Beauty in an Otherwise War Torn Country

The winter months are starting to roll into Afghanistan, and we got to see a rare sight.  The mountains were crystal clear and the snow was amazing to see.  I spend a majority of my day monitoring the war in this country, however, it was an interesting change to see how beautiful the landscape here can be.  We spent the better part of an hour enjoying the sights and the cool weather.  It was a nice change of pace.

Enjoying the cool weather and the awesome view!

The air is usually pretty dusty...seeing the mountains like this is pretty rare.

Amazing to suddenly see snow on the mountains.

"Outside the Wire"

After we arrive in Kabul, we usually take about a 15-20 minute drive through the streets of Kabul.  When you leave the safety of the base, it's typically called being outside the wire.  These pics are from my travel through the streets of Kabul.  You definitely see some unusual stuff...tons of people on bikes, store fronts and folks literally just blindly crossing the street without even looking.  It's amazing to see the lifestyle here.

Oh yeah...Private Flights to Kabul

We took a trip to Kabul in September, and we flew in a private airplane...pretty flippin' sweet.  This was my first trip off the base since I arrived in July.  It was only a 20 minute flight, but it was a great way to see the country side.

Awesome Mustache August Contenders

Aside from being a terrible blogger...I am going to try and catch up.  Here is a pic of the awesome mustache August contenders...not sure if we decided on a winner, but it was fun anyway.

The Bagram Bazaar

I definitely hit a routine that makes me totally feel like the movie Ground Hogs Day.  So, I don't have to many updates.  My roommate and I went to the Bagram Bazaar yesterday (see pic).  For the most part, they sell low-quality stuff, but it is fun to haggle prices with the locals.  I bought some Afghan post cards for the girls, and I will send those home soon. 

It seems that Saturday is our office hang out night.  We usually just hang out and play cards, corn hole and smoke cigars.  It is a nice break from the daily routine.

I am starting to feel like I might be real busy soon.  I think my slow starting job is going to pick up in the very near future, and I also have a couple other moon lighting jobs now.  So, if all goes well, I will be extremely busy.  I came out here to work...so, I am looking forward to the challenge.

Oh, and I am totally excited...my friend Steve (from San Diego) might be in the area soon.  So, I am hoping to see him soon.  Who knows...maybe we could find a way to help each other out regarding work issues....hmmmmm.

--I guess I had more updates than I thought--

We all come and go...

We said goodbye to 2 ATFC folks today...although I have not been here long, they are great people, and I wish I could have worked with them longer.  Plus, it is always a day of mixed emotions when people leave.  In one sense, you are happy for them.  They are heading home to family, friends, and the real world.  On the other hand, there is always that feeling of dang...I have a really long time until I am in that position.  As it stands right now, I am one of the few people left in the command that will be here for an entire year.  So, I will be one salty Sailor by the end of this deployment.  Either way, it's time to carry on and get to work.





As a side note, I just want to verbally pass on my condolences to those family members who lost a service member in the recent helicopter accident.  That being said, I think it's time for the media to stop providing free advertisement for the insurgents.  I am sure it's just a matter of time (if it's not happening already) before they use that to bolster their cause here.  I have some really strong feelings about how they are handling this incident, and I will keep a majority of them to myself.  But...I ask you to think about it for a minute...does it really make sense to keep harping on this day after day?  We need to support the families, mourn for their loss, finish our job here and continue taking it to the insurgents.  I think that's what those service members would want...just my opinion.  They were dedicated and skilled warriors.



ATFC BBQ (6 Aug 2011)

Well, we had a great time at the BBQ last night.  The dining facility (DFAC) really hooked us up with some great food (ribs, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, etc...).  It was really fun to hang out with everyone in a relaxed environment.  I think I am going to try and make it a once a month event...only 11 more to go (ugh).

 Here is a pic of me and some of the BAF ATFC members enjoying the yummy BBQ.

 Enjoying a good Rockey Patel before we start playing corn hole.

 The Marine Corps...need I say more?

 Is that blue steel?  My roommate is enjoying a non-alcoholic becks...better than nothing I guess.

 The BBQ feast...

A fantastic corn hole action photo...big time event here.

19 Days In...

Well, I have been really bad about keeping up my blog...sorry.  I just bought an SD card reader.  So, I can finally post pics again. 

Here are a couple updates:

I am still waiting for my day-to-day job to get rolling...if all goes as planned, it should be an awesome experience.  If not, ummmm....I guess it will be on to something else.  In the mean time, I am keeping myself busy with small projects and helping other people in the office.  The work is very interesting, but I have no real focus right now.  Which, as you can imagine, is kinda frustrating.

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to keep in touch with my family.  I am very thankful for that, and I think that will help the year fly by -- or at least creep faster.

I am finally in a good work out routine.  Although, I am either getting old or just weak from years of inconsistency.  Either way, I am getting back in the game.

In the true spirit of any deployment, we are having a mustache growing contest (you might be able to see my peach fuzz in the pic below).  We are calling it Awesome Mustache August.  I am definitely at the back of the pack right now, but I plan to take the lead soon.  :)  Well, probably not, but it will be fun anyway.

Finally, we are having an office BBQ on Saturday.  I am going to try my best to make this deployment fun.  It is a bit challenging though as I am the new guy full of great ideas to keep everyone busy.  In some cases, it is hard to break through the walls of people stuck in routines for the last 8-9 months.  I am going to do my best to get people involved...this tour will suck if all we do is work and sleep.  YUCK!!!  I can't do it that way.

Now that I have the capability to download pics again, I will keep making updates. 

Here is a pic of me on the deck located inside our compound.  It is actually pretty awesome...a great cigar smoking location.  There are beautiful mountains behind me...but they got washed out for some reason.  However, you can seem them in the pics below.

This is what was behind me in the pic above...we are totally surrounded by mountains.  I cannot wait until they are snow capped during the winter.

 Grabbed a pic of a helo landing at the base.

Another pic from the deck looking at the mountains in the distance.

Finally, A Way Ahead...

Well, I am not the type of person that likes to sit around.  So, as you can imagine, the last 3-4 days of uncertainty has been very frustrating to me -- although I did get a lot of gym/bazaar time.  Anyway, I finally have a way ahead, and I am pretty excited about the assignment.  I will be staying in Bagram, and I will be moving into a permanent party room over the next couple days.  So, I am excited to finally have a place to (fully) unpack, settle and get on with work. 

The experience here, so far, has been great.  I really enjoy the people I work with and the exposure to the locals (although small right now) is really unique.  I should have the opportunity to travel a bit, and I am excited about the opportunity to break up the daily grind.

I have not had the chance to take a ton of pics yet, but I will do my best to get the camera out and about -- it will be much easier when I get my laptop out here as well.  The one thing I cannot complain about are the options to keep in touch with my family.  They have gone out of their way to ensure we have access to our family and friends back home -- it is a lot different than my tour to Iraq in 2005.