Apologies to all....

The travel to get here has been quite the challenge, but we are finally at PRT Loghman.  The Internet that we can use to post to this and Facebook is in a different part of the Base, so still trying to work it in; basiclly we can't compose a post and put it on the blog via the same computer.  This site has a way to email it and post, so we will try that out and see what it looks like...all while conducting missions.

I personally don't recognize this place at all.  Soooooo much has changed since I was here 6 years ago.  That said, it was crazy to sit down with an Afghan government employee yesterday and see all his pictures and some of them had my old team in them.  We are all still getting situated and will be going full speed before you know it.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

CPT Love

Well, it was a good idea at first.....

....but I/we just couldn't keep up with weekly updates.  Since the last post, we have returned from Ft Polk and have been home-ish for a week of leave.  Some went places other than home, some did a bit of a hybrid (met family in another state).  Writing about the training seemed a bit repetitive, but also didn't seem to make much sense to "write home about".  As we make the final preparations for our overseas flight, I will leave you with the final three videos of our training created by our 'in-house' photo/video guy.  Next post will be from 'the other side'.....

CPT Love

More video

For those that don't know, we are now at Ft Polk, LA training at the JRTC with the unit that we will be working with in Afghanistan.  SPC Archuleta has been keeping a pretty good log of what we are doing, so we will go back and write it all up once we get a little time to do it.  Enjoy the videos until then.

CPT Love

two more new ones....

Things have been moving fast a furious.  Here is our video guy at work.....

Once a week....can he sustain this?

Enjoy....

Video time...

Another video created by our in-house photo and video guy.  Enjoy.

Where do I start?

So, it has been awhile since I have written anything and much has happened.  I have written this a few times and have just kept adding to the list for when I was able to complete something.  It took me getting sick (my allergies got the best of me) and being restricted to barracks that provided enough time to straighten out my thoughts and put them on paper. 

First off, we are all finally together here in wonderful Camp Atterbury, Indiana; both the CA team, and the other parts of the PRT.  It has been a crazy trek to get here, but it has finally happened.  We have all finished our language training and I again confirmed that I was destine to only speak one language; Immersion is the only way for me (and it sounds like the others too; except SPC Archuleta and SGT Carlson who picked it up pretty well).  I/we have (re)learned quite few phrases and have a good handle on the customs (again), just waiting to get in country and use them. We are working on more language training as the weeks progress, so we should be in better shape when we get in country.

We then moved on to what could really be considered continuing education for Civil Affairs.  More culture and history followed by an introduction to all of the civilian run (government and non-government) players on the battlefield and how they are operating.  For me, it was really good to get an update on the current operational environment and ask questions of the guys that are directly in contact or have recently returned from Afghanistan.  It was a bit frustrating to have to sit through with those that are hearing this for the first time and assume that they were the first one to ‘get it’ and felt the need to share with the class their ‘revelation’ as if they are now an expert. So is the life of a CA Operator.  We are used to it and are ready to answer questions when they arrive.

Shooting time!!!  This is when we all put in long days and really don’t care.  The whole team did very well.  The infantry guys were impressed and that means a lot.  Don’t take that as a slight on them, they are a very close knit group, and we need to prove ourselves to them.  SPC Archuleta smoked the M203 Grenade Launcher, so she got big props from the heavy weapons infantry squad we will be working with over the next year. We (CA) have qualified day and night on pistols, rifles, and some variation of a machine gun. This ends up being the highlight of our training since we don’t get a lot of time on drill weekends. I say that not having done any of the training that is “CA centric” (another one we ironically don’t get a lot of either) that is on the schedule.  It will all be fun in the end, and we will never turn down an opportunity to practice with no consequences other than a group laugh.

Tonight as I finish this up, our personal protectors of our freedom of movement will have to redo a task that will keep them from getting very little sleep in the next 48 hours.  It is a bummer that a silly misunderstanding discovered late has caused so much turmoil, but our guys just ‘rucked up’ and will get it done.  Good luck boys, shoot straight and stay warm.

CPT Love

FYI - For those that follow me on FB, I have made a change to my profile name.

It isn't a lot, but it's something....

This was created by our assigned Public Affairs Team.  it is a bit more than our first week; let's call it our first week of ranges.  I am keeping a running log of what we have been doing, but need still need to sit and line it all up and write something coherent.  The mood will not be lost....

CPT Love

Whoa....

Not ignoring everyone, just have not had a lot of time to compose something coherent.  Give me a few more days and I should have something good composed.

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

CPT Love