This too shall pass....

Sorry for the delay, some of us have made a move to Indiana and the internet access setup is a little different.  Even as I type this I am trying to figure out how to post it.  Regrettably, it will be a bit before we get some pictures posted; I/we just don’t quite have a solid way to get them uploaded….yet.  That will change once we get everyone in the same place and can get the pictures in one spot.

Even though we are not all co-located, we are all conducting Language and Culture training.  Speaking for just for me, It has been a while since I have dealt with the Afghan languages (Dari and Pashto)….I still have some Arabic stuck in my head (the irony is, for the first two months I had Dari and Pashto stuck in my head when I was in Iraq).  I am by no means proficient in any of the languages, but the Pashto (and some Dari) is starting to come back (I had some Dari training before our last deployment).  The cultural discussions are good for brushing the dust off and help make the transition to the Afghan ‘state of mind’; I am basically learning/refining my abilities to conduct myself in the most effective way.  We are also starting to meet some of the other people that we are going to be spending the deployment with.  So far it is just our Air Force personnel that will be supporting us on the on base medical functions (Physicians Assistant (PA) and two medics).  The rest will follow on soon enough.

Speaking of AF medical personnel…this war is getting too small.  I have run into the PA that I had with us on the last Afghanistan rotation I was on.  The thing that makes it so crazy is that she is in the Air Force! They do these overseas rotations much different than we do, so to run into her 5 years later on a deployment on the same schedule is just crazy.  She won’t be going to the same base I am this time, but was actually offered it during her in-processing (that would have been WAY too weird).

Those of us in Indiana are doing our best to make the transition less stressful.  We are having to remember how to live in a close quarters barracks environment with near 24/7 exposure to each other.  Dealing with the guys that snore, sharing limited shower time, and community everything isn’t exactly something that comes automatic regardless of the number of years of Army experience any of us have.  It isn’t like we are back in basic training again, but many parallels can be drawn comparing the first two or three weeks of that against what we are going through now.  For instance, little things like having people that like to smack/chomp/pop gum like a 14 year old jr high girl, add in some rank with different reporting channels/armed forces and tempers can get short…quick (this is my personal favorite/current hell).

I'm poking the other team members about blogging what is going on with them, but they are a little shy about it.  Little help

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