The Countdown

It is hard to believe that I have been on this journey for 59 days, only 481 to go, but who's counting. Well I am and I think Rebecca and the kids are too. It's not that I am making little tick marks on the wall like in prison, these are modern times... I am using a white board. Seriously though, it is amazing to think that just 2 months ago, I was home in San Diego not knowing for sure what I would be doing and now I am turning into an Army infantryman. I recall back then, thinking: why is a 41 year old man in the Navy going to a landlocked country across the world to perform a mission I do not understand? Now I look at what I am doing, and all the training I am receiving, and I know what I am and will do is worthwhile. I have had to make sacrifices and so has my family, but when my duty is complete, I am confident this will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Here is another count for you. Did you know this e-mail goes to 236 people. I guess that is what I get for letting Rebecca log onto my Gmail account and add recipients. If not for her, I am sure I would only have 50 or so on the list. I have heard from many of you that you are forwarding it on to others to read ... so there could be thousands reading these updates. I am glad most everyone is enjoying the updates, it certainly does put some pressure on me to be creative though, and I will continue to do my best. Occasionally, we do have times when the Internet availability here goes down, which happened last week. This can create some delays in my note getting out. Rest assured, I am on the job and I will get updates out, despite the technical difficulties.

This was a really fun and exhausting week. We sent a lot of rounds down range. That is Army speak for we shot a lot of bullets at targets at the firing range. We shot the M2 50 caliber machine gun during the day and night. This is a weapon you really want around when hundreds of insurgents are storming your position... or for you hunters out there, I am sure it would hit a few deer, turkeys, rodents or anything else you might want to stop in their tracks. We also shot the M240 and M249 (saw) machine guns. Very cool weapons, these might be something you see Rambo using as he is running through the woods. I am sure these would come in handy for when I am taking orders for supplies and people don't fill out their paperwork correctly. "I told you I need that form in triplicate!" That would straighten them out. Another cool weapon is the MK19, pretty much a grenade type launcher that blows up a small area, good for blowing people out of bunkers. Some of the best training we had was on foreign weapons. We shot an AK47, that is the Russian made rifle. We shot a Russian machine gun and sniper rifle. You might ask, why are we shooting Russian weapons? Well, the Afghan military uses these weapons and I suppose if we are going to be with them, we should be familiar with their weapons. I am sure the Russians left a few of these laying around after they went running home. For you WD-40 people, it was interesting to see that the guys using the foreign weapons had several cans of the WD-40 Smart Straw that they were using to lubricate the weapons. I took a picture of me with the can and the weapons together. It was on a disposable camera so I will have to mail the picture in to the office. I am sure we could use it for our future ad campaigns in Russia and Afghanistan. The US Army does not allow us to use WD-40 on weapons, they use CLP, a poor substitute.

So that was the fun part, shooting all the weapons. The exhausting part was staying out at the range until almost 2 am and then getting up the next day to do it all over again. Each day we went to the range we conducted convoy operations to get there. We would travel around in our HUMMWV's in a convoy and conduct training along the way. Most days we would travel in small teams, but one day we decided to go as one big group with 12 vehicles following each other. I was elected as convoy commander for the group. I am happy to say the evolution went off without a hitch. Our call sign for the convoy was "Sand Dog" and as we neared our destination, I came on over the radio and made the following announcement, "This is your Convoy Commander speaking, our destination is just ahead on the left. I hope you have enjoyed your trip and I thank you for choosing Sand Dog for your convoy travels. We know you have a choice in convoys and I hope you will think of Sand Dog for your future convoys." It was a little funny, other than that I was extremely professional. And guess what happens after you shoot all these weapons, that's right, you have to clean them. We had a big gun cleaning party on Friday afternoon and made those weapons shine. The Lava came in handy afterwards since our hands were all covered in carbon and oil. You see I still am a company man, two plugs for WD-40 products and here is a third, I am using X-14 to clean my bathroom and have shared some with others.

We ended our week with Combatives, if you recall that is the Army wrestling I mentioned in a previous update. As happens with guys, the testosterone starts flowing and some people get a little carried away. We had two people going all out in a match and it ended with an accidental head butt to a nose which resulted in a little blood and a possible broken nose. Boys will be boys. I, of course, was smart and operated at quarter speed to avoid any injuries.

I found out this week what I will be doing in Afghanistan. I am going to relieve a buddy of mine, Andy Bystrom, as the Central Issue Facility Commander. This is the Afghan military distribution network and is right in line with my background, so I am pleased with this news. Andy was deployed last year and I am sure he is eagerly awaiting my arrival so he can go home.
It was St. Patrick's Day this week, I hope you all enjoyed yourself. I of course had to live up to my name and have a few beers for the occasion.

Take care and peace to you all,

Pat

Everything is Relative

To my family and friends,

When we last left our heroes, we heard about the fine living conditions at Fort Riley. I must always remember, everything is relative (and relatives are everything), and after hearing of the concerns at Walter Reed Hospital, I suppose we don't have it so bad. (Editor's note: I beg to differ... here is a picture of the "facilities" out on the range.)
It has given me a new perspective on living conditions and also reinforced the idea that I do not want to get injured and go to the Army hospital so I will keep my head down. I am sure it would not be as bad as Tom Cruise in "Born on the Fourth of July" and who hasn't sat in soiled undergarments for a few hours. Not me. In reality, the media sensationalized the story about Walter Reed Hospital because it does make for a better story and that is what we are all about, good stories.

Speaking of stories, I shared one about the female Lieutenant who was having trouble with qualifying on the range. She has since been sent home and I think it was the best thing for everyone concerned.

This was a relatively light week (you see once again, everything is relative). We had lots of classroom training, go figure since the weather was actually pretty nice. I am sure the Army plans things this way, bad weather train outside, good weather sit in a classroom. They must have really good weather guessers. We also trained on our Crew Serve Weapons (those are the machine guns mounted on our HUMMWV's), we did not do any live firing but we learned how to take them apart and put them back together. They have lots of parts, much more than our M4 rifles or M9 pistols. Not to scare anyone, but we did have an entire class on IED's, those are the Improvised Explosive Devices I am sure you have all heard about. The class was all about how to recognize and avoid them and what to do if you do encounter them. What I really learned was to stay the heck away from them. I am hopeful the training will never have to come into play during my tour. We also had some classes on Detainee Ops, this was how to avoid another Abu Graab (not sure of the spelling). I guess we are not supposed to lead prisoners around by leashes with hoods on their heads and they are supposed to be given clothes. There were a few people in the class that were a little disappointed by this news; I will have to keep my eye on them. We also had a class in Traffic Control Points, I was thinking this could be a good fallback career working for CALTRANS creating traffic jams. This is actually important training on how to safely monitor vehicle traffic around the roads of Afghanistan. I am told there are roads there and not a single tollbooth, I will find out soon enough.

The majority of our week was spent on Military Intelligence. I know that is an oxymoron, however the training was very informative and useful. We learned how to be investigators, some real CSI type stuff. I am planning to submit the idea to CBS, CSI Kabul; you can never have enough CSI's. Hey they would still have a long way to go to catch up to the 8 Law and Order shows. I think I would cast Robert Downey Jr. as lead investigator, Hamed Hussein Abdul Al Assi. In the first episode, Hamed would be struggling with a Heroin addition, I think Robert Downey Jr. could play that well. You see that is funny because Robert Downey Jr had a drug problem and the major export from Afghanistan is poppy seeds for use in heroin. I thought I might have to explain my reference there for those who don't follow movies or Afghanistan's economy. So that would be just the first episode, I am sure there would be lots of stories to develop a long running series. Random thought: isn't it funny how you must say some people's entire name, like Robert Downey Jr.? It doesn't sound right if you just say Robert. I wonder what his friends call him? Did his parents intend for people to use his full name? He doesn't seem like a Bob. Or how about other famous people with just one name like, Madonna, Prince, or Cher. How do they sign their checks? When I get to Afghanistan, I will have to pose these important questions to the locals because they tend to use 5 names all strung together.

For those of you interested in what I did for entertainment this weekend, we chartered a 40 passenger bus and headed to Lawrence , KS (home of the Kansas, Jayhawks) to see a concert by The Red Jump Suit Apparatus. They are an alternative, slightly punk band whose base player is the son of our Commanding Officer. A good time was had by all.

A couple of pieces of big news from the home front. My Daughter, Madigan, got her cast off. She still sleeps with it next her at night for comfort, I guess you get fond of things attached to your body after a few weeks. Also, my brother Matt and his wife Dawn had a baby boy, Austin Matthew, on Monday. Congrats to them, your lives will never be the same, and I mean that in a mostly good way.

Until next time, this is Commander Wade, your GWOT (that is Global War On Terrorism) correspondent signing off. Stay safe and as Kasey Kasem says, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars". Kasey was best known for his America's Top 40 radio show, he was also the voice of Shaggy in Scooby Doo (bet you didn't know that one). He really was the Ryan Seacrest of the 80's.

Take care,

Pat

"It's not the Ritz"

To my family and friends,

Often I am asked about the accommodations here at Fort Riley and my simple answer is "It's not the Ritz". The Ritz Carlton is known for its great service and accommodations, in reality this place is not The Marriott either, I am not sure I could put it on par with the Motel 6, although I have stayed in some pretty bad hotels, but at least I did not have to share the room except with some roaches. You might think of this place like a college dorm room setting. I have 3 roommates, which is actually living in luxury as the majority of people live in 40 man bays with bunk beds lined up together. In addition, our room has its own bathroom so we do not have to fight for a stall or a shower. Of course this is a plus and minus depending on what we had for dinner that day.

At the end of this week I was very fortunate to get away from Fort Riley and relax at a friend's house. A good friend of mine, Pat Meriwether, who lives in Kansas City invited a couple of us over to his house for the short weekend. Pat and his wife Kathy had us over to relax and remember what a normal household is like. They have two kids Brannon and Elizabeth who are around my kids age and it reminded me of my own kids. I am really looking forward to seeing them at Easter. I truly appreciated their hospitality. I am writing this update in reverse order, kind of like one of those Quentin Tarrantino movies.

Saturday is somewhat of a stressful day if you have something to do on the weekend because everyone is trying to get out of here. It reminds me of my old Naval Academy days when we eager to get out for liberty. Part of the feelings come from the fact, that we shouldn't be working on Saturday anyway, and when you have a busy day it complicates things. So this Saturday was busy. Part of our training requirements are to execute convoy operations. This is where you have to get your team together on your HUMWWV's and convoy, think of that old song "Convoy" by CW McCall from the 70's, "Breaker One Nine, this is the Over the Hill Gang moving out". We do talk on radios but speaking in a Southern accent and calling people "Good buddy" doesn't work real well with the Army, I was informed of this during our training. Actually, there is a lot of planning that goes into a successful convoy operation. It is like planning a family picnic, someone is in charge of the maps and route, another is in charge of the supplies and someone else is in charge of the machine guns, we usually left them off during our family outings. In the end, we were successful in loading up and getting everybody out and back from our trip. Our destination was a classroom in another part of the post (base) where we practiced calling in gun support from artillery and aircraft resources. We finished the day around 6:30 PM and we were on the road for liberty around 7:00. Liberty is an interesting word, I think of freedom and that is what we are fighting for, during the week it is what we are looking forward to on the weekend.

We had a pretty fun day Friday, learning more Dari and preparing for our convoy. We also practiced a course called "Combatives" which is really just a form of wresting and choking people till they pass out. No one suffered any major injuries during this evolution and we did a get a pretty good workout. I must say the choke hold does work if you are interested in having someone pass out in about 10 seconds. I of course really don't want to be in situation where I have to fight hand to hand with the enemy, I figure things must have gone really wrong, if I get to that point. It might be handy for the bars around Manhattan though.

Earlier in the week we had various courses in understanding the organizational structure in Afghanistan, more language class and how to recover captured personnel. The week started out with a continuation of Combat Lifesaver where we had a couple of scenarios where we had to rescue injured personnel. One scenario was in dark building and we had to find casualties and administer first aid and get them out of the building. After my team completed this one I saw the Army guys do the same exercise but they used their night vision goggles so they could see in the dark. Now that would have been a good tip to know before rushing into this scene with our little flashlights. You live and learn. The second scenario was outside and we had to march in a patrol formation about a mile away and get some information from a contact out in the field. Of course we were wearing our full body armor during these drills and that adds a few pounds especially when you are trying to carry wounded people on a stretcher. Overall it was a great training evolution and our team did pretty well.

Some of you probably heard about the attack on Bagram in Afghanistan, it was on the news earlier this week. Vice President Cheney was visiting when the attack happened, he was unharmed. It reminds us all to keep vigilant.

Well that is all from Kansas until next time. I hope you and your families are all well.

Pat

Greetings from Mudville

Another week of long training days. One of the things about Fort Riley when the weather warms up a bit after having snowed is that the snow melts and it gets extremely muddy here. If you can imagine hundreds of people walking around through mud with their boots (most with two boots) and leaving a trail of mud where ever they go that is what it is like. If you ever yelled at your kids for tracking mud through the house, you would have a heart attack seeing all the dirt and mud tracked through all of the buildings. It was interesting to note that Lent started this week (for you Muslims out there, you can ignore this part). Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and unfortunately I was unable to get to church and get my ashes. I figured I had rolled around in enough mud and dirt and did some praying while doing it that I was OK to have missed it. As is traditional during lent, you are supposed to give up something during this season to represent the sacrifices of Jesus. So this year I have decided to give up my family, my job, my house and my way of life. I figure I should be good to go to with the Big Guy. OK so I was forced into those, I did give up coffee and soda for lent, pretty tough since I used to consume mass quantities of both.

Monday, we found ourselves back on the firing range. Some people had to get qualified on their M4 rifles and some had to complete their M9 pistol quals (some both). We also had to do night qualifications, where you fire in the dark with Night Vision Goggles (NVG's), that was pretty cool; the things actually do work. For those who have never used NVG's it is similar to using your night shot on your digital camcorder only people don't look so "Blair Witch Project". It was a long night and we did not get finished until after midnight after a 8 am start. We had a scary incident that evening. It was around 10:30 at night and pitch black out. I was standing around near the firing line waiting for some of my teammates to finish up their night quals when I noticed someone waiting to go to the line to shoot, shaking and making noises. I walked over to find a female officer holding her weapon and 3 clips of ammunition about ready to collapse. This woman is around 52 years old and was obviously worn out from the long day. I asked her if she was OK and she began screaming she just couldn't do it anymore and she was tired and wanted to go on the bus back to the barracks. Well that was all I needed, a completely distressed woman with live ammunition shooting rounds in the dark. Images of the movie Full Metal Jacket started going through my mind where "Private Pyle" is found preparing his weapon in the latrine. I chose not to do what that actor did and ask her what her major malfunction was and did her Mommy not love her enough. See movies are pretty good for training. I immediately took her clips (that is magazines with rounds) and her weapon and said you are done for the night. We took her back to a staging area and gave her some fluids and she waited around until the range was closed around midnight.

On to more fun stuff, we got to drive around in our HUMMWV's and go off-roading through the mud and through an obstacle course. We did some night driving with NVG's and that is an experience. All lights are out and you are driving in the dark looking through your goggles and just trying to stay on the road. I would not recommend this for a cross country trip. We also went in a trainer where they put you in a simulator of a HUMMWV and flip you upside down to simulate a rollover and then you have to get out of the vehicle while wearing all your gear. I wish someone had told me these trucks were prone to flip over, I might drive a little more safely. Needless to say, the wearing of seat belts is a good thing. The trainer was pretty good and we were all able to extricate ourselves from the vehicles with only minor scrapes. We also spent some time mounting our 50 cal and M240 machine guns on our trucks. These are big guns. The pictures I attached are not of these machine guns, I am holding my M4 rifle in full battle gear. I do look like I am ready for battle. Let's hope I am stuck behind a desk and don't have to use all this training, but I will be ready just in case.

Later in the week we did some communications training with our radios and had another round of practice negotiations. This is where you sit in a room with Afghans and play out a negotiation scenario. There is a tremendous amount of cultural learning that goes on in these sessions. We are also continuing our language classes. Not sure that any of us is getting much out of it as it is hard to understand the instructors English so his Dari is even tougher. I can count to ten though so here is another quick Dari lesson, counting from one to ten.
Yak, doo, se, chawr, panj, shash, haft, hasht, no, da. That was as easy as ABC, I mean 1,2,3.

We ended our week with Combat Life Saver, which is a first aid course with a kick. We saw lots of pictures of different wounds apparently to scare us in to taking this seriously. We all practiced our techniques to stop bleeding and other things. They used some sort of Kool Aid mixture to simulate blood. Then we topped off the week with giving each other IV's. Yes we all stuck each other with needles and attached saline drip solution IV bags to each other. I kept mine in for a while to hydrate as it was Saturday and I planned to dehydrate myself with a few beers later than night. At least you can rest assured that if I am out with any of you and you get a sucking chest wound, I will know what to do. More likely if you fall down and get a scratch I can put a band aid on you.

We have now completed 3 of the 8 weeks of actual training. It has been over a month since I left home and I am looking forward to getting a break. We did get word that we are closed for Easter so we get a 4 day weekend in April to see family. This training is kind of like having kids, the days are long, but the weeks are flying by. Well not really, but with kids that is how it goes. I am learning a great deal and overall enjoying the experience.

Take care,

Pat

Good Day Sunshine!

I thought about that famous Beatles song, "Good Day Sunshine" today as it was a beautiful sunny day here in Kansas. How appropriate since it was "Sunday". I am not sure what you get for Monday, I don't even know what Mon is. Perhaps it stands for Mono and if that is the case I definitely don't want that considering that is the kissing disease and all there are a whole lot of guys here. Of course the shining sun caused all the snow to start melting and created big pits of mud throughout the camp that was fun and challenging to navigate around. Ah, but it was sunny and almost 50 degrees so it was all good. Being from San Diego, I often neglect how the sun makes us feel and I take it for granted sometimes. Another thing we all may take for granted is how important our families and friends are to us. I am very fortunate and blessed with wonderful people who support and love me, being away certainly makes all of that very clear. It is worth spending some time reflecting on what's important in our lives.

So keeping with the music theme, I might have mentioned that we PT (that is physical training) in the mornings. For my team this consists of running around the compound, generally in the freezing cold. We run together as a group and if any of you military types can remember running in formation we used to sing some songs to keep us going and keep the group together. We have a Chief who remembered some of the old songs and he will sing cadence while we run. You may remember such great hits like, "My Grandma is 92, she PT's just like you" or who could forget "My girlfriend is a vegetable" or the classic "Left, left, left, right, left". Brings back memories, not all good, but memories just the same. I have loaded my favorites on my iPod so I can enjoy them at my leisure.

It was another busy week. We started out on Monday, with M4 rifle qualifications. It was a cold, rainy day and for those of you who like to shoot, these were less than ideal conditions. Probably good for a rugby match, but not so good for looking through a scope to see a target. We all have to remember though, the bad guys don't call off attacks on account of rain, so we pressed on and continued our day. I did not have too many problems and qualified relatively quickly, I am sure I could have done better in sunnier conditions but I made it through. Many did not do so well. Not only was it rainy, but it was cold, probably around 35 degrees not quite cold enough to snow. The longer you stayed out on the range zeroing your weapon (that is a task where you make sure your sights are set properly) and then trying to qualify, the colder and wetter you got. People were out there for over 5 hours many over 7 hours and we were expected to be out until 9 PM after an 8 AM start. Well after a few people were shivering so bad and could not feel their fingers anymore, some sense came over the Army and they called the day at about 4 PM. We actually had a few people sustain some cold weather injuries. It was quite a site seeing people soaking wet, covered in mud and freezing to the bone. I guess that is called good Army training. Since we had so few qualifications, we are back out on the range again on Monday to do it all over again. We are also going to qualify on the M9 pistol. Forecast is for 50 degrees and sunshine so it should go much better.

We also picked up our HUMMWV's this week along with some more weapons. We got 50 cals and M240 machine guns. We haven't had the opportunity to shoot them yet, but I am looking forward to blowing some holes in things. We also got some training on the Army's GPS system and some communication tools. Overall we learned a great deal and there is more to come.

Just so you don't think it is all work and no play. We did have an opportunity on Saturday night to go out in town. My team went out for pizza and beer at a local place called Old Chicago and then we headed out to some hangouts in Manhattan (Kansas that is not the Big Apple, although they do call the town the "Little Apple"). Manhattan is home to Kansas State University or as we locals call it K State. It is fun college town with a strip of bars and restaurants about 3 blocks long, we had a good time.

Back on the home front, we had some big news. My daughter Madigan, got her ears pierced. I wish I could have been there, I heard she was very brave and only said "ouch" when they made the holes. Now she is "blinged" out. Who knows, if i was there, I might have been motivated enough to get my belly button pierced.

Shortly after this brave episode, she had an accident in our backyard and broke her leg. She is now the proud owner of a hot pink cast from the top of her thigh to her toes. Of course she had to bling the cast too and it now has her name in rhinestones on it. She is very stylish.

Thomas hasn't broken anything this week, but did have a chance a week ago to try and blow some things up as he built a rocket with his "Uncle Gordy" and Gordy's son Colin. Rebecca seems to be handling things OK, of course it is tough, I really did do a couple things around the house.

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day, it was business as usual around here. Of course the Navy's policy is "Don't ask, don't tell" so even if I knew of any romantic behavior among the sailors, I could not tell you.

Take care,

Pat

Assalamu alaykom!

No I did not have a spasm while I was typing the subject line of this e-mail, although it does look like that. I am merely saying hello or really, peace upon you, in Dari the official language of Afghanistan. So this is your first language lesson, it is pronounced just as it looks if you can figure that out, in any case peace to you and yours from Kansas. The short version of this is to just say "Salam" just like the meat without the "i", of course I don't think the Afghans eat salami so it would be a poor reference if any of you were Afghans or Muslims.

We started our "official" training after finishing all our mandatory training requirements (we call it death by powerpoint) and receiving all our gear. We ended up with over 4 full seabags (that is a big duffle bag for you civilians) of stuff. We also received our M4 rifles and M9 pistols. The heaviest thing we got was the kevlar vest which weighs almost 50 pounds, it is kind of like wearing a fat suit that stops bullets (not that I want to test that) and protects you against bumping into large objects as you stumble around from all the weight. So it is actually pretty useful. When we have our full gear on including helmet we look like the kid, Randy from a "Christmas Story" as his mother is getting him ready to go out in the cold. Speaking of cold, it is unbelievably cold here in Kansas, I think they set up the weather like that so we would get used to freezing our buns off because Afghanistan gets really cold. Kabul is over 11,000 ft in elevation so a little less atmosphere to protect us. I am sure we will have an oxygen deprivation tank training session to get us used to the elevation (not really). I don't know how we will train for the heat because it also gets pretty hot over there as well. I am sure sitting in a sauna with full gear on would do the trick. We actually did learn that Kabul has over 300 days of sunshine so it is just like San Diego except without beaches, nice buildings, great weather, people who speak English, bikini clad women, freeways, nice restaurants and OK you get the picture it is nothing like San Diego, but I hear it is beautiful from the travel brochures.

So this week was incredibly busy. We had Cultural Immersion for three days. Not that you could learn everything about a culture in 3 days, but they tried. We learned about the country and the people and it really was quite interesting. We had language classes, which is how I was able to come up with that catchy subject line. We also learned about religion. Afghanistan is about 99% Islam (you might call them Muslim, same difference). The majority are Sunni Muslims and the minority is Shia (I hear they don't get along). I am not sure where those 1% are hiding, but I bet they are probably just atheists who refuse to respond to official surveys. It is estimated that the literacy rate is only 20%, again not sure how they figure it out because who likes doing surveys, I guess if you don't respond you are illiterate, maybe that is what happened to Alabama, they just don't like surveys. Sorry to you folks from Alabama. This week was also filled with weapons familiarization. Fortunately, I was somewhat familiar with the weapons but it was good training. We also got to shoot on a range simulator, kind of like a X-Box but with guns with laser beams. It really gave you a feel for shooting the M4 rifle. I am not a big video game guy, but if you were it would really give you a leg up, so if you get a chance play one of those special forces video games they have at the arcade. I am happy to say that I can take apart my M4 in 65 seconds and put it back together in 90 seconds and I usually only have a couple parts leftover (just kidding).

Some additional training we had was on communications training, this was how to set up and operate the various radios the Army uses on its vehicles etc. They say this is a basic skill that every soldier/sailor needs, I think we will need to review this again, but I am sure everyone will get it. They are basically $90,000 walkie talkies with high security that can be dropped from the top of a building without breaking. Just like anything they need batteries and if the batteries die and you don't have backup they are pretty much rocks. We also had MCP training, that is mounted combat patrol training, how to operate a convoy. MCP, just one of the thousand Acronyms we have to learn from the Army so in addition to learning Dari (that is the official language of Afghanistan, I referred to this earlier in the e-mail, but since this thing is getting a little long, I figured I would refresh your memory, I forgot to mention that about 40% of the country speaks Pashtu so I guess I will hope that my little bit of Dari will suffice), so where was I? Oh yes, acronyms, so learning Dari and all the Army speak is very interesting. Here is a lesson in Army while I am thinking of it. HOOAH! This is a "word" the Army guys use when they see each other, when they like what someone said, when they cheer, or when they get something caught in their throat, so it is good for just about any occasion. Actually, it is HUA (look at that another acronym, who'd of thunk it), it stands for Heard, Understood, Acknowledged, they just seem to have taken it beyond its original intent. Interestingly, many services have some form of guttural sound they utter. The Army has HOOAH, the Marines have OORAH, the Seals have OOYAH, the Airforce has LOOKOUT, I think, but the Navy does not seem to have a sound, so we thought about it here and came up with ARGH. Appropriate with the pirate theme and old time sailors, so ARGH to you all. OK, back to MCP, this was another pretty cool video simulation of driving around HUMMWV's (these are the military version, not the GMC H2 Hummer) and going out on patrol and dealing with insurgents who either attach your convoy or place IED's (Improvised Explosive Devises) on roads. Don't worry, IED's are pretty limited in Afghanistan, more prevalent in Iraq, but very dangerous. The greater worry in Afghanistan is land mines which have been placed throughout the country by the multiple wars the country has gone through. Again not to worry here, we were issued really long sticks as part of our gear so we are able to test them before we step on them (for you skittish people, I am kidding, they give us rocks which have a greater range).

So the days are long. A typical day starts out waking at 0515 (5:15 AM) and then PT (physical training) at 0530 (I am sticking with the military time, those who don't don't know how to tell military time are going to have to learn). Did I mention it is cold here, well PT in the freezing cold is not what I would call fun or healthy, after we finally work up a sweat, we have to walk in the cold ensuring that we get sufficiently chilled to neutralize our immune systems to receive all incoming attacks from germs. After PT we shower (yes we do shower, no bubble baths here, so you people who enjoy a relaxing bath, might have a problem) and then get some chow (that is food). The food is fine, nothing fancy but OK. After that we either head off to a training class or to one of the various other site training evolutions. We do get a lunch break which sometimes is an MRE (that is a fancy term for Meals Ready to Eat, full meals that come in bags, but can withstand a nuclear attack and still be eaten). They are not quite a frozen dinner meal, but I did have a very nice Turkey Tetrazina this week that was not bad. Better than some who had the franks and beans which caused the expected side effects that are not pleasant when you are in a room of 150 of your closest friends with no escape. It did keep us awake during the lectures though, even if we could not breathe or see with our eyes tearing up. I thought for a moment it was part of the training as a simulated poison gas attack, but then noticed the franks and beans packages and I relaxed and enjoyed the lecture. After the training sessions which go sometimes as late at 2000 (OK, I will help you on this one, 8 PM), we get to go back to our rooms relax and get ready for the next day.

I think the highlight of my week, besides getting to go out off post (that is Army speak for Base) and drinking beer, was a lunch I had with the Commanding General of US Forces in Afghanistan, General Durbin (may have spelled his name wrong). He was joined by the General of the ANA (Afghan National Army) and the General of the Afghan Security Force. They were visiting from Afghanistan to see how the ETT (Embedded Training Teams) training was going. 6 Officers were selected to join them for lunch at the DFAC (that is the galley for you Navy types) and we had some great conversations. It was interesting to hear direct from the Generals how they think things are progressing in Afghanistan and they were incredibly positive and enthusiastic about how well things have progressed. General Durbin has developed such a strong relationship with his Afghan counterparts, they consider him their brother (that is a big deal) and the Afghan Generals were so grateful to him and the US. It really was a very positive meeting, I was very fortunate to have this opportunity.

So it was a busy and eventful week and I will continue to move forward with training and learn everything possible to do my job to the best of my abilities. I think keeping busy makes the time pass and we are learning a ton. And of course we do get Sundays off so we can recuperate, I mean relax.

For those who want the address here it is below.

CDR Patrick Wade
Bldg 7006, D Co, 101st FSB
Class #17, Team: URF 8631
Fort Riley, KS 66442

Tashakor (that is Thank You)

Pat Wade