Previous | Military Home | Next
My journey to Ass-crack-a-stan.
By Brian M.
Tuesday, December 12th, 2002
About halfway though the 82d Airborne safety conference, a call on my cell phone from my company commander asking me if I could leave Friday, I asked him, “are you asking me or telling me?” JoAnne took the news a lot better than I would have thought. I guess she’s getting use to my deployments by now even though this deployment wasn’t going to be a peacetime deployment. JoAnne, being the organized one in the family, helped me run around town getting last minute stuff for this deployment. Thursday night we found out that we were bumped from the flight and probably weren’t going until the main body left sometime in January 2003. Saturday I was going to take care of car maintenance before January came around but on that afternoon I received another call on the cell and was told I’m leaving Monday morning. Back home I went to make sure I really had everything this time. The catcher was that I could only bring two bags. The rest would come with the main body. Thanks to my buddy Chris Zets, former 7SFG guy now one of 3SFG CSM. He gave me a list of long time friends from 7SFG in case I needed anything while over here.
Monday, December 18th, 2002
I went to Pope AFB, three in our group got on a C-17 with a bunch of 7SFG guys. Inside there was 5 four-door Toyota Tacoma’s and some other stuff. We left went up to McGuire AFB NJ to refuel before heading to Germany, about 2-hour delay. After a 9-hour flight we landed in Germany and had a 10-hour delay. We left Germany. 3 hours into the flight we had maintenance problems and had to land in Turkey. After about a two-hour delay we got back into the air. We were all very tired at this point, and not even sure what time or day it was. Three hours later we landed in Ass-crack-a-stan. The Air Force was great they helped us get our stuff their ACFT, but when I look back on it now they more or less through our stuff off the ACFT so they could close the tailgate, taxi back out to the runway, and take off. Fred Gilman, CPT Meyer and I got cots and living space with B Co. The tents are USAF climate control tents with electricity. Better than any field exercise out in the woods. We are the south crews, working out of Kandahar. We also have the north crews working out of Bagram. It’s the 19th and we work off of Zulu time—Zulu time is based out of Greenwich England (Greenwich Mean Time or GMT) and serves as a world wide standard time that everyone adjusts off of. It is very prevalent in military operations so that everyone is working on the same time especially when you talk about the Global depth of our operations—i.e. 1800 GMT is identical to 1800 Z. And on the East Coast of the United States, that translates to 1300 EST/1400 EDT). It is very strange getting up at 0100Z or 0300Z and the sun being up, and the night comes around 1500Z.
December 20th, 2002
Our first real day in county. We had to fly in the jump seat on a CH-47. It was a flight of 5 UH-60s, 5 UH-47s, 2 AH-64s and 1 C2 UH-60. They were dropping off the infantry about 1-hour NE of here to search a village that they had S-2 info on. Jump seat sucks but it was cool to see the environment that I will be flying in.
December 21st, 2002
I woke up to see the stars and stripes at half mass. It gave me a weird feeling seeing the flag like that. One of the firer bases (Skin FOB) we re-supply got attacked last night by rockets, mortars and small arms ammo. A young soldier from the 504 PIR was fatally shot. Really drives home the fact that, even though we don’t see them all the time, there are still bad guys out there and we can’t let our guard down. Today was also my first flight in country. It’s what we call a right seat ride. They take you though the process of filing, getting NOTAMs, checking the SPINs, ACOs, ATOS and a bunch of other things. Then you go fly and get a little feeling for the area. You have to perform dust landings and pinnacle landings. Flew 1.8D (D = Day; N = Night, NG = Night Vision Goggles; I = Instrument Flight Rules). To the south there are sand duns that stop growing because of a stream. To the north there are mountains and to the east there are valleys some open areas and smaller mountains. In the compound there is no sand, pure dust the consistency of powder. When you step on it, puff it floats. A small amount of wind puts a haze in the air and gives you big buggers at the end of the day. You can’t stay clean. But we are proud to be here. Fighting for all the victims of 9-11, people that were affected from it and for the people that appreciate there armed forces. I do it so you don’t have to. So thank a vet or shake his hand past, present, and future. There is a poem a soldier wrote to Dear Abby tapped to the fridge that’s worth writing.
CURRENCY
Do not give medals for our death;
Where we are, we cannot know.
Do not raise flags and hold parades;
Where we are, flags don’t go.
We ask but one thing of our land,
Of you who had us fight:
Please be worth the blood we shed,
Be worth the eternal night.
We are the currency you spend,
For freedom, fear or oil;
Our blood, the coin you pay,
Dark on some foreign soil.
We had a mandatory formation in order to receive a speech from GEN Meyer Joint Chief of Staff. He didn’t talk long but he did bring some friends with him: the red head girl from the show “Talk Radio” and “Suddenly Susan;” Bradshaw from WWF wrestling; NY Yankee Rodger Clemmons and Drew Carrie who gave a little 10min skit for us. Then we all got to get their autographs. That night they had a USO show. I have to get some rest for tomorrow’s flight.
December 22nd, 2002
I flew out to Skin FOB to re supply them after their firefight last night. Then to Orgun-E FOB for hot gas and then on to Krost to swap crews. Stayed at Krost for about 1-hour and then reversed the route back home. Very rugged and spars place in all areas. Made for a long day, flew 5.7. Temp not to bad just yet. Cool in the mornings and warm during the day. Don’t need to wear warm cloth just yet. But it is slowly dropping.
December 23rd, 2002
I woke to the sound of rain, first hard rain they said they’ve had in 4 months. Surprisingly the ground does not suck the water back up very fast, takes days. So it becomes a battle of mud vs. bugger dust. My body is very soar from yesterday’s flight. We wear body armor with an extra plate attached to the front of it. Then we put on our flight vest. Then pistol and ammo, our rifle goes beside us. Then we try to get in the ACFT. A couple of days I should have it down to a science or not. Definitely doesn’t feel like the Christmas time of year. If we have a slow day might make it over to the SOF camp just to see if any of Chris’s friends are there. Mainly just to show my face to them. Because in the future if I need anything, they are the black market kings. Hahahaha. Got word in the TOC that Skin FOB took rockets again last night. No injuries, but keeps you aware of the threat out their. Fred and I are trying to get organized for when the main body comes over. Trying to make little packets with important information that they’ll need while operating over here.
24th Had time today to collect info that might be handy for when the main body comes over. Dave Letterman came over today to say hi to all of us. He is a really nice guy. Well it’s almost Christmas differently doesn’t feel like. I guess because I’m half way around the world and not close to my love ones and friends. I miss all of you back home. Have a great Christmas and don’t feel sad or cry for me, I’m proud to be here. I only hope years from now we made a difference. We put every body’s food on our footlockers and sat around Christmas Eve listening and eating junk food.
December 25th, 2002
Its Christmas, wouldn’t know it though. It was really windy this morning and cold but after the sun had been up for a while it right up. Of all the Christmas’s I’ve been away from family and friends this is by far the weirdest. Very slow so far, just seating around the tent. Wish I was flying, boredom sucks. We watched a DVD movie this morning called "Return With Honor" It was presented by PBS and who ever thinks we have it bad just watch it. It tells the story of American fighter pilots getting shot down over North Vietnam and how they endured capture and returned with honor. The chocker of it all is that it is told directly from them. Just came back from Christmas dinner over at the chow tent. Dinner was mostly T-rats (military tray rations) but holiday food none-the-less. Later Ill try to us the DSN line to call the folks were all will be gathered. Its 1300 Zulu here Afghan actual time is 1800 and back in the land of the free its 0800. It was great to talk to all my relatives at mom and dads.
December 26th, 2002
Gathered up all the maps Ill need during my stint here. Made contact with the cooks today. Good group of people to know if you want food. We got a case of box milk and a case of little box cereals. Next CPT Meyer and I made contact was with some of the units getting ready to leave. They always have stuff there not bringing back with them. We filled up the back of a HUMMVE full of stuff. All of it, boxes of unopened stuff i.e. 6 rolls of tape, a dry erase easel (great for "Pictionary" the drawing game), case of toilet paper, and a whole bunch more. Great for trading later on, always thinking of the future. Tomorrow have to fly to DeReWoo another FOB, for a Red Cross message/pickup and to bring beans and bullets out to them. Heard today that about 12 of our guys may be here around the 29 or 1st.
December 27th, 2002
We flew to DeReWoo FOB today. It’s located to the northwest of us. Each region of this country is different than the next one. To the northwest the mountains are like rocks and boulders glued together. Kind of like a rum ball cake. You even think one of those rock monsters from the movies are going to form. Not sure if I mentioned it but every time we fly we have an armed AH-64 that follows us. Got to see Hutch and Chris today. They flew down from Bagrum, stayed only a short while and then back to the north. Found a couple more running routes. The pump for the well water is down, no more running water, not sure for how long. Have to revert back to the port-a-johns and baby wipes. This is still better than any other War or FTX. It’s amazing how aviation is supposes to work when you don’t have any other distracters. I guess because rotary wing aircrafts are supporting everything on the ground. No gate guard, KP, or shiter burner, which is still being done at some sites. Tomorrow we fly the Romanians around the local area. They don’t speak much English but are very proud, mainly because they recently were accepted into NATO.
December 28th, 2002
Flight for the Romanians got XCL, not sure way. Finished my map book today. While we are flying out there, sometimes it looks like there is frost on the ground, but it’s salt. I’ve been told there is a under ground sea that flows under Afghan. In some places water can be reached at 12ft and in other areas 12in. Salt bleeds to the top all over this place. Bad news today, a soldier shot his buddy today while cleaning his rifle. Real shame that he came over here kicked ass and now has to live with that for the rest of his life. Hutch e-mailed me today from Bagram letting now how the VIP group is doing up there. Great guys up there and a better life up there, even have an internet line for each person in the tent, but all they do is support the high ranks, VIPS and the celebrities that come over. All the air assaults and action is down here. Received my first package today. It was from Mom and Dad. Nice little Christmas box with a card, really cool to go back to the tent at the end of the day and open it up. Showers are up and running again tonight. My carrier assignment officer from the USCG responded back to my e-mail today. They are looking forward to my arrival back to the states.
December 29th, 2002
Not much going on today, watched as the other units pack up and get ready to leave. Our main body is supposed to arrive sometime tonight. Can’t wait, mainly so I can get the rest of my baggage and my comfort items. I was told to day that I have to go out to a Fire Base and replace a crew out there so they can get back and pack. I leave the 31st for a couple of weeks until they train up our guys coming in. Flew 1.1NG tonight so I could reset my goggle clock for another 45 days. Hutch came down from Bagram again to drop the COL off; he had to spend the night. We set him up with a bunk in our tent. Got to hear stories about the group up there: One of the better stories is about a guy name Chuck. You really would have, had to known him in the past to understand him, but I thought he was coming around and fitting in. Any way is worth remembering, what not to do. First their crew was going on a mission and he told his crew chiefs to write letters to mom and dad in case they didn’t make it home. Pure stupid. The AH-64 guys can’t stand him. They call him charcoal Burkett. When he was out at a base camp in the middle of the night he turned the potbelly stove all the way up and it melted ¼ of his tuff bin. Then the straw that broke the camels bake was when the IP found out that he was going to try and get orders attaching him to the SF guys he was supporting to get there combat patch. The IP went ballistic, told him if he was too good for the unit and the 82nd he can leave. I really thought he was getting better.
Note: Follow up: Flying overhead you can see kids and people in general throwing rocks at us. They’ll never hit us, but I’m just glad they don’t have rifles or RPGs in their hands. What’s funny is if I throw down candy, they would take that in a heart beat. Which, on occasions we have to do in order to keep them at a distance, while we land. For security reasons, we can’t trust anyone. They also use little hand held mirrors to flash at us, it’s to wave at us or signal somebody, sense they don’t have electricity. I think for signaling, because you can sometimes see a pattern were the flickering goes to and from. Flying, we always try to alter our routes back and forth always trying to avoid villages but sometimes they come out of nowhere. We keep it low and fast. Another funny thing is that the tracers come at night; they are for the most part shooting at noise in the dark night. During the day they are for the most part to chicken shit to be seen, so we rarely make any contact.
December 30th, 2002
Well the Redhawk main body came in today, can’t wait to get to rest of my stuff. I’ve been living out of my ruck for a while and unfortunately I have to leave tomorrow for Khowst (Salerno) for a couple of weeks until they get our unit up and running.
December 31st, 2002
Woke up around 0100Z, finished my packing and headed out to the flight line for my little trip. Took off around 0300, didn’t even get out of the traffic pattern and had to turn around. The 64 had maintenance problems and had to return. They got a second 64 and after we took off the same thing, we had to land. Around 0630 we finally were on our way to Khrowst (Salerno). Once there I saw CPT Wiley and Jason Watson, more of the group from Bagram. They were there to drop of some general. They stayed for a while and then left. Good to see our other redhawks. Unlike KAF this place is dark without a moon. KAF has generator lights all over the place, enough light that sometimes it’s hard to see the stars. Because of the resent rocket attacks here and Skhin, they have a real light discipline now. A lot of the rockets are on a timed departure. I mean when they come back with pictures there’s usually a plug in type cord coming out the end. They plug it into a power source, set an alarm clock and walk away, sometimes back to Pakistan. Walking out of our tent with out a little flashlight you can’t see three feet in front of you, without the moon. With the moon sometimes it’s too bright. The stars seem so close that you can touch them. The shiters are little wooden stalls with a blanket hanging in front for a door. You do your business in a have cute barrel, which they burn daily. My buddy Gordo I think probably remembers that when he was in Saudi. The pissers are six PVC pipes about 4 inches in diameter that stick out of the ground and urinate into. Needless to say it doesn’t smell like roses back there. JoAnne told me, my buddy Scott and her picked up my new Harley a couple of days ago. The mechanic even gave here a ride around the parking lot before they put on the trailer to bring home. Jo says it looks great and should be sending pictures shortly. She’s the greatest. Its 1930z and midnight local don’t ask me how Afghanistan gets four and half hours as a time zone to GMT. That’s Hodgie for ya. Well anyway its 2003. We shot off some flares from our flight vest, drank some water, and now its time to go to bed, have to fly tomorrow.