The Art of Crossing Water

Now one might think the easiest way to cross water would be to stand on the shore and yell mean things at it, similar in the way that beavers damn the river. Hyuck, thank you Acme.
On the serious side, crossing creeks and streams would seem a straight forward enough process: cross quickly, safely, and with the sole intent of remaining dry. Ah, but welcome to Afghanistan, where the Gowardesh river valley is the only way to get anywhere. This entails crossing said river 8 or 20 times depending on the point man's mood. Here are some of the ways to cross the water:
1. Follow the point man like sheep - "look, here's a waterfall, fast moving current, can't see the bottom, an ideal spot don't you think." Baaah
2. Guy in front is daydreaming about being in the Bahamas, goes traipsing through knee deep water, everybody follows. Again like sheep, only more stupid.
3. Guy in front of you has seen Superman Returns to many times, and tries to fly across the stream... and fails. Guy behind with a pocket full of kryptonite chuckles, till he too winds up in the drink.
4. Make like the locals and try to jump from boulder to boulder. Simple enough, that is if you weren't carrying 10 lbs armor, 40 lbs gear, etc.
5. Cross at the bridge - course by bridge I mean the tree branch lodged between boulders. Or much better, the 8x2 balanced precariously across the only rapids in the sight.
6. Or make like Sgt 'Geronimo' and ignore all the above options, and just fall in, then swim to the other side. Way to go Surefoot.

Thanks for the warm wishes on Memorial Day. Love to you all.

Gowardesh

Hello everybody. I am still getting settled in at Camp Liebert. This past week has been relatively uneventful, save for a nasty sunburn. I forgot that being at 7ooo plus feet means you burn faster. Oops.

We have been on two patrols into the local communities: Gowardesh (1 &2) and Daba. The people are very friendly and receptive. I wish they lived a bit closer. It took us 3 hours or so to get down from our mountain, through the valley, across the river 8 times and up into thier mountain valley, roughly 5 kilometers. Fun. My legs shook for a good 20 minutes once I put my gear down. Course now I can tell my future kids that I actually did walk up hill both ways, in the mud and cold, and liked it. Ok, not so much the last part. The Army is all about character building exercises and this certainly was one.

I want to let you all know that I am doing ok, and am looking forward to coming home. I know I am only into the second week of this deployment but I am ready for it to hurry up and get over with. Please pray for Katie while she is at home. I miss her daily and look forward to when we can be together again. Till my next post, take care and God speed.

It Begins

I am moving out to the Himalayas tomorrow (I think). I arrived in Bagram, Afghanistan, yesterday about 12.00Zulu. Being here is strange. When I look at the mountain ringing the air base I feel almost at home. Course if it were a choice between here and with Katie, she wins hands down. So, the new deployment starts "back at Bagram." Please keep Katie, myself and our cat, Studebaker, in your thoughts. :) Till my next post from a campsite in the mountains somewhere, best wishes to you where ever your somewhere is.

Update: Here is a picture of our camp. Purrty ain't it. :)

Кыргызстан

Good morning everybody. I am writing this from Kyrgyzstan. Since Monday I have been in deployment limbo waiting for a flight to Afghanistan. This will be my second tour and my third full length deployment in four years. This deployment will be very different from the rest: duration (15 months), my job (senior line medic), locale (western Himalayas), and of course married as opposed to single.
Katie and I said our goodbyes on Monday. This deployment will be hard for the both of us. We will miss our first and second anniversaries and her major birthday. Before I left I think we decided to celebrate our anniversaries in October and birthdays with ice cream cake whenever we get the chance. We need very little excuse to throw a party.
I will try to update my blog as often as I can. Please know that you are all in my thoughts, especially you babe. :) Best wishes to you all. Take care and see you when I get home. ttfn