Leaving Krygyzstan

This picure of tired and wore out soldiers was taken the night of our first attempt to leave Kyrgyzstan and fly to Afghanistan. We were all loaded up on the cargo plane with all our gear, strapped in and ready for the 45 minute flight. Sat on the flightline in our get up for over an hour with assurances that what ever the problem was, would be fixed. Finally they had us deplane, then set us up in the tent pictured. It was around one in the morning when I took this picture. An hour later they sent us back to the lodging we were in from before, when the flight crew admitted defeat and realized the plane wasn't going to be taking off anytime soon. We finally flew out two days later.

My March Madness :)

A bunch of guys decided to grow out a 'stache for deployent. I decided to do just mustache march. However it got to be too much of a pain to keep it trimmed up to regulation, so Mustache March ended about two weeks early.



But March had other things in store for me. Such as Mad Tan Lines March. At the time we were required to were out ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet) on the job site. Add to that the polarized glasses we wear, in addition to the fact that someone just mentions sunshine and I catch a tan, the result being silly tan lines. And of course we are always in uniform, so the chances of ever evening anything out are next to impossible. On the positive side, others, especially the very white soldiers have red lines instead of tan lines. So I can count my blessings that I have sun friendly skin pigments. :)

My Backwards Building

So this project is kinda big. Its a 120 feet long and 32 feet wide, all wood structure aside from the corrugated tin roof. They decided to use me as the Construction Supervisor for our first project basically because of my heavy construction back ground. It gives the other squad leaders some insight on exactly what it all entails, so they have a knowledge base for when they are set in charge of their own projects. This building turned into a pain in a hurry as it seems that 2x6 dimension lumber is a premium here, like there is a shortage. Hence the reason that the back wall is up even before the floor is finished. In an attempt to keep peole busy and the project going even with out the required lumber for the floor, we are kinda doing things out of order. This had me concerned, because its hard to do final tweaking for squaring up the floor without enough of its components. Luck would have it though, we had it set up just right and when we finally finished sheeting the floor, it came out just the way it was supposed to. :)


The prints and design for the building require vent louvers for the attic. So I pulled the router out, showed a couple people how to measure up, use a framing square to find the angle and instruct them on how to use the router. I did the first one to show them what it needed to look like for the initial framing and turned them loose. I've been using some of the these tools so long, that my free hand is pretty darn good, so I tend to forget that everybody has to start some where. The results from the novice left a little to be desired, and one gal was kind of upset that hers wasn't as straight and uniform as mine. I told her it wasn't a problem because the when it was all finished, no one would see if the cut was a little too wide. The picture frame trim wasn't called for in the prints, but I thought it was a nice touch, and it also served to cover some mistakes :)


The inital pile of blocks was for firestops in the wall. I carried the whole stack to the where you see it sitting from the cut station. I noticed one was loose on the bottom, so I pulled it out and set it on top. Next thing I new there was another Squad leader there and a Team Leader also pulling them out. It inadvertantly turned into a quick game of Jumbo Jenga. It was a fun break, then back to work as normal.

Home Sweet Home

One of my soldiers has a sense of humor and decided to place a sign for our tent. I'm ok with it as it's kind of a morale booster, and besides, a person has to find laughs wherever they can. I just wonder if he realizes he made all my squad out to be mentally challanged...



So Home Sweet Home.... well for the next two weeks anyway. Apparently the tent we are in right now is considered temporary. We will be moving to better ones after a unit here, leaves to go home, as they have hit the wonderful end of their tour. All in all, it's really not so bad. The heater and air conditioner work, and we really aren't in it for any real length of time. It's mostly just a place under cover for us to lay our heads down at night.

In the Kyrgyz Republic

It was a long trip over, all total we were on the plane for more then 14 hours. Ive driven for longer periods then that and didn't feel half as tired as I did when I stepped off the plane. I'm guessing that jet-lag is a true and viable phenomenon. Anyway, watched some decent movies on the plane, wrote short letters to my children, unfortunately the turn-around on postage is pretty slow, Ive heard it can take up to two weeks :( But I did get them written anyhow :)

Right now we are just cooling our heels on the base here. I am not sure exactly where here is, but it seems to be and in processing installation, where all branches of the military visit when they go and come from Afghanistan. I'm not sure what about it I am allowed to talk about and what I am not, so to take the side of caution, that's about all I am going to say.

The surrounding is, well, pretty neat I guess. I am still working the issue with my phone and taking pictures and getting them transferred to my computer, I have a couple of options, guess I am being lazy, as it takes forever for the required hardware drivers and software to transfer over. I'll get rambunctious at some point and get it done. Till then I guess it'll just be boring text. Sorry. One of the coolest things around here is the mountains that can be seen over the barrier walls. The scenery itself reminds me of so many movies I have watched where the setting has taken place in this area. It's almost surreal, seeing the buildings and vegetation being exactly what was in the movies. Always in the back of my mind I thought places don't really exist like that. A person has to see it to believe it, especially when one hasn't the first hand experience. Honestly I feel like I am in a dream world. I suppose it will turn real enough, soon enough. Anyway, as more happens, I'll keep this thing up-to-date.

And kids, I miss you guys. I love you and hopefully talk to you soon :)

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At the hangar, waiting to catch the plane.
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