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Hope everything has been going well. I tried to make it down for the Atlanta game, but, as it turns out, we were already wheels up in the friendly skies and bound for this place. I’ve been quite out of touch, but I have been checking in when I get the chance, if for no other reason than to read what’s going on with the crew and to get a chuckle out of the steady stream of diatribes aimed at the already beleaguered Eagles’ front office. Hell, I haven’t even had to suffer through a Spadaro thesis concerning the importance of diminutive linebackers with high motors drafted in the second round, yet. After all, the second round is always the best time to find sleepers that never made it to the combine, but I digress.
As it happens, I have my own opinion concerning the Eagle approach to free agency. I precariously placed it in one of the many threads dedicated to player movement in the bleeds. In the meantime, I just wanted to say hello, inform those of you who know me (specifically, the much smaller circle of those who care) that everything goes well here in the Middle-to-Far East. I manage a communications company spread throughout the entire country, providing internet and phones to fellas and fellettes in about twelve places more or less off the beaten path. I would say more; in fact, I keep a journal long enough to put even some of my more verbose posts to shame. However, any detailed description of my duties or my travels across the Afghan countryside has to go through the public affairs office prior to release, especially via a public medium.
Nevertheless, I recall that many of the virtual denizens of this place are nothing if not worldly, so if you have any questions, feel free to post them here. I’ll run them by the PAO and get an answer as soon as I feasibly can. I’m always allowed to express my opinions, free of charge, but I’ll try not to go overboard. Lord knows there are more than enough opinions easily apparent in this place, anyhow.
P.S. If you’re reading this Fred_B, that bit on extremeskins was brilliant! I caught it whiel visiting some Soldiers providing communications for Canadian forces. Even the Canadians laughed their asses off.

Hey Az-

nice to hear you're out there helping to keep our people in touch with their families- truly important job. Keep it up, and keep safe.

Seen any poppy fields yet, and have you eaten any flowers? I hear they taste like chicken.

I'm amazed at the amount of shit you don't want to eat that is supposed to "taste like chicken".

snake
rat
gator
cat
poodle(the other white meat)
fried worms
turtle

Makes me think we shouldn't be eating chicken in the first place.

AZ,

Thank you for your incredible service.

OK, perhaps I need to set up some ground rules . . .
1. Thank you in advance to anyone wishing to express thanks, but please, keep it. The last thing I want this thread to become is the collective, let's thank the servicemember post. It is my privelege to serve the people of this country. I need no thanks, although I do appreciate your sentiments. Let's just leave it at that. NEAG, F-B, thank you for your kind words.
2. I got the A-OK to answer mostly any questions regarding my job and the places I go. I cannot throw in any journals, as they are somewhat detailed; I get around to more than a few of the forward operating bases.
3. For those of you who don't know, I do communications. I rarely, if at all, deal with local civilians. In seven years of service, I haven't shot a bullet at anything but a firing range, and I hope to keep it that way. If inflammation of the labia is the worse thing that happens to me while I'm deployed, I'll certainly be happy.
4. With all that said, if there's anything you wanted to know about Afghanistan that a comms guy has a prayer of filling you in on, feel free to ask. Hopefully, I'll have an answer for you in a wek or so. If not, just let the thread die, and I'll get the hint.
Thanks again, and enjoy the upcoming draft party. Hopefully, I'll be able to play some football with y'all next year.

And, no F-B, I haven't seen nor tried any poppies.

I got the A-OK to answer mostly any questions regarding my job and the places I go.

I'll start.

Can you tell us about where (general idea) you're located and what the visual landscape is like? I know there are rocks and mts, but like towns, blgs, townspeoples, etc?

I meant to say (i know you don't deal with locals) are there townspeople in the general area, or are you segregated to the base?

the whole inflammation of the labia comment confused me.

who's labia? yours?? are you a woman???

With all that said, if there's anything you wanted to know about Afghanistan that a comms guy has a prayer of filling you in on, feel free to ask.

So do you know where Osama is?!? I'll split the reward with you... actually that is my real question... IF a US military group does find Bin Laden would they be able to collect the reward that was offered??? it's 25 million, so I think that would give them a bit of motivation if they catch him... but seriously is that reward just for "natives" of the country or could one of our servicemen collect,IMO it's only fair...

Ok, let me give a crack at this.
1. Actually, the landscape in Afghanistan varies dramatically from region to region. I have been to more than twelve different camps in my first two months here, and I have some descriptions written in my journal at Bagram. I'll try and post some this weekend.
2. As for the home base, I put the company flag at Bagram Airfield, but mostly for travel reasons. Bagram is the hub for the American section of Afghanistan (Afghanistan is essentially parcelled into four Regional Commands, or Zones, which the different forces in ISAF manage. While I leave the confines of my base for other bases, I never go walking around the country for sightseeing purposes, so my interaction with the Afghanis happens almost exlusively on different bases. The one thing that stood out so clearly when I first arrived is how much poorer Afghanistan is, on the whole, than Iraq. It's not even close.
3. I'm a man, but there is a tendency to use bawdy, sometimes ignorant, language in the military. For example, when I feel like complaining about something, I'll usually remark that my pussy hurts. Hence the labia comment. It's certainly not nice, and it's certainly not respectful. I'll try to avoid its use in the future.
4. Americans at large may collect reward money, but agents of the federal government or agents of a state government serving as federal agents in some capacity (national guardsmen or state policemen, for example) may not collect rewards for their services, if they render their services within the scope of their official duty. That's why no one got paid for Saddam's capture. The reward is simlply a carrot -- thirty pieces of silver for any potential Judas or Dirty Harry out there. We're expected to do our job because it's our job, not for bonuses.

afghanistan is so 2001...

AZ,
Have you gone to any of there local markets for trading? Gotten any unique things?

DO the local seem happy you are there, or are they still sympathetic to the taliban?

Do you guys have the equipment you need? Or do YOU need anything? I would be more than happy to send a small care package to a fellow Eagle fan, whom is a serviceman.

Stay safe and good luck...

OK, so next weekend turned into next month, but I'll have more than a few descriptions of the local area on by the end of the weekend. For now, I'll leave my initial impression of the place I spend the most time at, Bagram Airfield.

14 Jan 07:
What to make of Bagram, Afghanistan after barely two weeks surrounded by snow-capped mountains? It’s cold. It’s dirty. It’s rife with disease (as evidenced by the fact that I’ve had scarcely two healthy days since the twenty-sixth of December). In short, it’s the most comfortable deployment condition I’ve ever witnessed. My home is a wooden hut approximately twenty by forty feet in area. My living space? A boarded room, maybe eight by ten. I have a bed. No kidding. A bed. A USAA calendar adorns the wall, as do two camelbacks, a laundry bag, and a flashlight. I have my own office in an abandoned shower house across the street from the Base Operations Center. While I have no idea whether the floor of shower house has suffered a preponderance of Russian or Afghani soles, the consequence remains the same – there is absolutely, positively no five-second rule.
While I cannot complain in the slightest, I must admit that the amenities certainly lack spit and polish, especially when compared to those available in Iraq. I remember that my first words upon seeing the camp underscored my realization that the United States obviously reserved more money and manpower for the Iraqi theater. Compared to Iraq, Afghanistan is like the forgotten stepchild. When Christmas comes around, that pack of crayons just doesn’t stack up to a brand new pony. Nevertheless, a one-man tent in the wilderness would be more comfortable than Camp Udairi, where I spent the majority of my last deployment, so I am pleased as punch to be where I am.

04 May 07:
Not much about Bagram has changed. It's certainly warmer, but my initial impressions appear on target. The base, cloistered about the northern side of a runway, offers little breathing room, as thousands of inhabitants occupy barely a sixth of the total base area.
The accommodations, including three hots, the bed, and laundry service, make everyday life much easier than at the remote sites I normally visit. Still, I find myself lusting after the airstrip after only a few days back in Bagram. I'm not meant to be land-locked.

As for interaction with the locals, I have little. I don't speak any Dahri or Pashtu, and my job really doesn't require it. I've worked with more Canadians and British than Afghans. However, the atmosphere is much more optimistic than that of Iraq. These are a simple, poor people, and our efforts hardly go unnoticed. The enemy, while pervasive and unrelenting, also suffers from the poverty that the rest of the Afghanis do. Their lack of resources appears to make them less effective at converting the populace, as locals often inform American Soldiers when they notice someone new in town or see someone up to no good, with little regard for reward.

Don't let CNN get word of that.

The news never mentions Afghanistan unless they're talking about Pat Tillman.

They're busy concentrating on the clusterfuck in Iraq.

Keep up the good work, AZ, it's great to hear encouraging news from Afghanistan.

Yeah, guess I forgot to mention "Keep it up" and Stay safe j/a.