Merry Christmas

Happy holidays everyone. Im not quite sure what we are doing down here for christmas, prob a mission or something :S Im sure there will be a nice big dinner like we had for thanksgiving. Nothing makes an Infantryman happier then a huge plate of food. Its starting to get really cold here. Not snowing at Warrior yet but its getting alot closer, plenty of ice around though. Hopefully soon the snow will start falling so we can put things on hold for a bit, still pretty tired out here. I hope everyone has a great christmas and a happy new year. Cant wait to come home and spend the next one with you guys. Take care and enjoy life.

-Allen-

Water Sports

Yesterday me and five of my buddies signed up for a Water Sports tour here in Qatar, so we drove into downtown Doha and pulled into a pier where there were several traditional Dowh boats anchored. We got on board and the boat started too slowly but surely make its way towards our destination somewhere in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Apparently, Qatar with its disgusting amount of money, decided to build an island called The Pearl. Its still under construction, but we got to see it the way it was so far, and it was impressive. We slowly cruise by "The Pearl" and finally anchor about 300m off the beach nearby and start having fun. I jump in and immediately regret having my mouth slightly open as i impact the water. That water is saltier then any other ocean I have ever been in in my entire life. We get in, swim around for a few and then get on the jet skis, which was even more fun. The ultimate "Sport" if you will though, is of course the giant inflatable hot dog ride. Being drug behind a boat on that thing was brutal and fun at the same time. Every time I wiped out I skipped and rolled and slammed all over the place, it was awesome. I got a nice tan going and we got to eat some traditional Qatar food on the boat and basically just enjoyed a great day in the Gulf.

-Allen-

Festive Times

So I figured Id finally get around to doing a new post. The internet at Warrior is atrocious and so its a pain too do this, but now I'm in Qatar on R&R pass to get some rest. The good news is that the internet here is actually really fast. So, here I am after waiting in Bagram for 10 days on a ride over here, the day finally came. As far as I know, this place is built for R&R and R&R only. Its a pretty big area and so far it looks really nice. There are several tours and such that are available, so I plan on going on a Water Sports Venue. Basically they take you into Doha, the capitol of Qatar and they have jet skis and other water sports available, all of which takes place in the Persian Gulf :) Should be a lot of fun, i don't think too many people I know have been in or near the Persian Gulf. And it should also be mentioned that I have managed to scrounge up a very nice attire for the aforementioned occasion, that occasion being the R&R itself. I dont have any pictures but Ill try my best to describe this glorious clothing selection. I'll be wearing my running shoes, some North Face shorts, a Womens History Month t-shirt, and to top it all off, the cherry if you will... a black blazer that fits perfect, almost as if it was hand tailored to my exact measurements. So there you have it, soak it in, as I don't recommend taking it all in at once, it might be harmful to you and those around you.

Now for the more serious matters. I have been insanely busy with patrols and such in the past few months, which is part of the reason why I haven't updated this thing in so long. Nothing big to report, just a lot of long miserable walks and days in the sun. Cant say too much here so Ill keep it relatively short. I hope all is well with everyone at home, and I cant wait to come back and see everyone again. Stay safe and take care.

-Allen-

Home Never Seemed So Far

For the last five days or so I have been trying to make my way to Bagram Air force Base, and finally yesterday I made it. It was a short two hour ride in a Chinook which could not have been more uncomfortable. But, I am glad to be here because this base is like a small city. It has a DQ Burger King, a bunch of nice stuff I haven't seen in a long long time. I haven't even tried the BK Lounge yet in fear that my intestines will explode in a fit of unparalleled joy, which would be bad. So now I just sit and wait until I can find a bird that will take me to Kuwait so I can fly on home to Cali and enjoy my short period of beautiful freedom. I am extremely tired, I'll have to admit, so i better go find my bunk and get some rest. Hope all is well and take care.

-Allen-

Satanic Vehicle

I have come to the conclusion that the devil himself made the US Army vehicles. A few days ago we left to go on a pretty big, and as far as i know, important mission. So of course, seeing how I'm a driver I had to PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services) the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) to make sure it was in tip-top shape for the beating ahead, so I go down to the Motor Pool to get some help from the mechanics. Come to find out, there are all sorts of leaks and broken... things all over the place. I go back and tell my leaders about the HMMWV and they tell me to get it fixed as good as possible because we need all the vehicles we have. Considering the fact that I had about three hours before we got going, I didn't get a whole lot done. A few hours later we were rolling out the gate and onto Highway one, the only highway in Afghanistan, which wasn't bad on the truck at all, untill we had to get off the road that is. After about one hour of driving on the oh-so-charming dirt roads, the vehicle started acting up. It barely had any power, so going up a 3% incline was like climbing a rock wall, almost impossible. Reverse on the other hand didn't even need an incline to crap out on me. I could be sitting parked somewhere and the second I shifted to reverse the vehicle simply died on me, couldnt be more annoying. Let's just say maneuvering around the bumpy terrain got pretty difficult without much power and no reverse... At one point I was being towed and the "A-frame" (No idea what it is) broke completely and scraped along the ground. It was a HUGE piece of metal, I was pretty intrigued at the crappyness of it all. We ended up sitting in an open area for nine hours waiting for someone to come pick up the truck. All I can say is, luck must have been on our side since we didn't get attacked once the whole time, and we were pretty much sitting ducks.

Anyways, there's even more to be told, but I will hold off because I'm not too sure what all I am allowed to say on here, so keep your eyes open. Hope all is well with every one, and take care!

-Allen

Update

Just a quick hello to let you know I'm still alive. Way, way, way to tired to write anything too detailed so I'll leave it at this. Keep you updated as much as possible.

-Allen-

Taliban Needs A Bedtime!

I'm starting to get really sick and tired of these Taliban guys. Apparently they don't appreciate sleep like I do. Last week we were on QRF (Quick Reaction Force) for three days. Basically what that means is that, if anything happens around our base, we get called out to take care of whatever problem there is. It only lasts for three days, but those three days feel pretty long when you get called out 3 times during the night! Thankfully nothing too serious happened and we are all still in one piece. I still feel like someone needs to get a grip on these guys though, because I don't see any need in attacking anything at 2300, thats just far too late and they should know that we are trying to get some sleep down here! Anyways, I just wanted to express myself on the matter, because I'm loosing enough sleep as it is and those guys aren't helping in the least. Hope all is well with everyone and please take care.

-Allen-

The Guitar, The Meteor and The Wardrobe

Lately things have been going kinda slow around here, so I decided to make good time and learn a new skill, so I walked outside and saw a few of my buddies playing guitar and i thought, "Hey, I could do that." And so I did... or I'm working on it at least. I'm glad to report though, that I am picking up on it rather quickly and should be able to play at least some basic stuff when I go home on leave. Very exciting. I started learning about 3 days ago, and last night when I was sitting outside the tent with my two mentors Lee and Rathjen, the sky suddenly lit up as if a flare was just fired, so naturally we all kinda tensed up and waited for something to happen when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a big light, so obviously i turn to investigate and, bam, there was a meteor the size of Chicago, then again I've never been there but I'm just guessing. It was by far the biggest comet I have ever seen and quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen in a while. Other then that, like I said, things have been quite uneventful. Hope everyone is in good health and enjoying life. Take care and stay safe.

-Allen-

That was not fun! I just got back from a 5 day mission in the middle of the Afghanistan desert. It was neither fun nor was it pleasant. We got dropped off by a huge convoy, then we had to walk 15 kilometers to our first staging point, and since we started the mission 2 hours late we ended up doing a lot of the walking during the day. Now, I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Afghanistan area... it's VERY hot! Needless to say, we were all very very tired towards the end of our little walk. By the way, we were carrying rucksacks that weighed 40+ pounds during this whole thing. So there we were, baking out in the sun for 5 days of straight walking and laying in the sand. I'll have to admit, the third day we were there was the first time I have been really worried about what would happen. We were told that there were 32 or more Taliban in the surrounding area that knew of our presence and were setting up ambushes all along our route and they also said that they had mined the area, which, I don't know about you, but I myself am not too excited about getting blown up. The fact that we were the lead element through the route is the thing that tightened the knot in my stomach to a full on choke hold. Obviously though I am fine, so don't worry too much. Very good things came from what we did that night. and so we did quite a bit of great things , so it feels pretty good now that it is over. That's all for now and take care everyone.
-Allen-

Odd Time To Do Regular Things

Heres a little story for you all to enjoy. While we were at the firebase we went on a few dismounted patrols around the area. This story takes place during the first one my squad went on. Our mission was to follow a group of ANP (Afghan National Police) to a "busy" road about 4 kilometers south of our base, there they would set up a traffic check point to try and catch some of the taliban thought to be moving through the area. So we set off walking right as the sun is going down and things seem to be going great. The only hick up is that the ANP doesn't have night vision goggles and they rely on talking to each other as they walk to know where each other are. So of course, about 3 kilometers out we walk over a ridge and realize when we get over it that most of the ANP are no where to be found. So there we were, in the middle of the desert overlooking a small village with only two ANP still with us and no idea where to go. We check our map and figure out a better route and better place to set up the TCP so we begin to move out. The terrain gets pretty rough after a while, and moving around gets really annoying. On our way there we walk through a lot of wheat fields and I get pretty used to walking in them. Then all of a sudden we see a light about 500 meters to our right, so we halt and put together a team to go check it out. The team starts moving up to the light and all of a sudden I start hearing a lot of yelling. Apparently it was just an old man and he was almost scared to death when four heavily armed and well armored troops come walking out of the darkness. The fact that he didn't see them until they were about 5 feet away from him made me laugh. We got the signal and we all moved up there so my squad leader could figure out what this guy was up too. We automatically set up 360 security and I quickly realized that I was standing in a field with water that reached up to my knees. We found out that the village he lived in had a schedule for when certain people got to use the local stream and apparently it was the old mans turn to use it... thats a pretty crappy time to clean your clothes if you ask me. So now, the combo of wet feet, cold weather and having to walk 5 kilometers back made for a pretty miserable time, but thats what I get for being infantry I guess. All in all a pretty uneventful patrol but makes for a good memory. So there it is, the glory of the infantry :P

-Allen-

Good News For People Who Love Bad News

Alright, so here it is, the mother of all blog entries. It's going to be a long one since i have about 2 months worth of incidents to fill you all in on. Last post I posted I said I was going to a platoon size firebase, which i did. We went out there not really knowing how long it would be until we would be coming back here to Warrior, but we invited the notion with open arms and pushed on. The firebase was an old veterinarian clinic and it was one of the only compounds with "hard" buildings in the district, meaning the buildings were made out of something other then mud. When we first got there we just spent a lot of time repairing and cleaning the compound up a bit. The previous occupants didn't exactly take good care of the place to say the least. The first week or two we spent repairing vehicles and building guard towers. Finally when the place started looking presentable we began our movement around the district . We were in the biggest district with the smallest force... ya, figure that one out. Most of our early missions were just HA missions, or Humanitarian Aid if you will. In other words we drove to the nearby villages and handed out food and medical supplies, and even some soccer balls. The people loved us of course since we were handing out free stuff, who wouldn't love that? The bad thing about doing this is that there is usually an appointed leader in all the villages, and sometimes the people choosing didn't exactly make a great choice so there's a lot of missing food and medicine. it really is sad when the wrong people get their hands on what the people need the most. On a little side note, I decided to make this my random subject post and instead write a bunch of smaller posts about certain incidents. There are a lot of good people here but most of them are to scared of the Taliban to speak up. Hopefully we can change that.

One Step Closer

Yes, I'm still here at Warrior, but today a lot of us flew out so that puts us one step closer... well, them at least, not me. I'm keeping my chin up though and it's not so bad. Homesickness is already starting to set in pretty bad though so thats going to be pretty rough. Although once again... chin up and things go great. I have been working out a lot lately with my team so that keeps my mind off of things and helps a lot with stress, and makes me bigger, thats always a plus. Anyways, still nothing to relay, not a lot is happening so ill leave it short. Can't wait to see you all again soon and I miss you all. Take care!

Just Kidding

So today we got the word, we are moving out at 0500 to the landing pad and then getting on the birds. So thats just what we did. I grabbed my 120 pound rucksack, my M-4, my M-14 and got to walking. After straining over to the pad we got accountability and stood by until the birds arrived, which they did... kind of. The weather turned from great to bad in a matter of minutes and we all had a bad feeling about the trip. Then finally we saw the birds on the horizon and got relieved. That is until they did a complete 180 and turned right back around. So, here I am, once again, sitting in this wonderful tent talking to you all about everything and nothing. And with this I leave you, and wish you all the best in your endeavors.
Take care.

Stitches

Finally we are getting ready to leave. In about an hour and a half Ill be on a chopper headed for my new home. Ill be there for about 2 months or so and I wont have access to internet so don't expect any updates anytime soon. My life should turn from laid back and relaxed, to intense and stressful here really soon so I might be writing a bit different when I get back, but don't worry, it's still Allen. I'm guessing some of you might be wondering about the title of this blog entry, and don't worry I didn't have to get stitches. There is a dog here on the base that runs around free that had to get stitches ones and so he is kind of our mascot now. He has had all sorts of vaccines so don't worry, I'm not going to get rabies or anything. ill try to get a picture of him on here so cross your fingers. Anyways, thats all from me. Love you all and take care.

Finally Here

Alright, so i finally made it to my new home. I've been here for about two days now and things are looking ok. The word is I'm on my way to a long long mission tomorrow so I'm not too excited. Anyhow, the trip over here was pretty exciting. It was nice to finally get to see my surroundings and the area I'm supposed to be working in over the next year. We had a slight bump in with the local bad guys on the flight but nothing to worry about. Anyways, I'm extremely tired and for some reason don't feel like writing too much tonight so I'll keep this one short. All is well and take care. See you soon.

-Allen-

Surrounded By Mountains

Alright, so we finally actually made it up into the mountains, still not in the right mountains though... We are currently at a FoB somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan, and let me tell you, this place is gorgeous. Most wouldn't agree with me on that point but I tend to like the mountains better then anything else. Theres no snow right where we are but all the mountains around us are covered in snow, and I'm guessing thats where we are going. Anyways, just a quick update for everyone. I don't know how much more Ill be able to use the internet but Ill do it as often as I can. As for pictures... I'm having a hard time getting them uploaded since the internet is so slow. I wanna apologize for the short blogs lately too but its because all I'm doing is traveling eating and sleeping so don't think I'm leaving out any juicy details. Have a good day everyone and take care.

Almost There...

So we just finished putting all our stuff onto the pallets, and contrary to popular belief it actually wasn't half bad, so maybe it's a sign things are looking up for us. So now I sit here and wait for the time to pass, trying to think of mindless thoughts to fill this blank space with. Because clearly there is but one thing stuck in my mind... and that is you, all of you there at home that I miss and love so much. I'm not worried about the cold or the fighting nearly as much as the thoughts of loosing my loved ones worry me. There you have it, the sappy side of Allen. I wont bother you with too much so I bid you farewell and take care.

Leaving On A Jetplane

So about 3 hours ago we finally got the word, tomorrow we leave for Afghanistan. Get up at eight, pack, eat, put bags on pallets and then wait until 1630, then leave. Simple enough right? Wrong. This is the Army we're talking about people, tomorrow will probably be one of the most chaotic days in years. Hopefully though, it will go by somewhat smooth and not too many headaches will bother me. Well, its getting to be that time again and I need to rest up for the big day ahead. Hope all is well back home and take care.

Malaria Monday

Today is the day we all love so very much here in Bco 2/508, thats right, its Malaria Monday! Basically what the day is, is the day we all join together and take a little pill that's supposed to protect us from the evils of Malaria. The reason why it is so disliked is the side effects. Shortly after taking the said pill one gets a slight feeling of drowsiness, drowsiness isnt so bad you say, well my friends, it is when it gives you some really screwed up dreams, which it does. So the following night and maybe some after that, you experience some interesting dreams. So that's about all I have to report about today. Oh ya, I gave an M-14 class infront of the platoon today, well me and the other 2 M-14 gunners did at least. So that's about all I got for you. I should be moving out of here soon and finally getting sent to Afghanistan, and I will of course keep you all updated. So take care and I love you all.

Sleepless Night and Hockey Morning

So last night I went back to my bunk after having written the first blog, the time was 0400... that was way too late since I had to get up at eight. Not that it really mattered since I got absolutely NO sleep. But the thing is, I wont be on a steady sleep schedule when I get to my permanent place of duty for the next year. Most my missions will take place during the dark hours of the day and long into the night, so thats where the wacky sleep comes in. Ill see if i can get some pictures up on the blog here but the internet is so slow I don't know how easy it will be. The good thing though, was the morning PT we did. We lifted weights for about an hour and then engaged in a seriously insane game of Hockey... indoor that is. I'm surprised we managed to keep score seeing how the main focus of the game was complete and utter destruction of the other team. The concept of the puck being out side of the court was completely lost on one and all. There were a few moments when the puck went sailing into the basketball game going on next to us and that did nothing to stop the motion of the game. I saw several basketball players go down as the puck went amok among their shins and feet. The play went on for about 2 hours and we finally called it quits since a bunch of whiny scouts were standing on the sidelines trying to get onto the playing field. So we finally buckled and let them have at it. After that the day pretty much consisted of reading my book and listening to music. Not a bad day, not bad at all.

Takeoffs and Landings

The title says it all. Today was a straight forward day in the Army, wake up, get ready, tons of formations and then cram into some sort of vehicle with all your buddies. Except today had a slight twist. Instead of going to some range or briefing we hopped on a plane and took off. First landing, somerandomtown, Maine, where we got greeted like conquering heroes, only thing was, we hadn't conquered anything... yet. From there, Turkey. We didnt leave the plane but still got to see the town we were in. Looked a lot like a scene from Black Hawk Down. Lots of shanties and busted down clay buildings. From there we flew another few hours untill we hit the beautiful town of Mana (I think), Kyrgyzstan. But minutes before we landed the pilot came over the speaker and said, "We are about to touch down in a few minutes and I just wanted to let everyone know that the runway here isn't of the best quality, so expect a rough landing." A sentence he finished with a laugh... And he wasn't lying, the plane actually bounced off the runway completely like a basketball before coming to a smooth drive. It was nuts. So now I sit at a internet cafe waiting for the morning to come so I can partake in the fun about to take place. So i leave you with this. Dont come to Kyrgyzstan... its not a lot of fun.