last pictures ever...

...from Afghanistan only though. Didn't think I could give up taking pictures for good now did you?
So our trip out of Afghanistan began on 2 November when we left from Camp Stone in Herat to Camp Phoenix in Kabul. The flight went relatively smoothly, and having a 2-star General on board, the guy in charge of all US forces in Afghanistan actually, made a quick flight even quicker. And after landing at Kabul International Airport (KIA) I was expecting a 2-hour wait for the shuttle to Camp Phoenix, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the shuttle waiting for us.
We ended up sitting around with little to do at Camp Phoenix but enjoy the last of the free Baskin Robbins ice cream with lunch and dinner. We were first told we would have to fly to Bagram, a 10-min flight from KIA, to catch our flight to Kuwait. But then the military does come to its senses at times and we had a flight scheduled directly from KIA to Kuwait. We woke up before the sun on the 7th, shuttled to the airport and checked in for our flight that we boarded a little after 9 am. For some reason, first the plane was to heavy to leave then the weather kept us from taking off, we sat on the plane for close to 4 hours. No food on board, just water as we anxiously awaited our departure. And leaving Afghanistan is the only thing we hoped for regardless of how late and how hungry we might be, and we eventually did take off on our 3.5 hr trip a little after 1 pm
So here I am now in Kuwait waiting for the 14th to come and my flight to Amsterdam at 1:35 am with follow-on to NYC and Norfolk, VA.
Here are my final pictures from Afghanistan, a country I hope never to see again. There are a few from our trip to the Herat airport, my last sunrise from Kabul on the 7th, a happy me, and our plane from Kabul to Kuwait.

Army COM

My time in Herat is rapidly drawing to an end so I thought I would make one last entry from over here, I might have one or two more before I become a free man again. I will be leaving Herat tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon and spend a few days in Camp Phoenix in Kabul. One day there is one day too many as far as I am concerned, but at least it will be on the way out of here this time. Then we will be flying to Kuwait for 3-4 days to turn in our weapons and equipment and attend a few briefings. After that, it will be on to Norfolk, VA on 13 November. Apparently my flight will be from Kuwait to Baltimore on a charter, then most likely on a commercial flight to New York City before going down to Norfolk. I know, doesn't make sense to me neither to have to fly north to fly south! And after a few days in Norfolk for medical exams and administrative issues I will be a free man again and looking for a home, but I thankfully have friends that will accommodate me so graciously until I find that home. I could use some help from the stock market as well!
Anyway, about my time here, I will say that I would never have volunteered to come over here, and I cannot say I enjoyed most of my time here. I was never really busy or busy enough to make time go by faster, and my duties were fairly benign. I will say that it has been a very interesting experience to say the least, and interacting with Afghan military personnel can be fascinating at times, such a different culture and frame of mind. I will also say that I have enjoyed to a certain extent interacting with US Army personnel but am glad I chose the Navy. These are two different organizations with different mindsets and ways of carrying out business, and I guess they each work. To my benefit, I have noticed that it does not take much to impress the Army, or maybe they were just being polite. And as people who know me, I am never one to look for additional work, and the law of least effort certainly applies to me. Why do more work to get the same job done?
Other than that, I have had to attend many meetings that I will most certainly not miss, have had to prepare briefings and presentations that I will most certainly not miss, and have had to live in a wooden cabin with 20 other people that I will certainly not miss. I have enjoyed working with the Italian military, great espresso, but their work ethic could be better.
So, guess that sums it about up for me, I received an Army Commendation Medal for my time spent over here, looks like I must have done some work to deserve it and I guess I have, but I feel like I really didn't do all that much. It must just be a matter of perspective then, maybe I expect more of myself while being happy doing as little as I can. Contradictory?

road inspection

I was asked to go on this humanitarian mission to inspect this road that was being improved, essentially just being smoothed out to allow for easier traffic. It still is very much a dirt road, and we drove down this road to inspect the work done on it and talk with local Afghans about any future projects they might want done to their neighborhood.
We almost brought down a mud wall with our humvees when we had to drive around or onto mounds of dirt being used for the road work, but it wasn't anything a little mud could not fix.












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Khoson

I volunteered my driving services for another humanitarian aid mission, this one had us driving out to Khoson, about 20 kms from the Iranian border. It was about a 1.5 hr drive, most of it on a paved road paid for by the Iranian government. There is a strong Iran presence in this part of the country, they paid for the aforementioned road from the border to the city of Herat, for mosques, they provide the power, and Iranian TV is broadcast. So these HA missions we are involved with not only help the Afghan people but also show them that the US and Afghan armies are also here to help them, not just Iran.
And it was an occasion for me to see more of the country as well as drive a HMMWV, always fun even if the air conditioning is not always working or has to be turned off to prevent the engine from overheating as it would try and do on the way back.
Here are a few pictures, and more can be found on Flickr (linked below)...











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gone on a HA mission

It had been over four weeks since I had returned from my vacation and hadn't had the opportunity to leave the camp, so I thought I'd volunteer to drive on a humanitarian mission this past Tuesday, this one was to go to a road opening ceremony about 20 mins away from the camp. Roads are a big thing over here, very few are paved, so any work to improve one of the dirt roads is welcomed with great fanfare. If anything it will allow the insurgents a quicker path to deliver their IEDs and other weapons of destruction.
There isn't too much exciting to add to this mission other than I sat inside the HMMWV (hummer for us not versed in military speak), and the A/C was not quite working but did a stupendous job at blowing hot air inside the vehicle. And I killed the two or so hours I spent inside my rolling oven people watching, I saw young and old, boys and girls, men and burkhas!














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