Made It

Sorry for the long delay, but we've been really busy trying to get trained up for this mission.  We ended up taking off at about 0130 on the Oct 19 and landed in Manas at about noon Manas time on Wednesday (about 0100 CDT).  Long flight with stops in Baltimore, Iceland, and Germany.  Germany was particularly bad because we were there for 4 or 5 hours.  We spent a couple days in Manas trying to reset our mental clocks and arrived in Camp Leatherneck last Friday. 

Living conditions are bad and and the food is alright.  I'm living in a room with 7 other officers and two interpreters.  One of the interpreters in Pakastani and has American citizenship and I'm not sure about the other one.  Their names are Jay and Nadim.  Jay's good  but Nadim doesn't talk much.

Gotta run for now.  More to follow.

Later

Southern Vacation

Mom, Dad, and Hilary came down to Clarksville to see me last week.  The original plan, was for them to stay and see me off but my flight got moved to Tuesday.  So due to the late notice, work schedules, and school, they had to stick to their original plans and left Saturday morning.  Too bad I had to work every morning because I would've liked to spend some more time with them.

Wednesday was light due to the travel, so it was Old Chicago for pizza and beer and then DQ on the way back to the hotel.

On Thursday, we took a tour of the Grand Ole Opry House.  That place is a land mark in the South and had just reopened the week prior after being totally refurbished after the May floods.  It is also pretty cool to walk through the same places that so many country music legends have walked.  Afterward, we moved to downtown Nashville for a quick walking tour lead by yours truly.  It is always a great atmosphere there because live music is always being played somewhere.  We closed the day out with some awesome BBQ from Rippy's in downtown Nashville.  I think their ribs give Famous Dave's a run for their money but everybody else disagreed with me.

For Friday, we went to the Donald Pratt Museum on Ft. Campbell.  Even Hilary seemed to enjoy herself there.  The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) has a  very heralded history and the museum is well put together.  I like to read about military history, so every once in a while it's nice to be able to get a visual story rather then a written written.  After a stop in the gift shop for souvenirs, we moved to the Post Exchange (AKA - a department store) for some more souvenirs.  Hilary finally got the new coffee mug that she's been bothering me about since February when her old one "accidentally" (sure it was...) broke.

Here are a few of the pictures we took.  There are more, but I need to find out who's cell phone they're on so I can add them if they are of good quality.  

Mom and myself in front of one of the gigantic guitars at the Grand Old Opry House

.  

Sister Hilary and myself in front of the same guitar.

Mom, Dad, and I on the Grand Ole Opry stage.  The circle on the stage is part of the original stage from the Ryman Auditorium (the first home of the Grand Ole Opry)

This will be the last blog from the States.  The next post will be made from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.

LATER.

Just the Beginning...

So I have decided to join the 21st century and blog about my upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.  My goal is a weekly update, which is dependent on the Internet connection.  Here's hoping I can keep it entertaining for everybody...This will also be motivation for me to take pictures this time.  Last deployment my camera sat in my bag the entire time.

Quick refresher about what I'll be doing in Afghanistan over the next 12 months.  I am the transportation officer for a logistics battalion that is going the Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan.  My section will be responsible for all Army transportation in our area.  This includes planning, managing, and tracking convoys.  It is pretty safe mission for my section and myself but since it is a combat zone, potentially dangerous for those that we put out on the roads.  Please keep these Soldiers in your thoughts and prayers, as they are the ones where the rubber meets the road, literally. 

Camp Leatherneck is kind of unique to Afghanistan.  It's in the middle of the desert, with no mountains to be seen for about 100 miles in every direction.  It's kind of a blessing and a curse.  First the blessing - the mountains are really difficult for military vehicles to maneuver through.  So we will have relatively open terrain to move through.  The curse - IT'S HOT!  Highs during the middle of the summer are usually 120-130 degrees.  On the bright side, there’s no snow to deal with.

So what's next for me?  I'm trying to get the house real clean because I will be renting it out once I'm gone. Shouldn't be that hard since I keep it pretty clean but once all my household goods get picked up on Tuesday, it will be easier to give it an all over cleaning.  Not a lot else on the agenda for the week.  We're supposed to go in to work out in the mornings and then be done for the day.  We'll see if that actually happens.  Mom, Dad, and Hilary are coming down to see me off.  Hopefully I will find out our fly date soon so they can make the appropriate plans.

Sorry for the long post.  I doubt they will be this long in the future.  Feel free to send the blog link to anybody you want to.  Next post will likely be from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.  Mom and Dad have the mailing address if you find yourself longing to send something.