End of Week 15

Another week down. This week the weather was really pleasant. I am told that this means that rain may be on its way in the next 2 weeks. I am told that because the ground does not absorb water, there is the potential for major flooding. The hope is that the measures we have designed will be in place and that the measures we have taken will be able to keep up - more to come on that.

The main thrust of the week was writing COA’s (Courses of Action) for the potential surge and land use. I feel more confident in my ability to give good information on this topic at this point - so that is a bonus. We also spent time as a Squadron trying to refine our organization and use of folks to become more effective in meeting our mission. We are currently missing 27 civilian contract engineers from our organization – that would make a big difference!

My brush celebrity for the week goes like this: I was at breakfast a morning this past week and this guy walked by. I asked my friend Dave Pollock if he watches the news often, he said no. I said I think that that is Richard Engel from NBC news - he's the middle east correspondent on NBC and MSNBC. They all said, I'm sure he would be wearing something or have a group taking care of him. I sat down and started eating. I watched and when he went up to get something else to eat, I went up and asked the Air Force Captain who was sitting with him "At the risk of sounding stupid, does this guy work for NBC" she said "Yes" I said "Richard Engel" she said "Yes, would like to meet him" I said "Sure". When he came back he was very nice and asked "How are you? How long have you been here? It was nice to meet you “ etc. We shook hands and that was it. I didn't get a picture because it was at breakfast, it was crowded and it was a short meeting...but kinda cool anyways. This story will be lost on anyone who is not a news junky, but....

The picture of the week is of RLB’s (Re-locatable Buildings). These are our housing construction of choice right now.



They come in a flat pack and can be erected on site. They are attached together to make a housing unit. The unit has a bathroom and a shower in the block as well. This particular design requires a walk outside to the facilities. They were chosen because they could be rapidly constructed on concrete slabs, are solid structures that could stand the weather, could be heated and cooled and were still considered temporary. The wisdom in this train of thought is being questioned now with construction, water, sewage and power problems. We have a ton of these going in and will end up housing most of the soldiers coming to KAF. As a side note, the wire you see at the bottom of the picture is called concertina wire. It has little razors on it. It comes in rolls and is used as a quick way to mark off territory and provide some minimal security. The best way to do it is to do what we call triple strand concertina – which uses three strands, two on the bottom and one on the top like a pyramid. If it looks like one big construction site from the picture….welcome to KAF.

Well, I’ve almost made it to November! I remember back in August thinking that November will never come. A lot of work still to be done, but it is nice to be getting along. Miss you all…Until next time….

End of Week 14

First, I little message from me...

A little goofy, but I wanted to see if I could successfully upload a message....

This week was crazy as ever. There was some progress made on some movements of units to accommodate planned construction, but all was trumped by the escalating possibility of thousands more troops coming to town. The challenges certainly continue. The bonus is that the weather has tempered and makes it slightly more pleasant to be outside. I did got to get my first coffee from Tim Horton's this week as a last jesture for Sr Chief Shea who departed. Tim Horton's is a Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts. The bummer is that they are out of donuts due to logistical issues with getting the ingredients here. I will have to take time to get a chocolate donut sometime when they get their supplies in honor of my son who loves chocolate donuts.

In my continual search for photo opportunities, here is my latest. I met Deanna Pappas the Bachelorette this week. There was a list of actors and actresses who came to town, most I have never heard of, except the Bachelorette. One morning at breakfast, a group came in and it was obvious that they did not belong here and we decided that it was the actors and actresses. An Lt who works for me recognized Deanna Pappas. I was finished eating and went to work. The rest of the story goes like this: the Lt hears one of the actresses asking about a regular Coke. He goes over and offers to get her one out of the case in the DFAC. They are out. He runs across the street to our office and finds one in a refrigerator. He returns to the group to claims that "he's the best". He sits and has breakfast with them. When they have finished, he runs up to the office where I am and says, I going to get a picture, come on I'll introduce you. So I went down. She was very nice and took pictures with us and then quickly left. The Lt has an appointment with her later in the week to discuss his upcoming wedding. He told her he was engaged and she apparently has a getting married or wedding show. In later conversations, the Lt, who turned out to be big fan of the show actually asked her about the guys involved on the show. She told him that she is still in contact with the guy who did not propose on the Bachelor but she did not have anything good to say about the guy who she chose on the Bachelorette. Pretty good story. To be fair, the other actors and actresses that I did not know were: Greg Germann, DW Moffett, Kelly Carlson, Vanessa Branch. Though my part of the story took less than 20 seconds, it still served as a diversion from the grind of work.

I'm safely looking at the second half of the deployment now. It is nice to think about. We are still working on the final organizational chart for our unit. I am trying to identify the members of my department so that I can begin to get us organized and managed to work better as a team and get some things done in the next 3 months. In this environment, it is not easy because there are so many problems and crises everyday that get dropped in our laps, that it is hard to focus on the priorities at hand. Our mission to find a better way to organize to be efficient is becoming more critical with the rapid expansion that is planned for KAF and our region of Afghanistan. Things change so fast here. The Commodore who was our boss when we arrived told us our second day that: days are weeks, weeks are months and months are years here at KAF - he was right.

Hope this post finds you well....Until next time.......

End of Week 13 - Halfway?

Well, week 13. I guess is it almost halfway - with some turnover time, it may be a little short, but as JD Hayes supposedly lived by while he was here, let's "Call it Good".

The weather was really pleasant this week - a little chilly in the morning (low 50's) and not too hot during the day (low 80's). That has made life a little better here.

This week was another busy week. It started off over the weekend when I had the opportunity to brief BG McMahon and his replacement BG Buckler about the KAF master plan. Through a series of briefings, some good and some bad, it became necessary for BG McMahon to make a visit to understand the situation. I believe we made the best of it. We were able to have him understand the situation and all the moving parts necessary to manage all the people and equipment moving through here. After eight weeks of being Chicken Little, I think we have finally convinced someone who matters that there is a problem and hopefully it will help make good decisions for KAF in the future. Below is a picture of BG McMahon and BG Buckler talking with a SeaBee at Mustang Ramp - another pain of our existence...



This week we continue with farewells. This well Sr Chief Shea leaves me. He has been the backbone of our planning department. He is a steel worker from Boston with an deep accent to match. When I first met him, I was a little intimidated. I thought this is going to be challenging, because it appears we are nothing alike. I got to know him and very quickly we developed a great working relationship. We were a pretty good team. What was really great was that we could not only relate and communicate well on work and decisions that had to be made but also tell stories and joke with each other and have some laughs. It is time for him to go home and I wish him the best. I will miss having him around both professionally and personally.



Below is a picture of Sr Chief Shea and Major Troy "Frosti" Roesti. Troy is a USMC Harrier pilot and brought a bunch of projects to us to be planned and taken through the process. He was a good guy with a very funny dry sense of humor. I had Troy fly a flag for me on one of his combat missions. He always had some interesting stories to tell of his missions. He invited us to a bbq at the ramp and we were able to get a picture. The dust - still everywhere - messed with the picture a little, but you get the point.



I look forward to making these posts every week. It is a good way to count down and an activity that takes my mind off of work for a short while. Until next time....

End of Week 12

Well, the weather finally broke here. It is remarkable how cool 59 degrees in the morning and 90 during the day is. It could be a little cooler in the middle of the afternoon, but it is certainly more bearable - which is good.

Two weeks ago, I put on my IBA and helmet and headed off the end of post to what we call Deep South. There is a single fence there, but it is considered unsecured because it does not have all of the security measures - for the most part it is safe. I am partly responsible for planning the land allocation and design of this area in order to try to have it be available this spring for occupation. While on the south end of the property I snapped the picture below.



The building you see, legend has it, was once occupied by Osama Bin Laden when this was Al Quaida training land.

Here are two other pictures that I snapped off the end toward the mountains. This give you an idea of the landscape. Pretty harsh. One thing that we are preparing for is rain. They say when it rains here that all the water from that mountain flows towards us. We have made serious efforts towards trying to direct the water - we will see how it goes. I'm sure there is a follow on post coming for the first rain - maybe November.





The last picture is looking back toward KAF. If you look closely you will see little mounds of dirt painted white. These are indicators left by the de-mining crew. One of our problems here is the left over Soviet mine belts that used to protect KAF. As the team demines an area they mark it in white.

After loading the piture, you have to look really close on the right hand side of the picture to see the mounds - otherwise you will have to trust me...

Work is still challenging. Our team has officially become the veterans with the last of the previous team leaving last week. We have worked our way into our positions and are doing the best we can to meet the needs of the soldiers coming through KAF and pushing out to all the FOB's (Forward Operating Bases) in RC-South. There is alot of work and challenges for us all. Pray for focus, endurance and health as we head through the middle weeks.

Thanks for following along, until next time....