Drifter 3 Sends

Building Schools in Afghanistan: Not as Simple as ABC -- Politics Daily

2009-08-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

Building Schools in Afghanistan: Not as Simple as ABC -- Politics Daily

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Greetings Everyone!

2009-07-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

2009-07-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

The Security Force conducting Escalation of Force training

Stopping traffic for our broke down vehicle outside Kabul in the switchbacks. Long day...

My humble abode

Got some new pics I took in my room today. Keep in mind that my room is not fully ready yet, so my bed isn't made and most of my stuff is still in bags. Went out on a mission today to Mahmoud Raqi to discuss elections with an elections official. The meeting seemed to go good and we discussed security for election day, which is August 20th. We also discussed the process for the election and some of the preparations. It just gave us an idea of how things will run. I think I established really good rapport with the election official and I invited him to visit in Bagram soon so that we could discuss things in more detail.

Got a package from Mom and Dad today. The beef jerky came in real handy during the mission, and as i type this i am gorging myself on Gummy Savers. The candy will go to the kids, along with the pens and coloring books. Thanks for the goodies, Mom and Dad.

The next several days promises to be very busy for the team. We have lots of missions coming up and we look forward to getting out into Kapisa and finding new things to work on and improve. We are also planning on getting to know the people and finding out what they want. Well, that's all I got for now. I will talk to everyone soon. Enjoy the pictures.

2009-07-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the hiatus, folks. Just moved back into my room a couple of days ago, so I'm busy re-unpacking. Been on a couple of missions this week but was too busy to take pictures. One of our vehicles broke down just outside Kabul and it took us a while to get it recovered. then a long trip home to Bagram. Things are starting to pick up mission-wise here and we are slowly finding our stride. Once I get some pics ready I will post them for all to see. I need to get some pictures that other people have taken.

Hope to talk to some or all of you real soon!

2009-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

On patrol in Nijrab Valley, Kapisa Province

View of the mountains surrounding Nijrab Valley

Me posing for the Hollywood shot...

Afghan kids helping recover one of our MRAPs that missed a turn

Picture on the observation deck at FOB Morales Frazier

Spent two days out at FOB Morales Frazier out in Kapisa Province. I spent one day meeting all the key players at the base, and the 13th on a patrol into the Nijrab valley. We checked on several projects we have running, including roads and schools. We did manage to get one of our MRAPs stuck in a ditch and some Afghan kids helped us recover it and get it out. Some of the scenery is incredible, as you can tell from the pictures. Will post some vids on my next post. I have to convert them to Windows Media Player format, and sometimes that takes a while. Everything is going well over here. I just received some pics of Tabitha and the kids today and REALLY, REALLY miss you guys. I hope Austin has a good first day of school and that Brandon can hit pause on his growth so that I don't miss any more! Tabitha, you are hot as always!

New Vids and Pics from Outside the Wire

2009-07-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

First Mission

2009-07-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Went out on my first mission today. It felt good to get out and shake the cobwebs out and adapt to this new environment. Here's a video of me interacting with a little boy and a picture with Graham Auten and I after the patrol.

Flyleaf Vid and Pics

2009-07-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Finally Here and Getting Started

2009-07-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

I finally arrived at Bagram Airfield on July 4th. I really didn't get a chance to celebrate the holiday because, honestly, I was too damn tired to. We flew out of Indianapolis on the 2nd of july at around 1 in the morning and had a two hour layover in Leipzig, Germany. They took us off the plane and quickly ushered us to an isolated terminal where they had a few shops set up for us offering us products at fairly steep prices. From Leipzig we flew to Manas International airport in Zyrgyzstan. Manas was okay but cramped. The guys were stuffed into a transient tent for a little less than a day. the food was good and we were pretty much left alone We woke early and moved out to the airfield, where we loaded onto a C-17 and made the one hour and forty minute flight to Bagram. when the ramp dropped, we were greeted by an escort who ushered us into a tent, where we were promptly briefed on the complexities and absurdities of life on Bagram. The rules are enough to drive you crazy. But in the end, you suck it up and you deal with it, just like the thousands of other poor souls on this base.

A few of the PRT members that were already at Bagram came to meet us at the airfield and we loaded our bags onto whatever vehicles were available and moved straight to our B-Huts. Our B-Huts are wooden structures that are subdivided on the inside. There are five other officers from our team that live in my hut. I will provide some pics and video of my hut as soon as I can.

Once I moved into my hut, I took a shower and then crashed for several hours. I don't even remember how long it was, but it was a while. I woke up and decided to check in with the guy I'm replacing, Major Lawrence, who introduced himself and gave me a quick rundown on life as a PRT Operations Officer. I think I absorbed most of it. I then went to chow, which reminded me a whole bunch of Iraq, thanks to my good friends at KBR. The food is all fried and fattening, which does not bode well for me, my friends. I then returned to the hut and slept some more.

The 5th of july had all of us new arrivals sitting through an inprocessing brief from all the different functions here on BAF, and then catching a bus out to a remote area of the base for IED training, which we had already completed prior to arrival. This training was slightly more up to date and better led.

Today, the 6th of July saw my first complete day of turning over with my counterpart. It is pretty much just the process of looking at how the current team conducts business and keeping what I like and then thinking about how to do the things that I don't like. We worked until about 8 o'clock, then knocked off and went to go see the band FLYLEAF perform just a couple of hundred meters from where we slept. I will try to add some video and pics. They were really good and the female singer was extremely overwhelmed when she came on stage. It took a few moments for her to start the first song. they made me a true fan tonight. Be sure to check them out. they truly support the troops and deserve to be supported back...That's all for now...DRIFTER 3 SENDS

2009-06-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Arrived home from Camp Atterbury today to find a fully grown troll living in my house...Brandon is absolutely huge!!! He is growing so fast and is now completely mobile, and he really didn't recognize his dad when he walked in. But we quickly caught up and he showed me everything he has learned since I left, including crawling, clapping, standing up, asking for food with sign language and a whole assortment of other little things he has picked up. It's clear he is a quick learner and has acquired his father's dashingly handsome looks and superior intellectual powers. What can I say, there's just good genes there. Pics will follow next post, because I need to take a shower and a nap. I'm beat...

Update- 9 June

2009-06-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Well, what to say about Camp Atterbury? Maybe I should wait until I've moved on to prevent any retribution, but let me just say that this has been a very interesting few months. The unit that runs this training, who shall remain nameless, has good intentions but often falls short on the execution side. Atterbury itself is probably not the ideal post to hold this training. It is not equipped to deal with the amount of PRTs that have to move through training here. It is too small and ill-equipped with leadership and organizations that I am not convinced are cognizant of the current contemporary operating environment and the realities of what Soldiers and Airmen are facing on the ground. I will provide more details later on, perhaps once I get in country.

So what have we done here? Here's a short list:

-Countless classes on interagency operations
-Language and culture training
-Qualification on M9 pistol, M4 rifle and crew served weapons
-Communications training
-Combat life saver medical training
-Combatives
-Mounted gunnery
-Army Warrior Battle Drills
-Army Warrior Tasks
-Military Decision Making Process (MDMP)
-Command Post Exercises
-Forward Operating Base operations
-Base defense

Not a bad list of items, and I will say I have learned a thing or two, but things could have been executed much better.

On a personal note, the kids seem to be doing well. Brandon almost said bye last night, and Austin is getting ready to wrap up fifth grade in a day or two. He's really getting into the whole fishing thing and was telling me he caught a couple of fish the other day at Lake Rim park. Tabitha has a job lined up that she could start on 1 July. And of course, Cadence is still Cadence.

Professionally, the team has entered into our graduation exercise, the dreaded Mission rehearsal Exercise or MRX. As a write this we have a patrol out conducting meeting engagements in our "province", and another one this afternoon. I'm not too focused on the execution of missions right now. I've really been using the MRX as a way to polish and create the products I will use in country. I've also been working on ways to conduct non-lethal targeting. Fortunately, there is a plethora of material out there on how to do it, so I have been digging into that stuff as much as I can. Things that concern me right now:

-What and how much do we battle track?
-How do we set up our TOC/CP?
-What is our campaign plan?
-How do we monitor/track atmospherics in our province?
-Measures of Effectiveness and Progress- How do we measure success?
-CCIRs- What does a good PIR or EEFI look like? What does the commander need to know?

Let's Get Started

2009-06-05T11:16:00.001-07:00

Well, my first post. I'm here in crappy Camp Atterbury getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan as the operations officer (S-3) for a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) that will be working in Parwan and Kapisa provinces. Training has been chaotic and hectic, but we are getting closer by the day and I feel like this is going to be an exciting year ahead. I want to capture that through this blog. So stay tuned and check in periodically and I will update this as often as possible.