Update from B-man

It's been a while since I've included an update from B-man on the blog. So, I went back over several of his messages and pasted segments into this post. 

Overall, we are making progress. I don’t want to make it sound like we are fixing everything, but we are making some decent progress. The stress on my team has gone down a little since we found out that we will not be moving. We were prepared to move and willing, but it was going to be quite a big deal. Having to “quit” our current jobs and restart another job was going to be the toughest side of it. We don’t have to think about that anymore so we are really digging into our current tasks.

I’ve been able to develop a pretty good routine with my counterparts … I see at least two people from my counterpart unit every day. Usually for about two hours per visit. This week I was especially busy I was averaging at least five hours every day, with about three people. Let me tell you something … I have become an “expert” on drinking chai (tea). Ha! And I have to commend myself on speaking with these guys … some of the conversations are very hard to initiate, much less follow! My interpreter helps though. It’s funny: Now I’m so used to using an interpreter that sometimes in a regular (English) conversation I find myself waiting for my words to be interpreted! Ha!

Fighting Season. We are making sure that we are ready for the “fighting season” here. To some, it is debatable whether or not a “fighting season” really exists, but we have been prepping for it to come since before we left Alaska. It goes something like this ... even the bad guys don’t like the cold, nasty weather in Afghanistan during the winter so they pack up their bags and move to another nearby country (most likely, one that begins with a P and ends in –stan). Ha! No matter where they go though, they’re not here when it’s cold. Then once the snow melts they return. It is debatable to some people because some years there isn’t much of an upswing in attacks when the warmer weather comes. We’ll soon find out!

 

Well, I’m back safe and sound from a multi-day trip to see the other half of my team. It went well. The boss wanted to get us all together so we could do a 100+ Day Review. We had actually planned on doing this on day 100, but some stuff came up so we had to put it off. Overall, the team feels good about what we’re doing. (So does the boss). Of course there are areas to improve and we recognize this, so that’s why we had the meeting.

While the team was assembled in WILD we learned that there was a Blackout incident. This was the first for our BDE this deployment. Which, if you think about it could be a lot worse ... 4000+ Soldiers operating continuously for going on four months now ... throw in dangerous terrain, heavy equipment, loaded weapons, inexperienced Afghan Soldiers and, oh yeah, the enemy ... it’s quite amazing that we haven’t had more KIAs already. We’ve been waiting for a successful “spectacular” attack ... this is how the insurgents try to kick off the “fighting season” every year. We have been able to foil several, but since this one was a success in their eyes ... I believe the fighting season has officially begun. Not to worry anybody. My job here is rather safe ... really.

Here are some pics B-man was able to send back to us.

Me and CPT XXXX and Jagran (MAJ) XXXX, the KDK XO. Note that they don’t look like the “typical” Arabs nor do they look like the “typical” Afghan. The “typical” Afghan is most often pictured as a Pashtun. (Lean, long face, large nose). These guys are Tajiks. They have more Chinese / Asian influence.

My room. Sitting on the bed as far back as I can get so that I can fit everything into the pic. I normally have the sheet pulled down, but I lifted it for the pic so you can see the cubby holes. Note my loaded weapon beside the door. That’s the standard. The desk in this picture is new. I “stole” it from MAJ Miller’s room when he left because I previously only had a sheet of plywood propped up to use as a desk.

My room. From the back corner looking towards the foot of the bed.

My room. From the front corner looking towards the head of the bed.

My Office. I have three computers. Unclass, Afghan Secret, and Secret. Note my chair. I removed the back (it kept falling off) and the arm rests. Who knows where the wheels are ... they were gone before I got here. (The folding chair doesn’t work ... it folds at unexpected times). We miss you so much Honey!!! Be safe!! Love you!  Boo has sooo much to show/tell you when you get back! :)