30 January 2012,

Sarge Charlie – He was an American Soldier when our Nation despised them. He came home from Vietnam to be looked down upon, called names and criticized, when all he did was serve his country. I was fortunate to get to know the Sarge through blogging since 2006 and it was my goal to get to meet him one day. I’m very sad that I won’t have that opportunity to do it in person. I truly respected and honored the man very much. Sarge Charlie brought a fresh outlook on the politics affecting us over the last few years and put a smile on our face. I have seen many bloggers disagree with Sarge over various issues or points he brings up, but regardless, he respected the other persons views and vice versa. Thank you Charlie for your service, your wisdom, and for making a difference in many people’s lives. May God great you as an old friend and a new neighbor. Rest in Peace.

9 November 2011,
Due to circumstances I took my leave early and am back home in Oklahoma for a couple of weeks. All is well with me, Mrs Dub and Miss Dub. It's been a whirl-wind of events since I got off the airplane and got back with the family. With Miss Dub as a senior this year in high school, we are taking this opportunity to visit some college campuses and let her get a feel for what and where she wants to attend.
Things in Afghanistan have been busy with my unit spread all over, the commander and I have been in a constant state of travel it seems. Life would be much simpler if I had them all under one roof. But then again, life would be much simpler if we were stationed in Hawaii or Italy instead of Afghanistan too. I keep telling the military Hawaii is primed for another attack and we should be on the front lines. I'm willing to sit on a surf board and keep a look out for attacking submarines.
Gotta get back to the rat race here and I'm sure I will be somewhat ready to get back to Afghanistan where I can take a break. Be safe and have a great day!

25 September 2011

It's been a busy month, we have had several key people take their leave this month which allows the rest of us to pick up the slack. With that, I've managed to get to travel quite a bit throughout Laghman Province and back to Bagram, all of course business, hehe. I made my first venture through Jalalabad by convoy last week, it was amazing. By air you can see that it is one of the most advanced cities in Afghanistan. It is good to still see small children wave and smile as you go by. I remember traveling through the city and hearing one of the soldiers over the headset say he saw a person taking a picture as we drove by. Yes, in one sense this could be a tense moment as you don't know why he's taking a picture, but then again, since both the soldier in front of me and I were both taking pictures of them as we drove by I tend to think it's just curiosity. Heck, we took pictures of our vehicles when we got them, they're huge! This one is one of my favorites, it's a MATV.

I like it because I know that it happens to come in black with a light bar on top as a law enforcement package.

Well, better get going for now, be safe and have a great day.

9/11/2011
It was ten years ago today. I had just gotten off work from the night shift as a police officer, taken my daughter to school and was just going to bed when my wife called me and told me to turn on the news. Within minutes I had guardsmen, my soldiers, calling me and asking what we needed to do. I told them then, get ready. I too went out to my garage and pulled together all of my military gear, pulled out my clothes and packed. I did not expect a call to come on that day, but I wanted to make the gesture, to show my commitment that I was ready. That call came two years later, the 45th Infantry BDE was training at Ft. Carson heading to Afghanistan in the largest deployment for the Thunderbirds since Korea.
In 2006, for the 5 year anniversary I again was in Afghanistan serving on my second tour, The 1-180th Infantry Battalion from the 45th was called up to deploy with the 41st IBCT from Oregon.
And now, 10 years later, on this day, I write to you from a forward operating base, FOB Gamberi, Afghanistan. This war has had a toll on all of us. We have had too many losses just in this deployment so far. I will say to you now, I am proud of my commitment to the Oklahoma National Guard, the State of Oklahoma and the United States of America. I wear this uniform to pay tribute to those who died on that morning ten years ago, their families, to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have sacrificed their lives for our safety and to their families who feel the void in their lives now. I WILL NEVER FORGET.

24 August 2011,

Nothing brings a smile to your face like a jingle truck.

In one week's time from now, my beautiful wife of 19 years, and 8 months will be another year older, I think she'll be 29, again. But of all that time, and with 3 deployments and a trip to New Orleans, this will be the first birthday of hers I will absolutely not be home for. I still say that I made it for her birthday in 2006 even though I was one week late. There are no plans to surprise this time but I did manage to get her a gift on time, thanks Amazon.

My relocation to FOB Gamberi in Laghman Province has occurred and I finally have Internet again. Not the most reliable, but I am able to Skype with the family and that's a huge win in my world. I just got back from Kalagush where I have some of my soldiers, and I took a couple of pictures.

(of course, this picture doesn't represent how I feel, or does it?)

The mountain range surrounding this place is magnificent.

Be safe and have a great day!

11 August 2o11,

* * * CAUTION: This post is my venting. * * *

I can say without a doubt, this has been the most miserable deployment I've been on. Even my time in New Orleans, just days after Hurricane Katrina, was more enjoyable. I'm already doing the jobs of two full time E-8s and now they want to move me to another camp to take on more responsibilities. I'm not fully functioning at the two I'm doing now. In fact, I will probably be getting my hateful call from Division tomorrow about a tasking they gave me. Life sucks.

I have promised my family and myself, this will be the last deployment. I'm tired of the BS. Tomorrow I will have been in the military 17 years. Although I have had ups and downs like anyone does with any job, this last year has all been down. I feel lied to and betrayed by this brigade. It's very sad. On the 13th, I become eligible to re-enlist again. For 16 years the plan has always been getting a minimum of 24 years, which means I would enlist one more time for six more years. Well, they have done a fantastic job of changing my mind over the last six months. I could still re-enlist for 3 years and get a bonus. I need 2 more years to get my 20, which has always been the goal, but I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to do that. I'm just tired.
For anyone reading this post, don't worry about me, don't feel you need to make some comment, just be safe and have a great day for yourself.

8 August 2011,
So far the month of August has not been kind to us. We lost 4 of our own in a weeks time in 3 separate attacks. Our prayers go out to the families as well as the comrades left behind struggling during this time.
I have been very busy as of late fulfilling the roles of the First Sergeant as well as the other hat I wear in country. My unit is officially scattered to the four winds here and it's interesting how we are getting things done with a lot of coordination.
With the assistance of some folks back home, I think I have Mrs Dub and Miss Dub convinced to meet me on my R & R time. I'm glad as this year away holds very big milestones in our family and being away has been difficult.
The first big event is Mrs Dub and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, (16 of which I was actually home for). For our 10th anniversary we re-newed our vows in Las Vegas with the ceremony being officiated by Elvis. It was a blast. So, for the 20th I'll have to add some extra WOW to the mix. Our second milestone is Miss Dub turns 18 and will graduate High School in May. All signs point to me being home to see this event, which has been a very big issue in our household. I screw that up and I might as well stay here in Afghanistan.
Be safe and have a great day!

28 July 2011,
It's 7:10 am and I just want to go back to bed for a while. Our b-hut stays dark so unless someone opens the front door you don't know it's daylight out yet. Do you think the war would miss me if I slept in?
I have a sign of relief as my school work is done for the summer session. I have a couple of weeks before the fall session starts. I'm thinking about taking 9 hours, but I haven't completely decided if that's a good idea or not. I had dropped one of my summer classes due to technical difficulties, so 3 classes may be too much. My goal was to finish my degree while I was here but that does seem far reaching now. I just need to get a hold of the university and see how close I'm getting.
There certainly isn't anything exciting to report, and for here that's good news. Be safe and have a great day!

19 July 2011,
Have you ever tried to log on to one of your many different pages and as you sit and type your log-in you forget what your password is? I've had to create a spreadsheet to capture all mine, you know that number one rule by everyone not to do, but its the only way to ensure you have it in case your memory fails. Now where did I put that spreadsheet?
Life continues here in Bagram, more wind brings more dust. The temperature here has been better than at home. Yesterday, it was only 90 degrees, felt very nice. Today it was back up to 96-98, but a lot of wind. I see my friends and family putting pictures up on Facebook showing the car temperature, looks miserable. So who as posted the highest car temp yet? That should be a contest.
If you remember I decided to take two college courses this summer. The one class I'm doing pretty good in considering I'm in a war zone. The other class has been a battle. We are six weeks down in a eight week course and Sunday I finally got my school book. Yeah, exciting. Of course, this book is the second one I have bought for the course as the first one ended up in in Prairie, Mississippi. I hope they are enjoying it.
Well, better get back to the homework. Be safe and have a great day!

08 July 2011,
It's Friday night in Afghanistan, yeah, I know, not really a big deal. I haven't been to work out in the last week. I need to get back to it. Who would have thought I would come to a war zone and be busy? Uncle Sam I guess.
I can't believe NASA is sending it's last shuttle out. I heard the news about how they were doing job fairs and offering retraining. Really?

HR Rep doing hiring: So, you don't show a lot of experience

in this line of work, what did you use to do?

NASA employee: I was a rocket scientist

HR Rep: Sure you were

We had a IDF (indirect fire) tonight, we actually heard a 'boom' and then the sirens went off. Not sure what it was or were, Bagram is about 15 square miles so it's large. All our folks are ok.
Could have been the real thing or could have been a connex being dropped on the airstrip, not sure yet.
Well, bed time here, be safe and have a great day!

6 July 2011,
I had an exciting morning as I got to take my first ever Black Hawk helicopter trip across eastern Afghanistan. Mrs. Dub has asked me to never let her know before hand about such trips so I didn't tell her till this evening. It only lasted two and half hours but we covered a lot of ground and I accomplished my mission. I certainly didn't do my hearing any favors even though I wore my military issued hearing protection, I was more deaf than normal for the hours to follow getting off the bird.
I took a bunch of pictures, going east the landscape has more green, trees, grass, fields. It made it a fantastic trip. Next time I will have to clean the windows on the doors so that the pictures come out better and do some justification to the scenery.
I'll try to get some of the better ones loaded tomorrow. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted. Be safe and have a great day!

30 June 2011,
Well, another day down in Afghanistan. I'm spreading myself thin (for a guy my size that's an accomplishment) with the two hats I wear here plus my school work. Luckily I haven't been under any great pressures yet. The weather was much nicer today, cooler today and we had less dust.
My admin SGT, SGT D, has taken over for the XO in getting me in shape. I've followed her to several different classes during the last couple of weeks and she finally found one that took everything I had and almost more. Kickboxing. Luckily we did drills and I didn't have to step in the center, even though a couple of guys stated they wanted to spar with me. I'm not crazy about the crazy guy looking me up and down. By the end of the class I was drenched and wondering if I could make it back to my room without assistance. I will have to go again because it's what I need, but I'm wondering if I should be concerned.
Ms. Dub had her second date with a new boy back home. I know, you're sitting there reading this and going "ah, that's so sweet". But in my head I'm saying "why am I here and not home where I can scare the hell out of that boy!" Yes, I've envisioned now for several years re-enacting the scene from Bad Boys II at the front door with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Making a clear statement to the young man what I expect out of him.
I'm thinking about my leave later in the deployment and possibly following the trail of the 45th Infantry Division as it made its way through Europe, seeing all the WWII memorials and sites. Just something I'm considering.
Be safe and have a great day!

28 June 2011,
Life is good, the sun was visible and by noon we could make out the mountains surrounding Bagram Airfield. The last 3 days have been solid dust, grounding rotor wing flights and coating everything. I've never liked Bagram for the simple fact it didn't have enough vegetation surrounding it to keep it less dusty ( not sure about grammar on that one).
My admin Sgt took myself and 2 other soldiers to the gym for a Body for Life workout, one hour of aerobics. Well, I'm transferring that Sgt to another base now, I ache everywhere. The good news is I'm loosing weight again. Since the beginning of this deployment I'm down 12 lbs. If I exercised I could be alot more or is that less? Things are running smoothly for now. We have taken over for the 2/34th out of Iowa and they will soon be heading home. They did a good job.
Mrs Dub is running her first ever 5k on 9 July, so I'm going to run one here too, there is an official 5k on 4 July so I might do that one. I received my first piece of mail today, I mailed to it myself but it contained my Scentsy warmer. Hey, my room smells better!
I'm going to have to shop for a new camera. Miss Dub gave me hers but alas, she took the memory card out and I can't find another one that size. Yes honey, I'm going to spend some money, but I'll keep it reasonable. Not much else to report.
Be safe and have a great day.

23 June 2011,
Life in Bagram. When you have limited opportunities to do things and you have 30,000 + people living in a confined area, well, it makes life interesting. I know I need to go to the gym which is across the street from my office. However, just slightly larger than a single tennis court I estimate no less than 100 people attempting to get on the next piece of equipment at any given time of the day (that I'm up). I can only imagine that at 03:00 in the morning you will still find a large number of folks in there.
The sun gets up around 04:00 in the morning and sets around 8pm. I knew this from my previous deployments but am still amazed when you go to the showers at 05:00 in the morning and it looks like 10 am already.
I did manage to get started on homework, completing two assignments and turning one in. I hope to continue this trend and get caught up quickly. Still waiting on my other book.
I'm hoping to get cable news ran into our office so I can see what's going on. I spend about 15 minutes in the DFAC (dining facility) but the volume is off and it's not enough time to determine what's going on in the world. President Obama's speech does directly affect us but to what extent is hard to say. They, (you know, 'them') can no longer surprise me. I laugh at the comment I made a couple months ago to my soldiers about how I couldn't guarantee that we would even be going to Afghanistan let alone where in Afghanistan they would be and even before we left the states two of our Battalions were pulled for Operation New Dawn in Kuwait. I didn't have any inside information, just know how to read the tea leaves.
Not much else to report at the moment, I'm waiting on Mrs Dub so we can skype. Isn't it the coolest. Each deployment just improves on certain issues,(and dissolves on others).
Be safe and have a great day!

22 June 2011,
It sounded like a good idea when I came up with it, take two more classes towards my bachelor's degree this summer while I was deployed. Well, I'm in to the third week of class and still waiting on one of my school books to catch up with me here in Afghanistan. I was finally able to make contact with the instructors and they are willing to work with me, that's good. We will see how it goes because I need to take 3 more classes this fall.
Just got off Skype with Mrs. Dub. She's ready for me to be home. I'm ready to be home. Taking 3-4 months to pre-mob wore me down. So many soldiers I've talked to would have rather spent more time in Afghanistan than what we did on train up. I know training is important, believe me, but with so many deployments so far, I think we are capable. I guess I'm just complaining some. Hey, it happens.
Well, I better try ready some of my homework and make a dent in it. Be safe and have a great day.

20 June 2011,
Last night I got to sleep on my new mattress! Now I know that's not always an exciting event, but the one I had in my b-hut was spring based and wrapped around me like a hammock. When I rolled over the entire b-hut knew it. The new ones are said to only last about 3 months but it's a memory foam style and very firm. We have six rooms in our b-hut with each soldier getting about 70 sq ft of floor space. Soldiers are allowed to do what they want with their room, such as many make their bed into a bunk bed and put a desk under it. My bed sits about 40 inches off the ground so I'm not that high up and I still have plenty of storage room underneath. I lucked out in having a homemade shelf unit and clothes rack. It was entertaining to watch the soldiers get their rooms. Much like a pot luck dinner or dirty Santa. The billeting manager would take the lock off the door and what ever was inside is what the soldier got. One room had two light switches hard mounted connecting to a string of Christmas lights strung on the ceiling. Some had fans, extension cords, shelving, rugs. Our A/C isn't working as well as it could but it's not bad. What I hate the most about Bagram is the dust. There is very little vegetation surrounding Bagram so the dust just blows everywhere. I also hate the gravel.
Mrs Dub said this deployment I could actually take a trip during my R&R leave to where ever I wanted. Based on my position my leave will be either too close to now or too close to the end of our rotation and the emotional roller coaster we go thru on saying hello/goodbye can be exhausting. I can't talk her and Miss Dub into meeting me anywhere as she really doesn't want to fly across the ocean without me. So if you had a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world where would you go? At 45 am I too old to backpack across Europe? Maybe visit my cousin in Alaska? New Zealand? Two weeks in Ireland? The decisions are tough. Going home would be the easiest but this is an excellent opportunity.
Well, give me some suggestions
Be safe and have a great day!

18 June 2011,
Well, after two weeks, I'm finally in Afghanistan again and finally have an Internet connection of my own. We are at Bagram Airfield and in the 120 days of wind. Now Bagram is in a basin surrounded by mountains and due to the lack of irrigation there is very little vegetation to help keep down the dust. I've seen the Kentucky Agriculture Team here on base and I'm pretty certain Oklahoma has a team or had a team here too. Time to get them busy on growing grass or shrubs or something to get this dust down. Of course, who wants to plant grass in one of the most mined countries in the world?
Our schedule is naturally hectic as 2-34th is ready to get out of here and we need them to stay long enough to a proper hand-off. My unit has brought with us a volunteer group from 1-34th out of Minnesota so we are getting some good treatment having fellow Red Bulls with us. I actually have a couple of my organic soldiers who have deployed with the Red Bulls in the past. It is a small world. I actually came across one soldier today who was organic to 2-34 but had a Oregon National Guard combat patch also. I found out he deployed with Oregon on the same mission I did back in 2006.
Mrs Dub is doing well and is in training for that 5k run coming up. Her trainer/friend/pain coordinator has also signed her up for a half marathon. Good luck honey! I haven't gotten into a routine yet for exercising but I'm walking everywhere and Bagram is a big base!
Once I figure out my camera situation I'll start posting pictures.
Be safe and have a great day!
P.S. It was 20 years ago today that Mrs Dub and I had our very first date. I was 2o minutes late but brought her a rose. I miss you babe, and I love you.

6 June 2011, Well, on this date the world knows it as D-Day. For my company it's know as R&R day. We received a pass and I am in southern Mississippi with my family and some of my soldiers relaxing, enjoying being barefoot and a Coke.
We got back from the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk last week. The training was good but the lack of cell phone and wireless support out in the sticks made it impossible to try to update anything. Although the environment was so much better than the last time I was here three weeks is a long time with "basic" services. My aircard for my internet was worthless. I was able to get outside the box a couple of times but never long enough to get anything written.
We were able to conclude training there just in the nick of time, having enjoyed fair weather and the himidity and heat didn't arrive the last two days. The last couple of days back in Camp Shelby certainly got hotter.
Mrs. and Ms. Dub are great and I'm enjoying having them near. Four days is going to go by fast but I will cerish every second of it.
Be safe and have a great day.

8 May 2011,
I have found myself stuck in Louisiana. Now, I like the state just fine, it's the Joint Readiness Training Facility (JRTC) that I'm referring to. JRTC is a validation process that light infantry brigades go through every 7-10 years. My last time here was in 2001. Things have changed to a large degree. Last time we slept under vehicles, in vehicles, on vehicles, under trees, just about anywhere you wouldn't get stepped on. Fort Polk has set up dedicated Forward Operating Bases (FOB) that have headquarters, sleeping quarters, shower trailers, and a dining hall. Now, I haven't been impressed with the dining facility and if the last two days are indicators, it won't get any better. But having A/C in offices and sleeping quarters makes for a much better experience. Everyone is in good spirits but everyone is also ready to get on with our mission and stop 'wasting time'.
The family is good or so they tell me. Mrs. Dub is still working towards completing her first 5K run for a charity event which I think is next month.
The FOB doesn't have internet and we are far enough out that my aircard doesn't work so I've managed to sneak onto post for a couple of minutes to update you.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and I hope you had a wonderful day.
Be safe and have a wonderful day.

22 April 2011,
Yes, it is definitely the paperwork, my old job I got to draw with markers. A big change. No one has yelled at me so I'm doing an ok job.
Tomorrow we take the entire brigade out for a 5 mile road march. yeah. It's one of those exciting events, ( I would liken it to some other event you might know of and dread even watching it but I won't in fear of offending someone out there who might like it).
Yesterday was a day of meanness. I was setting everyone up for pranks. We had to do a logistic sync meeting to determine where we were on our equipment maintenance and the major asked how many rifles we had. "84" was the answer. How many have been technically inspected? "83" was the answer. Where's the other one? We're still looking for it Sir. For moment in time it was priceless.
Miss Dub finally finished her play last night. She was the Stage Director. (I think). She said she felt like a First Sergeant too, having to manage people, step up when they didn't, find solutions to problems you didn't anticipate, etc. Overall, she seemed very happy with the performance of her team.
Mrs. Dub is working towards running her first 5k soon. She's been working out with one of the other wives from our company. Keep in mind, I've only seen her run one other time. Now I need to get busy so she doesn't put me to shame.
Well, I better get back to work. Be safe and have a great day.
Happy Easter, remember why this day is special and that Jesus had risen.