1. Aziz Abad

2. Southern Herat

So, where was I? Oh yeah! I'm in Herat now. I covered that, didn't I? Never mind.

Yesterday I went out on my first convoy in this region. Not too bad. Long drives in unbelievable heat. Pretty uneventful.

We started here at Camp Stone and took an hour and a half drive to a place called Shouz to drop off some staff personel that had some nonsense to take care of. We left there and drove further south to a place called Bala Baluk. Once again, dropping somebody off. After refueling, headed back to Shouz to pick up the staff weenies. After that, passed through a place called Aziz Abad. That was the only place with some greenery. Grass and pine trees. It was a nice change. I'll try to attach a picure. Then we had to stop and pick up a guy at a place called Adraskan. These are all very small camps. They're so small they don't even have names, just locations. We spent about a good 7 or 8 hrs on the road. Just sitting in these trucks with this heat sucks the life out of you. Easily you can drink 1 1/2 to 2 liters just to keep you going. That's not even well hydrated. That's enough to get you going, but not enough so you don't have to pee in the truck! Then again, that's why you carry an empty Gatorade bottle with you!

The only thing that sucked was the fact that the truck I was in started to overheat. So we don't have to stop, we had to switch the AC to heat. There is no opening the windows. They're bullet proof. The temp in that truck was pretty high. Constant sweat. Smelled great when we got back.

Anyway, that's it for now.

Greetings from Herat!

Well I made it here. I found a few differences between here and Kabul already. Here they actually have trees and grass in some spots. It's hotter, but there's a wind during the day to make it tollerable. There is a significantly lower pressence of brass around here. That always makes life better.

The LTC that I'm partnered with and I checked in yesterday at the troop clinic (TMC) that we're taking over and the Air Faorce people were pretty happy to see us. They were under the impression that they were going to get extended until their relief got here. Today we went over things like paperwork, meds, supplies, and other assorted policies and procedures. It won't take long for us to be comfortable taking over completely.

According to them, they should pull out soon. They other crew should be here in about 3 weeks. After that we should be heading somewhere to set up another site. Still the plan so far. Still sounds like a challenge.

I'll let you know!!

Here's the latest.

In the morning, myself and one of the PA's are transferring to the western region. Herat specifically. So, goodbye Kabul. We'll be getting away from the Task Force brass and their nonsense.

We're supposed to be going to relieve some Air Force medics at a clinic and take over until the next group comes in. That's supposed to take a couple of weeks. From there we're supposed to go and set up a new clinic for the troops in a remote site. Starting a clinic from scratch should be a challenge. There's also supposed to be some infantry guys there that I've worked with before. That'll be good.

The info that I've gotten is that it's pretty much the same "climate" there as it is here. That being said, don't worry about anything.

Other than that not much has been going on. I'll be finishing teaching a class again tonight. I just won't be there for the practical exam tomorrow night. It's a shame, that's the fun part for me. That's when I get to yell and scream at the students while they try to treat the wounds on the simulator dummies. We put them in a dark room with 3 dummies with multiple injuries and turn them loose to show us what they know. The dummies a cool because they breathe, blink and bleed. You can get blood pressures, pulses and whatnot from them. As you treat them, they respond to the treatment, or lack thereof. Lots of fun.

Anyway, with the move comes the unknown. i don't know what the story with internet will be, so I don't know when I'll get to post again. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'll try to keep y'all up to date on all the and adventure.

Till then; have a good time and drink a beer for me!

Hey everyone, sorry it's been a while but there hasn't been anything to report. There isn't anything going on here. If you enjoy humanitarian aid drops or shaking hands with the locals like a politician, Kabul is the place for you.

So, Hillary dropped out. What a shame. I was really hoping she would get the nomination. It would have kept the Clintons out of New York a little longer, and it would just make it easier for the right person to win the presidency. You know what I mean. Now, Barack Binladen. Puts on a great facade, what happens if he makes it to the White House? Be afraid. Be very afraid. I don't know what it is, but I don't trust him at all. It's just my gut feeling, but my gut has only been wrong twice.

Anyway, that's my take on that subject for now. Maybe it'll change.