Day 1 of the Battlestache

Needless to say it’s been an interesting couple of weeks.  I started off in North Carolina and now I’m in Afghanistan.  Over the course of my travels I’ve flown up the Atlantic coastline and across Europe.  The airplane we were flying in was chartered from an airline I won’t mention.  For the first time in my life I was able to kick it in 1^st class!  Talk about the way to travel!  Not long after takeoff the pilot came on and invited us into the cockpit at any point during the flight.  A couple of hours into the flight I decided to take him up on his offer.  Over the next hour I sat in the cockpit of this ginormous plane as we departed the Canadian coastline to head over the Atlantic Ocean bound for Germany.  Those guys do not realize how awesome of job they really have.  That view was incredible at 35,000 feet in the air.  I don’t think I’d ever tire of that being my office.  Being in communications, the pilot was sure to brief me on all the comm systems available in the cockpit.  Towards the end of my stay up front the pilot asked if there was anybody I wanted to call from the cockpit.  Of course I called Heidi.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity to talk to my wife over a VHF radio system cruising at 35,000 feet somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.  Pretty cool!

We had a couple hour layover in Hahn, Germany while our plane was being refueled.  Nothing spectacular to report about Deutschland.

We then landed in the former Russian republic of Kyrgyzstan.  This place was definitely intriguing to me.  Once upon a time it was part of the USSR.  The people look like a mix of Asia and European, and speak Russian.  There was snow on the ground and it was extremely cold out.  Off in the distance rose mountains that are connected to the Himalayas to the south.  Manas is the point of entry for US and coalition forces entering into Afghanistan.  I look forward to seeing Manas again…this time as the point of departure.

We loaded up on Air Force C-17s for our flight into Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan.  Nothing too exciting.  The flight wasn’t too long and was extremely smooth…no combat landing this time.

After debarking the plane and heading to the AGDAG (military airport terminal) I happened to walk right by a Marine captain that I went to high school with.  I graduated with his brother.  It was good to run into Greg Scott.  Not too long after running into him, I ran into my old buddy, another Marine captain, Jared Farnsworth.  He was just finishing up his tour and heading home the next morning.  I’ve always enjoyed my time spent with Jared.  We go a long ways back.

Later that day, as we were getting settled into Leatherneck, I ran into a few more old buddies.  Those guys were from my unit back home.  SSgt Cotter, Sgt Hughes, Cpl Chesty, Cpl Arthur, Cpl Renninger, LCpl Terry, and LCpl Warner.  It was good to see those guys too, and it was sweeter for them to see me…it meant they were that much closer to going home.  It was also good to run into Dave Houseman from my last deployment.

Now down to business…I’ve had my meet and greet time.  After time spent on the firing range and on the counter IED range I was ready to get my turnover from the Marine I was going to replacing.  I hopped on a C-130 and flew down to Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, in southern Helmand Province.

I’ve rambled on for long enough, so I won’t get into details of what I’m doing out here just yet.  I am set up extremely well with work and living areas.  I even have a 4-legged friend I’ve been spending about an hour a day with.

It’s getting hot here…saw a thermometer yesterday that said 110.  Granted it was right in the sun, but so was I!  My face, ears, back of my neck, and hands are all burnt and peeling.

Certain traditions occur while on a deployment that do not happen back in the States.  The greatest of these traditions being what I will call the “battlestache.”  It goes by many other names: combatstache, deploymentstache, or just plain mustache.  Today is day 1 for me.  I have begun the time honored tradition of growing a mean battlestache.  Since it is only day 1, I will spare you the picture proof…that will come in a few weeks when it has grown hideously out of control.

For now, that's my side of the story...more to follow later.  And don't worry, I will definitely be sure to include some photos of the battlestache as it grows in.