sC-RAMbled eggs

And so another month comes to a close. Another month begins. The arrival of March signifies the halfway point for this tour. I’m not quite exactly at the six month milestone but it is only days away. Time is certainly flying by in chunks. It seems odd because some days drag on like an eternity. Sometimes my calendar seems to be on the same month for inordinate stretches. But, inexorably, time does march on. The drumbeat continues in Afghanistan.

I was thinking today about how significantly different my eating habits are here. Last Friday I had a chance to ride out to the giant food distribution warehouse that supplies multiple bases in central and northern Afghanistan. It is a colossal facility that makes a regional Walmart distribution center look puny. While walking through the mammoth cold storage area I saw countless pallets of fresh eggs waiting to be loaded for shipment. That triggered my thoughts that continued into today. I love eggs. But I never eat them here. As a matter of fact, as big of a fan of breakfast as I am I never go to that meal at the DFAC. I know they serve eggs to order, omelets, boiled eggs, and just about all the accompanying breakfast treats. But when I’m deployed I always choose to make coffee in my room and eat cereal. I like to snack between meals. But I don’t snack when I’m deployed. I just eat a big lunch and supper in the DFAC. Strangely enough, I eat way more fresh fruits and vegetables every time I’m deployed and this go-round is no exception. Many people say that deployments are a great place to get in shape. That is a true statement. Even though I’m already a fitness nut, I always walk away from deployments in the best shape I’ve been in since the last deployment. Again, this one is no exception either. Right now I am tipping the scales at about 157 pounds, which is the lightest I’ve been in a decade. Not drinking any beer, of course, is a big part of that. But the combination of my deployment eating habits and workouts have definitely combined to put me in the best shape since – you guessed it – my last deployment. Actually I’m in even better shape.

There’s a new edition to Bagram these days. I’ve described them before on previous deployment blogs. C-RAM (Counter-Rocket Artillery Mortar) batteries are finally on the base. They are only 12 years overdue. The past few days they’ve been announcing their presence by conducting random test fires. The C-RAM is like a big electric Gatlin Gun. When it fires it emits a stream of bullets at a rate of over 1,000 a minute. They sound like the biggest, baddest, and loudest chainsaw you’ve ever heard. I find their music comforting. I’m glad they are finally here.