Delectible Delights and Frozen Nose

Delectible Delights and Frozen Nose

After the Bagram adventure, It was not even a week before we started having issues with the generator at out tent. One night I got several care packages and some of my possessions in the mail to include a new microwave and my xbox. I plugged in the microwave and began to use it but it put too much strain on the transformer and blew a fuse in the transformer. This was the first issue we had with power. From this point we found a replacement transformer that was larger and more powerful. We hooked the microwave into in and the xbox and it worked like a charm. Being over here we have to deal with a lot of 220 power settings because local technology runs off of it. Constantly using adapters and transformers. So that all worked fine. The next night, at some random point in the night, the power started flickering and fading. This went on for a while as we were unplugging different plugs to maintain stable power before the generator finally just died. We went out to inspect the generator to see if we could repair it but there was no obvious damage. With the loss of the generator power also went the loss of all heat in our tent in 20 and 30 degree farenheight weather. We waited a while and hark!, the generator started again. This time we were careful not too plug in too many things. We didn’t have enough power to run the heat pump so we all bundled up in sleeping bags and warm clothes. This went on for the next week as we continually found that the generator was filthy and had not been taken care of at all. The oil was changed and the filters were dumped but this only barely prolonged the life of the generator. Finally after a week of this, the generator finally reached the end of its life when someone went to check the fuel line and it broke off. This further reinforced our supervision’s notion to move us out of the tent into more temporary lodging while we wait on the new buildings to be ready. We were given a 3 day deadline and everyone else moved out stat but I was resistant to move so I stayed in the cold dark tent one more night by myself but I loved it. This was the first time in 6 months of training and deployment I had true privacy. No one was moving around or snoring or waking up and talking and slamming the door. I slept great and it was the first time I dreamed in months. I was plenty warm being in 2 sleeping bags with warm clothes and a beanie on my head. Thank goodness to all that camping experience. Everyone else slept in the other temporary lodging with lots more people in open bays of about 30 or more people with snorers and the whole 9 yards. I was perfectly fine in this solitary abode.

Also during this time, our rations were quickly running out at the chow hall. As it is, we usually have to eat corn dogs, hot dogs, hot wings, with the occasional chicken cordon blue or an excuse for Chinese food. Vegetables? Green stuff? Fruits? What is all that? Every day its fried food or something microwaved. Whatever is easiest for the cooks to prepare. This week our new shipment of food was a week late and our food choices were getting worse and worse. We ran out of regular milk and many other things. You don’t realize how much you miss regular milk until you eat cereal with chocolate milk and strawberry milk for breakfast every morning. We have finally gotten our shipment of new food in but the food choices haven’t changed much. One night we had steaks but that’s about the best. It’s impossible to eat healthy here and I firmly believe it is the goal of the military to give us all high cholesterol and heart attacks. One almost has to live off either the French chow hall or care packages or the pizza place. Those are the only food options.

So that’s an update on the last few weeks here at the wonderful FOB. As for my job, its going really well. I’ve taken on a new position of managing linguists on top of my other responsibilities and it takes up quite a bit of my time. It’s satisfying though. Taking a week off the gym this week as I’ve had hardly a day off from it since I arrived in country. We go to work every single day and get not one day off until R and R. One gets used to it. Watched the new movie Inception the other night and loved it. Great movie if you haven’t seen it. Got my first real coin today from the Command SGT Major(Army E-9) of our parent unit. Never been in an official coin ceremony with such a large coin so I screwed up the proper procedures for receiving the coin. If you don’t know what I mean by coin, no its not like a quarter or a nickel, it’s a large coin with a unit logo and design in color imprinted on it and its an honor to receive one. It’s a military tradition and most people collect them and end up displaying them on their desk or bookshelf. I have moved around so much that I’ve never been anywhere long enough to do anything outstanding so that I might receive one before. The proper procedure is for the individual giving the coin to hold it in his hand and present it in the form of the handshake while the person receiving the coin shakes the hand containing the coin and takes it when the handshake is broken. The coin was heavy and I actually ended up dropping it as I was receving it to a certain amount of embarrassment. Soon to go get a haircut from the French Boutique and enjoy the rest of the day at the lovely as always FOB Morales-Frazier.

Broken mirrors, convoys, helicopters

Intro and Trip to Bagram

So this week finds me at the end of a streak of a somewhat eventful few weeks. Here I sit on my bed with a cup of hot ginseng tea next to me and my speaker beanie, while reflecting on my time here.

I guess the first major event was traveling on my first convoy(mounted comat patrol to be P.C.). Now granted it was only to Bagram Airfield which is not that far but nonetheless, it was a convoy. I had to go get a chipped tooth looked at and repaired. The first couple minutes outside the wire were a bit exciting but after spending so much time in armored vehicles in training, it was nothing new. This time though, I was only a passenger, a window licker, a strap hanger, whatever you want to call it. Despite very tiny windows and uncomfortable sitting positions, I was still greatful to be here and have a view of the country I presently reside but have never really seen outside the base. The trip was uneventful but I was able to take several pictures of the landscape and see how people here make their way of life. To see shabby tents pitched on the rocky terrain and know these were peoples homes. Seeing cattle and donkeys and dogs wandering around and wondering how they survive in such a barren land. Now granted its not the desert, but it is still pretty bleak. I was not blown away, having been in third world countries on multiple occasions on my own personal travels, but no two places are the same. I remember noticing all the caves in the mountains and the steep grades and dirty rivers and scattered rocks and thinking, so this is what all the books and movies are talking about. Brutal, near unpassable mountains in the north and barren desert in the south. These people have been fighting almost nonstop for hundreds of years and not only conquered, but beaten the crap out of everyone who has tried to take this land from them. Now if you;ve never read up on the history of Afghanistan, well(besides recent discoveries or major mineral deposits) theres not really anything here that anyone would want. No major economic assets or natural resources. This land is disputed over simply because of its location being landlocked by so many nations and key tactical terrain to hold in the Central Asian territory.

So anyway, off of my sidetrack(darn ADD), we safely arrived at Bagram without incident and I dismounted and locked my rifle and body armour away. While at BAF, I took care of several things that I cannot do at the FOB such as buying things at the BX and getting information on education opportunities and taking a mathematics placement test. My original dental appt was scheduled for thanksgiving day, but then I showed up and they told me all appts for the day had been cancelled and I would have to reschedule. Bummer. So then I went with some guys of my team for Thanksgiving lunch but the line was so ridiculously long, we ended up all getting tuna pouches and microwave meals from the shoppete. Oh well, another holiday in the military away from loved ones. What else is new? Such has been the story of my life for over 4 years now. One tends to get used to the idea. (We ended up having a great thanksgiving dinner with turkey and everything minus the pumpkin pie cause it was all gone. So that made up for lunch)

I hung out at BAF for a couple weeks waiting on my appt. It finally came about and once I had a new filling and numb face from novacane it was time to go. (I actually discovered by accident that eating something to work the novicane out of your system brings feeling back pretty quick). That night my team members signed me up for Space Available on a helicopter making trips that night. I waited to see if I made the cut and was shocked when they called out the last 4 of my SSN (this is how the military identifies people, last name and last 4). I jumped up and through on my armor vest, slung my rifle over my shoulder, put on my helmet and eyewear, grabbed my bags and made a quick video before heading out to the flightline for liftoff. Now if you’ve never ridden a military helicopter or even a helicopter for that matter, there is nothing like the anticipation the first time you are about to board. Perhaps it’s just me because I freaking love aviation and always wanted to ride a helicopter. This was actually my 2^nd experience on a helicopter(first was the first time we flew to the FOB) but the excitement was still alive and well due to the fact that I had never been on a helicopter this large before. While the crew chiefs were doing their pre-flight checks after all the bags had been loaded and strapped down, one of them strapped on a helmet and facemask. I laughed a little inside because he had drawn a goofy looking face on his mask that was impossible not to smile at. He noticed my glance and chuckled. Then the rotors started up. We waited there for a long while, my butt half on the seat because the bird was so jampacked I was hanging off the end of it, when we finally started taxiing. The feeling of liftoff can pass you by if you are not really paying attention. It’s so crazy just looking at the ground and see yourself hovering there just a few feet off the flightline engines blazing full force and all. I grinned with joy. This was one of those moments that I was really happy to be in the military. Who else gets to do that?

So we took off into the dark, moonless, Afghan night. They told us we were first off, so myself and a couple other guys had to be ready. When we landed, it was so dark, I hardly realized we had landed and didn’t know where we were. That green light came on and the guy next to me(our new cooks I found out later) gave me a shove and I was on my feet snatching up bags and hustling to the ramp. I rushed down the ramp and onto the helipad under the roar of the rotor blades. Once we had exfilled the bird, it took off. I was nearly knocked off my feet and my bags went rolling away from me due to the power of the prop wash. It was intense. I wanted to look at this dark beast that can only be seen because it blocks out the stars in the sky, but it was kicking up too much dust and I had to concentrate on bracing myself. Aircraft are amazing. Giant machines in the sky that just give you a feeling of extreme power.( This is best experienced by being just a few hundred feet away from a fighter jet when it takes off on full afterburner or the same distance away from a 747 at 85 percent throttle.)

Once this was done, I jumped on the tailgate of a gator that was there to pick up the cooks and hitched a ride in full gear part of the way back to my tent. It was pitch black the whole way as everything is here for safety and security reasons. I finally arrived back at the tent and surprised everyone who were not expecting me to be back for a while. Especially not on a helicopter. I downed all my gear and began to wind down before retiring for the night.