Mother's Day

A week ago, on Mother's Day, the men of the compound here made an effort to make the moms of the compound feel special. The Colonel requested that we put the seat down when we were done using the bathroom...just on that day...but some people wanted to do more. We made a special dinner for the moms.

We set up tables in this nice little part of compound. The women were escorted to their table by well dressed men.
Each table had their own waiter.
He poured them as much fake wine as they wanted.


We cooked for them.
Served them their dinner...notice the elegant paper plates and plastic silverware.


Each mom got a flower to end the night.
Between the fancy dinner and putting the seat down for a day...I think we made the women feel a little bit special.

The Board

So after you've been here for a bit, sometimes your photo makes "The Board" here in the office. A photo gets photoshopped and hung up.
Mine made the board today...

BTW, flight suit is like a big snowmobile suit...I have multiple layers of clothing underneath...I'm not really that fat.

Patch

I had to go to the store to get a new patch for my uniform and a guy in my office said, "Make sure to get the right one." Like I'm some kind of dummy. Here is the patch I bought...

Besides the color, notice anything a little weird?
It's backwards...and this is the CORRECT patch!

It turns out that there is a reason that we wear a backwards patch. The patch goes on my right shoulder so the stars are facing to the front of my body. Because we are in a combat zone, this is the combat flag...the stars lead you into battle.

Here is a pic of the patch from my other uniform.

From what I've been told it stems from the Revolutionary War. There was always a flag carrier that led the battle charge. The flag was attached along the edge of the flag that had the stars...so when he was charging...stars were at the front and stripes were flying behind. Because the flag goes on our right shoulder...stars go in the front. I'm not sure why the flag is on the right, but it is.

Coincidently, if I were working on a military base during peacetime, the flag would be the other way.

As always, this is what I've been told...I could be totally wrong.

Every Day

Every day, one of the first things I do after firing up my computer is open a couple of pictures of my boys. That way, when I'm working all day on my computer and switching through all the different applications I have open, I accidentally run into pictures of my kids.

Here are a few of my favorites...6 weeks and counting until my R&R trip.
This was one of the pictures taken at their school on picture day.

Oregon Coast

Matty at the park

Orphan School

It's been awhile since my last post but there hasn't been much of note worth blogging about. Things are pretty boring here. I work 11 hours a day and then try to find a little time to workout. I think I'm starting to get tired of the food around here as I've been making a mental list of what I want to eat when I get home for R&R.

The other day, we went to the Orphan School to deliver the backpacks and school supplies that we collected. I've included some photos. The kids were really nice, appreciative, and opened up to us very quickly.

Logistically it was a little interesting. We always travel with our "force protection" people that consist of 1 military and 1 local shooter per vehicle. Once we got out of the vehicles they fan out around us just in case we start taking fire from a neighboring building...we didn't take any fire, but it was interesting nonetheless.

We presented backpacks outside and then went into the school to pass out candy and do some puzzles with the kids. As I mentioned before, each child got a puzzle and tons of school supplies in their backpacks. I was in the youngest classroom with some boys about Matt and Sam's age. It was nice to do puzzles with them just like I used to do with my boys.








After spending some time in their school, the kids came back outside as school was over for the day. All the kids wanted to meet us, shake hands, have pictures taken with us, and check out our bulletproof vests and other gear.

It was a neat experience. I hope to have more similar experiences while I'm here.

Recent News...

We watched the President's news conference yesterday...as many people did. Our reaction here was different from that in the States as there was no mass celebration or party in the streets. While it is very good news that Bin Laden was killed, it is difficult to separate the news from our current location. We can't help but wonder what the backlash is going to be...if any.

My roommate was working with FEMA in New York during 9/11. He spent months at ground zero and got to see first-hand the destruction of that day. He also spoke with many people looking for loved ones...or some sort of closure. Even he has some mixed feelings about this recent news and how it could affect us and our coworkers at other bases.

As I've said before, we're safe on our base in the middle of the green zone. But we all have friends working at places that are more exposed...this has the potential to affect them.

One of the LNs was asking one of the engineers here if we were now going to pack up and leave now that Bin Laden was killed. We're not, of course...but this question seems to show that lots of people...from both sides...aren't really sure how things will change now that Bin Laden has been killed.

Again...I'm safe...just working away. Hope you are all well.

Airport

This is a picture of the memorial at the airport training center where 8 US Air Force soldiers and 1 US Contractor were tragically gunned down by an Afghan Air Force Colonel a couple of days ago.

They are beginning their journey home, please keep their families in your thoughts and prayers.