The Training Blog of jbfeagle

Christmas in Afghanistan

I hope this Holiday Season has brought you peace and happiness.  My day started like all the others, expect I got to sleep in until 0600.  This morning, for the first time in weeks, the sky was crystal clear.  The freshly snowcapped mountains were breathtaking.  If not for the barbed wire and fencing, it was a picture perfect view.

After submitting our daily strength reports I set about to working on last minute evaluations and awards.  I knew I was in a funk, missing Christmas, being close to going home, and I was just trying to keep busy.   A few of us had volunteered to serve the troops Christmas dinner, it turned out to be a perfect way to break the funk I was in.  After wrapping up a few more awards I headed back tot he B-Hut and fired up the webcam.  To my surprise the kids were up and going through their gifts from Santa.  In no time Melisa was up and my parents and her mother came over.  being able to watch them open gifts and enjoy the day was a lot of fun.  I received several new DVDs and a great digital picture frame.  I added another history book to my collection, one I have wanted for some time.  Mandy gave me two dedication CDs and some "combat" dominoes.  It was a great day until the "haji-net" acted up and wouldn't keep me connected. 

We're down to 85 days....seems like nothing after 358....I can't wait to get home and hold Melisa in my arms and hug the kids.  I can't wait for "normal". 

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Christmas Eve in Afghanistan

Its 24 December, Christmas Eve, 2008.  This is the first Holiday Season I am apart from Melisa and the kids since my last deployment in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH.  Then, Amanda was still just a tyke.  Christmas Day marks 85 days until we leave, just under three months.  Our Team has been busy, our Commander is being sent home for medical issues, and so we're getting a new Commander.  Our mission pace hasn't slowed, the lack of snow has allowed us to continue to push convoys out. 

We just opened a Women's Shelter in Kapisa.  The Air Force did an article on the ceremony, you can find it here.  On the same trip I handed out gloves, hats, pens, and toys to local children during a meeting with the Governor.  The Air Force posted a pic of me putting a hat on a little girl. 

We had our Christmas Party this evening, after saving up snacks and goodies for several weeks the spread was laid out with a few cases of "near" beer to help make it seem like home.  I sat in the background, watching the men and women I work with.  All of us are spending the Holidays far from our loved ones.  Some are apart from wives, husbands, children, parents, and one is missing his Granddaughter's first Christmas.  We're all proud to be here, ours is perhaps the best mission, making a difference in the lives of the Afghans, and hopefully, working ourselves out of a job.  

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Photo Album: Geraldo Rivera Mission

Geraldo Rivera Mission

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Our Mission with Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera made his sixth trip to Afghanistan since 2001 and spent two days with our PRT.  He made two live shots for Fox and Friends Wednesday evening our time and then on Thursday we took him to the Salang Tunnel.  I was the driver for the armored SUV that Geraldo and his camerman rode in.  He had previously been to the tunnel in 2002, when it was impassable after the Taliban destroyed it.  Since Geraldo's live shot was scheduled for 1730 our time, we had plenty of time to make some additional stops.  Our first stop was to the Red Crescent Society in Charikar (Parwan Provincial Capital) and the Charikar Orphanage.  We delivered a 5-ton truck full of humanitarian assistance.  We delivered clothing, blankets and shoes for adults and children.  At the orphanage we delivered coats, shoes, and winter clothing.  We gave the director several boxes of school supplies and puzzles.  The kids went nuts when they saw us again.  The director called out their names one by one and we handed out stuffed animals and toys.  You can read about the little boy who captured my eye in my entry below.

We traveled to Jabalsuraj and took Gerlado to a high school we had rebuilt after it was severely damaged by the Taliban.  We then drove 25km to the Salang Tunnel.  The tunnel is the primary north to south route to Kabul.  More than 8,000 trucks a day pass through the tunnel.  The tunnel is 2km long and is the third highest road tunnel in the world.  We climbed to 11,100 feet and arrived in plenty of time for Geraldo to set up his shot.  After an impromptu snowball fight we helped Geraldo get set up.  After the live shot on Fox and Friends we quickly packed up and headed home.  The snow at the tunnel was up to six feet deep and when the sun went down it fell to -5 Celsius. 

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Photo Album: Geraldo Rivera Mission

Geraldo Rivera Mission

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My second trip to the Charikar Orphanage

I have dozens of pics from my Geraldo trip yesterday, but I had to send these early.  This little boy caught my eye yesterday.  He was the smallest kid there, quiet, shy, he just melted my heart.  I dug through our boxes of stuffed animals and found the largest stuffed animal we had.  The big brown puppy was almost as big as he was.  After I gave him the dog he followed me around, often being pushed aside by the bigger kids.  Well, I was not having any of that so I offered my hand, he grabbed my finger and never let go of me or the stuffed animal. We walked over to the SUV, out of sight of the other kids, and gave him a bottle of water, which he promptly drank in just minutes.  I grabbed a candy bar or two and stuffed them inside his coat. I rarely give out candy, but I couldn't resist.  We had a few boxes of crayons which I stuffed inside his pockets, again, out of sight. He understood what I was doing, if the older kids saw them they would steal them away.  I was certain he had a stash of hidden treasures, these kids have to learn how to survive quickly. 

Just as we were leaving, I grabbed one of my baby wipes from my kit and wiped his face clean, his brown eyes finally began to sparkle a little.  He never said a word.  He would just look up at me with these big eyes. I wasn't able to ask the Headmaster where he came from or his history but there was something in his eyes that told me that he probably never had much of a reason to smile.  He was just the cutest little boy, it was hard to leave him there, I was so ready to just pick him up and take him home with me.  I don't even know his name, but I know that his face is one that I will never forget. 

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Photo Album: Blog Images

Blog Images

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Photo Album: Blog Images

Blog Images

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Kapisa Provincial Orphanage

After several weeks of not leaving the wire due to R&R and other mission needs, I was able to be a part of a mission yesterday to the Kapisa Province.  Our first stop was to the Governor's Compound where our Civil Affairs Team lead met with the Governor's staff.  Now usually I go inside with the Commander, but since he was on leave I remained outside as a security dismount.  Winter is arriving quickly, the day was cold, dark, with low clouds and fog.  The normally green lush valley below the compound was a dreary brown, a stark contrast from just a few weeks ago.  Not long after we arrived we had dozens of kids swarming the trucks.  The Afghan police would chase them off, scampering down the side of the cliff just out of view.  Within moments we could spot their heads peering over the rocks, and they were soon surrounding us asking for water, snacks, pens, anything.  Some are a little more industrious, trying to sell us lighters or knick-knacks for "one dollar".  My gunner tossed them a 12-pack of water and several of them ran off to wrestle over the bottles.  The morning grew colder and we noticed that none had socks, nearly all of them had sandals, several were barefoot.  I would have traded all of my trucks water for a few packages of socks.  My gunner, a Military Specialist (and Eagle Scout) remarked several times at a small 2-year old being carried around by his sister, who was not more than 6 or 7, and his bare feet.  Having three kids of my own made things more frustrating, these kids were more interested in getting an ink pen from me than shoes.  Just as we were about to leave a few older girls (8-10 y/o) came up to grab my sleeve and one tried to take the pen from my arm sleeve pocket, well, I whirled around and growled at them, scaring the crap out of her.  These kids have no fear, I am not sure I would have messed with an adult with a rifle and pistol when I was 10 year sold, much less try and pick his pockets.  After the meeting we headed over to the orphanage to hand out several hundred pounds of Humanitarian Aid.  The HA was sent to us by a few non-profit organizations and even some of my friends and family.  We had to unhitch the trailer in the road and roll it into the entrance.  We unloaded more than 30 boxes, setting some aside to hand items to the children.  The kids, most of which were clearly under 12, were excited.  The village elders and orphanage staff were very excited since the weather has already been turning cold and wet.  We had media with us and they caught this image of me handing out some items. I'm handing out a blanket to an orphan.  I braved the crowd of kids and started handing out pens that James' class gave me when I was home on leave.  The kids went nuts.  The pics will prove that.  I couldn't hand them out fast enough, the hard part was making sure the greedy ones didn't get more than one.  The kids love their pens. 

Being able to do something like this certainly helps make the deployment easier.  As I have said before, the kids are the real future here.  The Taliban know this, and so do we.  Despite their efforts, the Taliban cannot make the positive impacts we can.  Just last week we opened another girls school, 12 classrooms allowing more than 120 girls to gain an education.  We have more than $13 million and 77 projects underway or completed since our arrival.  The more significant impact we make is making the Afghan government stronger and increasing the people's faith in their own leaders.  Even at the orphanage we remind the elders and staff that we are there because the Governor asked us to help.  In most cases, our HA drops aren't are made without us, allowing the Afghan government to take full credit for the assistance. 

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