First Post...

My purpose for this blog is to keep everyone at home informed, and to (hopefully) provide all of you a better idea of how the War (or to be politically correct, our 'overseas contingency operation') in Afghanistan is going. It's your 'generous' tax contributions that make this happen, the least we can do is provide updates on how your 'investment' is doing.

A few comments regarding how I see this blog unfolding over the next year...

First and most important, I will do my best to refrain from identifying myself and others in this blog by name. Bottom-line, the enemy has internet access too. Additionally, I will do my best to abide within the DoD's OPSEC program/policies. Obviously, anyone who knows me will quickly recognize me in pictures, etc. The point is to deny those who may not have the best of intentions from knowing anymore than they already know.

For those of you who may not know, this will be my second deployment to Afghanistan. My first deployment was from 2004-2005, as a platoon leader with B CO 1-168 IN, Shenandoah, IA. I have uploaded a few pictures from the 2004-2005 deployment to get started, and I intend to upload pictures/videos from both my Afghan deployments as I find the time (click on the photos to open full size in another frame).

If you have any questions regarding this blog, the deployment or anything else, email me at oef2011@gmail.com, and I will post my response to the blog (no, I will not identify who asked the question). Chances are that if you have a question while reading this blog, other readers are wondering the same thing. I only ask that you identify yourself if you think I won't recognize your email address, so I have an idea as to who I am corresponding with.

Last, I have no idea how often I will be able to update this. As of now, internet access while I'm Stateside will be limited, and I suspect there will be only limited updates until later this Fall. I know, crazy as it may sound, I have to wait until I arrive in Afghanistan before I have regular/reliable internet access. To be brutally honest, this blog may or may not "take off." I will do my best to get it off the ground and keep it going. However, our mission comes first, and if time does not allow me to focus on this, I know you'll all understand. Thanks in advance for your prayers, support and understanding.

Lee, 21 JULY 2010.