COIN

Camp Julien -COIN Training

We left about 9ish for Camp Julien. After a trip that took me thru streets I have never traveled, and sites I have never seen, we arrived. Because of OPSEC I am truly limited on what I say about the camp, its location and the training we went thru. Without giving too much information, I will simply explain that COIN is a training that teaches us about perceptions and appropriate actions to adhere to in order to build better relations with our local population. We learned more about the customs, perception, and culture surrounding us, and the history of Afghanistan and the Taliban. For those that have not seen the national geographic show, Inside the Taliban, I recommend it. this was truly a great history lesson for me, proving how ignorant I was in regards to the history of Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan and yes, the US. The funny thing is, Katrina was studying this portion of history (which, btw, I do not remember reading about in my history books), anyhow, she was learning about this before I left for Afghanistan, and now, I get it.

Our first day, I got to tour the Queens old palace. There are pictures of the ruins that was once a beautiful adorned palace. It was breathtaking and heartbreaking to see the ruins, to walk thru the historical monument. We took many pictures and then moved on. We went on to start our training. That evening, we broke in time for dinner and went to the local restaurant, where between the four of us, we downed 10 baskets of bread, and four entrees...oh, and let's not forget the nearbeer in many different flavors...which, btw, no matter how bad I miss the slight taste of wine, or liquor, I still detest beer and therefore did not partake in Near beer...I figure if I don't like the real thing, why would I like the fake stuff...lol

Anyhow, after filling our bellies with 10 pounds of yeast, and 3 hours of wining and dining..ok..dining... We were able to just go to bed.. What a concept..we didn't have to eat and then rush back to work for a few more hours..nice change...(yes, people, its the simple things in life...)

The following day we had to get up early to get up to the range and refamiliarize ourself with our weapons... Yes, we got to shoot.. And well, all I can say is what an embarrassment I was to myself that day...I think I drank too much of the DFAC coffee..because I could not get a steady grip...my arms and hands shook like I was Wired... I suppose I was...I even shot twice, trying to make myself feel better, only ending with the same results...I went from sharp shooter to crap shooter...yea.it sucked..no more coffee before the range ( and no, I'm not telling you my numbers)

Later that afternoon, we got to go to the old Russian Officers club, I think I labeled it German, on facebook photos, but I will fix that later..this hike, was Bout a 40 minute hike, up hill the whole way..no, this isn't like the old "5 miles up hill both ways exaggeration" it truly was an up hill hike, about 40 minutes, but the view was absolutely amazing..a full 360 view of the city...mountains surrounding us... I could only imagine how amazing and breathtaking it would be, with a slight layer of snow just atop the mountains..fortunately, the hike downhill felt much better, than the hike up..but definitely worth it.

We once again enjoyed dinner at the restaurant that night, devouring pizzas that were definitely worth the wait ( most people here definitely take their time, with EVERYTHING... They are never in a rush....except for on the roads it seems...so only half like New York...the traffic half..) anyhow, it was good.
Our ride back was definitely a bit more interesting than the ride there...traffic was absolutely INSANE. There are prolly 15 (made up) lanes of traffic, heading in all directions possible, yes, its like playing frogger, except, worse... The one thing I have learned, no lie, is that there is no license required here to drive, no joke, but it definitely explains a lot.

After safely making it back to nkc and wanting to kiss the ground, when I stepped out of the vehicle, I was exhausted. I checked in at the office, setup the refrigerator that Donovan had delivered for me, (thank you for getting it here!) and then went to bed..
After traveling the day at Kandahar, then turning around and heading to Julien the next day, for a few days, I was exhausted.

There you have it... My next trip, promises not to be as exciting as this one, Kandahar never is..
More later

Kandahar - take 3

Kandahar take 3

So this was my third trip to kandahar in the last month..
Except today, was much different.
We had our own puddle jumper..special ops plane and was able to fly out this rning and return this evening...
Which is good for those of you that know how much I hate Kandahar...
Today was the monthly conference, where we..the HQ..travel to e South to give some gouge, reminders, and discuss recurring issues..

We left nkc at 0700 this morning... Arrive in KAF about 11, had several hours to kill so we went to TGIFridays for lunch..
Still not impressive... Really...nothing to write home about..so I I'll shut up..
Afterwards we stopped ( since it was on the boardwalk) the orange julius place, which usually has ice cream like dairy queen..
Usaully is the key word..
Today..it was disgusting..nuff said

I am now on the plane back to nkc...we are running a little later than planned so we are stopping at the pizza hut at the airport and grabbing somme good fast food..their pizza hut tastes like the one in the states...the one good fast food here in this region...

Tomorrow I knead to kcamp julienne for some COIN training..
I will explain it all once I get back.. But needless to say there are some tours involved, great photo ops, and new sites..

This week has been pretty rough on me..
I was seriously sick...down hard...still worked daily, but some days I would leave hours to down some nyquil and try to sleep..and some days I would keep in an extra couple hours, due to the nyquil the night before..but it has been a sinus infection turned in to a cough that I cant seem to kick.. Been sick for a week now...hoping I am on the mend.. Will keep you posted...would be nice to not cough every 5 minutes and not constantly feel like my head is going to explode from the pressure (which, btw, being on this plane....does not help....)

Ok, there's the update until next week..more after COIN..

Kandahar - take 3

Kandahar take 3

So this was my third trip to kandahar in the last month..
Except today, was much different.
We had our own puddle jumper..special ops plane and was able to fly out this rning and return this evening...
Which is good for those of you that know how much I hate Kandahar...
Today was the monthly conference, where we..the HQ..travel to e South to give some gouge, reminders, and discuss recurring issues..

We left nkc at 0700 this morning... Arrive in KAF about 11, had several hours to kill so we went to TGIFridays for lunch..
Still not impressive... Really...nothing to write home about..so I I'll shut up..
Afterwards we stopped ( since it was on the boardwalk) the orange julius place, which usually has ice cream like dairy queen..
Usaully is the key word..
Today..it was disgusting..nuff said

I am now on the plane back to nkc...we are running a little later than planned so we are stopping at the pizza hut at the airport and grabbing somme good fast food..their pizza hut tastes like the one in the states...the one good fast food here in this region...

Tomorrow I knead to kcamp julienne for some COIN training..
I will explain it all once I get back.. But needless to say there are some tours involved, great photo ops, and new sites..

This week has been pretty rough on me..
I was seriously sick...down hard...still worked daily, but some days I would leave hours to down some nyquil and try to sleep..and some days I would keep in an extra couple hours, due to the nyquil the night before..but it has been a sinus infection turned in to a cough that I cant seem to kick.. Been sick for a week now...hoping I am on the mend.. Will keep you posted...would be nice to not cough every 5 minutes and not constantly feel like my head is going to explode from the pressure (which, btw, being on this plane....does not help....)

Ok, there's the update until next week..more after COIN..

Nickelback causing random thoughts...

Nickelback.....There's gotta be someone for me out there...
The one question, those of us at are single, for the umpteenth time, after thinking we had "it"
Only to discover we didn't, and now are left wondering...
If there's someone out there for me..

I find myself asking the question, more often than I care to admit..
I know, in time, everyone always says..the right one will come along..the sad part is,
I feel as if my life is already half over... I am missing out on sharing my experiences now..
Experiences that I will never get to redo, those memories i can never get back

I am a single mom of 3 teenage children, 35 years old, and about to retire from my first career..
My whole life I spent believing I would find mr right...whoever that is..and have family, a career and live happily ever after..lol
Okay okay so I know... That's the fairy tale version..
I heard funny line night in a movie...it was
Stories with happy endings, are stories that haven't finished.
I know that is not always true...
But sometimes I feel it applies to me..
I haven't been able to get it right, and for me, as I approach my 40s....yes I said it, my 40s...
I feel a sense of urgency..almost like that of a woman who hasn't yet had kids..and feels that need...soon...now..
I have had kids...and will have no more...so it's a little different I know..
But I yearn to have that special someone to share things with.. To share life with..to plan a future with...

Iot seems each time I thought I had it....every time I thought this was it, life proved me wrong..set me straight
And now here I am..

I truly feel like I am definitely a restless soul.... Yearning for the other half..to complete the puzzle, to reveal the picture...

Sometimes, I just put the thoughts out of my mind, call myself a silly girl...and tell myself to get over it..but who am I kidding..
We all ..ok most of us, long to have someone to share life wiith, to share joy with....we are human beings...

I have spent the last month reading some very spiritually fulfilling books, doing some soul searching, and ultimately, I know I am ok alone
I have proven to myself that I can survive...but I definitely prefer to have someone to share in this life with...

Catching up...

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO

So its been a little bit since I have written, or so I have been
reminded :) Thanks Laura!
Things have been a little hectic over here.. Both at work and outside of
work.

I returned from my Bagram trip and had a whole new team (here at
my office). My team, that I have been with for 4 months was redeploying
(heading home..) and so not only had I spent the previous two weeks
training a team to work on their own, I now had a team to train - to
relieve my guys. Its always a hard transition to go from the ones you
trust, the ones that know what they are doing, to a whole new team. I
have worked longer days, cleaning up the database, fixing the errors
that were being made. Needless to say the new team is not overly joyed
with me, because I am Anal Retentive about the Attention to Detail.
What they don't seem to understand is that for every block in the
database they DON'T fill in, I have to backtrack, and fill in the data
for my reports to General Petraeus. They may not see the requests, the
reports, and receive the phone calls I get, but soon, they will
understand, I hope? I have heard rumblings already that the two day
shift girls are talking about me behind my back, or sending emails to
each other thru the day (after I've corrected them on something)
bitching about me.

I do not want to work in that kind of environment. I refuse to
work with what seems to be high schoolish antics. I try to be patient,
I let them know they are doing a good job, but I also let them know the
errors I am seeing. Its constructive criticism. It's funny.... they
seem to like me, when I have their backs and get phone calls from
Department of Army (DA) or even our higher headquarters, requesting them
to do something - that is probably not necessary... they like me when I
get on the phone and tell the other end that we will not do what they
are asking, because it is redundant work, or purely not required. But,
when it comes to me correcting or putting out guidelines on how the data
is to be entered, they do not like it. It's simple, there are several
blocks to be filled in, all serve a purpose and all are self
explanatory, each block serves a purpose. Every bit of that data is
tracked, and - like I had once eluded to before, is put in a statistical
slide for General Petraeus. When the blocks are left blank, that causes
a lot of going back, research and needless time taken away.

Anyhow, so, the last couple weeks have been a little
frustrating. I am an impatient person, I know this - and because I know
this, I am trying very hard to not lose my patience.. But, There are
times, when I receive a call, and am told something was not done - that
was reported as being complete, I get a little mad.. This happened..
and this happened on a report to that is briefed not only to the Afghani
Ambassador - but to General Petraeus. Nothing like getting a phone call
5 minutes before that brief, that the report was not received.
Anyhow, so that is how my last couple weeks have been, since returning
from Bagram.

I have also been sick the last couple days, battling what seemed
to be a sinus infection - or simply the crud that seems to be going
around.. not sure just yet..

Other than that, work has been work. I am, once again, going to
Kandahar, to hold another seminar; Apparently, word got out, and those
that could not attend the last seminar, have requested for me to hold
another.. I am glad. It obviously makes me feel like what I am doing it
worthwhile.
I am also going to Camp Julien soon, I will take pictures and tell you
all about it, afterwards. For security reasons, I will wait on all that
information, but that time - should be fun. I am going with a few other
fellow LT's and it promises to be a good time. I am actually looking
forward to it.

Its funny, as time has gone on, although the thought of
traveling is still a bit scary, I look forward to getting off of here -
even if it's just a couple days. Traveling helps make the time go by
faster.

I also have been doing a lot of reading, which is taking away
from my online time, especially since my netbook broke.. I don't have
internet in my room now, which leaves me to read.. which, although it
sucks right now, I guess is a pretty good thing. I have been reading
some pretty good books (thanks to George, and Jamie!:))
I will be getting a new one, though, because I do miss being able to IM
with my friends there back home, in the evening time.

I will say that I have learned to leave my office a bit more. I
go and have dinner outside with some of the other O3s in my directorate.
I also leave a bit earlier than I used to, mostly out of selfish
reasons, but - it's still after a 14-15 hour day, so regardless of the
reason, it's still good.. ;)

okay, time to post...will write more soon as my travels continue next week...