My Address

For those of you who were asking, here is my mailing address. Use just my first and last name in the Name spot, no title or rank.

Name
US NSE
HQ ISAF
APO AE 09356

I don't know, but I'm on my way...

For those of you who remember, of course, that is the reply by Stymie when asked, "Where ya going?" on two Little Rascals episodes. For some reason it came to mind here. The other line that came up through my training was when I asked for a cutlass...What kind of cutlass?...I want a veal cutlass.

So, here are the very basics of my job. My title is ANSF Branch Chief. ANSF stands for Afghan National Security Force. It is comprised of the ANA (Afghan National Army) and the ANP (Afghan National Police). All I can say is that I have to keep track of what is going on with things. I may be a branch chief in title, but I can't figure out if anyone works for me, perhaps they are good at hiding. Apparently, I attend about a hundred meetings, working groups, and conferences a week. Not the most exciting stuff in the world. I work in an office type environment using a lot of Microsoft Office and presenting briefs on a regular basis. These are all the things I've trained for in the navy of course. We all carry our weapons still as a rule, now with ammunition. No big deal, just a way of life here.

I am done with my inprocessing and indoctrination type briefings. So, I guess the real work has started. The time here is a lot like the movie Groundhog Day. Everyday is about the same. I guess it will be the same for me for the coming months. People do just about anything to change the pace. My change of pace so far consists of trying to get a good place to get on line. Right now I am at a cafe on the lanai using the free wireless connection on my computer. If this keeps as a good connection, I'll be here most nights. I'm also watching some movies and stuff on my computer in my room, but tend to fall asleep doing it since I watch from my bed. It's no big deal since I don't have any grading to do or tests to make up.

I'm sure you all saw that Penn beat Lehigh in wrestling. That's about all the good news for Penn sports as we choked against Cornell costing us the Ivy title. Oh well, I suppose I have other things to worry about here. Things have been safe here on base and I think I'll only be leaving for local meetings at an adjacent base (actually walking distance) and some other minor, safe stuff.

We're allowed to have two beers or two glasses of wine per night (with many rules attached). I haven't had any yet, but might on Thursday, which is the only weekend night here where you can sleep in. I honestly don't remember the last time I had a drink. The food has been good, very European.

On Fridays we have a bazaar adjacent to the base. Local merchants come in and we can buy all kinds of things real cheap from the locals. The haggling and bargaining is pretty cool. What a different world this is. Carey showed me around, we hired two local kids who have family running tables to carry the stuff we buy. They start the kids young here and they were hysterical (they are 8-10 years old). They are already working on their skills. We call them our bodyguards. The kid I hired was named Jaw-ed, nice kid. He put on a show at the end for more money saying he was hungry and that he couldn't eat because business was so bad that day. It was all worth the two bucks I gave him. Next time, he's doing push-ups.

Like I said, it is Groundhog Day, so I don't know how exciting my updates will be, but I'll do my best. Remember, the highlight of my day is email/posts from you all. If I can remember to bring my mailing address, I'll post it here.

The Eagle Has Landed

Or more precisely, the silver oak leaf. What a travel experience. I don't remember exactly when we left Kuwait, maybe Tuesday night?, but the latest sandstorm had just subsided when the roads could be cleared so we could take busses to the airfield. We got loaded on the back end of a C-17 and sat in jump seats for the 4 hour flight to Bagram, Afghanistan. We flew over night, leaving around 0130 and getting in around 0700 local time, losing 1.5 hours (I am now 9.5 hours ahead of the east coast, until clocks change for you).

Bagram is a nice/secure air base. They have a USO named after Pat Tillman, the NFL player turned Ranger. From there, the six of us who were good friends (not counting the guys headed to Iraq) split up to go our separate ways. I felt a bit alone, but there were still a small group of navy personnel left continuing the trip to Kabul. Our flight left the next morning on time. We flew on a C-130 in even more uncomfortable jump seats than the last plane. This flight was only 25 minutes in the air, about an hour total in cramped seats in full battle rattle (all our armor). After we boarded, a bunch of marines got on too. After the flight, I found out the Commandant of the Marine Corps was one of them. That is quite unusual to say the least. He is the senior officer in the Corps, a four star general. He could have taken his own jet, but he flew with us.

At KAIA, the international airport, it was like no one ever heard of us before. For the first time since I left home, there were no travel arrangements and we were left to fend for ourselves. There was no transportation set up and we could not arrange any after calling the base numerous times. The nine of us who needed to get there received no support. We just had to ask convoys as they let people off if they could take us back. I've never been so ignored in my life, not anywhere. If we were just a bunch of real junior enlisted, we could have been left out there for days not knowing how to get back. Eventually, we found convoys that could take a few of us. The last four, myself included, were lucky enough to find a group to go with. Being our first real convoy, we were a little nervous, but my friend Eric is a devout Catholic and said a few prayers and had his Rosary out, so I was confident. Of course, I said the Sh'ma for good measure, we had all angles covered. There were a few things to watch out for, but we made it on base all right. I met a few of the people I'll be working with and one of them, Carey, has been showing me around. He is an army Lt Colonel and a great guy.

I'll let everyone know more details about the job as I can. I am in a temporary room, for a month perhaps, so that is not good. No Internet access there. We work 6+ days a week. Fridays are the day off/light day to match what people over here do. The work day seems to be around 10-12 hours, but it varies depending on what is going on.

I don't have my mailing address handy, but Stacey has it and I can start to receive regular mail. Remember to just use my first and last name, no rank or title. The address is an APO and it is the same cost as sending something in the US. I hear it can take 2+ weeks to get here, but I do love receiving mail.

That's it for now. I'm happy to be here finally and will update as I can.

We few, we happy few,

We Band of Brothers.

Well, not exactly like Henry V or the HBO series, but you get the point. As the hours are winding down where we are, I want to give a shout out to my friends, the Commanders of Club 3916 - a truly great group of guys who all got along with each other under less than optimal conditions. Some I've mentioned here before. I don't have the time or space to tell you about all of them, but they are unique, professional, and a load of fun. The laughs don't stop, especially from Mark who is a NCIS agent in civilian life and a former teacher. He says he has ADD. He thinks I might have it too. He says he has ADD.

Doug is an instructor at the Naval War College, he has taught me more than just what a scapular is. He lives in Newport and I'm certain the family and I will venture up there for a visit some time. Rich is a character, a former Marine and now a senior executive with the IRS - he says he is on our side though, an advocate for us. He folded my laundry this morning, how many people can say an IRS agent did that? Jeff, Alec, Drew, and Bob will be with me in the 'Stan, but at a different base. Hopefully, we'll bump into each other once in a while. Drew is the ultimate Supply Officer, he finds the parts, knows how to solve a problem, and is always pulling something out of his bag of tricks. While we are eating MRE's and sand in the desert, he has a pizza and Starbucks delivered. No one can figure it out. Buck is another one, he separated from us a week or so ago and is probably poolside in Bahrain. Many of the guys work or drill out of DC, we are looking forward to seeing each other when we get back. For the rest of the guys, training, meals, downtime, everything seems more enjoyable in your company - I am proud to serve with you. We're in the navy and therefore will all meet up again sometime down the road.

Training Concluded

We just got back from the Range. Two nights and three days of living on the floor, bad food (but high quality for MRE's), no running water, and shooting and convoys. We learned a bit and tried not to irritate each other too much. The shooting was a bit more advanced than at our previous course. We did run and shoot and shot in teams and had to turn and shoot. It's kind of dangerous if you're not careful. No one got hurt, so all is well.

I met another old acquaintance here, Jeff from Department Head School. We remembered each other from 15 years ago. He is still active and doing well. We were in the back seat of our convoy truck having just a wonderful time. Our job was to get out when we stopped and secure the area (make sure it is safe). This was actually amusing since we only had 9mm pistols and we are old commanders. It would normally be done with an M16 rifle by people who are hopefully more qualified than we are. While spending hours out in the desert we saw a load of camels, goats (or sheep, who knows), some wild dogs, some people, no trees or any other plant life except for weeds. They really made the convoy training realistic with local people involved, mock up houses and other things. Our group did very well.

Talking about old acquaintances, 15 years is not the limit. I also met up with Alec who I don't think I mentioned. We were in the same dorm freshman year. He joined up after college and we haven't seen each other in about 25 years. He is doing well too.

We should find out in the next few hours when we leave. After that, our schedules will change a few times and then we'll be on our way. I want to get to New York sometime this month.

Home on the Range

Tomorrow we travel to Udairi for Close Quarters Maneuvers and convoy operations. We will shoot shoulder to shoulder as well as move and shoot. We'll also get more training on travelling in convoys. The camping part gets more intense. We'll be in sleeping bads on the ground of a tent. Each tent holds around 30 or so. No showers, no plumbing, only MRE's to eat. I almost feel guilty getting paid to do this.

Today we did HEAT training, which means Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer. It's like a Disney ride. Five of us get into a humvee that is able to rotate/roll on a machine. We are in the four seats and have a gunner that is standing, half out of the vehicle. They start to roll the vehicle simulating an accident. We are in seat belts, except for the gunner who we try to hold inside as he hits the deck. They rotate us around about three times, stopping with all of us upside down. We have to get the doors open, get out of our belts (upside down) and get out. I was in the back left and my door doesn't open, so I hung upside down until everyone got out and I got out the driver's door. Glad we didn't have to do it under water.

The weather here has been great, nice during the day and chilly at night. I can't imagine the people who go through this in the summer or during rainy times. We sure are lucky there. The food is good and we aren't harrassed too much. We'll get back sometime Sunday afternoon and will hopefully travel to our final destinations no later than Tuesday. I will miss the friends I've made who are going to Iraq, but hope to see them someday when we all return to the States. That's just how it is in the navy, you make friends quickly, you may not see each other for years, but then you don't miss a step when you get back together.

That is all. I doubt I'll be able to post again until we get back. Hopefully, I'll have some nice responses to read. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

So my friend

likes to ask what else could go wrong, he gets the answer in our whole flight fiasco. The story just spiralled downward. The short of it is that we were two days late getting to Kuwait, no one has slept properly since Thursday night. We are 8 hours ahead here and everyone is over tired, extremely dirty, and mostly sick.

After the mouse, we had a faulty fuel valve that kept us delayed 12 more hours. We had a two hour delay just because the plane was late to begin with. They still got us to the airport at around 0400 for a 0700 flight. Anyway, the part gets installed, the crew is rested and we are ready to leave around 30 minutes early. After boarding the plane and being ready to go at 2030, they realize they have no climate control over the forward cargo area where the military dogs are kept. The easy solution is to have the dogs ride with us. It is a charter flight with different rules, so it shouldn't be a big deal. We bring on water, we all carry knives, unlimited carry-ons - stuff like that. The pilot tells us it is not their policy to have more than one dog ride in the cabin. So they can't fix it and they end up placing the dogs back aft, having to move a lot of cargo. They didn't consider letting the dogs and their handlers take another flight. That incident alone costs us another 7 hours of sitting on the plane and therefore lost us a day of "boots on ground," which means we all come home a day later than we would have. Having to sleep on the hangar floor or in an aircraft seat was not easy, especially not for a number of days.

My sister's family will be happy to know that a number of us got to fly the military equivalent of first class. I don't know how it really helped. We sat up front and got hot towelettes once in a while. I guess that made up for everything. Just a suggestion, I would avoid flying Omni Air International.

We got into Shannon, Ireland all right and then just fine into Kuwait. We arrived around 0230 local on Tuesday, got our stuff unloaded and placed into the tents and are all checking out the area. I never saw so much sand. The country is one level sandbox as far as the eye can see. I am at an Internet Cafe, which we have to pay for. I don't know how often I'll get to update, but will do what I can. One of the guys I became friendly with asked me what my students call me and I foolishily told him, "D-Zimm." That's all he calls me now. I shant live that one down.

Hope all is well back home.

Unbelievable

You can't make this up. We leave on time, everything is going fine and we are at the airport around 0100. All our gear has to be loaded on the plane, which we do ourselves by the way. So an army sergeant brings the truck up to the plane and hits it. I thought that was it for the flight, but they got an inspector out there and he said it was all right. We get on the plane, it is taking a long time and they have to take about an hour to shift people all over the plane to make the weight work out OK. So, we get past that.

We are perhaps only an hour behind schedule and we get an announcement that there is an unauthorized passenger on board. We thought it was something serious, it was a rodent of some kind that a few people saw. Did you know that a plane cannot fly if there is a mouse or rat aboard? Apparently, they like to chew on wires. Fair enough. So, we all have to get off the plane while they search for the rodent. They must find it or we can't go. Everyone is sleeping all over the floors of this little airport terminal. They can't find the mouse and we offload everything and the flight is cancelled. I am back at good old Camp McCrady until tomorrow.

Hopefully, we have only lost one day, but it's a day later that I'll be able to return home. While at the little airport I got to see my friend Doug's scapular blessed by the priest. A USO type organization called Blue Star Mothers, SC gave out food and talked with us and made a line thanking us while we got on the plane. What a great group of people they are. One of the of the other Jewish officers in the group always found something to complain about, boy was he thirsty. Good times.

Let's just hope we get off safely tomorrow and that I can post from Kuwait.

It's Time

In a few hours we'll be loading up the busses with no sleep, taking the ride to the airport and catching the charter to Kuwait via Bangor for fuel and Ireland for beer. There is no alcohol allowed where we are going, thank goodness for the Irish. They don't allow porn over there either, no wonder they have the problems they do.

I was eating lunch with the priest and the teacher from Trenton today, so then a horse walks in and I say, "Why the long face..." Anyway, the teacher and I were discussing how surreal this is. We're just herding to the next stop. Dinner was finished about an hour or so ago, our last meal here at lovely Camp McCrady of Fort Jackson, SC. The dining facility served some good food, no complaints in that department. I think I actually put on a few pounds.

I'm not a big fan of flying. I have an ipod, which I am looking forward to using for the flight and hopefully I'll be able to sleep. We're all wondering how the logistics are going to work once we get there. Everyone has four seabags, plus a back pack and a weapon case. It's a lot of stuff to move and be responsible for. Living in a tent for close to two weeks in the desert will be an experience. We sleep on the ground at the Udairi range using the "sleep system" we received. It is an extremely warm double sleeping bag and about the best ground cloth possible, no water is getting through it. We also have an air mattress. The weather reports look good, should be in the high 70s during the day and the low 50s at night. Not bad at all. I understand the range training is useful and takes things further than we did here.

We'll see how the Internet service is over there. With any luck, I'll be able to keep everyone informed and not have to fight for a computer at the Internet Cafe. As always, thank you for your support.

Graduation Day

Well, no robes or boring speeches for graduation, but we completed our work yesterday. We had a convoy which wasn't quite as eventful as most had hoped. Our rifles were loaded with blanks that sound realistic, but almost no one got to shoot. Maybe that means we did a good job. We identified a few IEDs, entered a small town on a humanitarian mission and there you have it. We moved on to Land Navigation, which was an easy course, but challenging for a couple reasons. We were completely in woods that are similiar to south Jersey, no identifying trees or landmarks or large rocks or anything. The topography varied quite a bit and with trees everywhere, it was difficult to keep a heading. I had the compass and someone else had the map, but we had to start looking at the map together as some in my group were map-challenged. Another person was in charge of stepping off our distance, real hard with trees everywhere and constantly changing terrain. Anyway, we made it over the bridge and through the woods, but not to Grandmother's house, instead we had MRE's waiting for us (Meals Rejected by Ethiopians).

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning weapons, turning them in, picking up medical records, and sending stuff home via UPS. Today we'll pack, do a final evaluation of the course, and hopefully relax a little.

Looks like we will be in Kuwait for some time waiting for our training at the Udairi Range to start. We live in tents on cots before going to the range and then things get a bit more spartan. At the range there are no showers or anything like that, we stay in the same clothes for about three days. This is where all the baby wipes come in handy. I can hardly wait. I may have some Internet access while waiting in Kuwait. I understand there is an Internet Cafe. However, I'm sure the competition for computers is huge.

I hope to post once more before we leave late Friday night/early Saturday. It will depend on how soon we have to have our bags on the truck. Time for some breakfast...

Home Stretch

We have our last real day tomorrow. The most important part will be our convoy operation. We man up twelve trucks/humvees and have a mission to follow. Right now it looks like I will be a communicator for my humvee. I guess I was the only one who could put a message together and speak on the radio. It should be interesting and hopefully followed by land navigation. There are serious thunderstorms projected for the area, so we'll see what happens.

Today we learned how to run a check point, checking vehicles and people for bombs/weapons, etc. We learned how to clear a room. Unlike the methods of clearing a room at a high school, four or five of us go in uninvited and armed to ensure the room is clear. We also looked at and then had to find/identify on a dirt road a number of different IED's (improvised explosive devices). That was an education. We walked a number of miles to and from the site we worked at in full body armor (or battle rattle as we say). Some didn't quite make it and had to hop in the van, wow. I heard that our platoon was the only one in which everyone made the walk both ways. Hoo-ah.

To update some on the job I am going to, it is in Kabul, Afghanistan. I'll be stationed at the ISAF HQ (International Security Assistance Force Headquarters), a NATO command. There is a four star U.S. general in charge. I'll provide everyone with more info on that when I get into it, but in short, I believe I'll be tracking the training of the Afghan National Army and police force.

That's about it for now, thanks for your posts.

Prison Break

My friend Paul and his family broke me out of here on Saturday afternoon for a day in Columbia spent at the zoo. I have known Paul since elementary school, which I think makes him my longest acquaintance. Paul is a Lt Colonel in the Air Force and his military comment on the looks of our base was, "This is depressing." Paul, Becky, Cammie, Maddie, Erin, and I found our way out from the deep dark woods and banjo playing of Camp McCrady/Fort Jackson to signs of civilization in the state capital of Columbia. We went to Riverbanks Zoo and it was the perfect place for our group. We got to see everything in the time we had including a seal show and penquin presentation and then proceeded to dinner. With many restaurant choices, we settled on Five Guys. Those of us in the DC area and other points south are well aware of the Zagat rated cuisine. Burgers and grease salted with more fries than one can eat. Good stuff.

Friday was a good day except for the rain in the morning. At least we all learned that a rifle can be drenched and magazine coated with mud and it will still fire. We went to the range called "Bastogne" aptly named for the WWII locale and the Battle of the Bulge. We shot all the heavy weapons: 50 cal (very large tripod mounted machine gun), M240 and M249B machine guns(Rambo's choice), and the M19 grenade launcher. Everyone walks away with a smile on their face, it is an experience. We then did reflexive shooting like we did before with a handgun, standing, kneeling, shooting from around barricades, etc. The last exercise was a stress shoot where we exit from a humvee in all our gear (not that easy), run with the weapons (in spite of mom's age-old warning about running with loaded weapons) and shoot from positions around barricades.

Three more days of real training focussing on convoy and urban tactics. I wonder if our company will ever get to do the orienteering. If not, I am going for a walk in the woods anyway. We are unsure of what we are doing on Thursday and Friday, but I know we all have a lot to pack and to send home via UPS.

I'm sure most of you are preoccupied with the Super Bowl. People are here too. It is a depressing day for the Steelers fans as we reminisce about what could have been. I suppose I'll be supporting the Giants today like the other 95% of America. I know my cousins will be glued to the TV, or perhaps they are at the game???

Comments Response

Thanks for all the great responses! Reading the blog and email is what I look forward to at night, I'm sure that's not going to change once I leave here.

Lots of interest on the orienteering - we were supposed to go yesterday and then I thought perhaps today, both of which were really nice days to go out. Now I think we could go tomorrow when it should be raining. However, we have a heavy weapons shoot and a practical shooting exercise (what is called a reflexive shoot and a stress shoot) and then perhaps the land navigation in the late afternoon. Our company leadership seems a bit too disorganized to get all that done, so I really don't know when we are going to do it. To answer Donna, we use some of the basic techniques of the orienteering clubs, but would not run them the same way. For those of you who don't know, my first orienteering meet was with Donna and I carried my two year old nephew Jerry on my back in a special pack and she carried Stephanie in her tummy. Jerry called it going for a walk in the woods. Anyway, the maps we use will be smaller scale/larger area, not as much detail. Also, if it is combat conditions, one might avoid roads and other shortcuts if trying to evade. Hopefully, I'll be able to let everyone know how it goes.

I am back on my own computer after my fourth call to Dell. I finally got someone who was able to work through what ended up being a very complicated software problem. "Chuck" is my new hero.

Today was a classroom day, followed by a familiarization with the heavy weapons we'll shoot tomorrow (Rambo type stuff). One of the briefs today was cultural awareness. I learned a lot about Islam and the cultures that we'll see. Lots of do's and don'ts (e.g., don't go up to a table in a restaurant in a black suit and sunglasses and say, "How much for the women.") All very useful information, I wish we could have more of it. The brief was given by two army enlisted men who are Muslim, one born in Iraq, one in North Africa.

Our class is a little upset about our travel to Kuwait. We graduate on Wednesday, but don't leave until Saturday at 0400. That means we group up at around midnight to load everything and move on from there. We are a little upset that we aren't leaving earlier. Everyone just wants to get to their jobs and get the show moving.