bagram

Quick update. I made it to Bagram 3 days ago. We left California on the 15th via a commercial charter. We made stops in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Leipzig, Germany before arriving in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at Manas International Airport. We spent 48 hours in Manas, then departed on a C-17 Globemaster for the final flight to Bagram.

Initially, I intended to 'report' some of my initial thoughts/impressions in returning to Afghanistan in this post. However, it's clear to me now that some things may be best left unsaid for awhile. Too many emotions in returning to this place.

I took plenty of pictures along the way, and will try to post them soon. Until then.

Goodbye California

Just a few last pics from California to share. It's an NTC tradition for units to paint a rock, signifying the end of their training rotation. Our Brigade, as well as some of our subordinate Battalions took part, marking the end of Rotation # 10-10. The first pic is from the Battalion that I used to be assigned to, 1-168 IN. The second pic is our Brigade rock. I was able to scratch my name in on it prior to the clear coat being painted on...so hopefully it lasts many years.

Also, as you can probably tell from the pics, we began wearing MULTICAM today. I have no opinions yet on what to think of the new pattern, we'll see how it holds up overseas.

title pic

I decided to add a pic to the blog title. I think I'll reformat the blog after I get settled in at Bagram. The title picture was taken on "Brigade Hill" here at NTC (mentioned in an earlier post). We're packing bags and cleaning weapons right now, should be on our way tomorrow. Lee.

leaving soon...

Just a heads up that I will be leaving soon for Afghanistan. Most of the Brigade is heading back to Camp Shelby for a few more weeks. A few of us are heading over to Afghanistan early to prepare for the Brigade's arrival. My next post will likely come from over there. See you then.

reading list updated...

I updated my reading list.

1984 by George Orwell was okay, although I enjoyed Animal farm more. Most interesting was his vision of negative utopia, an advanced socialist society (what happens when socialism has it's opportunity to continue for years on end). His foresight from the 1950's is incredible, as some of the things mentioned in the book have since become very true.

The Principal of the Path was great. Andy Stanley has a very simple way of bringing to light his observations for how to make 'course corrections' in life. A huge thanks to Pastor Mike for giving me the book. After I finish reading books, I normally send them back home, so I can someday reference them again. This book however, i have decided to keep in my bag. I feel I will reference it often.

One other note...Thanks to my cousin Justin for offering some great advice regarding my 'ambitious' reading list. Put simply, he advised that the more time I spend in this many books, the less time I have to spend in the Bible. I doubt I would have realized this on my own. I am taking his advice to heart, and will likely shorten the list after arriving in Afghanistan. Thanks Justy.

prayer list...

I went to update my prayer list just now, and realized that no update is needed. Please keep our family and this list in your prayers. I have particularly struggled in keeping with my daily devotions since our time in the box began almost 3 weeks ago. Although 38 hour stretches with no sleep are probably an acceptable excuse at the time, it does interrupt the routine I was able to establish.

Also, one additional request. Shane, a Sergeant in our section was notified tonight that his father died of a heart attack in Waterloo earlier today. He will be heading back to Iowa tomorrow morning. Please pray for his safe travel, and for the family.

mre

I'm sure most of you know that when we're in the field, the Army largely sustains itself on MRE's, which stands for Meal Ready to Eat. MRE's have not changed too much since I joined the Army 15 years ago. One major improvement was the addition of MRE heaters, as pictured above. You place your packet of food down into the bag and add water, causing a reaction with a chemical packet inside. The reaction produces heat, which warms your meal.

What I found interesting is the instructions on the heater. For the record, most Army instructions, manuals and classes are presented at the elementary level, in order to accommodate even the most uneducated soldier. The instructions show a picture of a meal propped up against an object. Inside the object, it reads "rock or something." As you can see in the picture, I used a rock for this particular meal. I guess they wanted to ensure beyond all reasonable doubt that soldiers understand that you can use anything, or 'something' to prop up your MRE heater while it heats your meal.

Random post, maybe no one else will find it funny, but I did. Keep in mind that anything is funny to me after 2 weeks of hard training.

FOB DENVER

Well, I made it back to FOB WARRIOR a couple of days ago. The last couple weeks have been exhausting. The training went very well, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I never wish to do another rotation here at NTC. It was brutal. However, I feel we are much better for going through it, and hopefully an Army saying will hold true for us...the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.

I didn't have the opportunity to take many pictures. Above are a couple of pics. The top one is the TOC, which we set up and tore down agian. The bottom pic is of "the dome." The dome served as our Brigade headquarters at FOB DENVER, which is where we stayed during our 2 weeks in the box.

brigade hill

Toward the end of our time in the box, I was tasked to be part of a group that ensured our Brigade flowed back to NTC main post in a 'civilized' manner. Our movement out of the box consisted of hundreds of vehicles, and thousands of soldiers. With only a map, a matrix of how the units were to move and a radio, our group set up on top of a hill appropriately named "Brigade Hill," and controlled the movement. It was the only chance I had to get out away from FOB DENVER, so I made the most of it.

Brigade Hill is also home to a 'mosque' that was built as part of the training scenario here. The top pic is a panoramic of the view, with the mosque in the photo to the right.

The third pic was our set up of maps and movement tables on the hood of the humvee. In my personal experience, I have finalized more plans and battle tracked more units from the hood of a humvee than just about anywhere else. Sometimes I wonder why we spend so much time and resources on electronic systems for battle tracking...simple always works best in my opinion. I suppose there are times when other methods are required, however this movement was not one of them.

The fourth pic is the view of the units flowing out, approx. 1/2 mile away from us.

my cover.

In the Army, we do not wear hats, caps or berets. Okay, we do, but that's not what we call them. We wear our "cover." The manner in which you wear your cover tends to say a lot about you as a solider. If your cover is messed up, than chances are, so are you. Your cover goes with you wherever you go, and is always nearby. Above is a picture of the inside of my cover. I copied a verse inside it awhile back, which is a reminder that no matter how tired and exhausted I may become, there is always rest to be found in Christ.

The verse is Matthew 11, 28-30. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

In three days, we will be changing uniforms. We are switching from the 'new' digital pattern to MULTICAM, which is a camouflage pattern designed specifically for Afghanistan. Our Brigade is the first in the U.S. Army to be fully issued MULTICAM prior to deploying to Afghanistan. With the new camoflauge comes a new cover, and I haven't yet decided what verse to inscribe in it. If anyone has any ideas, please respond to the comments section underneath this post, or email me.