Been a year

So it has been a year since I last posted something...
Well, things have changed big time over the past year. 3 weeks ago, I was leading 50 personnel in an Air Force squadron engaged in providing near-real-time intelligence supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, I'm no longer a Captain, just a regular defense contractor and low man on the totem pole...the new guy. I purposely took a position that I was a bit overqualified for in hopes of actually learning the ropes at my new job and getting some hands on experience with the systems and programs. So far the job is wonderful and my co-workers are awesome. I'm doing some intel type work but also operating and testing equipment as well as total grunt work like cleaning the hangar floor and stacking equipment (ego check). I am scheduled to deploy to the desert in a month, so that should be interesting....especially as a civilian contractor as opposed to an Air Force Officer. Stay tuned.. .

trains

I've been trying to grab some photos of cool trains whenever my family and I drive over to Roseville. Here are a few...

home

....i'm home...sorry for the delay. I'm back with family and back to work.

achilles

I'm sorry, I haven't had time to get on this thing, much less take pictures of anything cool. We've been pretty busy around here lately with OP ACHILLES kicking off. Not much going on, just work, eat, sleep, run (when I can). There was a ramp cermony tonight for four Royal Marines that were killed in Helmand province this week. I can hear some jets taking off right now...

take a day

This is the cover from a compilation tape which includes a lot of bands that were either from Benicia or played a lot of shows in Benicia. My old band Joybus had a couple songs on here and in fact, I completely forgot that we were even on this comp. Gotta love the internet! This cassette was released by my friend Paul Curran, who at the time had a record label called Take a Day. I think it was released in 1993.

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Since I don't have any cool stories to tell aside from me giving my boss the Heimlich maneuver the other day, I felt like putting up some images from back in the day.

My first 5K

Today we had a 5K run for Valentine's day. The guy standing next to me is Captain James Howie. Funny thing, is that James and I were at the language school, learning Russian together (different classes) in 1991, but didn't know each other. Here we are fifteen years later in Afghanistan running a 5K. I have never run a 5K before, but it was actually a pretty good race. I came in at the middle of the pack with a 23:37. They told us the race was actually about 5.2K, so I guess I did pretty good for an out-of-shape 34 year old!!! James here - ran the race wearing his body armour (see picture). He still actually was able to finish ahead of some folks. Funny thing for this race was that my goal was to beat the three Army 82nd Airborne guys. I smoked em'. They were trying to catch me at the end, but they couldn't make up the distance. Win or lose, we all had a good time. Nigel, my roomate came in second place (19:24), and my co-worker Arran (from Australia) came in first with 19:21. So, the office did quite well. We had to hurry back to the office after the race to do our nightly briefing and shift change.

terminal

Had a few minutes over at the Kandahar International terminal. They are rebuilding the terminal and it is actually quite nice. Big windows and archways. Maybe someday I'll have a layover on my way into Dubai for a week of shopping, golf and sand dune surfing.

SHIRTS!!

We had some shirts made, so we took this picture -- the place who made our shirts wants to put us up on their website (yeah, super goofy). Standing with me are members of U.S., Canadian and British Forces.

Andy, the guy on the far right in the back will be pinning on Major in about a week.

rockets and guns

When I used to live in Benicia, CA the sound of the train across the Carquinez Straits at night would always be a soothing sound while I was going to sleep. Well, I found out last night that the low muffled boom of mortars and artillery being launched pretty much has the same effect. Our base defense teams were launching for about 20 minutes last night...zzzzzzzzzzz

Ramp Ceremony

I went to another ramp ceremony the other night, for two Royal Marines who were killed in Helmand province during engagements with the Taliban. There were at least 500 of us out on the runway. I was standing in the back with a section of U.S. service members. In front of us were the Australians and in front of them were sections of the Royal Air Force. On the other side were the Royal Marines and Army. The British ceremonies are a lot longer than ours, but they are nice, because they say a few words about the men who died, which helps us know a bit about the men. There are a few different prayers said, to include the Lord's prayer, the Royal Marine prayer and a prayer for the family, friends and co-workers of the deceased. Also, as the flag draped caskets are carried to the aircraft, they are held up high on the shoulders of the men who fought along side the guys that didn't make it.

Kablammo

We got rocketed about an hour ago. I was working on something pretty important, so I didn't have time to plot out where it landed in order to see if I won the pool. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I want to call my wife and kids right now but someone has been on the phone for a while and just.....won't......get.....off.......
Not much else going on...ran 4 miles today. My ankles hurt. I'm drinking sugar free hot cocoa that my Dad sent me.
I need a haircut. I loaded up a podcast called a spoonful of Russian. It's ok, I expected a little more, but oh well. Do Svidaniya.

run....

Since I've been over here I've been trying to run either on the treadmill or outside. My roomate Nigel suggested I go on this route that he takes around a portion of the base. The loop is 2 miles. So, for a few days I did one loop, then I decided to run two loops, which equals 4 miles. I have never run 4 miles in my life. Honestly, it isn't much harder than the two miles. I have a harder time about halfway through the first lap as opposed to the last mile of my last lap. I guess it has something to do with my body not warming up to the run until after the first two miles. My friend Duncan, Mr. Marathon man would probably be able to explain this to me. Running over large rocks, pebbles, mud and other assorted hazards is pretty rough, but it does keep the run interesting. I think my short attention span has something to do with the fact that I can't do the same thing for longer than about 12 minutes. Hence, never running over 2 miles. If I end up doing 3 laps or more, something is seriously wrong with me.

School Time!!!

Today we went over to the local school to hand out supplies and treats. They could use any sort of school supplies, so if you want to send some, get in touch with me.

It felt good to know that our presence in Afghanistan is helping these kids to get an education. The Taliban likes to kill teachers, so I really admired the teachers at this school. They are really putting themselves at risk to do something they believe in for Afghanistan's children. These kids are the future of a free Afghanistan...they have a long road ahead of them, but seem to be well on their way. I met a young boy about 12 who spoke excellent English. He was teaching us words in Pashtun and showing us how to write our names in Arabic script. It was a great time. I'm looking forward to going back for a visit. The little girl on my left in the blue dress followed me around all day.

Always travel with a Marine...

Capt Souza, Corporal Briggs (UK Marine), and me on our trip. Check out my cool DAPS (the shoulder pad thingys). Hopefully they will keep my shoulders and upper arms safe from any bullets that happen to fly into the helicopter. Note Capt Souza's sweet Army gear, and my lack of any cool Army gear. Also, no M-16 for me. That's what Corporal Briggs is for...I'll just hide behind him while I try to get my M-9 loaded up.

whoah!!!

landing...

Air Force guys playing Army

Me and Capt Andy Souza waiting for our ride back to KAF. Check out all his cool Army gear. (I didn't get any of that stuff).

34 and screaming like a little girl

This is a picture of the UK Chinook that just dropped me off at an "undisclosed location." I must say that I had an awesome time riding on that thing. I had no idea that a helicopter of this size could go fly like a jet. We were seriously low to the ground turning super tight and going completely sideways. It was insane. I felt sick for about 12 hours after the trip. Needless to say, it was #2 on my list of most exciting things ever done, trailing only to the ride on the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas. I have a bunch of pix and I'll try to post a couple after I get this post up. Ok, I have officially gone "outside the wire."

when rockets attack!

Had another attack the other night. This one was close...I had my earphones in and I still heard the explosion. Good times.
Mom & Dad sent me some smoked salmon and cookies. The cookies were eaten in about 30 minutes, but we need to decide when to break out the salmon. One of the Airmen over here, Goss, decided to force me to do some "dips" at the gym. Well, my shoulder didn't like that one bit. (old bowling injury....yeah, note to self, don't chase a slow moving ball thrown by your daughter in hopes of giving it a slight nudge).
Other than that, nothing to report other than it is getting really cold over here. I actually slept with my socks on last night.