Sometimes....

I question how does a month go by when it seems like a week has barely pasted?  I am currently on forced R&R leave.  I opted to go to Ireland.  before I left, SPC Archuleta sent out her weekly-ish email she has allowed me to share it again....I think I am going to have her make me write this one once a week as well.

"Hello from Mehtar Lam,

After returning from Kandahar things slowed down a little and I was tasked with getting the office organized…sound familiar?  We are currently all organized in binders, drawers, calendars and bulletin boards. All is good now (had to order some more Post-it’s though).  I have temporarily been the Interpreter Manager while SGT Lang is out on R&R.  I have spent the last three weeks scheduling the 10+ interpreters that work for the PRT and working on their payroll.  I have really enjoyed getting to know them and I ask them a daily cultural question; sometimes my questions start a long discussion (like their belief in ghosts – that one is still going!).  I am reading the Quran and we have discussions about having 4 wives and other interesting religious beliefs.  It is a neat group of guys and it’s been fun learning their culture. I feel like their mom trying to keep them out of trouble, where they are supposed to be and spending time with them but, thank God I do not have 10 boys to raise full time.

Upon my return, I had to prepare a slide show to brief the PRT about the Female Engagement Team training I attended. My Commander has tasked me with organizing a team here.  I have been meeting with the other team that is getting ready to leave Afghanistan and see how we can help keep their programs going.  I am meeting people like the Afghan Gender Director that works for the Director of Women’s Affairs and the eight departments under them.  I have decided to focus on economic improvement for the women in Laghman Province, especially widows and elderly.  As sad as it might sound, my goal is to in some way make them more valuable to the family….you have to start somewhere.  I will start going on missions that are focused on this goal when I return from my R&R in September.

 

One of the highlights to date - Major General Daniel Allyn, Commanding General of the First Cavalry Division and Combined Joint-Task Force 1, visited our FOB.  Five Soldiers were chosen (out of roughly 1000 people on the FOB) to be introduced to the General. I was the only female, the rest were guys - either mildly injured or Snipers. I was introduced by my Commander “as the only Civil Affairs Female in our PRT who just returned from Female Engagement Team training. “She was asked to stay an additional week by the (FET) creator for her knowledge and professionalism.” The Commander told the General that I was an outstanding Soldier and “an asset to not only our PRT, but the mission here in Afghanistan.” If I wasn’t standing at attention and so nervous I would have looked behind me to see who he was talking about; surely not me. As the General shook my hand I received an “Awarded for Excellence Coin”. It is my first coin and everyone around here teases me about the “coaster” I received because it is so big and heavy. The five of us then ate lunch with the General and spoke with him for a couple of hours. I talked about the 16 or so missions I have been on and what I hope to do with the female engagement team. It was a cool experience and honored that I was nominated by different people in my PRT.

I went with the Engineers on a quality control check mission in Qhargayee to visit the mosque being built.  It is always neat going up to the mosque, knowing how important it is to the locals and watch the progress. As seems to always happen, as soon as the local children realized I am a female I had a lot of them come and talk to me. The younger ones want to shake my hand or slap it. I think it’s their way of showing off to me, but they hit my hand pretty hard sometimes. We also went to a bridge on this trip and my job is to talk to the people wherever we go. We recently have had a problem with a kid that throws rocks at our vehicles. We have had to replace a very expensive window already and not sure what the issue is. This time we arranged with the convoy commander to stop and talk to the locals if it happened again. Good thing we did. The minute it actually did happen, I had to get out of the truck nearly as fast as the squad leader did to keep him from killing the kid. After I calmed the squad leader down I coached the conversation so we were talking about “disrespect”. We spoke to the men that were working in the area and we were told they were “just kids being kids”.  Disrespect is taken very serious here and it can have serious consequences. The rocks being thrown are huge boulders and cause a lot of damage and this time almost hit the gunner. The local men suggested we meet with the village Elder or Mullah to find out why the boy throws the rocks. Eventually, the local police came up and said they would help to keep it from happening again. The squad leader did tell me when he got back in the truck that he was glad I was there. I think it is funny sometimes what happens on missions and who I am really there for.

 I posted some pictures from the multi day dismounted Op we went on. I didn’t necessarily take to the idea of going out on a mission to look for Taliban and IED’s, but my job is to be part of the Civil Affairs element to talk to people, especially women that we may encounter. We left in the evening and walked through the village in the dark. It felt really odd walking through a village for about six hours; I found myself wondering if anyone was going to be out or what might happen. Thankfully there was moon light so you could see pretty well (we have night vision gear as well). We would stop every now and then and take a break. I was happy to stop and take my assault pack off and sit for a bit. We did not find too many people out, but we passed a mosque where a lot of men were praying. The leader stopped praying on the loudspeaker and you have to wonder what they are thinking as a very large group of soldiers march by in the dark. At one point we had to wait in a (dry) rice field to get other elements in place.  Somehow, I fell in an irrigation ditch and got only one boot muddy and wet.  As I sat in the middle of the field, listening to every noise, I watched the infantry guys move around the security position with my night vision gear. It isn’t really like camping because in the back of your mind you can’t help but think I really don’t want to get shot sitting here. We did not stay long and continued to walk through the village. Finally around 2 am we stopped for the night in an open area past some buildings. Unfortunately, at this time I got (what was) my first 1000 ml IV. I was able to fall asleep for a couple hours. When I woke up, it turned out we were in very large open area behind some schools.  And, just like everywhere else we go, we were “surrounded” by kids and men (curious I am sure) wondering why we were there. To complete the ‘camping trip’ every girl’s dream/fear – having to go to the bathroom.  We were quite fortunate to have some ‘facilities’ near us….well, kind of.  After ‘clearing’ (not joking) the stalls in a small building with a wall around it, and posting a guard (CPT Love) I experienced “squatting” over a tear-shaped small hole in the ground to … take care of business.  Add that to my Afghan experiences! After that, I was able to talk to a group of kids about the schools we were close to. They explained that school is out right now, but the buildings were a school for girls and a school for boys. They were very excited to tell me what grade or as they call it what “class” they were in and what subjects they liked best.  Most of them said religion was their favorite subject. They were practicing the English they have been learning in school, asking me questions in English and naming all the body parts.  I taught them a few new things and they did a great job at trying to pronounce “it’s very nice to meet you”. As always, the kids are great. They are really interested in why a girl is there and sometimes ask me funny questions or want to see how strong I am. They like to touch me or shake my hand and have me take their picture.  The Afghan Police and Afghan Army guys treated me really well too. They let me play with the RPG. (CPT Love told me I cannot trade my grenade launcher in for one) The Afghan Army guys showed me how to hold it and showed me the different rounds they have for it.  We then walked back into the village again. We continued to walk for several hours through villages, back yards, farm animals, and rice fields before taking up our predetermined position; quite the surreal experience. It was very warm and humid. During our time there, we heard shots fired from far away.  We sat for a while so it could be assessed where the shots were coming from.  It was strange sitting low on the ground and the rice plants being tall enough to hide me. It was the middle of the day and we ran out of water. I did not take the heat so well so I ended up getting an IV…..again (another 1000 ml). After a while we made our way back into the village and waited for the water to be delivered to us. (4 hours late) Adding to the adventure, we rested along a stream of water under some trees, and oddly enough, behind a cemetery. We had several kids follow us to this spot and they continued to talk to all of us.  Since we really didn’t have much choice, we opted to give them some empty water bottles to fill (we did insist and check it was well water). Blessed with a chance to recover, I was able to talk to a lot of the kids.  The highlight was talking to a young girl (10) who was actually asking to talk to me. While I was talking to her, the baby she was holding reached out to me and I was allowed to hold him.  He was a year old and had more eyeliner on than I wear. He was very quiet and just looked at me as I spoke to the young girl. Over all, the girls are very shy but some more came up and talked to me. They are very curious about why I am here.  As you can tell, I really enjoy hanging out with the kids. It is a blessing to hear them laugh and see them smile and joke like normal children without a care in the world. The young boys were trying to write English words for me in my notebook and show off. Water finally arrived, but CPT Love did not let me stay for the last night of the mission. He went back with me so I could be checked by the doc’s on the FOB.  I still wish he would have let me stay. I was well aware of what was left of the mission, and feel more water and some rest should have been enough and I am not a quitter. (He knows I am still mad at him)

Anyway, it was an interesting experience and hard to explain what goes through your mind as we walked through the villages, sleeping outside of the FOB (on the ground in the middle of nowhere), helicopters flying really low overhead, engaging the locals, being stared at everywhere we go etc… At times I feel safe and others I am nervous. We get reports of suicide bombers on bikes, motorcycles and as we walk through traffic you have to be very aware of your surroundings. The kids make it all worth it, but you can’t help but remind yourself that they are not all innocent little children. Some days all I can do is pray for every one of them that I touch and tell myself that God knows what their needs are. I can’t save them all, but I hope to be there to make them smile and laugh if only for a little while. This is the only life they know and we don’t realize how spoiled our kids in America really are till you see this for yourself.

My next mission was to the Mehtar Lam Hospital. As we walked through the multiple buildings on the property, we saw that they actually had a pretty good set up. The equipment is old and worn, but everything is clean and usable.  I was surprised to see the birthing room and hear that they deliver and average of 600 babies a month (675 last month!). We saw several newborn babies in incubators and saw the moms learning to feed them.  We met some midwives and a couple male doctors. The waiting room, for the men who are soon to be fathers, is actually a separate metal structure since they are not allowed in the women’s part of the hospital. Once we made it through that portion of the hospital on the top of the hill, we went outside and quickly became surrounded by women who would walk up and lift their burkas to talk to us. This is the first time I have seen so many women in one area. We explained that we were not doctors and could not help them with the medical concerns they were telling us they have through our interpreter. Some women would bring their babies to me and I began to touch them and pray for them. A few women caught on to what I was doing and would walk up and motion for me to do it again. I found myself surrounded by women in blue burkas watching me touch the foreheads or bodies of their little ones and close my eyes as I prayed for them. They would smile and touch my hand or bow and walk away. It breaks my heart to see these tiny children that are obviously malnourished and sick. I don’t know what the answer is to help Afghanistan and I can’t believe we have been here ten years and they are still in the condition they are in. There was a group of young girls that would follow me around and when I sat for a while they would sit really close to me and touch either my uniform or the rings I wear. They would giggle and tell me about school, their clothes and jewelry. A lot of the young girls were wearing clothes made of fancy and colorful material. Some wear makeup and jewelry and have their noses pierced. Most of the “dressed up” girls were around ten years old. I took some pictures and we took one with the group. We finished our tour of the emergency room and labs. As we left we had a lot of the kids trying to shake our hands one more time and waving. The doctors seemed glad to have us there, but of course asked us to help them with all kinds of things like equipment, security walls, and medication.

Well I have been here since June and I think I have a different experience and different emotion for every day I wake up. It is rewarding to be here and try to do the little things.  I am missing home very much, especially my boys. I stay busy and try very hard to keep a positive attitude. I got to shoot at the range the other day and that helped to blow off some stress. I am very excited to be leaving on Sept 3^rd for my R&R leave. I will be spending my birthday, Sept 8^th in Paris France.  My childhood dream of going to Paris is coming true and I can’t wait. I have tours, museums, Eiffel tower, catacombs, and so much more on the agenda for my 15 day stay in Paris. I will have so much to report for my next letter home.

My whole Civil Affairs team was just here on the FOB together for the first time since we got here. I still don’t think a lot of people know or understand what it is we do, but I think we are all doing the best we can under the circumstances."

She is really good at keeping track of everything she does every day....I need to go back to that.

For real this time....

Greetings!  Sorry for taking so long to post.  It has been pretty crazy.  FOB Methar Lam is nothing like the place I left 6 years ago.  It is weird to sit around and talk about things then versus now.  For starters, we have a lot more Afghan National Army (ANA) guys around that we used to.  I love talking to them about where they are from.  The other day I came across a guy that was from Logar (south of Kabul). He was one of the ones that came over to play soccer with the 82d Airborne out in front of our base there.  What a small world....

I spent the first few weeks traveling with one of my team members (SPC Archuleta).  She tries to write an e-mail once a week.  She managed at least two that I know of.  Below will be the two posts.  Her audience is her Church group, so she broke it down in to as many non-Army terms as possible.  I keep telling her they are perfect for what I am writing for the blog, since most of the audience is non-military anyway.  I am really starting to enjoy this deployment because I get to be there when the "new guys" experience things for the first time.  They are really getting the hang of things pretty quick, so it makes the missions/meetings a lot more productive.  I hope you enjoy her accounts of the trip.

As for me, I have been a little slow to get back in the groove.  I haven't gone in as the "primary", so that doesn't help.  Not that I am objecting, it would just be nice to be able to get back to where I was when I was last deployed.  It will come.  I am conflicted since these are the prime opportunities to train future leaders…it is more important they get the chances I didn’t.  I will stop here because I don’t want to steal too much from what she has to say, so without further adieu –

This is her first post in country (~July 10th):

“Hi All from Methar Lam, Afghanistan...So I sat in Bagram for a week then they finally let helicopters fly to Laghman and we made it to our final destination. I thought that was the good news until I got here... I am on a very small FOB and it is very primitive. We live in a coed building two to a room, unless you are higher ranking. Small rooms and not very up to date. We walk up the hill to the shower/latrine, and the DFAC/cafeteria is also up the hill. Food is interesting and not horrible, but the Afghan take on spaghetti was fun for example. Bottled water only and it is around 110- 120 degrees daily.
I did my first mission "outside the wire" as they say. We drove in big up-armored vehicles, strapped in for dear life, until the first sign of an IED (improvised explosive device). We sat for several hours until EOD cleared the culvert and the remnants of a prior IED and we tried to continue on to our destination until we were told another IED was up ahead and our radio communication went down. Needless to say after five hours of this we turned around and did not make it to our destination. The good news is we made it back safe and I was able to see a lot of the area, even though I never got to get out of the truck. There are so many children in the villages. The children are very dirty, beg for things and steal from you any thing they can grab off you. It broke my heart to watch them. Some villages the children spit at our trucks as we passed and it was clear that they do not want us there. The men were out in the village where we got stuck waiting to clear the IED and they tried to keep the children away from our vehicles. The few women I saw were covered from head to toe in blue burkas and had children with them or followed directly behind the men they were with.
 
My Civil Affairs team is being divided into different areas of our province. I was upset about this, but understand the need to stretch us out to areas that are in need. (SSG)Carlson is going to be in an area that is not safe so please keep him in your prayers. (SGT)Martin and (SPC)Peterson will be in another area together that is not female friendly and in a remote location, so please keep both of them in your prayers as well. As for me, the only female, I am going to shadow CPT Love for now and speak to women in the villages he goes into. When I am here at the FOB I will go on certain missions as the CA representative.  We carry weapons on us at all times and are in constant danger of the FOB being hit, and of course once we leave the FOB we are less protected other than the security forces we have with us. Not to spread fear, but here is the reality of the situation and prayers are much appreciated.
 
I am looking forward to seeing the villages, talking to the people and helping them get their needs met. It is our PRT's (Provincial Reconstructive Teams) responsibility to start the process of handing over the work the military has been doing to the locals. We are trying to transition and leave Afghanistan. Boy do we have our work cut out for us. I am very glad to be here and have already had many experiences that lead me be thankful for all that we have in the US. I miss you all and will have email, not Facebook, access on occasion. For the first few months, I will be a nomad; going where I can to learn and be utilized for the greater good of the people in Laghman.”

This post is from July 18th, it is also one of my favorites:

“Hello!...I just returned from a week in Najil Afghanistan. CPT Love and I spent the week getting to know the Infantry group up there and see if they needed assistance from our Civil Affairs team. I was the only female and the soldiers treated me well. They took us on 2 to 3 missions a day and expected me to keep up and hang with the boys.
 
Our first night there I was invited to shoot mortar rounds into the side of a mountain. Each round weighs approx 30-35 pounds and you have to hold it half way into the tube until they yell "fire" then you drop it down the tube. You have to move your hands in a downward motion so that you do not blow them off and tilt your body and head away from the cannon for the very loud boom it makes. Then you wait for one round to light up the night sky (shot from another cannon) and then the mortar round to blow up the side of the mountain. It was awesome! After the first 3 out of 5 rounds I felt like my arms were going to fall off. I am a little short for the tube and had to hold the rounds high above my head. After a while they get heavier and heavier, but it was very exciting. The blast on the mountain has a blast radius of about 500 meters. The mortar guys thought I was pretty cool and invited me to hang out anytime.
 
One mission we went on was a very long and hard walk to a village across the river to speak to the Village Elder about security and their needs. We walked through a huge field of onions and other vegetables. The hard part is balancing yourself with a weapon and all your gear on the 6 inch wide dirt or rock walls that line the crops. We weaved our way to the river then walked across river rocks of all sizes in the dry bed.  Then we crossed the river run off where you have a choice to hop across the rocks or just walk through the knee high water. (I slipped off a rock and got to walk through the water anyway) Then we came to a foot bridge that was about 12-15 inches wide and spanned the river approx 30 feet. The rapids below were moving pretty fast and three people at a time cross the bridge. The bridge kind of bounces as you go across and the sound of the water seemed very loud; I prayed all the way across! Finally we got to the other side to the small village built into the side of the mountain. We were told by some children that there were Taliban in the village so we had to pull security until the leaders decided it was safe to continue on into the village. I was personally glad for the break after walking/climbing just to get there.
 
Once all was clear we sat with the Elders of the village and discussed their village needs or concerns and wanting to form a friendship with them. Word spread fast that a female soldier was in the village and I became surrounded by 25 or so boys of all ages. They stared a lot then finally shook my hand and talked to me. I had my picture taken with some of them and they joked with CPT Love and the Sergeant about trading me for 5 goats and a car. :0) The village elder then gave me permission to speak to the eldest woman and I climbed up to where she lived and we sat and spoke through an interpreter about the women in the village. She said they make cheese and work in the fields. They have 5 to 10 children per family and all kids go to school. She said she was glad I was there and said I was welcome to come back. After I played with the kids some more we made our way back toward base. Along the way I got to stop and talk to two girls working in a field. They told me they were sisters, work in the field every day, and explained that the red brown paint on their hands had been painted on to look pretty and was henna. The younger girl told me she goes to school, but her older (maybe 10 yrs old) sister doesn't anymore because she doesn't have to. They were dressed in nice dresses and had their heads covered.  For my first real mission I was very happy to interact with the people as much as I did, but my goodness... I was beat.
 
We later went on a mission to a construction site to see the progress of a road being dug through a canyon. I took pictures and walked around the site while the KLE (key leader engagement) took place with the workers. Another mission we did was a drive out to a village to do another KLE with the Village Elder. The village is much poorer and had so many children. Small groups of children were meeting under some trees and possibly holding classes.

The Afghan soldiers that work on the base are the ANA and the ASG. The ASG killed a goat for us and made CPT Love and me a great dinner of goat, soup, rice and bread called “non" (Pashto). It was very good and after dinner we ate watermelon and a melon that tastes like a mix of melon and cantaloupe. The ANA invited us to a dinner the next night and we had turkey, potatoes, “non”, and melon. They asked a lot of questions about what I was doing in Afghanistan and being a female in the Army. The ASG said I was brave for coming to help them in Afghanistan and the ANA said we were friends. It was nice to hear from them how they felt and both groups treated me very well the rest of the week we were there. The interpreters made us an amazing lunch of chicken cooked with tomatoes and onions and we talked about their upcoming holiday in August called Ramadan. I really have enjoyed the food here and the green tea chi isn't too bad either.
 
We did a night mission to a nearby tower that looks much closer to the base than it is. After the third hill I wanted to quit and my friends from the ANA made sure I did not stop and was safe all the way to the top. The moon was out and I could see fairly well, but It was a very hard climb up the mountain and back down. I have a lot of respect for the guys in this area who have to do this every day. I don't think I will have any problems staying in shape if I continue to work with them! The last two missions we did were to photograph a large bridge that washed away in a flood and a girl’s school that was built on top of a hill and not open yet. The bridge would be a very expensive project but a worthy one for the village in the valley. The girl’s school is built but there are requirements for bathrooms and security walls that have not been met so they can not open it yet. The climb to the school is unbelievably steep and slippery. (I slipped and fell!) The view from the hill is amazing. You can see the green fields and the town bazaar (market). It’s hard to believe it is so dangerous when you look out and just see a simple way of life with people who work hard.

Sunday we flew by helicopter back to Methar Lam. I am very sore, cut up, bruised and tired, but it was an amazing experience. I leave soon to visit another area for a few days then I will be going to Kandahar to attend a week long "Female Engagement Team" (FET) training. After I return from the training the Commander will be deciding where I will spend my time. I am praying to go back to Najil because they have the most need for me and I feel a kind of peace there I have not felt anywhere else here. The government politics get frustrating and I remain faithful that the Lord has a plan for me.”

I am still struggling with a way to post pictures.  The blog supports it, but getting them to the blog is the issue.  This took two computers to post….I’ll get it.

CPT Love

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