Howdy everybody,
Greetings from Afghanistan's beautiful, sandy, rocky, mountainous, and at times muddy province of Kapisa.
Been here a little over two months now, and I am doing OK. Plus everyone in my platoon is doing OK, so we're lucky in that aspect. Not letting our guard down, but I think we are more aware of our surroundings than when we first got here.
Due to OPSEC and PERSEC, I can't really tell all y'all exactly what we've been doing, but it's definitely not always the high-speed stuff that people think of. But I can say that our mission parameters consists basically of:
-looking for and neutralizing stuff that goes boom
-granting the bearded guys that want to be with 72 virgins in heaven their wishes
General impressions of Afghanistan so far:
-the people of Afghanistan look like they came from all over the world; red-head's, blondes, dark-skinned, light-skinned, caucasian, asian, you name it...we've seen it (well, other than the women...kinda difficult to tell with the burqua)
-there seems to be only one type of car allowed here...the Toyota Corolla. I have never seen some many Corolla's in one place in my life. I even saw two with Texas license plates and registration (the only US plates I've seen, I might add...kinda odd actually)
-dude sitting on a camel chatting on his cellphone carrying an AK = normal, it's like Middle Ages meets Mad Max meets Wild West plus some Three Stooges thrown in
-the Afghani's are a hardy and tough people...we're walking around wearing body armor and winter kit, and the Afghani kids are walking around in sandals, light pants, light shirt, and a hat, and it's 30°F out
-yes, they really do fly kites here (I've got photos)
-having a pair of American attack helicopter flying cover is very reassuring, especially when you're on foot and trolling for people other than friends, gets me all warm and fuzzy inside
-awareness of the local culture is super important here (as it is in all COIN ops), but unfortunately most people don't care
-learning to speak the local dialect...man that's tough...I've picked up a few phrases in Dari and Pashtun, but not enough to converse...yet
I've had the fortune of meeting up with some Americans here at the FOB, and it turns out the unit is based out of Texas. Nice to be around people who talk, y'all know...normal. There's even a pizzeria on the FOB, and a little Italian PX, due to the Italians being in charge here a while back...nice little amenities. Every day is a work day, there are no weekends or holidays. Operational tempo goes up/down depending on the needs of the head honcho's, so we could be very busy one week and not so much another. Good thing I brought a ton of e-books, as there are no sources of books in English around here.
We've got hot water (most of the time) and hot food, so can't really complain. We even have decent internet and international telephone access (like it works more often than doesn't). Currently sleeping on cots and in tents...beats sleeping in the vehicles or on the ground.
Hope everyone is doing OK as well, a belated Happy New Year, and an early Happy Valentine's Day!
Stay frosty.
Cheers,
Dave
