 102 slides!

What's difficult is that we conduct the meeting online with the companies who are located on different COPs/FOBs from us, so sometimes the connection is not reliable when they are trying to brief their slides and vice versa. Anyways, I got a few compliments on how well our first MA brief went, so it felt good. I have to give a lot of credit to my counterpart, CPT Tanquary for doing such a good job setting up the process and showing me how they went about it here to make it a seamless transition.

The next meeting we have in a couple days, we will go through the recommended changes with the operations officer, and he will give further guidance for deconfliction prior to the next meeting. At the final meeting of the cycle, we will present the BN CDR with a course of action decision brief which basically lays out the proposed targeting calendar with the operations for the cycle with deconflicted assets for him to approve or make modifications to. Generally, he will only make minor modifications and following his approval of a course of action, I will capture the changes and publish the targeting frago (fragmentary order) to the companies and staff to be executed. We'll see how the rest of the process goes and how effective we are as a BN at it. Hopefully, I can help make sure we are synchronized and making the most out of the enablers that we bring to the fight!

The Wag Bag

Apparently there have been some questions about how we go to the bathroom with no toilet facilities or running water. Well, I will explain it to you...and in the future hopefully not to distant, I will post pictures.

We have little plastic toilet seats and pre-packaged bags with all the ingredients you need to use the plastic toilet seat. The toilet seat is really no more than a chair the height of a toddler chair with a hole in it the size of a toilet bowl. There is a fold up seat similar to that on a regular toilet.

In the plastic package, there are two different bags. One is the bag you go in, that you put through the hole in the chair and fold the seat down onto. The other is a ziplock bag that everything goes into when you're done. Both are opaque, black, plastic bags.

Inside the package there is a powder to help absorbe stuff, a small role of toilet paper, and a wet wipe....I am out of time at the computer, but will post pictures to make it simple later...of course, they will be clean pictures:)

All quiet...

Well, things have been fairly quiet around here, which is a good thing!
Folks are settling in and learning their roles and the lay of the land.
You can see quite an interesting dynamic between the incoming and
outgoing guys. The outgoing guys seem to have pretty good spirits for
the most part, but are incredibly bitter. Many of them will say it's
due to their Battalion Commander's leadership style of demoralizing and
degrading his staff. Thankfully, I do not have that problem. Another
reason they seem bitter of course, is due to the year that they've been
over here fighting. When I say fighting, I mean just that...this
battalion has seen it's fair share of contact with the enemy. It's been
interesting listening to the various stories.

With the new guys, you can sense the excitement and nervousness of those
who haven't deployed before. While we were on our way here, before we
got to this FOB, I sat next to a random Soldier in the DFAC. He was
telling his team leader that he was really nervous, and you could tell
what he really meant was that he was scared. He sat there picking at
his food with a lost look on his face. I tried to talk to him about it.
I asked him what he was nervous about. He said he was nervous about
getting to the FOB. I knew what he was really nervous about, but
believe that it's important that people admit to themselves what they're
afraid of in order to face it, so I asked what about going there made
him nervous. His simple response, "Getting shot at, Sir." I told him
that it was healthy to be nervous about it because there's not much fun
about getting shot at. I added to that by asking him if he had gone
through the platoon live fire exercises and training we did at Ft. Knox
before we left. He said that he had. I asked him if he qualified with
his weapon (which happens to be a SAW) and he said he had. I said,
"Okay, then you know you can hit what you're aiming at, and you know how
to maneuver and close with the enemy with your unit. The only thing you
have to do, is follow your training and if you get shot at, remember to
breathe for a second and then aim. They don't call that machine gun
you're carrying a casualty producing weapon because it sounds cool!"
That got him laughing a little bit and he finished eating his food and
chatting with his team leader.

It is good to see Soldiers like him. Soldiers who have a healthy fear
of the enemy, but still go forward and do their duty. There are
occasionally Soldiers and leaders who may be a little too overzealous,
and it is a challenge to keep them focused on the mission, but for most
of the Soldiers, they are scared of getting hurt or killed and just want
to do the best they can and get through a yearlong deployment over here.
There are other Soldiers who's overzealousness is a result of ignorance,
or unwillingness to face the reality that the enemy has a vote and they
are not invincible. Those Soldiers will go on missions to places they
aren't required and take unnecessary risks with themselves and
potentially those around them. Only when something tragic happens and
it affects them directly will those types of Soldiers learn their
fragility.

This is what you get when I write a blog at 0030 in the morning after
working all day. I'll try to be more chipper and add pictures another
time. For now, know that I appreciate all your support and I'm glad to
be doing what I am with the great folks I'm doing it with. Hopefully,
in a year I'll be able to say that our unit has made this place better
and we are closer to allowing the GIRoA to take over their own country
so we no longer have to have such a presence.

Goodnight,

Joe

Trading out with a giant

Most people, when they replace a unit (referred to as RIPing or Relief In Place) have to replace someone that's been doing their job for a year and they have never met. I have the outstanding good fortune to be replacing one of my good friends. 'Tank' as everyone calls him sat next to me every day at the Field Artillery Captain's Career Course at Ft. Sill, OK for roughly 5.5 months. We competed on a regular basis for grades on exams, etc in good spirit. Admittedly, his overall average was a couple points higher than mine. He did better on one section of the course than everyone, earning a 100 percent. That made him hard to catch. He has admitted that I did better on the Fire Support block of instruction (which is what pertains to our jobs now). So, we keep it in good fun.

While I am not a fan of starting a year away from my family here, changing out with him is bittersweet. Knowing that he has already endured his year away from his wife and 3 kids makes doing my job and wanting to make sure that I pick up where he left off even easier. Not only that, but being able to be completely and brutally honest with the person you are learning your combat job from and vice versa, is refreshing. There's nothing like the awkward moments of trying not to offend the person you are learning from by asking questions about why they do things a certain way, or from feeling dumb for not understanding something that they do. With a friend like Tank, I don't have to worry about that. He knows I'm not dumb, and that I know he's not. We're just past the self-consciousness that goes with it.

I should say, although we are similar in ability and many of our ways of thinking, we are complete physical opposites. Tank is huge. He's 6'4" and 270 lbs. I am slightly shorter and lighter...5'7" 180 lbs. It's just kind of funny walking around with him while he's ducking under low passes in the tents and I just walk right through.

Well, that's all I have time for right now, gotta go eat and get to work. I got up a little early to get online. At least there's a nice internet cafe for us here! Still no plumbing for the bathrooms, so it's outside we go! I'll post more about the FOB later.

Working out at elevation

Not much going on since the last post, but thought I would share the struggles of working out (or rather trying to breathe) at elevation. You see, I have had experience with this in the past...while stationed at Colorado Springs we were roughly at the same elevation as here. Unfortunately, my body does not remember that experience well enough to be able to breathe properly here. I did have a pretty good run though: started out running the first quarter mile warm up around 8 mph and then kicked it up to 8.6 (less than 7 min mile pace) for the next two miles. After that I kicked it up again to 9.0 for a half mile, and then slowly increased the pace over the next half mile up to 10.0. After I had run 3.5 miles I brought it back down to 8.0 for a quarter mile and then finished out the last quarter mile going from 9.0 again back up to 10.0 to finish off. I tried to go a little faster than 10, but the machine couldn't go any faster than 10.1 or 10.2 because the motor is worn out. By the time I was finished, my head felt like exploding and my lungs burned like I just got out of the CS gas chamber. I had to walk for another quarter mile to get my breathing right before going to finish up the workout with some curls and abs.

Something frustrating that has happened the last few times I've been exercising my abs is like a severe cramp that completely causes my ab muscle to seize up for a minute or two. It feels like someone shocked the heck out of it and it hurts like crazy and makes it so I can't get a really good ab workout. I've tried stretching it out and drinking lots of water...I'm hoping with a little more rest it will start to get better soon. I just don't know if I might have torn something. Anyways, that's pretty much what I've done today.

I have been playing a LOT of PSP, specifically the game "Burnout Legends". It's a racing game that Megan got me for Christmas. I have an insatiable need to beat the game...and it is taking forever. Anyways, something cool about the PSP that I found out with another Soldier is that you can create an Ad Hoc peer to peer network and play the same game in multiplayer. So, I found a guy with the same game and we were able to race each other...just helps pass the time and add some competition.

I know this is an incredibly boring and not though provoking post. I apologize. Hopefully once I'm at my FOB there will be more interesting things to ramble about.

Simple day, thankful for a wonderful family:)

Well, instead of having to take potentially an hour out of the day to ride a bus back and forth to the other side of the FOB, I heard from a couple Soldiers about another free MWR internet cafe that was only a 5 minute walk away! Of course, if I didn't get good directions and have a knack for navigation I never would have found it. This place was hidden inside a compound with no sign or indication that it was indeed an internet cafe. The building is in the middle of a group of other buildings that look just like it too! But, there are something like 20 computers here and no wait to use them, so yay!

Today I decided to give myself a haircut for the first time in a while. I think I did a pretty decent job, if I do say so myself! Other people seem to think it's alright too (I asked to make sure):) I was going to just shave it off, but decided to try and make it look presentable first. It's not so easy doing it with a delapidated mirror made out of a shiny medal that they put up in the shower tent. I asked one of the guys to make sure I didn't miss any spots in the back like I usually do. He said there was only one spot, so I fixed that and I will post a picture when possible.

I was getting a little nervous about laundry since I haven't had a chance to clean any of my clothes since we got here, but then I found another bag I had packed with more underwear and t-shirts in it, so I'll be good for a while. It's always key to know how many more days you can go without needing to do laundry! The turn around time on laundry is 3 days here, and since I haven't known how long we'll be here, I can't feel comfortable turning in laundry. Hopefully the next place will have do it yourself washer and dryers!

If you are reading this and your Soldier has not been through BAF yet, tell them NOT to waste money on the pay WIFI. It works okay from what I've heard, but has a bunch of connection issues and you have to let them configure settings on your laptop (which I'm wicked skeptical of). Plus, this place is here and free, and with a little effort, there are other places on the main part of the FOB too.

I tell you what has been incredibly comforting so far this deployment has been how great Porter seems to be handling it and how Robyn is helping him with it. Robyn told me about their night last night. She went out to eat with her friend and their little girls Sidney and Amelia. She said that when Amelia saw Porter they had the best conversation:
Amelia: "Porter, where's your daddy?"
Porter: "hmmph, he's at work..."
Amelia: "Aww, my daddy is at work too."
Robyn: "Porter do you know where he is at work?"
Porter: "hmmm...aww, I forgot."
Robyn: "He's in Afghanistan right?"
Porter to Amelia: "Oh yeah, my daddy is at work in Af...gan..istan"
Amelia: "oh, yeah. My daddy is at work in the woods."


Those two kids are so darn cute together. I can't even tell you.


I thought I would add in some pictures of the two of them that I was able to find on Facebook. I know there are some better ones out there of the two of them that Robyn has taken, but I don't have access to them. Just know that they're wicked cute.

Robyn tells me that Porter is doing very well understanding that I have to be here to stop the bad guys and that he doesn't really question why. She said that when he starts to get sad about it, he colors me pictures, or she'll play my voice from some recordings I did on her phone before I left, and that cheers him up:) I have been blessed to have a truly remarkable wife like Robyn who has supported me through so much in my life.

Okay, I think that's enough random spewing from my stream of consciousness for today. Hopefully if you're reading, you're not bored yet. In any matter, it keeps me busy enough not to worry about too much and kills some time.

Beauty surrounding the chaos

I'm sure many people have commented on how beautiful parts of Afghanistan can be. That is one of the positive things my buddy Stoney told me I would appreciate when I came here, and he was right. The mountains that surround this base are gorgeous. Having been in Colorado Springs with a contstant view of Pike's Peak, this place can definitely compete. Now, I have to say that a good deal of my view is ruined by the constant chaos of vehicle and Soldier traffic going on around the base. The generators and heaters and trucks and planes and jets going all over the place make for an unhealthy cloud of smog and noise on a constant basis.

I suppose that's one thing I am looking forward to getting to my FOB for...I want to get away from the huge base and somewhere a little more peaceful. Now, that may seem a little contradictory since the place I'll be going will likely be more violent in the scheme of the war...but in between those generally short periods of violence that interupt things, the place should be more peaceful than here.

Today I got to go to the range and zero my weapon again. It's a good thing I did, because apparently the company had taken my optic off the weapon for the deployment ceremony and when I tried to shoot with it, the bullets were hitting off the target! So, after a few adjustments and 12 or so rounds later, I'm hitting back at center mass with a nice shot group:)

I'm hoping that when we get to our FOB, I'll be able to upgrade my M68 red dot sight for an ACOG though. They're supposed to have some extra and there's nothing better in my opinion than having an ACOG to shoot with. No batteries needed, no fiddling, and a magnification to help you hit those hard to reach places:) Anyways, I doubt I will ever need to use the thing in my job, but, I would prefer to have the best shot at hitting what I shoot at in case I do need to use it.

Yesterday we had rollover training and IED training too. The rollover training was kind of fun in a scary way. They have vehicle hulls mounted on big wheels that they can rollover...it's just like the real up-armored vehicles we'll be riding in around the battlefield, so you get the real experience of rolling over and trying to get out when the vehicle is on it's side or upside down! I had to hold onto the gunner to keep him from bouncing off the ceiling...pretty difficult when the dude weighs about 260 pounds with his gear on.

The IED training was pretty good. They showed us a bunch of current things the bad guys do and what to look out for. I found the land mine awareness training the most interesting. I really didn't realize just how many land mines the Russians left here. Millions of them all over the place. I took some pictures of a few mine fields they still have here on base that haven't been cleared yet! Hopefully I'll be able to upload them later when I get to my FOB and get some connectivity for my own laptop. The other thing that was good to hear was how the enemy isn't penetrating our armor and is getting frustrated by it. Makes you feel good to know that the vehicles we're using are working!

But, with that training complete, it's just waiting for the next stop on the trip in getting where I need to go. So, back to limbo until then! I'll try to post pictures of the beauty soon:)

BAF-training and waiting

Well,

A few days into the deployment, I'm still not to where I need to be. I've caught up to other guys who left way before me and are still trying to get to where we need to go! Apparently the Air Force isn't able to keep up and is having a lot of cancelled flights due to numerous reasons. So, we sit, in limbo, waiting to go and execute our mission and relieve the unit that has been here for a year already. I am sure that they are more than ready to go home to their families and get out of here. Hopefully they have better luck with their travels back home than we've had getting in here.

This place isn't too bad. Reminds me a lot of BIAP in Iraq. The main part has a lot of stuff on it and tons of people. Unfortunately, it's a pretty long way from where we're staying on the other side. Where we're staying, you have to pay something like $10 for 10 hours of internet or something like that. From what I've been told, the bandwidth is being shared by so many people that loading a simple webpage takes a few minutes. So, I opted for the 'frugal' route and walked to where someone said there was supposed to be a bus stop. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the bus stop...fortunately, some nice American contractors who were driving by took pity on me walking by myself in the rain and picked me up! They drove me all the way (10 minute drive or so) to this learning center place that I had heard had free internet! They were really nice and told me they work here on some of the uparmored vehicles. Apparently, this is the first rain they've had here since like September! Must be me...:)

Anyways, I don't know how much opportunity I will have to get back over here in the next few days, but I will make an effort to try one more time before I leave here to head to the next stop along the way. The problem with low bandwidth and government computers is that I can't really upload any pictures for everyone. Hopefully at our FOB, I'll have better luck.

If there is anyone other than Robyn that reads this thing, please keep up your support of her. I fully believe that a deployment is harder on the family/spouse than on the Soldier. She won't admit it, but she needs to be checked on once in a while by random friends in our lives. Even if you haven't talked to her in months, a random phone call goes a long way;) (Just don't all call today...space it out!) Seriously though, I have felt extremely blessed by the love and support that I have been shown for this deployment and I hope that I can give back by keeping folks updated through this.

Hopefully after our classes this week that we have to complete before continuing on our trip, we'll be able to get a flight out. One good thing about the rain...it's not cold enough to snow!:)

I think that's all for now. Take care!

Third Time's a charm

It's been a while since I've put anything into a blog. I thought I would try to get this going again while I'm in a place with little to do. Things are simple while traveling. It's like the world is just on pause and we're all waiting for someone to press play so we can get back to what we're supposed to be doing. Most of our time is filled with trying to get some rest, or eat, or to find a way to talk to the ones we miss and love back home.

This deployment it is my goal to pass the time on pause with some sort of productive self-improvement. I will try to read more, and to study more for the GRE to increase my score enough to make me more appealing to some IVY league schools. I will work to prepare myself for command and the huge endeavor that can be. I will also work to make sure that I take the time to spend dedicated to letting the people I care about in my life know that they are missed and are special to me and to keep you all updated on what is going on in my life. Hopefully this blog will help accomplish some of that.

It is bitterly cold here in Kurdistan. It was above zero yesterday, but it feels like it's close to that today. For a small base, this place is rather nice. It should be I guess...it's for the Air Force and they don't settle for low standards of living. We share a huge tent with bunk beds and a few outlets to charge our electronics off of. The DFAC is pretty nice and is open 24 hours for grab and go items. Speaking of...I'm pretty hungry. I have been waiting for my laptop and PSP to charge so I can put them away before going to eat! I don't know, and wouldn't/can't say how long we'll be here.

OPSEC - Operational Security means not disclosing details of troop movements and locations to prevent the information being compromised to the enemy. On public forums like this, facebook, etc. It's too easy for the enemy to hack or use a false account to gain access to information that they could use to harm us. I know people think, why would they read my blog or post? Believe me, I have seen the proof that they do it.

I apologize for the stream of consciousness type blogging...it's what I do. Enjoy it or don't read! I will try to take some pictures to add in here when I have a better connection. Right now we're sharing a connection with who knows how many people and there are fools trying to video chat with their family...killing the bandwidth. I could just lean over and tell them how they're ruining the internet access for everyone...it's just hard to tell someone...hey, don't video chat with your wife so I can check my facebook.

On the OPSEC side...I just had to tell a Soldier not to tell his wife (who he was video chatting with) not to tell her the flight and formation times on the unsecure network! AAHH!

Anyways, I'm headed to go to chow and probably come back and read a little. Hopefully this is a little enlightening as to the grind of the first couple days of deployment.

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Week 2 of Airborne School

This past week in Airborne school seemed to go by pretty quickly. I don't know if it was due to the longer days (usually not done until 1830 or so), or if it was just because we had already gotten used to how they do the training. Either way, we did a little less in the way of new training this week and mostly practiced and refined the skills we were already taught using some different equipment and training methods.
On Monday we learned the technique for conducting what they call a 'mass exit', or more specifically, everyone jumping out one right after another out of the plane.
We practiced this by lining up inside of a wooden framed mock aircraft with cables running down the center and all the dimensions the same as they would be for the C-130 airplanes we'll be likely to jump out of. We line up with 30 or so jumpers on each side of the plane and take commands from the jumpmaster in order. Each command has to be repeated by everyone on board in a certain manner. We stand up and hook up in groups of up to 15 per side in order to all jump out the door with approximately a one-second interval between us. We ran through the practice drill for this all morning long and then in the afternoon, we practiced what to do if we have malfunctions with our parachutes and need to pull the rip cord on our reserve parachute. There are a few different reasons that this would be necessary, and we had to remember and rehearse each one several times. One of them would be if we have broken suspension lines (the strings that connect the parachute to the risers), the other would be if there are blown out sections of the parachute, another would be if there are holes in the canopy larger than your helmet, and then the last would be if there were a total malfunction and the parachute does not open after you exit and count to 4-thousand.
The days are slightly blurred together, but I think the next morning we began practicing all of it together by exiting 4 at a time out of the 34 foot tower (only because they can only hook up 4 people at once). We get into the harness with our fake reserve parachute and practiced a couple exits with just the harness and reserve, which is what is referred to as a 'Hollywood' jump. Then we had to do a couple jumps hooked up with combat equipment, which includes a ruck sack and a weapons case. The ruck sack is attached upside down between your legs by a couple straps and then the weapons case is attached along your left leg. Once you are 200 feet above the ground, you are supposed to pull a quick release tab that releases your equipment from those straps and lowers it along another strap to about 15 feet below you. This makes sure that the equipment lands near you, but that you do not have to execute a parachute landing fall (PLF) with it attached to your legs. So, we had to practice exiting the 34 foot tower, pulling our reserve parachute, and then dropping our combat equipment before we got to the end of the cables and landed. We were able to accomplish all of this and then still have time to train in what is called the suspended harness.
The suspended harness is really just another rig attached to the ceiling that has risers (a.k.a. two inch wide straps that attach your harness to the suspension lines) so that you can practice 'slipping' to different directions. 'Slipping' is just a different way of saying, 'steering' your parachute. It is when you pull down on a set of risers in order to steer in that direction. We had to go over different types of 'slips' and why we use them and when to use them. Slipping in the suspended harness is much more difficult than slipping in the actual parachute during descent because you are actually pulling up all your body weight when you slip in the suspended harness, but when you slip in the parachute, you are really pulling a portion of the chute down to you to change its configuration. Once we were done practicing that, we received a block of instruction on the operation of the 250 foot tower and practiced emergency procedures in case someone were to get caught in the tower on their way down. This was in preparation for our turn on the tower Thursday.
Wednesday, we practiced our PLFs again in what they call the SLT, or swing landing trainer. In the SLT, we are in a harness attached to a cable and pulley system that comes down from the ceiling of a huge pavillion. You start off on a 12 foot platform and swing out over a gravel pit by falling forward off the platform. The instructor (black hat), holds the rope that controls your height off the ground and you have to pull a 'slip' in one direction or another in order to land properly. Once you have swung out and pulled your 'slip', the instructor will randomly drop you without warning by letting go of the rope, and you have to try to execute a proper PLF. The instructor then grades you and satisfactory or not, and you continue doing this several more times until you have gotten satisfactory grades falling at least 3 times to your right, left, left-front, right-front, left-rear, and right-rear. We did this ALL day on Wednesday until around 1800.
Thursday, we jumped from the 250 foot tower. I suppose I should more correctly say, fell from the 250 foot tower because you don't actually get to jump. You are connected to a parachute that is already open and suspended from a ring around the outside of it attached to a cable that descends from one of the tower arms down to the ground. Once you are hooked up to the cable and your parachute is properly spread out and attached, you are raised up from the top like one of those little plastic Army men.

I took this picture of the three 250 foot towers that they have in the training area so you could get an idea of what they look like. Each tower has 4 arms at the top that you can get raised up by depending on which way the wind is blowing (you don't want to get blown into the tower). You can see the building at the base of the tower is inside of the tower legs. This is almost a 3 story building that houses the elevator equipment that raises and lowers the cables on the arms of the tower. I should probably mention that these towers were first built for the 1938 World's Fair in NYC and then moved to Ft. Benning in the 1940's. That is actually the main reason that they are still used. Most of the instructors do not like using them and think they should be removed from the course, but due to the historical nature of the towers and that they've been used since WWII, they remain as part of the instruction. I am definitely not a fan of heights, I don't want you to think that this is something that I do without fear, because I was definitely shaking when they raised me up to the top of the tower. Once you get towards the top, there is an automatic six foot stop where you pause in preparation to be dropped. When I hit that six foot automatic stop, I was at my peak of fear because I was not expecting it and just like in an elevator when you reach your floor at the top of the building and you have that feeling in your stomach of weightlessness, I felt that. Once you are at this point on the tower, you have to reach down and disconnect the safety line that is attached to your harness and run up around the ring outside of your parachute. Once the safety line is disconnected from the one side, you have to reach up and pull it hand-over-hand until it hangs free at your side. Then you have to disconnect the other side and let it fall free to the ground. Up until this, you are able to hold onto the risers up over your head, but you have to let go completely in order to remove the safetly line and it is a very uncomfortable feeling. Once you have done this, the instructor on the loudspeaker tells you to touch a specific set of risers that you will pull in order to 'slip' away from the tower upon release.
As soon as you touch them and tap your feet together twice, you are raised that last six feet and dropped. From that point on, it was one of the most fun things I've gotten to do:) I held the risers into my chest all the way to the ground and kept my feet and knees together until the balls of my feet made contact with the ground. I hit just as softly as if I had taken a little six inch hop and fallen down, so I had a really easy landing. There were several other people who weren't so lucky with the wind and landed like a sack of potatoes, but 71 out of 72 people in my platoon were able to walk away without injury. One guy landed with his feet apart and didn't rotate his body away from the ground properly and ended up hurting his knee...he is out of the course now. We finished the tower by about 1400 on Thursday and then went back to the suspended harness for another class.
In the suspended harness this time, we practiced diagonal 'slips' which make a jumper go much faster than regular slips by pulling further down on only one riser instead of two. We would use these during descent in order to avoid other jumpers in the air and to avoid obstacles on the ground we may be drifting towards. We also learned and practiced what to do in case of a water landing, a tree landing, or drifting into high tension wires. Then we practiced what to do in the case of collision with other jumpers in the air and in case of entanglement with other jumpers in the air.
On Friday we had our last formal block of instruction on malfunctions with the parachute and watched as they dropped a couple dummies from the 250 foot tower with different malfunctions. Then we cleaned up the training area in preparation for the next class to use it. After lunch, we ran about a mile down to the airfield and put our combat equipment together and got introduced to the harness shed where we will prepare and wait to jump on Monday. The harness shed is simply a large building with several rows of large wooden benches to sit on in 'chalks' (the groups of people you jump with). Inside the harness shed you have to sit with your feet together and you can't talk. You have to have your helmet on and you have to run anytime you move inside the shed. Anytime you are told to execute a facing movement or stand-up or sit-down, you have to sound off with 'Airborne!'. If you don't follow those rules, they say they will recycle you to the following class. Once we were done rigging our combat equipment for the upcoming week, we ran back to the company area and were released for the weekend.
Tonight at 1800 we have another recall formation and should get our schedule of jumps so we can tell people if they want to come out to the drop zone to watch. The drop zone is open to civilians to watch if they want to come out and take pictures or whatever, so many families will come out and sit in the bleachers out there to watch students jump in. One of our friends who is stationed here for the career course said she would come out and take pictures for us at the drop zone, so whenever I get those pictures I will post those up here next week. That's all for now!