Monday 31 May 2010

Battalion among hardest hit in Afghan war

Hello faithful readers and friends.

This is a great article. And I've heard this statement many time, from many different Soldiers:

"I feel like when we're back, I'm going to want to be over here and I don't know why," Cortese said. "It will be hard to watch the news and not be here."

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/05/30/battalion_among_hardest_hit_in_afghan_war/?page=1

May God bless our Soldier, Sailors, Airmen and Marines and their families.

Phillips, out.

Monday 17 May 2010

A Crazy Day at Kabul International Airport

Today was a crazy day at Kabul International Airport.

I flew on a commercial flight departing from Kabul International today on a rare trip out of

Afghanistan.













We loaded the bus and headed to our plane. As we pulled up to the Safi Airways plane the motorized stairs pulled away from the plane we were heading toward and drove away! The bus followed the stairs, and then the plane was pulled away by a tug. Soon the stairs, the bus and the plane were following each other around the taxiway in a merry parade. Finally, the plane stopped, the stairs pulled up and the bus unloaded the passengers and we filed on to the plane as if nothing had happened. I can't remember ever seeing anything like it at an airport in all my travels.

On the plus side, the Kabul airport functions quite normally (in most respects) and appeared safe as we made our way through security, to our gate and onto our plane.


I did enjoy the views of old, but still functional, Soviet aircraft on the airfield.














Now I am in Amman, Jordan on business. It's my first time in Jordan so I will take lots of pictures and let you know how it goes. Of course, I won't have much time off since I'm here on business, but I will squeeze in some time to relax and tour. :-)

Until my next post,

Phillips, out.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Life on base

THE END OF AN ERA

Well, 1 May has come and gone and all the local vendor shops are CLOSED!
And Subway, Popeyes, Burger King and Pizza Hut are CLOSED!
At least here on BAF. I don't know what is happening on other FOBs but this mostly affects BAF, Kandahar and Salerno.















The lines at the dining facilities are longer, but Soldiers are probably already saving money and losing fat. Personally, I tried to avoid the fast food places anyway and it has helped me with both; saving money and losing weight. :-)

I was not consulted on this decision (I'm not consulted on any, really) but it seems like a good thing. Less amenities makes more room for more Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to do the work. And we definitely need more room, at least here on BAF!

Thankfully, they did not cut to the bone. We still have the PX, and the internet provider and Green Beans Coffee (a local coffee shop in the deployed areas, I sure wish I had thought of the idea).

Life on this deployment is different for me. I'm dealing with issues at a higher level. I'm more removed from the action but I'm learning a lot and I'm busy every day. But for me, I'd rather be closer to the action. Maybe on my next tour...















Well, my posts are shorter, and not really very deep. But hopefully they shed some light on life in Afghanistan. I really miss home, and my family, but I like being here and being part of this mission.

Thanks for all you do to support the troops. I see it every day, at the USO, at the chapel and in individual units. Keep up the good work!

Phillips, out.