A few hours later I headed to my office to get some routine work done. I had told my NCOIC to take the morning off and get done whatever he needed to before we left. The Supply Sergeant stopped by to give me the blank cds I had requested the day before and I told him about my trip. He asked how much ammo I had, I said 10 rounds. He asked how many magazines I had, I said two magazine. The Supply Sergeant laughed at me....a lot. When he calmed down he said, "LT what the hell did you do with all your ammo!?" I said, "That was all they gave me! They said that was all they had." He laughed more, "LT, they issued again when we got here." I stared at him. "Well no one told me! I thought everyone had 10 rounds!" Supply Sergeant shook his head, "So you were about to go outside the wire with 10 rounds? I hope you have really good aim! Come on, we will square you away." I grinned and grabbed my weapon to follow him. He placed 6 magazines on the table. He handed me stacks of 5.56 ball rounds on little metal racks. I looked at him, looked at the stacks of bullets and sighed. I picked up the first rack and pulled the first bullet off and put it in my magazine. I loaded a second round. A third. The Supply Sergeant was rummaging through boxes until he turned around with a small piece of metal. I looked at it and looked at him. "What's that? A magazine broke?" He laughs more. "No, LT, this is a speed loader. Watch." He picked up one of the racks and a magazine and placed the "speed loader" on the end of the magazine. He fitted the rack into the groove of the "speed loader" and placed the other end of the rack against the table and pressed the magazine down onto the rack. Instantly the entire rack of bullets was loaded! I was amazed! Here I thought I was going to spend the next hour loading over 100 bullets by hand! And all those times at the range I hand wondered how they loaded the mags so fast! And such a simple little tool! "wow! That's awesome Sergeant! Do I get to keep this thing?" He nodded and I clutched it with excitement.
A few hours later my NCOIC and I were in full kit (body armor WITH the annoying neck and groin protectors and terminator looking attachment holding all my magazines, eye protection, gloves, helmet, weapon) standing at the flight-line. A civilian Canadian version of a Chinook helicopter gracefully landed before us and we waddled up to our seats. About a minute and a half later we were climbing back off the helicopter at Camp Mike Spann, DDII's senselessly close next door neighbor.One of my former maintenance chiefs, now assigned to the partnership office, and the former StratCom LT picked us up at the flight-line in a white pick-up. Oddly enough, the helipad was outside the compound in this case so we got searched on the way in. We removed all of our armor at the Partnership office and spent a couple hours talking about all things StratCom and Partnership. We went to the Dining Facility for dinner and then spent another hour working at the office before retiring to the transit tents we would spend the night in. I wandered a bit until I found the female showers.. rifle slung, fixed blade knife in one hand, hygiene kit in the other, flashlight on my head. After an icy shower I sloshed in wet flip-flops, same posture as I came, back to my tent.
A civilian sleeping bag was rolled out on the bed across from the one I had picked and a backpack on the floor next to it. I stared at the items for a while before getting fully dressed again and pulling my laptop out to watch a show on my computer and possibly check Facebook. I placed my backpack behind my head and relaxed a bit. No internet. I watched a show I had brought with me and then placed my laptop on the floor next to me as I began to fade into sleep. I was groggy and half-conscious when I heard the other lady walk in. She was sturdy and tall, brunette, and dressed like a hiker. I said hello, she said hello, I slipped back into a light sleep. I was shivering. I felt the ache in my muscles as I woke up. The resonating ache from clenching them too long. I peered around in the darkness before reaching into my backpack for my spare uniform top. I pulled it tightly around my chest and tried to relax my muscles. I felt better for a few moments and then began shivering again, as if the cold had only been delayed by the extra layer. I figured eventually I would fall back asleep. I was so tired. I decided to try to relax and ignore it. I kept shivering, not easing any closer to sleep. I grunted and sat up. Of course, the night I'm here it gets hold. When the hell did it get cold! I looked around the tent with my flashlight. Earlier I had a seen an abandoned sheet. I spotted it again with the light. I creeped over and inspected it without touching it. A candy wrapper, a shoelace, lots of dust....it doesn't look like it is covered in anything strange or diseased...I leaned down and sniffed it. It smelled like dust. I stared at it for a while and felt the ache in my muscles, fought the urge to clatter my teeth together, and finally put the flashlight band around my head and picked up the sheet. I leaned away as I shook it out, more time than necessary probably. Wow, I'm really going to use this random dusty sheet. Next time I'll bring the damn sleeping bag. I laid back down wrapping the extra top and the sheet around me, careful not to touch the sheet to my face, in case it had coodies or something. I woke up from the cold a few more times but at least was able to sleep in between.
In the morning, I packed up my gear before meeting my NCOIC in the Dining Facility for breakfast. Afterward, we grabbed our gear and headed back to the partnership office. Our Battalion Commander and Commander Sergeant Major flew in and we all went to the Afghan National Security Forces Engineer School EOD (specialists that disarm bombs) graduation. There was a speaker and a long prayer (which technically, my hair should have been covered for but after 10 years of working with us they don't expect American women to follow their cultural/religious rules, but had I known at the time, I would have covered my hair out of respect) and then a line of professors, senior ranking officers, dignitaries, and our own CSM and BC formed at the front of the room. The enthusiasm of the Afghan Soldiers was inspiring! Upon hearing their name, they each proudly stood up, marched dramatically down the hall, lifting their arms and legs as high as they could go with each step, halted in front of the person holding their certificate and saluted, shooting "I am ready to receive my certificate" in Dari. Upon receiving their certificate they would shake hands, about face, hold the certificate over their head proudly and shout in Dari, "I have graduated and served my country!" After the ceremony I was able to interview the top graduate in the class. He had served in the Afghan Army for 6 years, 2 of those years as an officer. He said he did not have a wife and his mother was proud of his military service but unhappy about him working with explosives. I asked him why he joined the army and he said all the young men were joining to serve their country. I asked him why he became an officer and he said he wanted to someday command brigades. I asked him why EOD and he said he liked being able to make bombs safe so that children wouldn't get hurt. I asked him, if he could tell the Afghan people one thing, what would it be? He said to keep and open mind and hope for the future.
I was interrupted by the Specialist pulling security for me during the interview and we were hurried back to the office. I spent 15 minutes at the bazaar looking at the handmade crafts and buying a phone card before it was time to gear up. We convoyed back to DDII which was the most roundabout 1 hour route to go next door trip I have ever been on. I was glued to the ballistic window looking at the village, the people and the buildings, for the first time. It was completely fascinating. We cleared weapons and fueled up upon returning and went to drop our gear. When I walked back into my tent, after what seemed like much longer than 24 hrs, there was the sleeping bag I decided to leave, mocking me.
Excited about all the great countryside and experiences you are getting. It is awesome you are getting to see different operations and parts of the country. Stay vigilant and know we are loving these great updates!
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