HA #2 - Engaging Sheep

Several days after my first HA mission, I decided to support a second. This one was a little different. I did not leave the vehicle. I was a gunner again, and was basically just along for the ride....That is, until the sheep! The horror, the horror! (guess that movie reference, and you'll earn a prize)

The mission was for several purposes. 1) to get the start and ending grid reference points for a paved road, 2) to spread good will, and 3) to secure the area so the Afghan Army could pass out U.S. wheat seed to the villagers. My mission, keep everyone safe with my fully automatic boom stick. We travelled through the city of Herat which was interesting because it looked almost like Newburg, New York exept there were street vendors and people everywhere. For those who understand the comparison, yes it looked THAT run down and dumpy!

We made a left hand turn and suddenly there was no pavement and mud huts everywhere. And don't forget the old men with cotton-ball beards.

After about one hour of travelling winding, one lane, pot-hole filled roads, we arrived at our destination. When we pulled into position, I had the Navy Ensign who was coordinating the security guide my vehicle out into a field so I could see the road that brought us into the village. This way I could cover the high-speed avenue of approach (doctrinal term) with my instrument of death (not a doctrinal term), the M240B machine gun. I was also able to see the walled village about 500-700 meters away across the pasture I now found myself in. All was well until I was suddenly surrounded completely by a sly and cunning enemy. . . the villagers' sheep!

Immediately, I created a steady stance, took up a good sight picture, controlled my breathing, and squeezed the trigger, placing a contolled 6-9 round burst into the enemy. Too bad I was only simulating.

Not much happened, although the young shepherd just stood and gave me a menacing stare without moving for about 10 minutes. Very eerie. I was completely safe within the herd of sheep because I don't think the Taliban would want the village to go "circus elephant" on them if they destroyed the village sheep just to blow up one HMMWV. We only stayed at the village for about one hour, but I forgot to grab an MRE for lunch so I got pretty hungry. We left with our mission successful, and took a few wrong turns on the way home which extended our trip by about 1/2 hour. Oh well, it wasn't too hot and the breeze felt good (when it wasn't accompanied by a could of Afghanistan dust).

Bazaar Day. *Vietnamese Accent* "You Can Have Anyting You Want!"

On Friday (my sleep in day), I hear a knock on my door. I open it to find this.

Kirby standing outside with his new, specially ordered, fox-fur hat. He had special ordered it a few weeks ago. The Afghans will do anything to make an American Buck. I told him he should have requested a cat-fur hat, complete with cat head. Thank God there is no PETA in Afghanistan!

HA #1 - For The Women

On March 5, I finally left the FOB for a humanitarian assistance mission to support International Women's Day. All I did was sit behind a machine gun and observe for most of the mission. It started off by going to the test fire range to squeeze off a few rounds from the M240B, 7.62mm machine gun to make sure it worked. I also shot a few rounds off with my M4 rifle, just to say that I actually fired my rifle in Afghanistan. Once we got on the road to Herat, I really enjoyed it because it was a little warm and up in the gunner's turret you are in the open air. Just like a dog hanging his head out of the window. The other thing that was great was that I get to stand up in the car! Now, you have to understand that when I was a kid, Mom would have whipped my butt for standing in the car while it was moving. She probably would have reached into the glove box and pulled out her paddle. This, of course was one of those paddles with the rubber ball and rubber band that she bought at the grocery store. Me and Kris, of course, thought it was a new toy for us; but Mom opened it and immediately ripped off the rubber band and ball for future use on our asses. Mom naturally denies this, but hey we've all seen the movie Mommie Dearest. But, I digress. Anyway, my first reaction to the sights in Herat was, "Holy cow, this place actually has trees and grass!

Ah, the sights and sounds of the big (dirty, disgusting, third-world) city! City streets lined with 1950's power lines and North Carolina style pine trees. Don't forget the public transportation, and ooooohhhhh, the women!

Basically, we went to a hotel where local women held a bazaar to sell hand-made stuff. We blocked off one side of the street with the help of Afghan Army soldiers, so people could attend without fear of attack by insurgents and local idiots who don't like change (Not presidential "change," I'm talking change for the better).

I got to go in for a few moments to see the bazaar. It was so insanely crowded that I had to get out as soon as possible. It's really tough walking through a shoulder to shoulder crowd with all of my gear on. Plus, I was a little paranoid that some of the kids would steal my loaded magazines, pistol, or other tools of death and destruction off of my body; not to mention my camera, wallet, and/or cell phone.

We were there for only about two hours before we left to go home. Pretty uneventful, really. But I did have time to snap this gorgeous picture of myself, oh the vanity!

Tactical Pause

Taking a tactical pause from writing in the blog. I've been on a couple of Humanitarian Assistance missions, and I'm exhaused when I get back. I also have to catch up on some work, so maybe in a day or two I'll have some new pictures and stories.

Burka, Burka!

Tomorrow I finally get to leave the FOB! I am going into the city of Herat on a Humanitarian Assistance (HA) mission. This one is for a women's history day or something. There is a women's event in town that celebrates the freedom of Afghan Women. I'll be a M240B machine gunner pulling security.

I told the HA guys that I'll need a burka to wear, ya know to celebrate women.

I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully, it'll just be a leisurely ride into town and back.

Lenten Season

Lent. A time of spiritual renewal and giving things up that you really don't want to. We'll so far it has gone very well. My friend made me give up the potatoe (Dan Quale spelling). Being a meat and potatoes kind of guy, it's kind of tough. Most people give up silly things just because that's what you're supposed to do, right? I normally try to make my Lenten sacrifice a little more. Now some of it is personal, but I will share some of my additional sacrifices. First of, I'm really working to get back to saying the Rosary every day, secondly I'm fasting quite a bit more often than I have in previous years. Fasting is strange because I can go all day without eating and not think twice about it, but when I'm doing it on purpose all I can think about is food. That makes it really tough.

What have you given up, or added for your spiritual renewal?

We've actually had some priestly support out here in Western Afghanistan. The main priest for Afghanistan celebrated an Ash Wednesday Mass on Monday, 23 Feb. The Italian priest didn't show up for Ash Wednesday, so as a Catholic Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist , I gave the Liturgy of The Word to the Catholics who showed up. Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask the priest on Monday for some ashes (Catholic Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist may distribute ashes in the absence of a priest). And we actually have the Task Force Phoenix priest out here for two days and two Masses!