Airborne Doc

2008-12-10T13:02:00.002-05:00

OK. This blog was started so I could let people know some of whats' going on here and as a way for me to express my feelings. I'm tired of people telling me that I can't because someone might be offended. I'll be damned if someone tells me how I can or can't feel. I'm sorry that I speak the truth in a manner that is rough or hard to take. That's just how I speak. People need a thicker skin. I see the world for what and how it really is; not through rose colored glasses. So, just to make sure I don't hurt any body's feelings anymore, this is the last post that I'm putting up. For those of you that have enjoyed this, I'm sorry.

2008-12-05T14:58:00.004-05:00

Well here we are in December already. Year's almost up. I have no idea when the troops that will be relieving me arrive. Shouldn't be too much longer now.

Of course there are a few important things to take care of upon getting home. Of course there is getting back to the family and spending time time with everyone as well as the story telling.

Shortly thereafter, those of us that support Constitutional rights need to go and buy weapons before the new communist regime takes our 2nd Amendment rights from us (What do you call a citizenry that is completely unarmed?..............Subjects).

Anyway, not too much is going on here. I'm just sitting here with my thumb firmly planted in the fourth point of contact waiting on word on what's happening next. According to sources in Kabul, our command group has already left country so they can be home for the Holidays, and left the troops behind. Douche bags.

2008-11-25T12:41:00.002-05:00

So, it's just about Thanksgiving already. Still have a bit to go. How much? Who knows? SEMPER GUMBY!! It's Latin for always flexible.

I ended up at the regional police HQs today. Kind of interesting. Since they don't have donuts, I don't know what they spend the day with, please don't ask. I did meet a German police officer here today. Officer Rita (no, not the lovely meter maid) is here trying to teach Afghan women to become police officers too. The poor woman looks like she's about to pull her hair out. She told me that every day about half of them come up with a reason that they have to leave early and each day it gets earlier. According to her, they want to be respected like men, however, they don't want to put in the time for the training. They seem to want it automatically, they don't want to earn it. It sounds just like the ANA and ANP. They want all the cool equipment, but they don't want to work. At least we aren't the only ones having trouble getting through to these people.

At least some of the replacements have started to arrive. This is a small FOB and it won't be long before it's over crowded with the new guys comming in and us trying like hell to get out.

Well, don't eat too much on Thursday. Oh, go ahead. What the hell! We only go 'round once; enjoy!

2008-11-21T08:28:00.002-05:00

Well, just another day in Herat. Not too much going on. Kinda boring here really.

Some of the people that are relieving this Bde have started to arrive. Now we just have to get the new guys trained up and then see how long we get to hang around before they start to cut us loose. We have no idea when the medics will arrive. There's really nothing to it as far as getting them up to speed. Just send them out and have them let us know how it went!

The latest is that when we leave, we'll leave out of Kandahar. Cool. I haven't been there yet. Better than going back to Kabul!

2008-11-17T09:42:00.003-05:00

Hey there everyone. It's been a while and I'm still in Bala Baluk. Not sure when I'm out of here, but it doesn't really matter. Where else am I goin'?!

So, what's been going on? Let's see...oh yeah, the American public has once again shown it's going straight down the crapper and voted that communist piece of trash into the presidency. WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?! How can anyone hate their own country that much?

Here the weather has started to get pretty cold. I managed to set up another aid station here. Unfortunately, that leaves me open to have to deal with all kinds of nonsense from the ANA, ANP and the local contractors. The best one so far has been the cop that says he needed pain medicine for the "great pain" in his back that he has because his brother died. Yes, you read correctly. He has back pain because his brother died. Here's 2 Skittles and call me next year. Placebos are your friend here. Unfortunately, I'm out.

We've been going on a few patrols and checking up on the ANP. Nothing to exciting. A couple of days ago they got some info about some gun/drug smuggling and info on the car. As luck would have it, the car came through one of the checkpoints and the ANP tossed the car. A few Ak-47s and 60 kilos of raw opium. Not a bad haul. So, today it all got burned. The ANP that were watching in quiet dismay. They like opium. They wanted to sell it and/or smoke it. Yes, this is the caliber of people that we have to deal with.

Some things are a royal pain. For instance, we have a CPT on the team that treats the us like crap and like we're a bunch of idiots. Yet he treats the ANA, ANP and contractors like they are the most important thing in the world. If they do something wrong, we are scolded like children if we say anything about it. Back in NY he's a state trooper. It explains how he became a total douchebag. This guy has got to go. He seems to think that the Taliban that are in the area are out to kill him. Not us, just him.

In a way the time here was like that up in Bala Morghab. Lots of hanging around. Yes there are stories to tell. So, like last time, pour me a cold one and I'll spill the beans.

2008-10-05T02:55:00.002-04:00

Hey all, Its now October already and I'm back in Herat. My time in the wonderful world of Bala Morghab is finished. It was quite an interesting time up there. Yes there are photos. I'll share when I get back. There is too much to tell about the tour there to talk about here, so, if you want to know, ask me when I get back. Pour me a glass, and we'll sit back and talk for a while.
'Till next time...

2008-08-03T12:47:00.002-04:00

All right everyone, here it is. In the morning I'm leaving Herat. In 2 days I'll be at my new home. A place NE of here called Bala Murghab. We'll be the first US Forces to set up in the area. We'll be working with the ANA and ANP (army and police, respectively).

I'll be there for the rest of the tour. I won't have phone or internet for I don't know how long. So, if I am able to, I'll get messages to Danielle for her to post for me.

We'll be pretty busy once we get there, setting up a patrol base. Once we get set up, we'll start operations and time will definately fly by. By that logic, I'll be home before you know it. By the way, today is the 200th day of my mobilization!

The Col. and I will be setting up a clinic for the troops. There'll be approz 15 US and around 25 Italian. Other than that, 1 kandak each of ANA and ANP. A kandak is roughly the size of a company.

So, in the meantime, ya'll take care of my girls and I'll be seeing you before ya know it!!

PROST!!!!!

2008-07-31T14:29:00.002-04:00

Can you believe July's over already?! Where has the year gone? Despite the fact that they have us sitting around doing mostly nothing for the time being; time feels like it's cruising right along. Anyway, should be leaving here in a couple more days. Things will be a little more busy and time will really start to fly by!

Well, gotta go for now. I'll be back before I leave.

2008-07-25T12:16:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone. Just a quick note to let you all know that I'll be leaving Herat for other places very soon. Bear in mind that I won't have phone or internet for who knows how long. It depends on the events that unfold. I'll let you know when I'm leaving.

2008-07-23T06:51:00.003-04:00

Some pretty cool stuff today. A couple of the US drill SGTs that help train the Afghans came by and said they wanted a medic to go to a range with them, did I want to go? HELL YEAH! Shooting's fun. Far be it from me to turn down any trigger time!

So I go over to the ANA compound next door and out to the range. There they are. Three companies of Afghan privates, training on RPGs. We didn't get to fire them because they only had enough rounds for the troops that they were putting on the firing line. Cool to watch none the less. The video is a couple of Privates getting to shoot the RPG with anti personnel rockets. They are not that good, but they are motivated! The sound quality isn't that good due to the wind. But you do get to hear the rocket take off and see/hear the impact. Hopefully I uploaded it right!

Apparently I didn't, so stand by. I'll see If I can sent it to Danielle to load for me.

After they finished, we asked if the Drill SGTs and their Commander wanted to try the M203 grenade launcher. Not as much fun as the RPG, but still, blowing stuff up is lots of fun! I got my hands on it and shot some smoke rounds, practice rounds and some HE (high explosive) rounds. All in all, a good day.

2008-07-20T14:40:00.005-04:00

Hey all! How's it goin' back there in the real world? Not too shabby here. Same heat, different day.

Yesterday I took a trip to a couple of out of the way places. Since they haven't seen too many American or coalition forces out that way, we were quite the novelty. The first place is called Zindajan. Looks just like every other village I've seen so far. Well, that's not exactly true. These places have quite a few pine trees. They actually look pretty good. The other place was called Ghoryan. That's the center of the village with the gun truck. Looks just like the other except there's no paved road to get there. You have to follow the right dirt trail. That, and they have sunflowers there. Never though I'd see that here. By the way, I was only about 35 mi from Iran. If I get out that way again, I'll see if I can get a picture of me IN Iran! HAHAHAHA!

Going out and coming back in, we went through downtown Herat. It's a lot nicer than Kabul. Cleaner, more colorful and the people smile more. I'm not quite sure if we should worry about that or not. Do they know something we don't?! Anyway, the other shot is downtown Herat at one of the traffic circles.

Other than that, not much is going on here. I should be finding out in a few days when I'm leaving for my follow on mission. "Somewhere" northeast of here. I'll keep ya posted!

2008-07-08T13:04:00.002-04:00

So, the Air Force replacements showed up today. Wow. The PA that's taking over is the only one who seems confident and in shape. The rest of his crew are a bunch of fat bodies that came in huffing and puffing from the walk from the HQ to the TMC. A walk of about 100 meters. Shameful.

Tomorrow we'll start getting them up to speed on how things are done, all the processes and paperwork that needs to be done, and showing them around. Since we don't see many people here, the changeover should only take a couple of days; hopefully.

After that, the Col. and I should have plenty more time for other things like prepping for our upcoming mission. There's not a lot left to do for us except get ready physically and mentally. What I mean by that is to get our heads ready for all possible situations. Other than that, we just need to know when we're leaving. I wouldn't mind going to a range for some trigger time.

Other than that, not much else going on. 'Till next time...

2008-07-04T14:28:00.002-04:00

Just a view of the center part of the camp. So, that's the good guys, NATO, Afghanistan, Italy, some former Soviet state and Spain. That's who we have here in our little part of the world. No French! They stayed in Kabul.

2008-07-04T14:02:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th all!

Not much has changed since the last posting. Well, ok. One thing changed. It's getting hotter. Today was up around 125. Don't anyone say, "But it's a dry heat". 125 is 125 no matter how you look at it! It'll suck the life right out of ya.

So, today, here in paradise, they had the usual 4th type of thing. Grilled food for the dining facility. Sounds good? If you like steaks that you can use as a baseplate for a mortar tube! When these people cook something, wow, they cook the hell out of it!! They had the usual Friday bazar also. Instead of going over to the Afghan side of the camp as usual, they held it on our side. Today they even brought over a mangy camel. You could ride it for a couple of Euros. Don't even ask, no I didn't go for a ride. But it was friendly enough. You always here that they are quite nasty. This one must be used to being around people. It just hung around.

Had my first interesting case this evening. There is a local that works as interpreter that had surgery on his leg about a week and a half ago. His legs were burned by a suicide bomb 3 yrs ago. The surgeon had to cut some of the scar tissue away so he could get his full range of motion back when it heals. The problem? If you don't follow up with your patient or give them antibiotics, they get infected and it starts to smell like this guy! So, the doc and hooked him up with cleaning his leg (looked realy juicy, red, yellow and tan), changed the dressing and blasted him with antibiotics. Now we have to see this guy every day for a while now. I'll take pictures of the wound tomorrow. Great stuff!

The Air Force should be arriving around the 12th to take over the TMC. Then the Col and I will be leaving Camp Stone, Herat for another exotic location north of here. Exotic in the sence that it's an even higher elevation, I'll be there when the snow starts and it drops to around 0 degrees. Ain't war fun?!?!?!?!

Other than that, there's not much going on here besides packing gear for the trip to the winterlands. I wonder if I should get a sled?

2008-06-20T16:13:00.002-04:00

1. Aziz Abad

2. Southern Herat

2008-06-19T11:43:00.000-04:00

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.

2008-06-15T10:54:00.000-04:00

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!!

2008-06-13T03:51:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-06-09T03:10:00.000-04:00

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.

2008-05-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

Location: Afghanistan
Situation: SSDD
Command: FUBAR
Morale: BOHICA

2008-05-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

Here we go again. I need to vent. No, don't worry, it won't be like last time.
I've spent years working on the craft of treating people's aches and pains, injuries and illnesses. Spent years working with troops so they would trust me and not be weary of going to "Doc" if something wasn't right. So they wouldn't worry if something happened to them, because they knew I was close by. But sitting in Kabul is a great waste of time. The only fighting going on here is against boredom.
Very rarely do you get to go outside the wire. Because there isn't a whole lot going on here, you get excited about it because it's something different. Here lies another problem. When you get your mission brief before you leave, you get all your instructions, like what to do if you make contact with any "bad guys". Our standing orders if we make contact are to run away. Not in those words of course, but you get the point.
RUN AWAY? I'm sorry. Since when does an American soldier run away? I'M NOT FRENCH! I am an American paratrooper. I'm trained to take the fight to them if they happen to want to meet Allah, and I'll be glad to make the introduction for them. Running away is against everything that I've ever believed in. It is against all training that I've ever received. I can't even describe how much the idea of running pains me. It's downright embarrassing. Sad even.
Maybe command just doesn't want to see anyone get hurt. Not a good answer. We all signed the dotted line. We accept that possibility. But if someone gets hurt, that's what I'm here for.
So, why am I here. I thought I was here to go downrange, engage and neutralize enemy contacts and take care of injured troops. Nope. Here in Kabul we smile, wave and make nice with the neighbors. Hearts and minds. For those who have never looked. Historically, it doesn't work. It always comes back and bites us in the ass.
Do the neighbors like us or want us here? No, but they love the fact that they can just hold out their hand and get whatever they want. Free. We give more than the Taliban can, so they do what they can to get as much as they can. The news tells us that we are trying to get them to stand on their own. They won't ever do that if we keep giving them free stuff that they don't have to work for.
So, when we start to reduce our presence here and they get less, then they look to the Taliban who give and say "I told you so". Then the army that we have been training uses the training against us. Iran, Iraq and here. We've helped them all before. Where did it get us?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we should just leave. There are so many "bad guys" here that if they just let soldiers do what soldiers are supposed to do, we could actually make some progress.
I don't know. Maybe I'm not seeing it clearly or seeing the whole picture. Fine. Just let us do our jobs and not try to embarrass us in the process.

Pictures

2008-05-11T09:41:00.000-04:00

Here's a few pics from the trip downtown the other day. Enjoy.
Here are some of the kids at the school waiting to get some free stuff. Just when I was thinking the kids were all right, I find out later that the kids decided that their free backpacks for their books were too small, so they trashed them. Don't worry, we'll go and give them more.
Yes, the one with the cold steely look is me.
This is what all the fashionable women are wearing these days in Kabul. Makes you want to run right out and get one, no? Come on, your choice of blue, blue or blue. Lady come, I make good deal for you!

This shade of blue is all that they come in. It's a regional thing.

2008-05-09T13:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was interesting enough. I ended up down in the green zone over by the embassy. Turns out the mission was a humanitarian aid drop. We went to this school that caters to local homeless/orphan kids. They don't stay there. They come in the morning, get some schooling, a couple of meals and play with the other kids. There's only a few that stay there due to space, but part of the drop was about 10 more beds. A lot get turned away because they can only take so many per day. The ones that do get in get a pat down as they come in the gate. It's funny. They knock on the gate, come through the door and hold their arms out without being told. Just standing there waiting to get patted in.

Hey, gotta make sure they don't bring anything they shouldn't to school. After all, they would be so easy to recruit.

The kids seemed to all be around 10, smiled and held their hands out for the free school supplies from the good people of the U.S. They said thank you and walked away and went back inside to do whatever it is they were doing before the staff had to prod them along.

By the way, according to the guy that started the place; most of the parents of these kids were killed by Taliban.

The green zone (usually means safe zone, but I don't buy it) is actually green. They managed to grow grass, plants and quite a few full trees. Quite a change from the dirt, rocks and open sewage that I'm used to seeing around here.

Other than that, not much happening.

2008-05-06T15:35:00.001-04:00

Hi. I have a bit to straiten out here.

Yesterday's posting was out of line. The word vile has been used to describe it and I'll agree with that. I was totally out of line with my depiction of everyone and the given situation. There are plenty of better ways that I could have expressed what's going on but didn't use them. I was beyond pissed off and not thinking at the time (not an excuse) and proceeded to just let things fly and land where they may.

Everyone that knows me should know me well enough to know that this is not who I am or how I truly feel.

So, to everyone that I offended, I'm sorry.

2008-05-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

Everyone wanted me to write about what's going on. I did. Now they don't want to see it. Fine.

2008-05-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

Hey, today is my wife's birthday! Happy Birthday wife!

Here's the latest from my little corner of the world. It's enough to make the Pope want to reinstate the inquisition!

Some friggin' brain surgeon decided that it would be a great idea if we took the Logistical Battalion's med platoon and the infantry Battalion's med platoon and combined them into one entity. HOLY SHIT!!!!! Now the other unit's medics are mostly females that work in the clinic and work sick call. (That means going to the doctor when you don't feel well.) The powers that be sat and actually listened to the whining of these people saying how it was unfair that they weren't going out on patrols with the infantry. WHAT THE FUCK, OVER?!

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against women in the military, but I have always felt that they do not belong downrange with the infantry. They just can't do the job the same. They have the knowledge, but not the physical ability to go the distances and with the proper equipment load the way the infantry does.

We already had problems today. The medic (female) that was assigned to the rapid reaction force (infantry), reported in. Now she could be on standby somewhwere close, but not in the building. Ya see, to get to the radio and common area, you have to go through the men's sleeping area (you're there for 24hrs, you get to sleep a bit). Now she can't be where the medic needs to be. Within 2 min of getting in the truck and rolling out the wire. Not gunna make it. They have to leave without the medic.

All the girls keep referring to the female medic that recently recieved the Silver Star. LISTEN UP PEOPLE! I read the accounts of what went down there. She didn't do anything out of the ordinary! Pulling people out of harms way, shielding them and treating them is the medics job! That's what we do! She got the Star because she has TITS! The male medic there doing the same thing on that operation got a "good job" and a pat on the back. Is it fair? HELL NO! He got what he deserved. She proffits from sexism, and will ride that star for all its worth.

So, now as a result of people bowing down to the ranting, pissing, moaning, complaining of a bunch of split-tails, the infantry medics are going to be in the clinic listening to the REMF's complain about their paper cuts and chronic vaginitis.

LEAVE THE GODDAMN SYSTEM ALONE! The Army is set up the way it is for a reason! These people just want to fix things until they break.

What the hell...

2008-04-22T12:10:00.000-04:00

Hey all, Today I went on a CMA mission. That's civilian medical assistance, or something like that. Pretty boring actually. This is where we go to a village, set up some doctors and medics and the locals come with their aches and pains and so forth, and get treated. I wasn't involved with any of that mess. I was the medic attached to the security force on scene. That means my only job was to treat those guys if something happened. Once again, pretty boring. So, rather than sit on my 4th point of contact doing nothing, I jumped in and pulled security. Six hrs of standing around in our armor really does a number on the shoulders! 40lbs or so of vest, water, ammo, 20 something lbs of med gear, rifle and pistol. I need a massage!!

I did see some of the most interesting things I'll probably ever see today. Jingle trucks stacked to twice the size of the truck. Donkey carts on the road. Motorcycles with 3 guys on it. Cars with right side drive or left side. Vendors walking their carts down the road. A few had coconuts. That surprised me. I didn't think they had those here. The vendor by where I was posted had a version of sugarcane that he would cut into 1-2" sections. People would just chew on that as a snack.

Speaking of people, the ones that showed up were like any you would find in an ER in the states. The funniest part of the day was when these 2 girls walked by to go to the entry point. They must have been 13 or 14, not wearing any veil or wrap. As they walked by, they were looking at us, smiling and giggling. No big deal. About an hr later, we see one of the girls about 50 meters from the exit, getting yelled at by who we figure was grandma. Well, grandma's yelling and then points to us. The girl looks over at us and smiles. CRRRAAAAACK!!! Grandma went and slapped the taste right out of her mouth! The she started putting the wrap on. Kinda funny, but not for her.

Today was a great day to take pictures. It really was. However once I got there, I realized that I left my camera back at the hooch. Guess I'll try again.

For you fashionistas; the burka of choice this spring is ankle length and a light blue. All the most fashionable are wearing them!

Till next time...keep your powder dry!

2008-04-20T10:58:00.000-04:00

Hey all, how's it going? Not too bad here.

Yesterday morning I had duty in one of the guard towers. Pretty easy stuff. You look around, and if something looks wrong, call it in. If something bad happens, call it in. Now, do this for 6 hrs...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. The only thing that seems to give it any entertainment value are the rotten little bastards that like to hang out on their side of the fence. Mista, candy. Mista, candy. We're not allowed to toss any, because they are like stray animals. If you feed them, they never go away. The other side to this is that when they don't get candy, out come the slingshots, and the assault begins. They will stand there and throw rocks at you for 5-10 min, sometimes actually getting one in the tower. Then it stops.

But wait! There's more! About an hour later, they come back and do the same thing all over again. Wish I had a slingshot.

Last night I went outside the wire with a team sitting on a hilltop. Great lightning last night. Lit up the entire sky. Each strike lasted a few seconds. Looked really cool. A little rain came with it, but that's ok. It stopped shortly after it started. I tell ya though, night time on a hill top at this elevation gets mighty chilly! Good thing I didn't have to get out of the truck. I just sat there and enjoyed the heater while sitting parked in a spot that was dug out for a Soviet tank back in the day. Four hours of boredom later we got back.

Today I had my first patrol in the city. I was in an area that's part of the "business district". There's a few villages there along with quite a few businessess of some sort. I don't know how they can be in business, because there's quite a lot of standing around. We walked around for a few hours, spoke to some of the locals and kept our eyes open around all these 2 and 3 story buildings that apear to be abandoned.

At one intersection, I got approached by a few little kids. They recognized the med pack. Then they did what all kids around the area do..."Mista, Mista, candy, candy." I don't eat or carry any, so, sorry. Then they started with the fake coughing. I mean the kind of fake like my Mom does about my smoking. The kind of fake that 8yr olds use to tell Mom that they can't go to school. Well, that wasn't the mission and we had to move on. Standing in one spot too long...not good. Don't worry, the mission for giving medical care is in a few days.

Other than that, not much else going on. SSDD. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Here's a brief overview of the medics mission:
1. Jump through your ass
2. Go to BAF and wait. (Bagram air field)
3. Dismount for MRT (Memorial Rock Throw)
4. Slip into coma on QRF (quick reaction force)
5. Relapse for RRF (rapid reaction force)
6. Dismount; wait patiently for locals to impliment PAPDs (Palestinian anti-personel devices...rocks). Walk through animal carcases, urine, mud, human feces. Smiles everyone! BIG SMILES!

Untill next time...

2008-04-15T02:21:00.000-04:00

Hey out there in the 21st century! I say this with jest because I believe everyone here in Afghanistan is back in the 1200's.

Well, I finally got here. I left Ft Bragg on 30 Mar, got to Kuwait and stayed there for a few days on a couple of different camps. Hot, sunny and sandy. That's all there is too see. Then I made my way to Qatar. Spent a few days there. Same thing different country. Got to Kabul, and; what a hole!!! We're in a valley a mile up. The mountains around us are a couple thousand feet higher. Yes the air is thin and smeels like shit. That's because the people here burn everything. Still trying to get settled in. Still quite a few troops from the last unit trying to get out of here. Shouldn't be too much longer.

By the way, I was at the airfield in Qatar when the B1 blew up. 2000lb bombs make a cool mushroom cloud!! No one was hurt.

Yesterday I made my first convoy. We went from here to Bagram. Pretty boring really. The traffic in Kabul is worse than Manhattan. There are no rules of the road. We own the road. We blow the horn and they move over. Once we got to the country area, its a 2 lane road going through nothing. There are a few goat herders. A couple even had a few camels. They must be the rich guys. Heading north the terrain goes from dirt and rocks to scub and rocks then to grass and mountains.

One thing these guys can do is build walls. Dirt walls, rock walls, brick walls, and various combinations therof. These walls are a couple hundred meters long too. If they put some thought into it, they might connect the walls and throw something on for a roof; but that's just me.

Don't worry, there's plenty of checkpoints along the way. Manned by the ANA, one was manned by the Germans.

Well, that's all for now.

Countdown Ticker

2008-04-02T15:05:00.000-04:00

Hi Baby!! Just counting the days away.........

Love your "Darlin'" Dani

2008-03-21T17:05:00.000-04:00

So, here we are again! Sorry to all who have checked in over the last couple of months. The military server wouldn't allow me onto this site.

Today is Mar 21. The training is finished, and now I'm on pass until Tuesday night. Danielle was supposed to get here tonight, but the flight got cancelled. So she gets here in the morning. I can't wait for her to get here!

Once we get back to Bragg, we sit and wait for the Air Force to let us know our exact flight schedule. I'm supposed to be on the last flight out. Kuwait first for a few days, then off to Afghanistan.

As it stands now, I'm the medic for the Bde HQ company comander and 1SG. What does that mean? Whenever they have to go out to different areas to check on our other facilities and equipment, Doc Brown goes along for the ride. Not too bad. I work with a good group of people, I spend a bunch of time on Camp Phoenix and get to go to other areas and see other parts of the country.

The picture is (right to left) SSG Miller, SGT Reynolds and myself. We're ready to go. Get a change of scenery and start getting to work.

Following the weather in Kabul. It's DAMN COLD there! I kind of wish I was getting sent to Kandahar (I don't know if that's spelled right). It's a lot warmer in the winter. Although a bit warmer in the summer, I think it's a fair trade for the warmer winter.

So, right now I'm sitting in the hotel typing and watching tv, waiting for my wife to get here. This sucks!

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get something else up before we fly. If not, sorry.

2008-01-19T16:57:00.000-05:00

All right. I'm getting ready to leave Syracuse to bus to Ft Drum. Shortly after, flying to Ft Bragg. From what we're told, phone and internet signal where we're going to be is sporadic at best. Therefore, I don't know when I'll be able to post again.

Check in every once in a while.

By the way, this is the 27th Bde insignia.

'Til next time...

2008-01-18T18:44:00.000-05:00

So, today's day 2 of the deployment. Yesterday I managed to get up to Bde (in Syracuse)because someone in personel decided that due to my background in the mystical world of intel, I should be reassigned to the Bde S2 section. NO NO NO!!! So I spent all of today working with the S2 who was helping me deal with the S1(personel) trying to get through his head that I'm a medic and need to go back to my original unit. Even though he saw the papers that prove I'm a medic he still tried to keep me there until I said the majic words...I want to see the Bde Cdr and the IG, today. Funny, when you say these words, things start to happen. You start to see results.

So...tomorrow we'll be bussing to Ft Drum. A couple of hrs after that, flying to Ft. Bragg. Then I'll link up with my medical platoon and all will be right with the world; this one anyway. It's going to feel a little odd since I havn't been there in some time.

I don't know what the internet availability will be for me there. We'll be living in the field for the time we're there, so I don't know when I'll be able to post again.

Stay tuned...Sean

checking in

2008-01-14T18:53:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to look at this until now. Just wanted to let you know that it works and I'm on. Will be thinking of you as you leave in a couple of days. Be safe......
Marge

Received the info

2008-01-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

We received the info re the blog. Wanted to reply to let you know. If our message posts to the blog, we're doing OK. Keep the info coming. We'll keep in touch.

Paul & Betty (Mom & Dad R)

Got the notification

2008-01-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

Just chiming in to let you know I got the link and it appears to be working, keep in touch.

Artie

New!!

2007-12-31T17:58:00.000-05:00

OK. It's New Years eve and I'm sitting here trying to learn how to do this. So, bear with the computer retard. Hopefully this will work right. If so, this is where ya'll be able to read what I'm up to and let me know what's going on back home. I'll be posting again once I leave on the 16th. Sean