Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello friends,

Hey, it's Thanksgiving! As much as I hate being away, it means I'm that much closer to coming home. We've decided to take the day off. Last night was relaxing and fun. We were paid a visit by the "Lt Dan Band", a group pulled together by Gary Sinise, Lt Dan of "Forrest Gump" fame. It was a nice respite from all the harried days. Lucky me, I actually had an opportunity to meet Mr. Sinise and Mykelti Williamson (Bubba from "Forrest Gump"). Check out the pictures below.

I also wanted to take this time to say thanks to each of you for your generous support and encouragement. The funny e-mails, the care packages and the kind thoughts have helped to make this time away more bearable. I’ve come to be a lot more appreciative of the family and friends in my life. I urge each of you to take a moment to consider everything you have to be thankful for. Don’t take your time with family and loved ones for granted.

I hope this Thanksgiving finds you all healthy and happy and is a warm kick-off to a wonderful holiday season. Enjoy the family time and fellowship and – by all means – enjoy the home-made turkey dinner!

Take care,

-Dave

Bizarre Bazaar

Hello friends,

I hope this post finds you all well. If all goes as planned, I should be heading home in about eight weeks. Hopefully, the Eagles will turn it around and still be playing then. A home playoff game would be perfect.

I haven’t posted in a while because I really don’t know what to talk about. However, it struck me that I have yet to talk about the bazaar. On Saturdays, local merchants come to KAF and set up a bazaar in a small fenced-in area on base. There are lots of items on display: rugs/carpets, black market DVDs, brass vases and other brass sculptures, watches, and other bric-a-brac. I’ve been to the bazaar only three times, but I know folks that never miss it. Some of the more serious shoppers go for the rugs, which can run from $25 to $2500 depending on the size and quality of the workmanship. I have no idea what I am looking at, but you can see some differences. I took the pictures below this past weekend.

The trick to the bazaar, aside from knowing what you are looking for quality-wise, is the haggling. As with most bazaars, the merchants are always calling to you to come see their wares. “Hey, American, you come look, eh? I have some nice things for your wife, eh?” (The shill is universal.) There are kids walking up and down the aisles hawking bracelets and other small items. “Sir! Sir! Look! Only one dollar. You buy two?” Hard to turn away the kids, but the stuff they’re trying to sell is just junk. Anyway, the haggling is just not natural to me; I have a hard time with it. Like back home, I want to walk up, ask what the price is, make a decision and either buy it or not. But these guys expect you to haggle. If I try to walk away, they’ll follow you asking “how much do you pay?” I just keep walking. Some other soldiers really get into it; back and forth, trying to get that last dollar reduction. It can be fun to watch. I have not bought a thing yet, but probably will just to have a souvenir. So, that’s the bazaar.

All else is going as well as can be expected. The weather is getting colder and it actually drizzled today for a few minutes. But, the dust and dirt are always present. Eight more weeks, then I’m outta here.

Take care,

-Dave

Acronyms and Military Lingo

Hey there friends!

As many of you know, the military takes great pains to develop and use a system of acronyms to describe just about anything. I thought I’d spell out a few that we use on a regular basis around here. Also, it may serve to act as an interpretation guide once I get home so you know what the heck I am saying. A few of the more common acronyms:
DFAC – dining facility (pronounced dee-fak);
SITREP – situational report;
SA – situational awareness (information about a topic);
RLB – re-locatable building (an 8’ x 20’ unit the same size as a shipping container that can be stacked and configured as housing);
CHU – containerized housing unit (same as an RLB);
OEF- Operation Enduring Freedom;
GWOT – global war on terror;
ISAF – international security augmentation force;
JFUB – joint facility utilization board (the folks who have the power to approve or deny a construction project);
IED – improvised explosive device;
HME – home made explosive;
MHE – material handling equipment;
ANA – Afghan National Army;
NTV – non-tactical vehicle;
FOB – Forward Operating Base;
CSO – Chief of Staff Officer;
NCR - Naval Construction Regiment;

The following are common terms used in general conversation:
JTAM – jump through your ass mission;
Haji – anything pertaining to Afghan or Middle Eastern ownership (technically a term of respect towards any Muslim who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca)
Poopy pants – humorous term used to describe an unknown and unwanted food item in the DFAC line
Inshalla – “if it is Allah’s will” – used the same as when your dad would say “maybe”, actually meaning “no way”
Oxygen thief – used to describe someone who is basically worthless
Embrace the suck – just deal with it

Examples:
“Hey, Sgt Jones, I need some SA on that JFUB package for RLBa at FOB X-ray so I can send a SITREP to the CSO over at the NCR.”

“What the heck is that?” “Some haji vegetable dish.” “Poopy pants?” “Oh, definitely poopy pants.”

Two pics for your viewing pleasure. First is one of (from L to R) LtCol Todd Hirneisen, Maj Nick Lynch and me enjoying a take-out lunch. We are sitting in a little gathering area right outside my office can. The weather has been a lot nicer lately, and we wanted to get away fromthe crouds in the DFAC. The second pic is of a little science experiment we are running. It started back in the summer. One of our Navy brethren was mailed some grass seed for whatever reason. So he planted it and watered it every day. It was slow going at first, but it is taking off now. He went back home in September and we just kept it going.




Take care!
-Dave

Whirl Winds

Hey there followers! I’ve been having connectivity issues lately, so this blog may be late. I’ve been scratching my head what to write about. Every day is basically the same here. I was looking over some pictures the other day and ran across some of dust devils. You’ve likely seen little ones around home. Like little tornados that kick up dirt and loose paper. Well, over here, it’s a whole different phenomenon. They are huge and really pick up a lot of dust. If you are interested in the science behind them, check out http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_are_dust_devils.htm. The video and picture are of two different whirlwinds I saw at Camp Dwyer back in September. The still shot was taken by someone else on my team when we were waiting for a ride. The video I shot while waiting for a plane. If you look real close at the tent you see in front of me at the beginning has the video, you will see the shadows of the guys I was traveling with. I was walking around stretching my legs when I saw this dust devil forming and heading right for us. While you can’t really get hurt, you will get stung by the flying dust and get dust in every orifice you can imagine. So I grabbed my camera and shouted to the guys to look out. Luckily, the whirlwind skirted around the concrete barriers you can see in the background, so we didn’t get caught up in it. Cool sight, though. You don’t see that very often in Oley! If anyone has any ideas or questions I can answer in this blog, let me know. I’m running out of ideas! Take care and keep in touch! Later, -Dave