Fly Afghanistan

Okay, so I didn't get out this morning to get to FOB Warrior because they decided not to fly that far today. So this week's mission is off - which means I get to focus on meeting more of my folks here at BAF. Not a total loss, but those poor guys at Warrior don't get a lot of visitors, and it's not as well equipped as we have it here.

Flying around the 'Stan is not easy. The larger bases have fixed wing capabilities, but many of the smaller ones rely only on helos, like the Chinook in particular. Believe me, fixed wing is preferred. The routes we have to fly to get to a place like Warrior take about 4 1/2 hours due to all the stops they make along the way. If you get half way there and they decide to cancel the stop, you're in for 6+ hours on the bird - and that is a back-breaker. I've done it twice now and it takes a whole day for my back to recover.

The other bad thing is that sometimes you get an early flight. With "show time" being 2-3 hours prior to flights, you can imagine what it's like getting up at 2:30 am to catch a 0600 flight. That'll throw off your day a bit. And it's not like hanging out at the airport, where you have wi-fi, shops, restaurants, etc. It's like sitting at a crowded gate where the only entertainment is AFN (Armed Forces Network) television from Europe, where the video is about 10 seconds ahead of the audio. If you're waiting for fixed wing, you at least have the USO nearby, but they seem to have cut back on their food stocks.

So after an early wakeup this morning, and a 2 hour wait at the terminal, my hopes at getting out were dashed. I returned with a huge headache that I think came from the paint fumes from painting my office over the last two days. I took at least four different types of meds, but nothing other than sleeping most of the day helped. Good thing I didn't get off the ground this morning or I would've been miserable trying to sleep in a tent or "B-hut" down range.

Anyhow, that's a small slice of life here at Bagram. Lots of waiting. No guarantees. Now I'm wide awake at 9:30pm wishing my wife had left her Yahoo on so I could catch up with her. I didn't even get to services today I was so wiped out. We'll see if I can't force myself to sleep in my 8x10 cubicle so I can at least wake up early for some devo time. I test for my brown belt tomorrow night at tae kwon do, so I'll also need to do a morning stretch and practice.

Sorry nothing interesting happened today. However, that's probably a good thing in a war zone. Two nights ago we had another Fallen Comrade Ceremony for two American heroes, so the less interesting, the better.