The Streak

A streak: an unbroken series of events. There have been many streaks throughout history, mostly tracked in sports, and every streak must end. The Boston Red Sox not winning a World Series for 86 years, now they have won two in the last four years; Cal Ripkin's 2,632 consecutive games played and then he sat out; (how about basketball?) the longest losing streak in NBA history was the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1982 with a stretch of 24 games without a win and finally for college basketball the dynasty of the UCLA Bruins won 88 games without a loss.

We all love the streak. We say, "Oh they're on a winning streak or they're on a losing streak." We love tracking streaks. For all the Navy fans out there, you know one of the longest running streaks in college football history ended this weekend. Navy had not beaten Notre Dame in 43 years and this year in triple overtime they beat Notre Dame 46-44. I wish I had seen the game, but I only got to see the highlights. Either way, they played tough and beat the Irish and ended the streak. Unfortunately for Rebecca and the other Boston College fans, BC lost a tough one to Florida State ending their own winning streak of 8 games.

On to business, this week was pretty normal following up on projects and keeping up with e-mails and loads of information. It is almost winter so our big project lately has been fielding the Afghans with winter clothing and supplies to keep them warm during the cold winter months. We have to put together large shipments of supplies to ship to all corners of Afghanistan before the heavy snows start and the roads are impassable. Actually, I have been waiting for the cold weather here in Kabul, but it has been absolutely gorgeous. We have had temperatures in the low 70's during the day and at night and early morning it has been in the 40's. It has been quite pleasant; I am just waiting for the cold stuff to start.

Back on the homefront, Rebecca and the kids celebrated Halloween. They had great costumes, Thomas was a trashcan and Madigan was an ice cream cone. They both won the costume contest at school. They got a fair bit of candy from trick-or-treating, but not their biggest haul. Probably a good thing since we have plenty of treats in the house already. We may even have candy leftover from last Halloween.

We had a small Halloween celebration here on Camp Eggers. No trick-or-treating, but some people dressed up and there was a pumpkin carving contest. The winner was a pumpkin made up like a man puking into a toilet bowl. There was an Irish band, but I was too late to listen to them play.

Go Navy Beat Army!

Peace to you all,

Pat

Commercial

My big news from Afghanistan these past two weeks (yes last two weeks, some of you may have noticed I missed getting an update out last week) was that I made a commercial. You might ask what am I doing making a commercial in Afghanistan? Aren't I supposed to be fighting the Global War on Terrorism and defending freedom? Well there are a group of people who have not yet begun to fight and they are the Midshipmen of the US Naval Academy. Each year the Naval Academy plays the Cadets of the US Military Academy in the famous football game called the Army - Navy Game. By the way Navy is 4 and 4, not even close to the year Boston College is having (Rebecca is a BC graduate so I am glad to see them doing so well). This year the game is December 1st and in preparation for the game, soldiers and sailors overseas prepare commercials from far away places to be shown during breaks in the game. For those who have watched in past years, you may have seen some of these commercials. This year several of us Navy folks in Afghanistan got together and made a short 30 second spot. My small part is a sailor in the barber shop getting a haircut when I see another Navy person enter the shop and exclaim, "Another sailor, here in Afghanistan!" My other line was "Go Navy, Beat Army!" Not much in the way of a speaking part, but in all fairness it was a short commercial. In any case, I am hopeful it will be shown some time during the game. I have to say the acting skills of all the Navy folk left something to be desired, but its the thought that counts.

I have been really busy these past two weeks. I went out for several site visits to check on operations and have meetings. I had meetings with the Ministers of Defense and Interior and made a trip to Bagram for a visit with colleagues. My big thrill was that I got to take a ride in a Blackhawk helicopter to go to Bagram. A relatively short ride but the view was great. Much better than flying in a plane or driving. We flew pretty low so you could really see the landscape from the aircraft.

Back on the homefront, the big news was obviously the fires. I am sure you are all aware of the terrible situation in Southern California and specifically in San Diego. Most importantly, Rebecca and the kids are fine. They did receive the reverse 911 call and did have to evacuate the house. Fortunately our good friends Mark and Annie took them in and they were safe. After two days they were allowed to return home and the house is fine. We are much luckier than so many people in San Diego and Southern CA. It is difficult to be this far away when emergency situations occur at home. I am thankful we have good friends to watch over us. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of these terrible fires.

Peace to you all and Go Navy Beat Army,

Pat

Evacuation - By Rebecca

We are fine, back in our house and the air quality is much better than it has been all week. Most importantly the Santa Ana winds are gone and there is only a light breeze. The fire that was threatening our area was the Witch Creek fire. When we went to bed at 11pm on Sunday night, it was a small fire… my friend Annie woke me up Monday at 6:30am, it had spread and the area above state route 56 (just north of us) had been evacuated. She wanted to send her husband Mark over to check on me, but we were fine and still sleeping! School was cancelled at 6:45am. That’s when I knew it was serious. The first “do you need help” calls came from WD-40 folks. Andrew who works with Patrick and Heidi (who works with Patrick but is also my friend because our kids go to school together) both called by 7:30 to see if we needed help getting stuff together and in the car. The next few hours were a deluge of calls from local friends offering to help. Funny thing, the Navy called at 11am – the next day! We ended up getting a lot of emails from Fleet and Family Support but honestly I’m going with local friends and/or the WD-40 folks if there is ever another emergency!

I was glued to the TV on Monday. You think you are prepared, but then when you have time there is always one more thing. I spent Monday videotaping the house (which I had done a few years ago) and taking pictures throughout the house. I burned both of those to DVD’s and I also did another backup of my files to a backup machine. I staged all of our non replaceable things in the my bedroom, the family room and the garage. By dinner time, it looked like we were staying and then during dinner my friend Heidi (who lives a few street down) called and said that we were being evacuated. I turned on the tv and started packing up the staged items. There was some confusion on the news as to whether our area “Torrey Hill” was being evacuated. The news anchors admitted that they were unsure but as one of them said… “Hey listen, if I lived in Torrey Hills I’d leave”. Good enough for me! While I was loading the car we did get the reverse 911 Mandatory Evacuation notice (about 8:30). We were out by 8:50pm and the whole street was almost gone by then. I think that without the reverse 911 and the confusion on the news, some of us would have stayed… but we didn’t stick around to wait for the police to come through with bull horns like people did in 2004. The reverse 911 is brilliant. A “Get out now” phone call is very effective. I registered my cell phone on it yesterday just in case I am not at home the next time. This fire is worse (size of the fires and number of homes destroyed) than the 2004 fires, yet there have been only 4 or 5 direct fire related deaths. All other deaths being attributed to the fires are of older people that died during or after being evacuated.

We drove north to our friends Mark and Annie’s. We were really comfortable, VERY well taken care of, actually slept really well and honestly the kids didn’t want to leave. We were recalled yesterday at 8:30am, but we took our time. I still have stuff packed, but the threat is over now that the winds are gone. Here is a picture that shows in red/orange where the fire has burned. I put aqua blue arrows to show the potential route that the fire could have taken. Our house is on the street above the aqua blue dot. The problem with maps is that you don’t get to appreciate the topography. There is a canyon behind our house that is a fire corridor… if that fire had gotten into the canyon system behind Santa Luz it would have ripped down the canyon to us…. It is very hard for the firefighter to fight in the canyons with a Santa Ana ripping through it. That’s the problem with Santa Ana’s – especially for us when they are sucking the air southwest to the ocean.
I did load all of my old photos, yearbooks and negatives into the car first… memories (and blackmail) first I guess! And then all of the kids artwork that I have saved throughout the years. And then the computers, cameras and a bunch of financial stuff. I left behind my Doug Flutie autographed Charger’s Jersey… and the Beach Boys autographed surfboard. That was hard. The kids packed the craziest stuff… but I let them chose what was important to them. Madigan did have a big moment of apprehension when she realized her 2 American Girl dolls were left behind. I assured her that I would buy new ones if they didn’t make it. We have a lot of work to do to finishing putting things back… and a whole lot of ash to clean up. Hopefully we can get back to normal by Monday when school resumes. Oh and Patrick, everyone asks if Patrick knew what was going on… yes I emailed his .mil account and he called right away. He had to register in Afghanistan that his family had been evacuated… I think that’s why the Navy called to check on us. Apparently if we had lost the house, he would have been sent home to deal with the situation. Hmm… where are those matches?

Happy Eid

This past month was Ramadan in the Muslim religion. This is a very high holy holiday and all Muslims fast during the day and pray a lot. At the end of the holy month there is a celebration called Eid which lasts for 3 days. Eid this year was October 12 - 14. This holiday and the period of Ramadan are never exact because it is all based on the phases of the moon. Yes, when the new moon in September is seen that starts Ramadan, when the new moon appears again, Eid starts. It seems weird to base things on the moon but that is how they tell when things are around here. So to all Eid Mubarik (that is like Merry Christmas to us).

This week we also celebrated the Navy's 232nd Birthday; it doesn't feel a day over 230. We had a couple nice speaches and of course cake. Some of the Supply Officers were able to take a picture together. I hope to get it into the Supply Corps Newsletter. To all of you Navy folks out there, Happy Birthday.

Work has been pretty routine, continuing our mission of equipping the Afghans and providing mentoring and training. We have had people finish their tours and move on and we have had others start their deployments. I also reached a milestone passing 6 months in country.

This week we also had a memorial service for a fallen camrade. He was hit by a VBIED while on a convoy. His name was Corporal Adam Quinn and he was a young Army soldier. He was doing his duty here in Afghanistan and was taken too early. The worst part was that his wife was expecting a baby and he will never get to see his child. Terrorist activity during the past month has been heavier than normal. We have all been extra cautious making sure not to go out unless absolutely necessary. I am hopeful that with winter coming soon, activity will slow down.

Back on the homefront, Rebecca and the kids have been getting ready for Halloween making their costumes and decorating. Rebecca has also volunteered in Madigan's classroom even though she said she wouldn't. Of course she was asked and she couldn't say no. So with work, the kids, and volunteering for school, life is still busy at the Wade household.

Peace to you all,

Pat

Back to the Grind

Well I am back to the grind here at Eggers. Actually, it only took me a couple days to catch up and I am back in the groove. Of course getting back to Eggers was quite an adventure; let me explain.

On Sunday night I checked in at the R&R office at 8 PM. Following a short briefing, we loaded on buses to go to the air terminal. Then we began the check in process and then we waited and waited. We were warned that our planned wheels up time (that is lingo for departure) was 0100 (1 am) so I knew we would have a long waiting period. Well the time came to load up the plane so we loaded back up on a bus and were taken out to the aircraft. For those who have not flown military before, we flew on a C130 which is a prop aircraft built in the 70's.
And, oh yeah, there are no seats or at least seats that you would be used to seeing. We sit in cargo net seats stationed on the walls and down the middle of the aircraft. There is no first class, in fact I don't think this qualifies as coach either. In any case we loaded up and sat on the plane, which by the way did not have any airflow, so we all sat sweating waiting for the pilots to do their preflight checks. After an hour and a half the pilots determined that the plane would not fly. I am thankful they were cautious but I did wish they had figured that out before we all loaded up and were forced to soak our uniforms with sweat.

So we unloaded the plane and loaded up on a bus again and sat for another half hour while they found another plane for us. You can guess what we did next, that's right, we loaded up another C130 and sat another hour; sweating. We finally went wheels up at 0245. No sleep and lots of sweating and looking forward to a 5 hour flight back to Afghanistan. The flight was uneventful, which is good, and we landed at KAIA, Kabul Afghanistan International Airport, but we could not get off even though getting back to Eggers was only a half hour away because my weapons and gear were locked up at BAF (Bagram Airfield). We let a few passengers off who were destined for KAIA and then loaded up some other passengers, so another hour of waiting. We took off again and took the short 10 minute flight to BAF, where we were finally at our destination.

I was still not back to Eggers so Pat Meriwether and myself needed a ride. We both started making calls, fortunately Pat was able to get a hold of crew that was at Bagram and we connected with them a few hours later after collecting all our weapons and gear. We were on our way back to Kabul. Unfortunately the team was going back to Alamo, the FOB where Pat is stationed and so they dropped me off at Camp Phoenix. I started making a calls to get ride back to Eggers and a few hours later, I had a crew pick me up and get me back to Eggers about 4:30 PM. I immediately went back to my room and unpacked and think I passed out soon thereafter.

I went to work that night to try and catch up on e-mails and see what had been happening while I was gone. There was no chance of catching up but it was a start. The next day I had several meetings to get up to speed on significant projects going on and after a couple days, I was back in the groove.

Saturdays are the day I go to Mass at 4 PM, but this week I had a meeting so I missed church. That evening at 6 PM there was Christian service that was being ministered by someone I knew, so a couple of us decided to go that evening. I had not eaten yet figuring I would go to dinner after the service. That would prove to be a mistake. The service was more of a revival/gospel service which was quite good.

There were two gospel choirs and lots of singing and shouting and it was quite entertaining and uplifting. Now being a Catholic, we tend to get antsy when the Mass goes over an hour so when the service hit 3 hours, I was not only antsy, but I was really hungry. The Bishop who was the guest speaker and coworker had been speaking for about an hour and was very inspiring and then began laying hands on people predicting peoples' ailments and healing them somewhat. At that point the only healing I needed was a cheeseburger in my belly. My friends and I called it quits after 3 and half hours and immediately went seeking food. The dining facility was closed but we convinced the kitchen to make us a turkey sandwich and we enjoyed our meal and we were thankful.

Back on the homefront, Rebecca took the kids to Disneyland since they are so rarely there. (Editor's Note: Now that I am working and both kids are in school, it is actually becoming less frequent. Last Sunday was a special occasion because my friend Michael Lynn was celebrating his birthday and celebrating the premiere of his latest E! True Hollywood Story - John Stamos. There were 12 in our group, 6 of us went to Club 33, which is absolutley wonderful. Michael, as you may recall, was the guy that yelled "kiss her!" to John Stamos... and he actually did kiss me. The corollary to this story is that Michael put that picture in the show. SO during the end segment, if you watch closely this photo is in the John Stamos THS... I really, really wish I had lost that 15 lbs now!

Besides, it is Halloween Time at Disney and I suspect we will be back in the next few weeks.

They also had a visit from a good friend, Patricia Lee, who Rebecca worked with for a long time. Pat sent me a note talking about how nice her visit was and how wonderful my kids are. It is nice to know the kids behaved, but also to remind myself how lucky I am.

Peace to you all,
Pat

R & R

R&R, Rest and Relaxation, no worries and no responsibilities. No place to be and no meetings to attend. This is Qatar and I certainly rested and relaxed. Some people had claimed that coming to Qatar was not worth all the hassle of the travel, but I disagree, it was well worth the time and effort to get here and enjoy a few days of free time. Some of you may think this was a vacation spot, an Oasis in the desert so to speak, it was not necessarily that, but it was different than Afghanistan and that fact alone made it worthwhile. Although there were no drink girls at the pool serving me funny drinks with umbrellas in them, they do have a pool and a very nice one at that. I spent a couple days at the pool just lounging and reading and it was a great diversion from the usual routine at Eggers.

Pat Meriwether and I started our trip at Bagram Air Field where we spent 2 days waiting for a flight. We did have a room so it wasn't like we had to live in a terminal like Tom Hanks in the movie "The Terminal". We went to the gym, the dining facility, the computer room and the movie room to watch football, so it was a mini vacation. We checked in each day to see about flights and we ended up catching a C-17 flight out that was transporting HR (that is Human Remains). We all stood at attention as they moved the flag draped metal casket passed us and into the belly of the plane. We all sit in the belly of the plane because it is a cargo plane. We all sat with the casket firmly secured in the middle of the cargo area. I did not know the name of the man we were travelling with, but Rebecca did her research and found out his name is Army SFC (Sgt First Class) Matthew D. Blaskowski, 27, Levering, Mich. When we landed, the passengers once again stood at attention as SFC Blaskowski was taken off the plane. (Editor's Note: SFC Blaskowski was serving in the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. He was killed when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations in Asadabad, Afghanistan. SFC Blaskowski was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his action in May 2005 in Afghanistan. This is part of his Silver Star Medal citation – “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Matt Blaskowski, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as 3d Platoon Weapon Squad Leader for Company C, 2rd Battalion (Airborne) 503rd Infantry, in action on 3 May 2005, in Afghanistan, Staff Sergeant Blaskowski displayed undaunted gallantry and valor without regard for his own safety under heavy enemy machine gun and RPG fire for over four hours while wounded near Bulac Kalay, Afghanistan in the Arghandab Valley. Numerous times, Staff Sergeant Blaskowski placed himself at great risk while engaging the enemy positions and relaying directions to his machine gun crews.” Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of SFC Matt Blaskowski for the grave loss suffered. He is in our prayers.)

After finishing our check in process at the Aliudid air base we waited for transportation to Qatar. This took almost 4 hours of waiting in a small tent with a TV. I can understand how some people would think "this is not worth it" but we were fed and still had no responsibilities and our liaison officer from Qatar eventually showed up. We loaded on a bus and we were off to our vacation spot. When we arrived at Qatar, we received our welcome briefing which consisted of all the rules we were to follow. We also learned that because it is Ramadan, many of the tours were cancelled. It really did not matter to me, I was there to relax. We were taken to our barracks which consisted of rooms built in the inside of warehouses. Apparently Camp Asilyah was a forward staging base for equipment, so many warehouses were built in support of this effort. After a drawdown, the warehouses were emptied so that left a lot of empty buildings. Someone had the idea to create an R&R base for soldiers and thus Camp Asilyah became the "Club Mideast" for the military.

So this does not become a 10 page e-mail, I will give you some highlights of activities. I slept and then I slept some more. Actually, I did catch up on sleep but also enjoyed some activities. I mentioned there is a very nice pool and spent a couple days lounging and reading. We also went on a beach trip. We travelled by SUV's across town to swim in the Persian Gulf. On the way, the tour guides took us on an offroad trip through the desert sand dunes. This was quite an adventure as we did not know the driving skills of the drivers and while on a trip to the beach we witnessed 3 vehicle accident, so our confidence was not high. Our concern was confirmed as we were driving up and down the dunes when the vehicle in front of us stopped suddenly and we were forced to go around. That vehicle took the high road and we took the low road and eventually the first vehicle took the low road too as it rolled over off the side of dune. The vehicle sat for a moment and toppled over in slow motion. Fortunately it righted itself and no one was hurt, but the vehicle had its winshield smashed and roof crushed. Everyone immediately started snapping pictures and laughing about the whole incident. I am glad I was not in that vehicle. We arrived at the beach and they had a great set up with cabanas and lunch prepared for us. We swam in the warm water of the gulf and sat out in the sun. It was a good beach day.

Another event was a visit to the mall. Hard to believe I could get excited about going to a mall as if I were a teenager or something but when you have limited access to things of home every little thing helps. The mall was exactly as any mall in the US would be, just a lot of different people wandering around. Since it was Ramadan the stores did not open until 7 PM and then it became just like any other mall. We wandered around shops and grabbed a bit to eat. There was one interesting thing as we walked we saw a line forming near the middle of mall and we noticed it was a line of children waiting to see some lady sitting in a chair giving out small gifts. It was like the line to Santa Claus, except this lady was giving out toys and not just lollipops.

The other event that made Club Mideast good was the fact that we could drink. It had been a long time without a beer and we wanted to get our fill. Each night, we are allowed to have 3 beers. Now these are not Yards of beer, these are 12 to 16 ounce beers (depending on type) just enough to get you warmed up. In any case, they had Guinness on tap and that was worth the hefty prices they were charging. One good thing the beer helps with is Karaoke night, it helps loosen the pipes and nerves. I did not sing, I am more of 6 beer Karaoke man.

For dining they have a real Chili's restaurant and we ate there once and then decided to eat most of our meals at the dining facility for free. The food was pretty good and it was different than our regular dining facility so it made it alright. We also played games of putt putt golf and bowling. Overall quite a good little vacation. We were also fortunate to have a visit from 3 Heroes of the Diamond. These were 3 former major league baseball players who decided to tour the mideast and visit troups. We met pitcher Jack McDowell (mostly known for time with the White Sox), infielder Frank Menechino (spent time with the A's, I had never heard of him either), and infielder Darren Bragg (who bounced around many clubs but did some time with the Red Sox). It was nice of these guys to show their support for the troops. Once they left Club Mideast, they were off to Afghanistan to visit various FOB's (Forward Operating Bases).
Now we are waiting to go back to Bagram and then somehow work our way back to Eggers. It has been a good time here in Qatar and I am glad I came. For now I will say, I'm so glad we had this time together, just to share a laugh or sing a song, seems we just get started and before you know it, comes the time we have to say "so long". So long everybody. (Yes, that is from the Carol Burnett Show).

Peace to you all,

Pat

BAF

So what does this title mean? You may have thought this was some spammer sending you some secret code and you immediately deleted it and therefore you will never know what is the mystery of BAF. For those who took the chance and opened this e-mail you are in luck as I will reveal the secret. BAF is the 3 letter call sign for Bagram Air Field, here in Afghanistan. Bagram is one of the major airfields in Afghanistan, the other is Kandahar Air Field (can you guess what we call that one?) The creativity level is very high here.

(Editor's Note: Bagram Air Base is located at the ancient city of Bagram in Parvan Afghansitan. BAF had a single 9852 ft runway built in 1976. However, the United States spent $68 million dollars building a new 2.2 mile (11,500 ft) long runway for the airbase, which was completed in late 2006. The new runway is 2000 feet longer than the older and is 11 inches thicker, which gives it the ability to handle larger aircraft if necessary. The newly-built runway is capable of serving large military and commercial aircraft. Bagram Air Base has three large hangars, a control tower, and numerous support buildings. There are over 32 acres of ramp space. There are five aircraft dispersal areas with a total of over 110 revettments. )

Right now I am at BAF, waiting to go on my Pass (that doesn't stand for anything). We are allowed a 4 day pass (basically some free time off) to go to Qatar for some R&R, so I am beginning that journey.
(Editor's Note: Here's are some interesting facts about Qatar: Expatriates form the majority of Qatar's residents. The petrochemical industry has attracted people from all around the world. Most of the expatriates come from South Asia and from non-oil-rich Arab states. Because a large percentage of the expatriates are male, Qatar has the most heavily skewed sex ratio in the world, with 1.88 males per female.

The country has undergone a period of liberalization and modernization after the current Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, came to power after becoming Emir in place of his father. Under his rule, Qatar became the first country in the Persian Gulf where women gained the right to vote. Also, women can dress mostly as they please in public (although in practice local Qatari women generally don the black abaya). Before the liberalization, it was taboo for men to wear shorts in public. The laws of Qatar tolerate alcohol to a certain extent. However, public bars and nightclubs in Qatar operate only in expensive hotels and clubs, much like in the emirates and Bahrain, though the number of establishments has yet to equal that of the United Arab Emerates. SO hopefully- as I understand it from friends who have been to Qatar - there is a beer or two in Patrick's not so distant future.)

Now a 4 day pass takes at least 8 days when you count the travel, which doesn't count as part of the pass. I left on Saturday from Eggers and convoyed up to BAF and I hope to get a flight out on Monday. Pat Meriwether was able to get the same time off so we are travelling together and hope to relax a bit. So far so good, we got a chance to watch some college football late last night and hope to catch some pro games tonight. It is nice not having any responsibilities for a little while.

Hanging out at Bagram for a couple of days is interesting. I have run into several people I know as many people must pass through Bagram to get back to their FOB (that is forward operating base). Bagram is pretty crowded and you run into a lot of people you don't know and make small talk while dining. Everyone has a story of where they are from and what they are doing in Afghanistan. You could ask the same question of so many people and everyone's story is different, amazing how diverse the group is in Afghanistan and yet how similar everyone's situation is; we are all in Afghanistan. I suppose you could do the same thing at any airport in the US.

So I am here in the computer room at BAF writing my update and letting you all know that I am well and looking forward to some time off. I hear that Qatar is pretty nice even though it is a bit of a hassle to get there. I will tell you about the trip in my next update.

This is a short update and I should have some good stories after my trip.

Peace to you all,

Pat

Non-Potable Water

Here is a sign you don't see often in the United States, "Non-Potable Water". The complete sign actually reads, "Non-Potable Water, do not drink or brush your teeth with this water." So this water is so bad that you don't even want it touching your lips or teeth for fear it may get into your system. Non-potable water is a term meaning the water is not fit to drink, of course it is OK to shower in. I am not sure what is in it because I left my portable water testing kit at home, but my guess is there are nice little germs in there just looking for a crevice to attack. Don't worry my skin is not falling off or anything like that and I am sure the rash will go away in time (just kidding).

We have plenty of bottled water here to drink and brush our teeth with so I make sure and brush my teeth once a week whether they need it or not. I thought about showering with bottled water but it was really hard to rinse my hair and I ended up with some really flat hair. So I take my chances with the water and will go through a deep cleaning when I finally get home. Maybe I can go to one of those stations where they spray you down after you have been in a building that has been infected with some rare airborne disease.

This week we had the DOD IG inspectors here. We gave some briefs and toured several facilities. I made sure to give them lots of tap water in hopes they would all get sick and the inspection would end sooner; I did not get any takers though. Actually, the inspections went well and they were a good group of guys.

Back on the homefront, our good friend Stacey was married. I have known Stacey for about 14 years and I have seen her grow up. It is hard to believe she is married now. Rebecca gave a lot of support, making favors, programs and flower arrangments. I am sure it was a wonderful event.

Peace to you all,

Pat

The Burn

Every Thursday night, the crew gets together and puts on a big burn. You might ask what are we burning? In the military we have lots of documents that cannot be thrown in the regular trash for fear that some terrorist may see sensitive documents... or maybe even personal love letters. So we make a fire in a big trash can and burn all the papers. Now don't get the wrong idea, it's not like we stand around the fire and recite strange incantations... although I have heard a couple people chanting something under their breath. I am sure they were just putting a curse on the Taliban.

So Thursday night everyone grabs their boxes or trashcans full of papers to burn and heads out to the burn pit. Often we will bring some near beer and cigars to make a big event of it. We have to find entertainment where we can. Of course, there are a few rules to the burn. Any piece of paper in the burn barrels is subject to scrutiny by all the burn members. Just to make it entertaining people often write up incriminating notes about others that happen to find their way into the hands of innocent bystanders. The notes are read aloud for all to hear and mock the individual who the note is supposedly to or from. Often the notes are invoices from specific on line purchases someone has made, I won't get into what weird things are alledgedly purchased.

There is also a "stick man" for the fire. This is an important job and takes a minor bit of training. You see as a fire burns and more papers are added, the fire can go out if the papers are thrown in without first separating them into small bunches. The "stick man"
stirs the fire to keep the flames going. He also must proclaim what a good "stick man" he is as he makes the flames rise 3 or 4 feet above the top of the trash can. He must also be careful he does not get burned as he moves the papers around to ensure all the scraps are burned.

Right now the burn gets a little hot and you can only stand to be the stick man for so long. I am sure when the cold weather hits, we will all be huddled around the fire and volunteering to be the stick man. So that is how we spend about an hour of our week, burning paper and telling stories on a Thursday night.

This week consisted of planning meetings and a couple visits to locations. We now have HUMMWV's due to recent incidents. Because I am one of the few people with a HUMMWV license here in CJ4, I do the driving. Good thing I had all that training at Fort Riley. We had a nice meeting with the Deputy Minister of Defense and with the head general of logistics for the ANA. We had a very nice lunch with the general which consisted of some grilled lamb, rice, potatoes, and some other stuff that I couldn't recognize. It was all very tasty.

I had several meetings with my leadership team developing plans and goals for the group. We then had a full team meeting with the entire Operations crew. We are making progress in building the team and identifying roles and responsibilities for everyone.

Back on the homefront, Rebecca turned 40. Hard to believe isn't it. She is not doing much celebrating as she is waiting for me to return. I did get her a ring and earrings with Sapphires that I bought here in Afghanistan. She said she really liked them. Ginny or Gamma, the kids Grandma, came to San Diego for a visit. Not sure they all have too many plans, but I am sure it will be a nice visit. My brother Matt who flies for FEDEX also made a visit over the Labor Day Holiday, the kids really enjoy seeing him.

Peace to you all,

Pat

General Order One

Being in Afghanistan has its challenges and it can be hard sometimes. It is especially difficult being away from our families for such a long time. A nice cold beer at the end of the day would certainly be enjoyable. Of course you have all heard that drinking is not allowed here. This is mandated by General Order One (GO1) which states in addition to no drinking, sex is not allowed either. Of course without drinking the possibilty of sex occurring decreases, or so I've heard.

We all live by GO1 so I was very curious the other day as I was shopping in our little exchange here at Camp Eggers. Right next to the razors, soap and shampoo... there were pregnancy tests. So I asks myself "Self, if there is no sex why do they need pregnancy tests?" Then just further down the aisle, I see condoms. So again I asks myself, "Self, if there is no sex, then why do they sell condoms and if the store sells condoms, why do they need pregnancy tests?"
This will just have to remain another one of life's mystery to me, but given the chance I would like to talk to the guy who orders the stock for the store.

Again while in the store... I really don't spend that much time there, I just happen to be the kind of person who notices things and I suppose you notice things more when you are far from home... I see they are selling vacuum cleaner bags. Not just any vacuum bags, these bags are for the Hoover Wind Tunnel, which I am told is a mighty fine machine. Guess what? They don't sell Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuums. I am sure this was just some oversight by the stock ordering person, but again, I would like to get into that guy's head. I am sure I could learn a lot.

I recall when I first got to Afghanistan, I knew all about GO1 (doesn't that sound much better or at least friendlier than General Order One). I was in the store and noticed they had a cooler of beverages (there I go again noticing things). Much to my surprise they had beer in there. I thought, what is this some cruel trick to get us in trouble? Did they think we would just pick it up only to get caught at the register with contraband and be forced to stand before the General to explain our actions? So while I was thinking about how to get the beer out of the store, I peered through the glass of cooler to notice that it wasn't real beer, it was near beer. The stuff that looks real but has no alcohol. Again, another cruel joke, tempt us and then fool us with fake beer. Well, I was not standing for this and I left in a huff with my two six packs. (Editor's Note: Sadly for Pat, here in San Diego the same keg purchased in December is in the kegerator behind our bar. Matthew, Pat's brother the FedEx pilot, is here on a layover this weekend and we made sure that the Karl Strauss was still good. I think the near beer torture is sufficient payback for the 20 months that I had to drink fake beer during the gestation of our two children.)

On to work. I told you about those GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) "we're here to help" auditors. We had a couple meetings with them and a site visit. Overall it went pretty well, they did not dig too deep, although I know they will be back. In addition to the audit preps and meetings, we continue to work on moving all the equipment to the Afghans. We have lots coming in and lots going out, still amazes me how much stuff an Army and a Police Forces needs. The team of people we have here are really great. Even though we work hard we find the time to laugh and joke and enjoy each other's company. You have to keep a sense of humor here.

Back on the homefront. I was able to get a video call in with Rebecca and the kids. Last time I tried, the computer kept freezing up... so it was not much of a conversation. This time I was able to see them but could not hear them. Perhaps a blessing, as I caught them in the mad rush to get ready for school in the morning. First week of school seemed to go alright for the kids. They like their teachers and they actually do like going to school. Rebecca told me about Thomas' STAR testing results. I am really proud of how well he did, he actually got a 600 out of 600 on the math portion; he must get that from his mother.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day. We will be working here, after all it is Labor Day and not Vacation Day.

Peace to you all,

Pat