Afghanistan. Land of the Taliban. Home to over 70% of the world’s stock of opium producing poppy. The new focus of Coalition Forces Global War on Terror. Man love Thursdays.
After a little bit of a wait, I’m back, (after 3+ years), in this quite uncivilized of countries…
I know it’s been a while, so I’ll start from when I was SUPPOSED to leave Augusta for this deployment until now.
0900, Tuesday, 09 February, 2010 – This is the day we were supposed to hop on a plane at Atlanta International Airport and begin our journey over here. Things were going pretty well, aside from the occasional, small, SNAFU. The charter bus which had been rented for us as transportation to Atlanta was packed with our gear and ready to go. We had just gotten through with our farewell ceremony by the Brigade, and the Soldiers were bidding farewell to their loved ones. All of a sudden, we were all called outside to get some information from First Sergeant Hobley. Our flight out of Atlanta, which was to take us through Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport had been cancelled. Unfortunately, mother nature decided that the 9th wasn’t such a great date to be flying and had inundated the VA/MD area with a third snow storm within a 10 days. Due to the large amount of snow expected, all flights in and out of BWI had been cancelled across the country. We were told that we were on a 2 hour recall, and that plans were being made to reschedule our flights. Ok, no big deal, aside from the fact that I had no real place to sleep. My friend and fellow NCO, Sergeant First Class Mitchell Steffes, also deploying had a house which, although was devoid of furniture, I could crash in until we flew out.
Now, before I continue, let me clue you in to something. I’m not sure which airline we were expected to fly on, but we were allotted room for 4 bags. One of which had to be our weapons case, to be stored under the aircraft. (on previous deployments, we had carried ours with us on the flight, so this was news to me) That left 3 bags, and a personal bag. Our packing list of items to bring took every inch of space of those bags. (2 duffel bags and 1 ruck sack). I was planning on bringing one more duffel bag so I could bring some comfort items along. However, with this, I was going to have to pay for excess baggage. The kicker was that BWI had a size/weight limit on baggage and our ruck sacks were considered too large and we were going to have to either pay extra for that, or take some stuff out of the ruck sack and pack another bag…excess bag fee #2. Now, realize…this was going to happen at Atlanta, and because we would have to disembark at BWI, claim our baggage, move terminals and once again check in, we were going to have to pay again there. (quick math: $75 for each excess bag X2 at Atlanta and X2 at BWI as long as my duffels didn’t exceed 70 lbs, equals $300) Quite the money making scheme that the airlines had concocted for our Boys in Green. I was dumbfounded when I found this out, as were other NCO’s. We would be reimbursed for this, but AFTER we got back from our deployment, a year later. I know I wouldn’t be able to afford this; which meant to me that there was a very high likelihood that some junior Soldiers wouldn’t either. Not a good situation. But it would all work out in the end.
The day went by and we didn’t hear anything more about possible flights out that night, so off to Mitch’s place I went to spend the down time.
10-11 February, 2010 – Really nothing more was heard about our possible departure aside from the fact that those in charge were trying to find alternate transportation. Had our daily morning formation and were released on a 2 hour recall…just in case there was a sudden change in plans. The night of the 11th, we got word that we would be leaving on Friday evening around 6pm by bus and traveling up to Ft. Campbell, KY to take a space A (Space Available) flight out of there. Awesome. No excess baggage fees (YAY!), seeing as though we would be most likely going out with a group from the 101st Infantry Division. It was a pretty long ride on the bus, but all in all, was going to be $300 cheaper on the wallet, so I wasn’t complaining.
Friday, 12 February, 2010 – Didn’t bother showing up for PT formation, as our Officer In Charge (OIC), decided to give us a little time to sleep in. Of course, we get a call at 7am telling us that we needed to be in at 10am and that our bus ride had been bumped…to 12pm. *sigh* Can it ever be just cut and dry in the military? (the answer is a resounding NO, that would be too easy) So Mitch and I get our stuff together, make a quick couple pit stops at Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and head on in. Same routine…draw weapons, load the bus up, farewell all over again for the families, (so wrong on so many levels to make them go through that twice).
Loading the bus at Ft. Gordon
This time though, we actually left. Without any hang-ups? Who are you kidding…Mother Nature wasn’t going to let me get out of GA without something to remember Her by. A southern snow storm was barreling towards us. An hour outside of Augusta, we start seeing the white stuff. By the time we get to Atlanta, there is a considerable amount down, (for the south), and traffic, which was already going to be bad due to rush hour, was unbearable slow. By 6pm, (about the time we should have been WELL into Tennessee), we were only in Buckhead, GA, just north of Atlanta. By this time, there was a very easy 4” of snow down on the ground. We decided to stop for some food.
Buckhead, GA as we were stopping to get some dinner at Arby's
During the stop, some of the Soldiers who didn’t grow up in snowy regions of the U.S. decided it was a good time to build a mini-snowman on the front lawn of the Arby’s we were stopped at. Aside from seeing close to 30 cars just straight run off the road, the rest of the drive went by without much hang ups. We weren’t scheduled to fly out until the next day so we had plenty of time. We got into Ft. Campbell and got temporary lodging for the night.
Saturday, 13 February, 2010 – Of course, temporary lodging had to have us out of there by 0500, and we weren’t scheduled to fly until close to 1500. We ended up getting to the terminal around 0700 and went through the whole routine…sit here…now move there…nope…need you over there now. Ok…wait. And wait…and wait. No big deal really.
Waiting in the PAX Terminal at Ft. Campbell, KY
One of the cool things was that one of my good friends that I had deployed with the first time was stationed at Ft. Campbell with 5th Group. I called him up from the terminal that morning and he stopped by and we were able to chat for about 20 minutes. I hadn’t seen him in a good 3 years so that was great. He’s now a proud parent of a baby daughter, and, true to Nick, timed his return to perfection…returning stateside one week before the birth. Back to waiting after that..of course, when the Division XO, (a 1 star general officer) came in to see his soldiers off there was a bit of a hassle. But it was actually pretty cool when he came by and shook all of our hands, even though we weren’t in the unit. He gave us a good pep talk and wished us a safe return. SGT Zabka got his hi-five too…his goal being to get hi-fives from any officer over the rank of Major. So we board the aircraft and get situated. It was an absolutely PACKED flight. Our first leg took us from Ft. Campbell direct to Shannon, Ireland. The flight was about a 6-7 hours, not too bad.
Last view of the states before take off
We landed and had a 2 hour layover until our next flight to Manas AFB, Kyrgyzstan. Wouldn’t you know that it’s not that simple though…our flight to Manas has been delayed due to ice fog. So off to the hotel it is…
Sunday, 14 February, 2010 – By this time, it’s already early Sunday morning in Ireland. We get transportation to a hotel about 10 miles from the Airport. The 101st was nice enough to foot the bill for this, thankfully. I have to say…they chose WELL. We stayed at the Clare Inne. Now, I have yet to travel to Europe. But I’ve plenty of friends who have and they’ve all told me that, for the most part the hotels there are much, much different than the chain hotels we have here in the states. Nicer in general, but smaller in scale. Well…the 101st must have just looked for the first place that could accommodate over 200 people. This was a resort of sorts. On a golf course, overlooking the Shannon River and the outlying country…it was amazing. Free food buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And the three other people I had to share a room with…well, we kind of lucked out. We ended up with one of the suites. 2 Bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen, with a patio. I guess I’ll have to thank Mother Nature for this one…it was a treat to be sure.
The golf course at the Clare Inne
The view of the Shannon River from the hotel
The staff at the Clare Inne was courteous and went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. Let's not forget I was traveling with some of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division. This means that, while I have the UTMOST respect for what the trigger pullers do, there are some, as there are across the board, who are just not that bright. I happened to be eye witness to one of these wonderous individuals in action as he was hitting on the attractive woman manning the front counter of the hotel. The exchange went something like this...
Front Desk Clerk - " How can I help you?" (imagine a normal Irish lilt, not too heavy)
Soldier - " Oh, I don't need anything really, I just wanted to talk to you for a second. I was wondering how many other languages you speak because your english is real good."
FDC - "I'm sorry? I only speak English."
Soldier - " I thought you spoke Irish out here."
FDC - "I'm sorry again to disappoint you sir. English is it."
Now, I was a little dumbfounded by this. He obviously wanted to flirt, but when faced with the prospect of trying to continue his flirtatious ways after showing how unknowledgeable he was, he decided that walking away was the best policy. I just had to shake my head and laugh, as was the FDC. Though, at that point I was a bit ashamed to be an American Soldier.
Of course, this was Valentine’s day, and they had a pretty nice restaurant there. So that night, while we were all there eating in the adjoining pub, (I had a local grown sirloin cut with vegetables...it was yummy), and watching the various sports on the television, (no beer though…DAMN), all the younger couples, along with a few more who were advanced in age, came by to have dinner. What I really got a kick out of was some of the older couples came up to us and went out of their way to thank us. One of which was a young boy during WWII who grew up on the southern coast of England and remembered the bombings and how the American Doughboys helped them in a time of great peril. They offered to buy my group drinks, but we couldn’t accept due to the general order barring us from consuming alcohol during deployments. But they graciously bought us a round of our soft drink of choice and had one for us. It was a very acute reminder of the incredible good that the American Military machine has done in the past 100 years for the world.
My meal at the Clare Inne...yes...very delicious. Would have been better with beer though.
On a brief side note it’s something that I’m very proud to continue, as my grandfather, Paul Guhl, was a WWII Veteran. Much of the reason I’ve remained a Soldier for the past 11 years was due to his influence. Aside from my father, and alongside Gram Pat, he is the greatest teacher and mentor I’ve had in my life. There was always a lesson to be gleaned in his stories; whether they were told for pure conversation and enjoyment, or to explain something. Thanks you so much Opa, It’s been a little over a year since you’ve passed on to a better place and though you may have physically left us, you live on through your teachings and my memories, as I don’t think there is a day that goes by that I do not use one of your teachings or think of you. You left quite a bit to live up to.
On that note, I’m going to cut this off, and continue on the next blog entry…you can read about my time in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, and first week here in Afghanistan.
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