AF Day 322

FOB Smart at 1700 - Saturday

Another beautiful day was had here in sunny Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. I finished working out in the yard a few minutes ago by helping a contractor relocate several security barricades to block work opened overnight. I would not call myself a forklift operator by any stretch, but I do enjoy operating from time to time. The contractor appreciated it and so did I as it were. Sounds like a "win" to me. This afternoon I walked around to many of our Afghan armed security guards and certain of our contractors and shared from a very large bag of sunflower seeds. Many had eaten them before but were surprised to see them coming packaged the way they were.

Closing with this Saturday night is the month of March. April holds much promise and will yield such immense happiness for me, my son, my family, and my friends all across the world. Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, so since I am cognizant of this, maybe I will not be bitten. We'll see tomorrow night. These last few months have really sailed by with breezes blowing from all directions, professionally, personally, spiritually, etc. I feel good coming into the home stretch.

Our skies have been clear the last several days and it has really started heating up again; low 80s today I think. It may still rain but probably not like the locals are accustomed to since the rains should have already come and gone. For them anyway I hope it does rain like cats and dogs to start their growing season off with a bang! Well, not like an IED sort of bang, but a good bang. Funny...

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

AF Day 321

FOB Smart at 1800 - Friday

I made the mistake of playing a little kick-around with a tiny soccer ball this late afternoon. My knees are jacked; they have been since I slipped and fell again twice here on ice and snow. I am not complaining but they do seem more swollen and painful now lately (10+ months). Whatever... our wonderful PRT doctors may be gracious to me again and shoot them both with more steroids and numbing agents - talk about relief.

I went to four projects this morning during a mission outside the wire. Progress is evidenced more now that our local partners have bad 10 days of good concrete pouring weather. I am excited to see the workers busy all around again. I took a few more photographs and posted them herein and on Facebook already. What struck me today was the amount of people still waiting for wheat distribution. It seems to take forever and they wait in queue all day and sometimes night long. It was a good mission nevertheless.

I am tired through to my bones; I guess from the walking on the mission and the limping with my knees afterward and this afternoon. It could not be because I am getting older and need more rest or because I work seven days a week at more than 12+ hours a day on average. No, it must be a result of changing my alarm to wake me up an additional 45 minutes early each morning.

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

Special Post No. 114

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul - Forward Operating Base Smart

Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

The photographs below were taken 29-30 March 2012. We completed another combat mission outside the wire this morning into Old Qalat City. These shots show some of our personnel and our local partners, some on and off the FOB. We work hard here for sure. One Team One Fight. Enjoy!

AF Day 320 - II

FOB Smart at 2301 - Thursday

Late into the night, I find myself wishing I had not enjoyed that last cup of coffee two hours ago. I said that it rarely affects me - but tonight is one of those rare moments I presume it has, if only sedately. Actually, I just finished watching a movie in bed. Thoughts permeate my thinking regularly of my son, Kaesen, and I just received a photograph of him from his mother. My son is magical and often, at least during my time here, ethereal in many ways. I say so because he is my little angel, my little gift of a son whom I adore and think about in most of my spare thoughts and time. Kaesen is such a good boy, a loyal son, and a young life with so very much to look forward to with amazement.

Less than 24 days remain on my countdown to returning "home." I am eagerly awaiting my reunion with my son, my family, and my friends. How wonderful it will be to be back in the United States. I, myself, am looking ahead to the near-term future with great anticipation for all things good and balanced.

Afghanistan has been quite the experience for me personally. It has broadened my horizons, captivated my soul and my heart, and I take away from this so much more than I have given. And I feel that I have given so very much already in terms of sharing, caring, and endowing those whom I have encountered with the very best of me professionally and some personally. "What a ride" could sum up my thinking on the matter for the moment.

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

AF Day 320

FOB Smart at 2000 - Thursday

What a very long day this one was. Largely because of an extended mounted combat patrol into New Qalat City today. We stopped at three projects, but they were longer-than-normal stays because of pending project closeouts at two and construction issues at a third. More delays due to "excitement" and more for security, so the day seemed to extend into the afternoon more than usual. Later I had another series of observations very near the FOB, up until even 15 minutes ago. Where I was working was in the line of smoke coming from our FOB burn pit, the place where we burn trash - all trash, and my clothing and body wreaks of burning trash now. That shower will feel great in a few minutes.

I posted photos earlier to the blog and Facebook; they really show the amazing colors encountered when we walk around anywhere, let along outside the wire. I love these side effects, benefits really, of all of these missions. The weather is really warming up rapidly now. I am glad for the special combat shirts we wear during our dismounts and on the job.

Tomorrow is yet another Friday. It should be my first of three remaining Fridays. Amazing really when you think about it; time flies when you are looking back on the accomplishments. It drags, sometimes, when you are counting days. At the end of the day I can say that it was another good day, we completed what we set out to, and I feel good with the progress made toward our projects.

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

Special Post No. 113

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul - Forward Operating Base Smart

Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

The photographs below were taken on 29 March 2012. We completed another combat mission outside the wire this morning into New Qalat City. Again, the colors inside and outside the wire we are presented can be so magnificent at times. I will miss the vivid reality here - some of such anyway. The rock is a larger piece of yet another I found for my collection; for my son's collection. One Team One Fight. Enjoy!

AF Day 319

FOB Smart at 1730 - Wednesday

Goodness, I have less than 25 days until I fly out of Afghanistan; less than 21 or 22 until I leave FOB Smart. Talk about a crescendo of exciting building from deep within my soul! Well, for now it is quietly building - I still have much work to accomplish in my short time remaining. But it is short time nevertheless.

I observed progress on one of my ongoing and nearby construction projects; well, it is more like an all day affair with this one since it is so close and so important. The contractor benefits from constant guidance, mentoring, questioning, and monitoring. I would say it serves to keep him in check and on his toes - but in the best of ways of course. While I cannot disclose the project details or location for the obvious reasons right now, later I can, I can say it is my preference to walk all of my projects constantly, meet with the staff from the contractor and subcontractors, and then tie it all back into the normal construction management processes we maintain in our office. In this regard, you would never know you were in a war zone save for the guns, bombs, drastic differences in the local populace, etc. Anyway, all of that was to say there is not much difference in construction oversight and management wherever we go on the planet.

More fun tomorrow and beyond is anticipated. We love the missions. All has turned out to be a good Wednesday for us here on FOB Smart. Thursday is up next.

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

Special Post No. 112

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul - Forward Operating Base Smart

Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

The photographs below were taken on 27-28 March 2012. Views from near FOB Smart can often deliver the most surprising juxtapositions of what we, back home, would call highly unusual, and what we would call, here in the mix, highly regular in terms of sights and sounds. The colors outside the wire strike against the harshest of realities and yet become so normal to see, you have to stop and take it all in to appreciate the beauty. Of course, the shots of me represent me in every way - bright, cheerful, sometimes black & white, and always ready! One Team One Fight. Enjoy!

Special Post No. 111

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul - Forward Operating Base Smart

Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

The photographs below were taken on 27 March 2012. You must have fun while you are here; otherwise you'd go crazy, at least I would anyway. Travis Nickerson, TSgt USAF got into the action with me today. Local Zabuli Afghans walk past newly erected security fencing surrounding one of our nearby construction projects. One Team One Fight. Enjoy!

AF Day 318

FOB Smart at 1700 - Tuesday

Mission outside the wire completed - check. We observed progress again today on the usual suspects, including a hospital, a ministerial offices project with civil and agricultural sitework, as well a radio station, and a perimeter wall project. I feel so very connected to these projects; mostly because of the war zone they are being constructed within, the people building them, the people who will benefit from them, and the reality of my being here to see them constructed. Nostalgia for certain, but also a sense of responsibility and teamwork. Anyway, it will also be good to say goodbye to them and others in less than 23 days!

I love this place - I hate this place; however, I will miss this place, its people, its desert environment, and of course the construction management. "What next?" many have been asking me. Seattle by way of vacation, with my son, through Arizona and New Mexico, then driving northwest to Seattle and stopping whenever and wherever along the way. Seattle for Fulcrum! Seattle for me! Seattle for freedom and the next chapter, yes - it is Seattle next. There are many days and several moons between now and the time I can say I have moved to Seattle, so for now I remain completely focused on the civil-military construction job at hand.

I have busy weeks planned on and off the FOB between now and my FOB departure date of 18 April 2012. I depart Afghanistan via Kandahar on 22 April 2012. The busy weeks ahead are very much appreciated - and anticipated. I will continue to knock the proverbial wood until the day I am free from this dangerous soil. It's all good in the neighborhood. Dinner starts soon. Life starts soon too!

143, Kaesen.

Good night and good day.

Special Post No. 110

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul - Forward Operating Base Smart

Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan

The photographs below were taken on 27 March 2012. We completed another outside the wire construction mission this morning. The skies over Qalat seemed to portend heavy rain on its way and muddy conditions to follow. It seems we may not have missed the typical rainy season after all. A couple of the shots depict how our local Afghan partners mix concrete when they are mixing such for non-U.S. funded construction projects - interesting no doubt. The last two are of me with Travis Nickerson, TSgt USAF (right). One Team One Fight. Enjoy!