I'm Home!

Well, after flying from Gardez, Afghanistan to Bagram, Afghanistan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Adonna, Turkey to Rammstein, Germany to Baltimore, MD to Charlotte, NC to Fayetteville, NC back to Charlotte, NC, to Denver, CO and finally arriving yesterday in good ole Boise, ID (in about two weeks I get to continue flying going from Boise, ID to San Francisco, CA to Tokyo, Japan to Naha, Okianwa... but for now I am enjoying being out of an air plane).

It's really good to be back. I'm hearing about many fun things that former members of my team are doing as they too seem to be enjoying their return to freedom. I am personally enjoying wearing civilian clothing and not shaving every day. Ah, it's the little things that you come to really appreciate. I'm sure I will be posting more in the coming weeks and months about my time down range, but for now, I'm just going to think about the sandwich I'm going to get for lunch tomorrow at the Brick Oven Bistro!

Fire Pix

A while back I wrote about a fire we had on the FOB, here are the pictures to go with it.


This is why we have building codes in the states, in an attempt to avoid this.



as you can see from the firetruck, they've got all the high tech gadgets over here (I was shocked to see a fire truck at all, I expected a bucket brigade)


I'm sure it was the most exciting thing these guys had seen in some time.


Upon further inspection, I THOUGHT about writing about the fire we had here. It was a restaurant run by a local that had about a million electrical issues that finally caught up with it. I woke up at 0300 to a noise I couldn't quite place. At first, in my groggy state I thought it was an air raid siren. Then I realized there wasn't much threat from the Taliban Air Force. I laid there a while longer and finally realized it was an old school emergency vehicle siren. It made much more sense when I saw the old fire engine (note: I didn't take any of these pictures, I rolled over and went back to sleep knowing if anything was really happening someone would come and wake me up).

It's Captain Irish, Actually.

Not only was I promoted but I have found a place on the FOB where the internet will actually let me post pictures so hopefully there will be more to follow spanning several events around life on FOB Gardez...

This is my last official moment as an "LT" which means I'm actually about to get my last name given back to me!

And there it is... that extra bar comes with a nice raise too! :P (That would be my boss, the PRT XO LTC Cullison "pinning" me)

Per tradition all the captains and above gave me a shot to the rank... this would be 6' 4" 235 lbs CPT Brett Evans giving me a shot with his right hand. He's a southpaw so if he'd used his left I'm pretty sure I would not have lived to tell the tale.

Finally, this is one of my mechanics, Air Force Staff Sergeant Sosa throwing up a salute.

Toby Keith

As part his "America's Toughest Tour 2009" the USO and several other sponsors brought Toby Keith and his musical partner Scotty Emerick over to this part of the world where they put on 15 performances in 5 days. One of those performances happened to be a nice, acustic 6 song show here at FOB Gardez. He was supposed to start at 1030 but the show was pushed back until closer to 1330. When he got here, he told the rather small crowd of 100 - 150 that he wasn't sure for a while there that he was going to make it down to us. About 6000 feet out of Kandahar they found out they had left all their break fluid on the runway so they had to turn around and head back. They were able to get another place, flew to FOB Sharana and from there took a Chinock helicopter to Gardez.

Here's the set that he and Scotty did:
1. As Good As I Once Way
2. I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again - Aparently based on a true story
3. The Balled of Balad - this is one he wrote during his first USO tour and hasn't preformed it a lot but it's basically about an Army Recruiter who gets a guy to join and right after basic he's shipped out to Iraq... it was funny
4. Runnin' Block - Homage to the Wing Man
5. I Love This Bar - After he wrote the song this is what he ended up naming his restaraunt chain and anyone can go in there, present their military ID and to quote Toby, "have a beer and a burger on me" and really, isn't that why I joined the Army? The free stuff?
6. Beer for my Horses

When the show finished we were able to get in groups of 10 or so and get group pictures with him. I also got him to sign the bill of an ACU cap I have here but never wear. What was really cool was when I showed up for the morning show that was canceled (it took a little while to get the news to us) I noticed that the flag the maneuver guys were flying behind the makeshift stage horrendiously dirty. I was thinking about using one from my supply shop for the show so there'd be a clean on flying. I wasn't the only one with this thought as our Com guy TSgt Karpinski (who is even more of a flag Nazi then I am) came and asked if I had one. I gave it to him, he put it up and after the show he took it down, Toby signed it and he gave it back to me so I now have the flag flown during the show as another keepsake. Thanks Karp!

Assuming I was able to get a picture or two to load (and that's a big assumption around here) you might notice that on the left side of this top Toby is wearing a CIB (Combat Infantry Badge). Before the show I was talking with one of the SECFOR sergeants on the team who told me he saw Toby in Iraq a few years back and during the preformance a mortar landed just 20 or 30 yards from the stage. After the all clear was given he got back up and kept playing so apparently the CIB was well earned. At the end of this preformance he also earned something else that he didn't have before, his cavalry combat spurs which is what they're putting on him in this picture. He asked if they were serious when they told him what they wanted him to do so they could put the spurs on but as you can see he played along and was proudly sporting them during the after show photo op.

Well, after trying for a few days, the photos won't post over here so I'll have to throw them on here when I get back... which won't be too much longer now!

Passing the Time With a Little Bracketology

Hey, look at that... the Internet service here decided to let me post a picture. This was me at a convoy briefing last month just before I went outside the wire as the driver of an MRAP (Mine Resistant, Ambush Proof 18 ton armored vehicle). There aren't a whole lot of officers who are actually licenced to drive over here and even fewer who actually get out and drive but I really like driving and from time to time there is a need for me to help out so they let me behind the wheel. I bet the enlisted passengers aren't too excited when they see an LT is driving them but I think I do a pretty good job, and if nothing else I've always brought everyone in my vehicle safely back, no worse for wear.

As my time here draws ever closer to an end I am finding new ways to entertain myself until I get back to the real world. I have taken it upon myself to acquire some $10,000 worth of recreational equipment from the good folks at the USO since there is nothing MWR (Moral, Welfare & Recreation) to speak of here on FOB Gardez. Most of the equipment has come in, including an X-Box 360 and a Wii but we still have no facility to house all this fun stuff so for now they are set up in my office, along with a 42" plasma screen TV and I let people come in a use the stuff there. We're supposed to be getting the building materials for the MWR facility in the next few days but we'll still have to wait for the skilled craftsmen (i.e. not me) to construct something sufficient for our needs.
I recently found something on line that might be a fun distraction for me. It is a website called Bracketeers and you can set up tournament style brackets to determine what random item from a group of random items is the best whatever... did that make any sense? Well, in honor of the recent termination of March Madness (congratulations UNC, you succeeded in completely destroying the second half of my bracket this year) I have selected 64 of the movies Lisa and I have rated 5 stars on our Netflix account, randomly seeded them and starting RIGHT NOW you (yes you!) can click HERE and start voting for your favorites. A new round will begin each Sunday until late May when a winner is crowned. I would appreciate your participation because it will give me something to do here, something to look forward to when I get back to my room at night besides going to sleep and starting the next 14 hour work day.

Spring is in the Air

The days seem to be getting warmer here, though I have to admit that the winter was nowhere near as bad as we had been told it would be (and from the pictures I've seen of last winter, it was pretty harsh) which is a good thing since the container we sent from Ft. Bragg with all of our cold weather gear in it back in September just arrived about a week and a half ago... we were the last of the 12 PRT's to recieve it which is about par for the course.



The evenings don't even require a sweater after the sun goes down any more. It is forcasted to rain for a few days starting Wednesday so we'll see what happens after that but when the sun is actually out, unimpeaded by clouds or any other natual phenominon it is really nice. In fact, people are starting to get sunburned, not me though, knock on wood!



I would love to post some pictures but the terrible internet connection we have won't allow me at the moment, and when I say at the moment I am referring to the last three weeks that I have been trying so I will just leave you with a few words that I am doing well and greatly appreciate all the goodies i have been reciieving from everyone. I'll keep trying with the pictures but in the mean time, happy spring everyone!

Currahee

Currahee is a Cherokee word that means "we stand alone." In the early days of World War II when the paratroop infantry was in it infancy and training at Camp Tacoa, GA there was a hill they used to run. It was called Currahee and it was "three miles up, three miles down" ("hi ho silver!" for those familiar with the miniseries). The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division adopted "Currahee!" as their motto. One company in the 506th was E (Easy) Company, a company made up of three platoons of some of the most incredible everyday heroes of the era. If you have seen the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers then you know what I am talking about.

I currently fall under Task Force Currahee and 101st here in Afghanistan. This task force traces it's lineage back to this Band of Brothers and are very cognizant of their proud heritage. On Saturday COL Johnson, the TF Currahee commander came to the FOB and presented us with our 101st Abn Div combat patch. Patches, histories and traditions play a big role in Army culture. Entry into a unit allows you to wear a patch on the left shoulder of your uniform. The patch is either unique to your unit of some level of your higher headquarters. That patch changes when you move to a new unit. When you deploy with or serve under a unit in a combat environment you are authorized to wear that unit's patch on your right shoulder forever, no matter where you go or who you serve with.


The Patch of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagle dates back to US Civil War.











Being a student of culture and history I am humbled and honored to wear the same patch that so many great men have worn over the years, not just in WWII but in Korea and Vietnam, and now Afghanistan and Iraq. In the Shakespearean play Richard V a speech is given by the King on St Crispen's Day on the eve of battle wherein he says, "From this day to the ending of the world/But we in it shall be remembered-/We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;/For he to-day who sheds his blood with me/Shall be my brother..." I along with my brothers here have been welcomed into this group, though unworthily as we may feel, the names Stacie Shafran, Kimberly Riggs, Nestor Sosa, Nelson Figueroa, Colin Mayo Wily Cooey and dare I say Jackson Irish will now stand along side those of Dick Winters, Lewis Nixon, Wild Bill Guarnere, Babe Heffron, Buck Compton, Bull Randleman, and Ronald Spiers. We pale in comparison to what these great men did but we have ourselves accomplished something here and no one can take that from us.



PRT Paktya waiting to receive their combat patches. SrA Mayo holds the gidon, behind the guidon is 1SG Ruble. Front row from left to right: SrA Davidson, Capt Kruezberger, Capt Parris, TSgt Cheney, MSgt Bryant and 1LT Irish. Between Parris & Cheney you can see my supply NCO SSgt Figueroa.




Wow, I haven't sounded this jingoistic in some time. It's kind of nice to know that it's still in there, somewhere deep down.


COL Johnson, Task Force Currahee commander places the 101st combat patch on 1LT Irish.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

About a week or so before Christmas I was asked if I would be willing to to be one of the first three people on my PRT to take leave. Of course I said I would be more than willing to do that, especially since it was not only going to be Carter's first Christmas but while I have missed several events such as Thanksgivings and birthdays due to my military service I have yet to miss a Christmas. Then about a week before Christmas I was told that I would in fact be going. The next morning I drove a 2 1/2 ton truck for five hours as part of a convoy to Bagram and started my journey home for midtour leave. They were about 700 people behind schedule at Bagram and a bit of bad weather so I didn't get out of Afghanistan until the 19th, which was one day behind schedule but I wasn't complaining.

I flew from Bagram to Ali al Salem in Kuwait where I spent about 18 hours waiting for a commercial flight back to my family. I am fortunate that my final leave destination was at an overseas location. The people going on leave back tot he States had a three day wait before they could get a commercial flight out of the Kuwait City International Airport. I got to KCIA Saturday night for the hour long flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Emirates airlines (which, for the record, is a really nice airline. If any of you are considering a leisurely vacation to the Middle East anytime in the near future I would definitely recommend Emirates... and really, who wouldn't want to vacation in the Middle East, especially at this time and as an American. They love us there... right?). From Dubai I had about an 8 hour flight to Osaka and then a two hour flight to Naha and back to wonderful family. I got back to Okinawa a little before 10 PM on the 21st.

It has been such a blessing to be able to spend Christmas and New Year's with Lisa, Coryn and Carter. I have been able to see the new house, catch up with old friends and see Carter take his first steps. I'm sure either Lisa or I will post some pictures of my time here but for now I would like to post a few more pictures from Gardez.

Here is my crib... actually I only occupy 1/4 of this plywood beauty. At least it's warm and I have a mini fridge to keep my Dr. Pepper cold.

This is my office and supply room. It is literally 15 feet from my hooch so I won't have to spend too much time outside when it gets to 20 below... except when I have to shower... or eat... or do laundry... okay, I'll probably have to spend a lot of time outside in freezing temperatures but not when I'm going from my room to my office (more pix of the best office on the PRT to follow in a future post). That would be crazy Senior Airman Mayo coming out the office... not sure what he was doing in there but from the look of things it wasn't official business.

Here is the sweet ride that the Army has given me.

There is a little beauty to be found around here.

This may be my favorite picture of all time. I know when I'm not wanted, but I though the boys from Chicago would be a little more tolerant.

Last 24 hours.

Gifts from Dad, Carter's says "got freedom?" and the back says "Compliments of the US Army", and Coryn's says "This shirt was brought to you by the letters A R M Y and the # 1"

Last minute packing.Airport goodbyes, this is one of Kiki's happier looks :).
See you in 9 months Dad!

Pre-deployment visit

One of the first things we did with Dad? Shoe shopping! go figure, he looks really tired here... yay Moondoggies!

Poster boy for the NRA... this is one of the few pics of him playing with it that I feel comfortable posting, he was chewing on the end for most of them.

Coryn still played with the cats, much to their chagrin.
We did manage to have some laughs with Dad. Went swimming once, had a birthday party, and lots of fun while he was here, but it went too quick and I didn't get very many pics... Dad has more that I do I think.

J-Bad Highway

I enjoyed this clip and I think you will too. It gives you a pretty good idea what driving in slike over here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Ne8frFhSw

How to Get to Afghanistan Without Really Even Trying

So I trained at Bragg from 18 July - 8 October. After a too short leave period which I was able to spend in Boise (Lisa and the boys happened to be over there too) I returned to Bragg and began the adventure of getting to a war zone. On 16 July at 1030 those of us that were part of the ADVON (basically an advance party) for the 12 PRTs deploying (three from each team) boarded a charter bus and drove from Fayettevile, NC to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. A drive that took 6 or 7 hours. After checking luggage, eating dinner, and waiting a while for the flight to board we took off around midnight on the morning of the 17th. I sat on the plane next to a little boy who was about three or four and reminded me a lot of Coryn. As I was putting my bag in the overhead bin he looked up at me and said, "You know what? I think I'm going to let you sit next to me." I thanked him for that and I chatted for a bit with him and his mother who was sitting on his other side. His dad had recently returned from Afghanistan and they were returning to Germany where he is stationed. I asked the kid what his name is and he told me, "Bruce Wayne, you know, the super hero." To which I responded, "You mean the billionaire owner of Wayne Industries? hum, I thought you would have been older." His name was actually Joseph but his mom told me he had been pretending to be Bruce Wayne for the last couple of day.

Well, we flew from BWI to Rammstein, Germany and after a 90 layover to refuel and change aircrew we continued on to Insurlik, Turkey where we had another 90 layover and on to Manas, Krygyzstan. Now there's someplace I NEVER though I would be able to say I had visited. For some reason, the military... I'm not sure if it was Army or Air Force but I can only assume it was the Army (I now make it a point to slander the Army at least once a day... it a good venting method) had only booked us through Manas and we then had to make further arrangement to actually get a flight to Afghanistan. Well, Manas was a pretty nice place, which is good because we were stuck there for about four days. There was good food, an LDS sacrament service on Sunday (there were three of us in attendance), and a few shops so I was able to send a few souvenirs home.

This is a shop that was set up to look like a Yurt... I bought a Kyrgyzstan shot glass there.

6495 miles from BWI to Manas.

Yes, I'm well aware I'm about to enter a war zone... thanks for the reminder, especially while you're warm and cozy in the Club Med of "deployments"

The cool little chapel at Manas

I'm not sure this is the best way to start a licence plate in a former Soviet Republic, but maybe it's just me.

We Finally got a flight on a C-17 from Manas to Bagram and after a few days of briefs and trying to get a flight to FOB Gardez I arrived at the forward operating base I will be calling home for the next 9 months. It took about 10 or so days total to get here, but I have arrived and I am ready to get on with it. I'll post a little more about Gardez soon, assuming the Internet doesn't go down... it happens around here.

Here's me on the C-17...

...and here is everyone else (Lisa, that's Jane leaning forward on the right)

I Don't Mean to Bragg, but People Know Me

Well, as nearly all of you know, in mid-July I left for a 12 month Army deployment to Afghanistan and what a journey it has been so far. I have been assigned to be the supply officer (S4) of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the Provence of Paktya in the eastern part of the country.

The first three months of the deployment I was at Fort Bragg, NC training with my team that consists of three active duty Army guys, some Army Reserve civil affairs guys, a National Guard infantry platoon and a bunch of Air Force personnel. Yes, we are quite the hodgepodge and we were all brought together at Bragg to receive training prior to going "over there." What actually happened was we came together as a team, finding common ground in how much we hated the Bragg experience and the incompetence of those who were training us. It honestly had potential but really all they did was get us excited to get to Afghanistan (and out of NC). I would like to think that was their actual intention but I'm not willing to give them that much credit.

Below is a picture of my supply crew. Not a bad looking bunch if i do say so myself!

I have two Air Force guys working on my supply team, and we also have two "honorary" S4 team members. From Left to right in the front is Air Force Staff Sergeant (E-5) Figueroa my armorer who will be playing role of my supply NCO down range. Next to Fig is USAF Tech Sergeant (E-6) Cooey who is the overall supply NCOIC but when we get to Afghanistan he will be staying at Bagram Air Field to ensure that supplies that we order are forwarded down to us and he will also be handling accommodations for personnel heading up that way. He doesn't want to be up there and I'd rather have him with me but we need a guy up there and he's the man. Next to him is USAF Captain Parris our Physician's Assistant. Not on the S4 team but, you know, everyone wants to be on my team and I didn't have the heart to tell him to get out of the picture ;). In the rear left is USAF Captain Shafran, the first honorary S4 team member... I'll talk about her a bit more later. The next fierce looking, steely eyed, stone cold killer would be the only Army cat in the section, the HMFIC (if you really want to know, ask) yours truly, The Lieutenant Irish, a.k.a. LTI. The last individual in the picture is Senior Airman (E-4) Mayo, also an honorary member of the team. He's a good guy to hang out with so we used him for supply reasons whenever possible. It got him out of some of the crap we were doing so it was a bit of a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" arrangement.

The reason that Stacie... Capt Shafran, is an honorary team member is that she has emerged as my best friend on the team. We had a pact at Bragg. She kept me from throwing myself in front of any and every bus that passed us and I did the same for her. It is a lot easier to pass through hell when you have someone going through the same thing to commiserate with. Plus we have a very similar sense of humor so we did what we could to make our incarceration as good as it could be under the circumstances.

Gearing Up

Well, I have now been at Ft Bragg, NC for just over two weeks… though it feels much longer. I am training up to be a part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan. This is a fairly new concept. I believe that I will be the fourth iteration of a PRT and is really what the Afghans thought the international community would do when they kicked out the Soviets in 1989. We are going in and rebuilding the infrastructure of the country. I will be in the Paktia (or Paktya, depending where you look) province based out of the city of Gardez.

Currently I am living in World War II era barracks that they are in the process of knocking down. Here is what some of the surrounding billets look like. At least they sunk some money in the ones we are actually in and installed window AC units. I’ve been in these types before with just a fan at just one end of the room and that is REALLY not fun.

I am in the “death by PowerPoint” phase of training. Just going through a lot of briefs about the insurgency, the country, its culture and history, about the other governmental and non-governmental agencies we will be working with. Some of it is interesting, some of it is very dry, all of it is hard to stay awake through since they are given to us in 8 hour blocks… every day for about the last six days.

I don’t have very reliable internet access right now so this will be kind of short but I just wanted to share a bit of what I have found out about the PRT. Instead of being gone for 15 months as I was originally told it will actually be 12. 3 months of training and 9 months in country. The Himalayans are going to be in my backyard. Gardez is at 7,500 feet so the air will be thin and when I get there at the end of October it will be cold. The heist peaks I will be able to see are around 21,000 feet. I can expect -20 degrees in the dead of winter. Also, FYI the mission of the PRT as I said is to manage reconstruction projects in the province. We play the “good caps.” We will not be kicking in doors, actively hunting the bad guys. That will be left to the maneuver unit in the area with the 101st Airborne Division. Since I will still fall under them, my combat patch will be the “Screaming Eagle.”

(Above is a Hollywood depiction of E Co, 501st PIR, 101st Airborne Division on 6 June 1944 after jumping into France the night before. The real beginning of the legacy of the 101st Airborne Division)