Metal Rain

The weather has been warming. Spring has arrived in Bagram. With it has come the return of IDF. Those nasty Taliban pukes have been probing us a lot. They know the C-RAMs are in place so they've been firing rockets at low trajectories or just short of the perimeter wall to gauge the response. The other night they decided to be more bold and go for the gusto. I was in my room around 2200 when the alarm sounded. "Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!" blared over the speakers as I dove to the floor. But what accompanied the alarm was the sound of super badass chainsaws. The C-RAMs were at work. I got up from the floor and ran downstairs to the bunker. As I made my way downstairs the alarm sound again, indicating more rockets inbound. The C-RAMs immediately announced their presence, as at least five of them at once began engaging the rockets. What an incredible sound and light display! The C-RAM's 20mm gatling gun fires almost 2,000 rounds a minute. At night the stream of tracers coming from the gun system is like a bright red fire hose stream of light. The rounds then detonate after traveling a certain distance, making a popping, crackling and flashing show of power. Wait, where was I? Oh yes, I was headed to the bunker when the alarm sounded again. I never actually made it into the bunker though. Instead I became mesmerized by the crisscrossing red streams above and their awesome explosive endings. It was the most fantastic C-RAM display I'd ever seen through multiple deployments. I was still standing there in awe when bits and pieces of the exploded shells started raining down all around me. Silly me, only then did I dart into the bunker. I wish I could've taken a video of the show. Even the Taliban had to have been impressed. Their rockets failed in their deadly mission once again.

Now I find myself on the eve of my R&R. At last I will be able to recharge. And I will do so knowing that the happiest days of my life are ahead of me. I know that now more than ever. Bagram is just a temporary holding cell for what the future has in store. I will not even think of Bagram while I am on R&R. I promised my entire Garrison staff that I will come back refreshed and I meant it. But I will always remember the night in Bagram when we were pelted with the metal rain of multiple C-RAMs in action. It was simply one of those events you have to see to believe. I'm thankful I was there to see it unfold. I'll never look at a 4th of July fireworks show the same again.

Afghanistan Elections meet Captain America

The long anticipated Afghanistan presidential election came and went without incident. By all accounts it was a smashing success. It was a historic event – the first truly democratic election to determine a new president since the war began. President Karzai could not be re-elected. While we prepared for the worst, the actual day of the election was very peaceful. There was a record turnout to vote. It may take a few weeks to tally the votes and a runoff is expected. But, by and large, the people of Afghanistan made a statement for their country’s future. What was more significant is that the Afghan security forces were in the lead for protecting the polling stations. In times past we would have expected that to be a recipe for disaster. But the Taliban were practically nowhere to be seen. This meant the election was not only a resounding success, but it was also a boost of confidence to the stability of the country. There was a lot of work that went into making the election a success. The U.S. Forces, Coalition, and Civilians associated with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could all take great pride in making this history come true for the people of Afghanistan. While the election process is far from complete, the election was a great first step and clearly demonstrated to all that the past decade has not been in vain. We continue to pray for peace and prosperity in the coming months and years. We were here to not only witness history, but also to make it happen.

As the election day was winding down, many of us here on Bagram gathered for a rewarding evening. The good folks at Marvel had received a letter from some Soldiers who had written to remind them there was still a war going on here. Essentially, the Soldiers were asking for a copy of the new Captain America movie. The folks from Marvel were more than happy to oblige. They provided a copy of the movie to Army Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES), who hustled the movie to Bagram for a showing. The Bagram AAFES folks contacted me and arranged to use our large “clamshell” facility to air the movie. We laid on food, music, and prizes to accompany the event and sent out a notice to everyone with the time and location of the showing. There must have been almost 500 people who showed up, including representation from all the Armed Services, Coalition Forces, and civilians on Bagram. The AAFES folks asked me to share a few words before the movie began. I thanked them all for their service, held a moment of silence for our comrades in Fort Hood, praised everyone for playing their part in making the Afghan election a success, and then got off the stage so the movie could roll. It was a great show. Everyone enjoyed the evening and I believe it was one of the best MWR events I’ve been a part of in all of my various deployments. The Afghanistan elections had met Captain America and both turned out to be winners. I wish every day in Afghanistan could be like this one was.

To Kandahar and Back

I finally managed to break out of Bagram for an overnight. It had been in planning for a few weeks. My excursion was rather mundane in appearance but it was definitely refreshing to get away. The last night of March I flew down to Kandahar Airfield (KAF for short). The purpose of my trip was to attend a Transfer-of-Authority (TOA) ceremony for the KAF Garrison. By the time I departed the next day I had seen enough of KAF to know it is very different than Bagram. First of all, it is a NATO base. That means it has much more of an international presence. This includes Germans, Romanians, British, Dutch, among others. KAF is home to a large American presence as well. Overall, the population of KAF is a few thousand less than BAF. It appears like a more orderly base. The center of off-duty life is around an area known as “The Boardwalk”. This is a large shopping square with shops and restaurants on the outside facing into a recreational area that includes basketball courts, picnic areas, a walking track, and an artificial turf athletic field. Among the restaurants you can find Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and even a TGI Friday’s. I would have never believed this had I not seen it in person. It’s true. But everything is short-lived at this point. KAF, like BAF, is in the process of downsizing rapidly. I definitely enjoyed my few hours there. The ceremony was great too. I had no time to loiter afterwards, as my flight was immediately following the TOA. By 1500 I was touching back down in BAF. There is no boardwalk in BAF. There never will be either.

Once back in Bagram, I found that the first few days of April were consumed with a sudden power struggle brought on by the “good idea fairies” from higher command. There’s another unit that has been sent here and as they’ve settled in it has become apparent they think they own some of the Garrison mission. I’ll have none of that. But it appears the fight is just beginning. It has made for an exhausting week so far. If the outcome does not reverse the course the good idea fairies have forced upon BAF there will be hell to pay around here. Dysfunction is sure to follow at a time we need it the least.

My last thought today is of the Soldiers who were killed or wounded yesterday in the tragic shooting at Fort Hood. There were many scenes today of military and civilian personnel in Bagram gathered around televisions watching the news updates. It is such a terrible event, coming just five years after that Islamic terrorist Major Hassan carried out his Jihadist rampage at the same installation. Although it doesn’t sound like yesterday’s event was terror related or connected to Islamic extremism, it is equally as heartbreaking. The prayers of the entire Bagram community are reaching out from Afghanistan to the families of those killed or wounded and for the Soldiers now recovering from their wounds. May God bless all of them and provide them comfort and healing during this time of gut-wrenching loss.