James - It has been way to long since I've posted anything. Tami's and my idea about using a blog to keep everyone updated on what was happening to us really backfired. The past two months have flown by. It's actually almost three months. People have already started to go home on mid-tour leave. Some have already gone home and come back. I'm not sure when I'll be coming home, but I will let you know when I know for sure. I'm secretly hoping to be home for our one year anniversary and Christmas.
Everyday living is pretty easy here. I certainly don't have the luxuries that I did back home, but we make do with what we have. We do improve on our living standards when we have time and the resources and things continue to get better almost every day. For the last three months I've been washing my clothes by hand. We stole some washers and dryers from our battalion and now we have a laundry room being built to house them. We later learned that those washers and dryers were supposed to come here anyway. They were just waiting for someone to come pick them up. The efficiency of the Army is awesome.
As for combat, I live in a pretty safe area compared to other units. The base I live on gets attacked every now and then, but it's never been serious and no one has been hurt here yet, at least not us good guys. I have been part of some pretty hairy fights outside of the base though. It's pretty exciting and a real rush, but it's terrifying as well. People are getting hurt out here, and it takes courage every time that we leave the base here. You never know when an IED or an ambush might kick off. We are really helping these people though. As we drive down the road we can see children walking to school as well as clinics to help these people. The economy is growing and the standard of living is gradually increasing.
Most of the following pictures were taken on the same day. The trucks that were handed off to us by the unit we replaced were not kept in good condition and they were breaking down right and left. We took a day off from patrols and put them all in the shop. We then spent the whole day, all the way into the night working on them. As they were inspected more and more problems kept coming up. Wheels were lose and barely hanging on, gas tanks had leaks in them, and transmissions were pretty much fried. The mechanics couldn't finish all of the work in one day so we had to leave some of our trucks there for a few days.
It is hard to be away from home, but life does continue out here. We find plenty to joke about, especially each other. I am serving with some great guys who really know how to do their job and that I can trust to watch my back. That being said, there is always something to look forward to, emails, letters, packages, phone calls home, mid-tour leave, and going home for good. I feel that life is about experience, and I'm getting some good experiences here.
Hopefully Tami & I can keep this updated a little better. From now on I will try to complete a new blog entry at least once every week. We will see how it really turns out though.
I look forward to seeing everyone again and I hope that you are all doing well. Thanks for all of your love and support.
2 comments:
It's so great to hear from you and see pics of what you're doing there. Keep updating - both of you! You are in our thoughts and prayers!
It is good to see that you are doing well and are safe. I am glad that you both are in good health and staying busy. That is all you can do to make the time go by fast.. We think of you both often.
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