Today was just another day but it was special since it was my wife's birthday. If you want to know how old she is you will have to ask her yourself but I can tell you she is younger than me.
Today was another beautiful day in Afghanistan. High of 74 and will probably get down into the low 40s or high 30s. While standing outside today enjoying the weather the guys and I heard a jet flying pretty high over head. When we finally found it in the sky we were looking at a B1B bomber. That was a very cool sight.
It seems as though I have found another friend here in the camp. Our camp pet is a 5 month old dog that looks like a german shepherd mix. Hes a very cute pup, big pup. The first night I was walking by and he started barking at me now he knows me from anywhere in the camp and comes up to say hi or just lay down and hang out. You would think that a dog like that would be hyper and kind of aggressive. This is the type of dog that you could take his dinner away from. I think its probably because he is the most well fed dog in the country. He actually turns down food. I sat down this afternoon outside the door of our dining facility and watched as everyone come out. They all keep something back and toss it to him on the way out. I found out his favorite food is M&Ms. That dog goes crazy for M&Ms LOL.
Well I dont know what else to talk about so that's it for tonight.
Later,
Brent
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
107
107 is the amount of stargate SG 1 episodes I have watched. There may be more but that is all that I had on my terabyte hard drive. I have watched many other movies as well. While in iraq many of us bought a bunch of the boxed sets of movies. They are quite a bit cheaper there than in the states.
So what is in store for me now? I have the Sopranos all ready to go as well as the shield. The SHield happens to be one of Micca's favorite shows so I think I may try not to watch that until I get home. I'm thinking that may be something we can sit and enjoy together when time permits.
Nothing to adventerous has happen here. My Well diggers began digging the well today. It's a little disappointing knowing I won't get to see the finished product. It really is an experiance to work with the local people. Once they understand the hierarchy of our military structure, I think they come to view us or in the case of me as a tribal leader of sorts. It's a little wierd I don't know quite how to explain it. The Polish Captain and I are the 2 highest ranking officers here and because I am american I think those that aren't polish assume I am in charge of everything. I really am just an advisor and a resource.
In other news the LT that was suppose to show up today didn't. It seems as though he was told that the helicopter that was suppose to take him wasn't going to stop here. Well when the helicopter showed up only 2 polish soldiers got off. So that means one more day that I will spend here which is fine by me.
My big project for today was to inventory the kitchen stuff that the polish are using to make breakfeast and dinner and what not. It seems as though the Army has decided that they are going to contract KBR in to cook for us. It probably wont happen until after I leave but I have started the project in motion. I guess they need to know whats here so they know what to bring.
Another day is done and another day closer to leave :)
Later
Brent
So what is in store for me now? I have the Sopranos all ready to go as well as the shield. The SHield happens to be one of Micca's favorite shows so I think I may try not to watch that until I get home. I'm thinking that may be something we can sit and enjoy together when time permits.
Nothing to adventerous has happen here. My Well diggers began digging the well today. It's a little disappointing knowing I won't get to see the finished product. It really is an experiance to work with the local people. Once they understand the hierarchy of our military structure, I think they come to view us or in the case of me as a tribal leader of sorts. It's a little wierd I don't know quite how to explain it. The Polish Captain and I are the 2 highest ranking officers here and because I am american I think those that aren't polish assume I am in charge of everything. I really am just an advisor and a resource.
In other news the LT that was suppose to show up today didn't. It seems as though he was told that the helicopter that was suppose to take him wasn't going to stop here. Well when the helicopter showed up only 2 polish soldiers got off. So that means one more day that I will spend here which is fine by me.
My big project for today was to inventory the kitchen stuff that the polish are using to make breakfeast and dinner and what not. It seems as though the Army has decided that they are going to contract KBR in to cook for us. It probably wont happen until after I leave but I have started the project in motion. I guess they need to know whats here so they know what to bring.
Another day is done and another day closer to leave :)
Later
Brent
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Moving Again
Now that I am all settled into 4 corners it looks as though I will be going back to Ghazni for the rest of my stay in Afghanistan. To be honest even though this place is lacking in amenities... lol to think that I would refer to any of these places as having amenities. I like the remote somewhat austere environment. My biggest task is managing the contract that has a local contractor digiing a well for us. Before these gentlemen showed up at the front gate I really didn't know that digging a well was so technical. Now converting these technical bits through an interperter is a challenge. Language is the biggest challenge alltogether since I have been here. It is either Polish or Pashtun neither of which I have much knowledge in.
So now that I ahve established the needed systems here and got things going they are sending someone in for me to train up so I can leave the this company and work for the Battalion. To be honest I dont mind moving as it keeps me from geting bored and learning new tasks and working with new people always makes things interesting.
Micca has only 2 days left of work after which she plans to concentrate on getting everything moved back to the Prairie City house. We are both looking forward to settling into the B-PC community. Dade will start school after the new year and he is excited as well. He has already met his teacher and seen his classroom and his cousin Jax has been sharing his homework with him to show him where he is in school and to be honest Dade is quite a bit ahead so hopefully any problems adjusting won't be because of school work.
I can't begin to convey how much I am looking forward to getting home. My vacation/leave comes towards the end of my time hereso by the time I finish my eave when I get back here I will have less than 60 days left. Micca and I have this calculator that figures how many days I have left and the percent of time served. Today I was at 62%
Thats enough for now
Later
Brent
So now that I ahve established the needed systems here and got things going they are sending someone in for me to train up so I can leave the this company and work for the Battalion. To be honest I dont mind moving as it keeps me from geting bored and learning new tasks and working with new people always makes things interesting.
Micca has only 2 days left of work after which she plans to concentrate on getting everything moved back to the Prairie City house. We are both looking forward to settling into the B-PC community. Dade will start school after the new year and he is excited as well. He has already met his teacher and seen his classroom and his cousin Jax has been sharing his homework with him to show him where he is in school and to be honest Dade is quite a bit ahead so hopefully any problems adjusting won't be because of school work.
I can't begin to convey how much I am looking forward to getting home. My vacation/leave comes towards the end of my time hereso by the time I finish my eave when I get back here I will have less than 60 days left. Micca and I have this calculator that figures how many days I have left and the percent of time served. Today I was at 62%
Thats enough for now
Later
Brent
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
getting comfy
Well I have finally gotten settled into four corners. The camp here is quite small. It’s about 200 meters (think yards) by 300 meters with the helo pad taking up about a 1/3 of the space. When everyone finally shows up we should have about 150 soldiers here. Considering where we are this is actually pretty nice. The camp itself is an old Russian camp left over from the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.
When I say settled I should say I haven’t completely settled in since I found out they may want me to go back to Ghazni and serve as a liaison for a battalion there. I guess now would be appropriate to discuss structure so everyone will have an understanding of how things work. Almost all military forces follow the same sort of structure.
Team = 3-5 soldiers
Squad = 6-10 soldiers
Platoon = 3-4 squads with anywhere from 30-40 soldiers with a Lieutenant in charge
Company = 3-6 platoons with anywhere from 60-200 soldiers depending on the company and companies have a Captain in charge of them usually reffered to as a company commander or the CO. This is the level I am working at and is probably the most enjoyable of all levels IMO as an officer. My job here is to assist the company commander with an US Forces that he may need or assets or contracts.
Battalion = 3-5 companies and has about 300-500 soldiers in it
Brigade = 3-4 Battalions and has roughly 1000-1500 soldiers in it
I tell you all to tell you this. I am no working at the company level with the polish but I may have to go back to Ghazni and work at the Battalion level. Because it is a larger organization I would be a little more focused on doing just operational stuff and not messing with the logistics so much.
So what do I think about this place. For now I don’t think I would mind spending the rest of my tour here. We are in a fairly remote location and rely heavily on helicopters for supplies. Which makes me worry a little about the winter. The Winters here are quite severe with lots of snow that is measured in feet rather than inches. The cold will make things pretty difficult and I wonder how we will adapt. The Polish are in the process of changing their soldiers out so this is an entirely new group. Some of the challenges I see will be keeping water running. We have a small well that is our water source for showers and washing clothes. We have our drinking water brought in by helicopter and it is all bottled water. I washed my clothes the other day for the first time in the late afternoon which was a mistake. I used one of the 2 working washers if you can call them that. You have to check the washer about every 20 minutes because when it is time for the spin cycle you have to undo the plug so the water can drain. They have no pump to pump the water out. So after your laundry is done you have to go hang it up wherever you can. Problem is if you remember I said I did my laundry in the afternoon, by the time it was done it was almost dark. So I had to string parachute cord all throughout my room and hang up 2 weeks worth of clothes (remember I’ve been in transit for awhile). I had to be careful walking in my room as I literally clothes lined myself about 3 or 4 times. Another thing that I realized about our water situation. Our water smells, not bad but like bleach, we add HTH which is basically bleach to the water tanks we fill with the well. SO everything has a slight bleach smell to include my room now since it was the location for my drying attempts. I should have know better since I had already realized this issue the first time I took a shower and came out smelling like I had been swimming in a pool.
We have a camp pet. His name is Outlaw. He looks like a small german shepard. He probably weighs in at about 60lbs so not to small. I’m not one to really make friends with camp pets since they are a source of disease and what not but the first time I walked out of the command center at night and he didn’t recognize me and started barking at me I decided we should become friends. Last thing I need is our guard dog attacking me.
I ran around the camp the other day for PT. I think I may have forgotten to mention our altitude here is over 6k feet so what I considered running might have only been a very fast walk or a poor attempt at running. The altitude does have an affect.
Well that’s enough deep thought for now.
Brent
When I say settled I should say I haven’t completely settled in since I found out they may want me to go back to Ghazni and serve as a liaison for a battalion there. I guess now would be appropriate to discuss structure so everyone will have an understanding of how things work. Almost all military forces follow the same sort of structure.
Team = 3-5 soldiers
Squad = 6-10 soldiers
Platoon = 3-4 squads with anywhere from 30-40 soldiers with a Lieutenant in charge
Company = 3-6 platoons with anywhere from 60-200 soldiers depending on the company and companies have a Captain in charge of them usually reffered to as a company commander or the CO. This is the level I am working at and is probably the most enjoyable of all levels IMO as an officer. My job here is to assist the company commander with an US Forces that he may need or assets or contracts.
Battalion = 3-5 companies and has about 300-500 soldiers in it
Brigade = 3-4 Battalions and has roughly 1000-1500 soldiers in it
I tell you all to tell you this. I am no working at the company level with the polish but I may have to go back to Ghazni and work at the Battalion level. Because it is a larger organization I would be a little more focused on doing just operational stuff and not messing with the logistics so much.
So what do I think about this place. For now I don’t think I would mind spending the rest of my tour here. We are in a fairly remote location and rely heavily on helicopters for supplies. Which makes me worry a little about the winter. The Winters here are quite severe with lots of snow that is measured in feet rather than inches. The cold will make things pretty difficult and I wonder how we will adapt. The Polish are in the process of changing their soldiers out so this is an entirely new group. Some of the challenges I see will be keeping water running. We have a small well that is our water source for showers and washing clothes. We have our drinking water brought in by helicopter and it is all bottled water. I washed my clothes the other day for the first time in the late afternoon which was a mistake. I used one of the 2 working washers if you can call them that. You have to check the washer about every 20 minutes because when it is time for the spin cycle you have to undo the plug so the water can drain. They have no pump to pump the water out. So after your laundry is done you have to go hang it up wherever you can. Problem is if you remember I said I did my laundry in the afternoon, by the time it was done it was almost dark. So I had to string parachute cord all throughout my room and hang up 2 weeks worth of clothes (remember I’ve been in transit for awhile). I had to be careful walking in my room as I literally clothes lined myself about 3 or 4 times. Another thing that I realized about our water situation. Our water smells, not bad but like bleach, we add HTH which is basically bleach to the water tanks we fill with the well. SO everything has a slight bleach smell to include my room now since it was the location for my drying attempts. I should have know better since I had already realized this issue the first time I took a shower and came out smelling like I had been swimming in a pool.
We have a camp pet. His name is Outlaw. He looks like a small german shepard. He probably weighs in at about 60lbs so not to small. I’m not one to really make friends with camp pets since they are a source of disease and what not but the first time I walked out of the command center at night and he didn’t recognize me and started barking at me I decided we should become friends. Last thing I need is our guard dog attacking me.
I ran around the camp the other day for PT. I think I may have forgotten to mention our altitude here is over 6k feet so what I considered running might have only been a very fast walk or a poor attempt at running. The altitude does have an affect.
Well that’s enough deep thought for now.
Brent
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Four Corners
I made it to 4 corners. My living arrangements are ok for now. I am in a
little concrete building that is about the same size as my trailer in
Iraq, maybe a little smaller. For now I am by myself but LT Beier is
suppose to eventually join me so I will have a room mate. The FOB
including the airfield is probably about 4-5 acres so it is very small.
We will eventually have about 150 polish here and 5 americans with me
being the senior american and probably the most senior person in all.
It appears my duties will be pretty minimal so I may find myself going
back to ghazni after everything is established. I am busy establishing
computers phones and radios. Well I am here with the techs who will
eventually leave me.
The dining facilities have gotten progressivley worse since leaving Iraq
and culminated with tonights dinner. We had meatballs with some polish
salad. It was good but the selection was well there was no selection.
The nights here are getting into the 30s now but the days hit the high
70s.
I'm glad October is almost over then I just have to make it past
november then I will be super close to coming home for leave. To say
that I am a bit anxious is an understatement.
Not much else for now
little concrete building that is about the same size as my trailer in
Iraq, maybe a little smaller. For now I am by myself but LT Beier is
suppose to eventually join me so I will have a room mate. The FOB
including the airfield is probably about 4-5 acres so it is very small.
We will eventually have about 150 polish here and 5 americans with me
being the senior american and probably the most senior person in all.
It appears my duties will be pretty minimal so I may find myself going
back to ghazni after everything is established. I am busy establishing
computers phones and radios. Well I am here with the techs who will
eventually leave me.
The dining facilities have gotten progressivley worse since leaving Iraq
and culminated with tonights dinner. We had meatballs with some polish
salad. It was good but the selection was well there was no selection.
The nights here are getting into the 30s now but the days hit the high
70s.
I'm glad October is almost over then I just have to make it past
november then I will be super close to coming home for leave. To say
that I am a bit anxious is an understatement.
Not much else for now
Monday, October 13, 2008
Afghanistan Journal
Today is the 12th of October. I have now been in Afghanistan 3 days or so. I am now at Baghram. I am 1 of 3 on here on the ground trying to figure out things. We left Iraq knowing we all had to end up in Ghazni Afghanistan eventually. I planned and coordinated the movement of our equipment from Iraq which was surprisingly quite easy. We have mentioned quite a few times how everything is easier in war. Back home if I requested a plane to move some equipment it would have to be requested 6 months in advance and all sorts of deals would have to be cut and then at the last minute the misson would get canceled. The planning I did here was to easy and I always kept looking for what the problem would be. It was or has been pretty damn easy realtivley speaking.
I left Tallil Iraq, wondering and hoping that this would be my last time I ever had to visit this country. It seemed somewhat fitting that I should be leaving through the place that I came through on my in to Camp Echo. Even more fitting was the backdrop of the base itself. There is a very old temple that was built there. Supposdely it is older than the Pyramids. I don’t know for sure but it makes sense since we are in the middle of the cradle of civilization, LOL one would think that if this was the cradle they would be ahead of everyone else but this is irony at its finest.
Afghanistan sure is different in every way. It’s a different war with different people and even though I haven’t left the confines of the air base I can tell things are already different. The biggest contrast is the landscape and weather. I am totally surrounded by mountains and the high today was 79 degrees. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain. If it rains it will be the first time I have seen rain in over a month. Even then is was just a couple of sporadic drops. It has been since April since I have seen any thing approaching a significant rain.
The other big thing that I have noticed here is the lack of T-walls and bunkers. The threat of indirect fire here is almost nonexistent. Many of the force protection standards that exist in Iraq seem to be missing here, I hope it’s because they are not needed. I’m sure of that for the most part since I have been following the intelligence since I have found out we were coming here. With winter fast approaching even the the stuff that was going on earlier this year will stop pretty soon.
I have had some time here the past 3 days and began watching an HBO mini series called generation kill. It is about some marines and their trek through Oraq during the first 20 days or so. I had heard it was done very well and pretty accurate. I have to say it was extremely accurate and should be added to anyones must see list, it can get graphic and quite violent but if you can stomach it, it is worth watching. While I was watching the series there would be many times I would have to stop it because of the sounds of the airfield bleeding over my headphones. The F-15s and F-16s taking off in real time sometimes fit right in while I wastching the show. I sometimes had a tough time figuring out what was real and what was playing over the headphones as I watched. It just seems weird, I don’t know if that is irony so to say but whatever it is it was just weird.
So today I am thinking aboutu what lies in front of me and what other things I will be missing while I am over here. Ashtyn just had her Birthday and Micca will soon have hers. Drake will have his as well while I am gone but Drakes Birthday marks the home stretch fro me. You see Drake’s Birthday is the 17th of February and my Deployment date started on the 18th of March. So in seeing this major events pass it saddens me but at the same time keeps me hopeful and plodding along doing whatever it is that must be done for the day. I also have an anniversary in there which is my Micca and I’s first. Today had me thinking that now I have less than 60 days before I can take leave, and once I return I will only have about 60 days left in country. So even though I’m just barely past the half way point in this deployment I fell like things should start to rapidly come to a close. With Leave comes Christmas and if every thing lines up just right I should make it home in time for Christmas and new years so at least I will be around for that.
As usual I am all over the board in thought and what not. I will have Micca post this to my blog as I will not be able to access it my self since my civilian internet access is sporadic if not non existant. Funny thing is that if you post a comment it comes to my army email and lets me see it. The army cant stop everything
Later for now
Brent
I left Tallil Iraq, wondering and hoping that this would be my last time I ever had to visit this country. It seemed somewhat fitting that I should be leaving through the place that I came through on my in to Camp Echo. Even more fitting was the backdrop of the base itself. There is a very old temple that was built there. Supposdely it is older than the Pyramids. I don’t know for sure but it makes sense since we are in the middle of the cradle of civilization, LOL one would think that if this was the cradle they would be ahead of everyone else but this is irony at its finest.
Afghanistan sure is different in every way. It’s a different war with different people and even though I haven’t left the confines of the air base I can tell things are already different. The biggest contrast is the landscape and weather. I am totally surrounded by mountains and the high today was 79 degrees. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain. If it rains it will be the first time I have seen rain in over a month. Even then is was just a couple of sporadic drops. It has been since April since I have seen any thing approaching a significant rain.
The other big thing that I have noticed here is the lack of T-walls and bunkers. The threat of indirect fire here is almost nonexistent. Many of the force protection standards that exist in Iraq seem to be missing here, I hope it’s because they are not needed. I’m sure of that for the most part since I have been following the intelligence since I have found out we were coming here. With winter fast approaching even the the stuff that was going on earlier this year will stop pretty soon.
I have had some time here the past 3 days and began watching an HBO mini series called generation kill. It is about some marines and their trek through Oraq during the first 20 days or so. I had heard it was done very well and pretty accurate. I have to say it was extremely accurate and should be added to anyones must see list, it can get graphic and quite violent but if you can stomach it, it is worth watching. While I was watching the series there would be many times I would have to stop it because of the sounds of the airfield bleeding over my headphones. The F-15s and F-16s taking off in real time sometimes fit right in while I wastching the show. I sometimes had a tough time figuring out what was real and what was playing over the headphones as I watched. It just seems weird, I don’t know if that is irony so to say but whatever it is it was just weird.
So today I am thinking aboutu what lies in front of me and what other things I will be missing while I am over here. Ashtyn just had her Birthday and Micca will soon have hers. Drake will have his as well while I am gone but Drakes Birthday marks the home stretch fro me. You see Drake’s Birthday is the 17th of February and my Deployment date started on the 18th of March. So in seeing this major events pass it saddens me but at the same time keeps me hopeful and plodding along doing whatever it is that must be done for the day. I also have an anniversary in there which is my Micca and I’s first. Today had me thinking that now I have less than 60 days before I can take leave, and once I return I will only have about 60 days left in country. So even though I’m just barely past the half way point in this deployment I fell like things should start to rapidly come to a close. With Leave comes Christmas and if every thing lines up just right I should make it home in time for Christmas and new years so at least I will be around for that.
As usual I am all over the board in thought and what not. I will have Micca post this to my blog as I will not be able to access it my self since my civilian internet access is sporadic if not non existant. Funny thing is that if you post a comment it comes to my army email and lets me see it. The army cant stop everything
Later for now
Brent
Friday, October 3, 2008
Goodbye Camp Echo!! Hello Afghanistan!!
Today was my last full day at Camp Echo. It is sort of bittersweet. The time I have spent here has been very interesting and probably unlike most everyone else’s experience that comes here to Iraq. My daily duties very rarely had me interacting with my fellow American soldiers, most of the time I worked with my Polish, Ukrainian, and Romanian counterparts. As of the 1st of October the Polish had officially turned over their responsibility to the American forces that have overrun Camp Echo, we affectionately refer to them as the locusts. Our camp is rather small with a total population around two thousand people. While we have been here they have almost doubled the camp population, now which will go down to more reasonable numbers once all of the Polish leave as well as us. But for now they are like locusts consuming everything that had been plentiful for us in the past. The dining facility rarely ever had a line and most visitors would comment on how nice our dining facility was and the quality of food. It is not uncommon for them to run out of ice cream cookies and yes sadly, cheesecake.
Back to the Polish and the process which we call RIP/TOA which is pronounced RIP just like it sounds and TOE short A sound. It stands for Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority. It isn’t as simple as one unit leaving when the new one arrives. There is a transition period where both units operate together so the unit that has been in place can transfer their knowledge and lessons learned to the incoming unit. It’s a process that has been very effective over the years.
I have the utmost respect for the Polish Army after serving with them for the last 6 months. They do things differently and at times seem very backwards but their army was based on the soviet bloc model where all decision making is centralized, conversely the American army is a very decentralized business model if you will. Leaders at all levels are expected to make decisions that support the overall effort. This is ingrained in us from almost the beginning in basic training.
So in the beginning I said it was bittersweet. I think if I had the choice I would rather just have stayed here at Echo for my tour but with the new unit coming in I am glad that we are moving on, even if it is to Afghanistan for the winter. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. Mid to high 80s in the day and down into the low 70s even high 60s at night. My leaving here is a milestone that helps me know that the end is somewhere in sight. The 1st of October was 6 months in Iraq for me and over halfway to being done. Over the next couple weeks I will help to move (I’m responsible for the unit movement) our equipment and personnel from here to Ghazni Afghanistan, where we will reestablish ourselves and continue to work with the Polish forces that are located there. This is no small task as we are the first that I know of to move from one Area Of Responsibility (AOR) to another on the same deployment. During the planning process I constantly heard “really”, “you are doing what”, “I”ve never heard of that”, and so on and so forth. I think an English teacher would hate this blog, my main idea tends to drift from paragraph to paragraph, but anyway, leaving here is a huge milestone because it coincides with our halfway point. We get to recapture that feeling of anticipation of doing something new and unknown again which I look forward to since it really does help the days go by faster. Things here have become mundane in that it’s the same thing with very little variation, ok here I go again off the main topic, we have these counters that almost everyone has that count days minutes seconds and meals. Why meals? Well your life tends to revolve going to work every day and your meals are mini milestones that break up the day for you, at least that’s my take. So I really feel like I am on the downhill side of my deployment. I am fortunate that I have put my leave off until the final third of my tour. If I’m lucky I will be home for Christmas. My leave is scheduled for that timeframe but because of where I will be planning travel is sometimes difficult. I should leave before the big snows but by the time I return we will measure our snowfall in feet. Ghazni and its surrounding outposts are on a high plateau. Ghazni itself sits at over 7 thousand feet. That is much higher than Denver or any other major city in the US. When I return from my leave I should have less than 60 days left.
I think almost hourly about being home and the things I am missing. This deployment if anything has helped provide perspective. It has made the decision for Micca to quit her job and have us move closer to Bushnell where Drake and Ashtyn live a no brainer. There were many reasons for that decision and we probably would have come to the same decision but this separation has probably helped it along. I really love and cherish the thought of when I come home I will come “home”. Deer Creek is a very nice community and the school district has been great but in my heart it is a place I have lived not what I would call home in my heart. It amazes me that Micca sees and feels the same way about Bushnell. Everyone has been so supportive to her and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way that I do.
This post has been longer than most and I have rambled across many topics. I hope that my thoughts and feelings aren’t to incoherent or jumbled for you to understand. I don’t know what access I will have to commercial internet so Micca will keep her Blog more updated with emails from I or she may copy and paste to my blog for me. Be sure to check her blog with updates from me. One final note I will have a new address for anyone who would like to send snail mail.
Brent Russell
101st ABN DIV (AASLT)
TF WHITE EAGLE
FOB GHAZNI, AFG
APO AE 09354
Later for now
Brent
Back to the Polish and the process which we call RIP/TOA which is pronounced RIP just like it sounds and TOE short A sound. It stands for Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority. It isn’t as simple as one unit leaving when the new one arrives. There is a transition period where both units operate together so the unit that has been in place can transfer their knowledge and lessons learned to the incoming unit. It’s a process that has been very effective over the years.
I have the utmost respect for the Polish Army after serving with them for the last 6 months. They do things differently and at times seem very backwards but their army was based on the soviet bloc model where all decision making is centralized, conversely the American army is a very decentralized business model if you will. Leaders at all levels are expected to make decisions that support the overall effort. This is ingrained in us from almost the beginning in basic training.
So in the beginning I said it was bittersweet. I think if I had the choice I would rather just have stayed here at Echo for my tour but with the new unit coming in I am glad that we are moving on, even if it is to Afghanistan for the winter. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. Mid to high 80s in the day and down into the low 70s even high 60s at night. My leaving here is a milestone that helps me know that the end is somewhere in sight. The 1st of October was 6 months in Iraq for me and over halfway to being done. Over the next couple weeks I will help to move (I’m responsible for the unit movement) our equipment and personnel from here to Ghazni Afghanistan, where we will reestablish ourselves and continue to work with the Polish forces that are located there. This is no small task as we are the first that I know of to move from one Area Of Responsibility (AOR) to another on the same deployment. During the planning process I constantly heard “really”, “you are doing what”, “I”ve never heard of that”, and so on and so forth. I think an English teacher would hate this blog, my main idea tends to drift from paragraph to paragraph, but anyway, leaving here is a huge milestone because it coincides with our halfway point. We get to recapture that feeling of anticipation of doing something new and unknown again which I look forward to since it really does help the days go by faster. Things here have become mundane in that it’s the same thing with very little variation, ok here I go again off the main topic, we have these counters that almost everyone has that count days minutes seconds and meals. Why meals? Well your life tends to revolve going to work every day and your meals are mini milestones that break up the day for you, at least that’s my take. So I really feel like I am on the downhill side of my deployment. I am fortunate that I have put my leave off until the final third of my tour. If I’m lucky I will be home for Christmas. My leave is scheduled for that timeframe but because of where I will be planning travel is sometimes difficult. I should leave before the big snows but by the time I return we will measure our snowfall in feet. Ghazni and its surrounding outposts are on a high plateau. Ghazni itself sits at over 7 thousand feet. That is much higher than Denver or any other major city in the US. When I return from my leave I should have less than 60 days left.
I think almost hourly about being home and the things I am missing. This deployment if anything has helped provide perspective. It has made the decision for Micca to quit her job and have us move closer to Bushnell where Drake and Ashtyn live a no brainer. There were many reasons for that decision and we probably would have come to the same decision but this separation has probably helped it along. I really love and cherish the thought of when I come home I will come “home”. Deer Creek is a very nice community and the school district has been great but in my heart it is a place I have lived not what I would call home in my heart. It amazes me that Micca sees and feels the same way about Bushnell. Everyone has been so supportive to her and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way that I do.
This post has been longer than most and I have rambled across many topics. I hope that my thoughts and feelings aren’t to incoherent or jumbled for you to understand. I don’t know what access I will have to commercial internet so Micca will keep her Blog more updated with emails from I or she may copy and paste to my blog for me. Be sure to check her blog with updates from me. One final note I will have a new address for anyone who would like to send snail mail.
Brent Russell
101st ABN DIV (AASLT)
TF WHITE EAGLE
FOB GHAZNI, AFG
APO AE 09354
Later for now
Brent
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