A year in Afghanistan: I'm Back!

So, the reason I haven't posted anything in a few days is because I have been traveling and haven't been able to get on a computer that would let me access my blog. I didn't post before I left about the travels, as I didn't want anyone to overly worry about me, as some people tend to do.

So, as I posted before, I created kind of uproar last week when I sent out guidance on new policies. Well, because of that, the battalion commander at another FOB wanted me to come there and give a brief on all the new changes. So I hopped on a helicopter and traveled to FOB Wolverine.

Wolverine is completely unlike KAF in every aspect. It is very small, quiet, clean, and just all around nicer. My first night there, the DFAC was serving t-bone steaks, lobster, and crab cakes. The lobster was definitely a treat that I have yet to see at KAF. I'm still not sure how people go about eating the t-bone with the plastic cutlery, but it wasn't something I felt up to finding out, so I stuck with the lobster and the crab cakes.

All in all, my trip to Wolverine was a nice break from the hustle and bustle (and the smell) of KAF. Once I gave my brief, there wasn't much else for me to do, so I felt kinda in the way most of the time. I was able to meet with a few commanders that had legal issues, and I'm pretty sure we were able to resolve their issues. I stayed 2 nights, and I wish I could have stayed longer. I got to stay in one of the VIP rooms which means I stayed in a room just like the one I live in at KAF but it was just me in there. It also means that they provided me with linen and a mattress pad, so I didn't have to bring my sleeping bag and as a result also didn't have to carry my rucksack. Carrying the assault pack is way better than the big bulky rucksack.

Coming back today, I was suppose to fly out at a certain time, but when I got to the flight line to check in I found out that flight had been pushed back 2.5 hours. I just waited around and read my kindle. At some point while I was standing around the flight line, a civilian helicopter landed and some guy asked if me and the other Soldier who were standing around were headed to KAF, and if we wanted a ride. We both said yes, and got on the aircraft. I was supposed to fly back in a CH-47 (chinook) which is what I flew into Wolverine on. I'm not really a fan of the CH-47s as you sit sideways in them and there aren't really any windows that you can see out of minus a few port hole looking ones. On the way, I was very close to getting sick, but was able to do a little mind over matter and was able to keep down my lunch.

The helicopter that I got in coming back, was not a chinook and I was pretty happy about that. That is of course, until I was up in the air. This helicopter (I'm still not sure what kind it was) was much smaller than a chinook, but I still had to sit facing sideways. The saving grace of the Chinook is that at the front of the aircraft, there are 2 door gunners who have weapons pointed out of the aircraft (and hence the doors up there are off) and then the back of the aircraft is open as well; this creates a really nice air flow, and keeps you from getting overly hot. This helicopter had no airflow! There also weren't big windows to look out of like a black hawk has. It also didn't help that this helicopter stopped at like 5 different FOBs dropping and picking people up. So while in the helicopter, I took off and landed like 7 times. There were many times along the flight that I thought I was going to lose my breakfast, but again, I was able to do a mind over matter thing and keep it down. That is until a couple minutes before we landed back at KAF. It just couldn't be overcome any more. Unfortunately, I lost it. Luckily for me and other people, I had a water bottle with me, and don't ask how, but I was able to throw up into the water bottle. I will never fly without a water bottle, because they do not provide air sick bags, or at least put them anywhere that one who may need them can find them.

The roomie came and picked me up from the pax terminal, as I came into the civilian pax terminal because I was on a civilian aircraft, and it is far away from where we work. On the ride back, you have to drive right next to the "wire," and on the other side, I got to see camels! I had heard of the camels, but every time I had ever been over there, they were never there. So that made me pretty happy. I finally got to see the camels!

Here's some photos of my journey...