End of week 6

Well, I am approaching the end of week 6. I am getting to know more and making some headway, but it is tough in this complicated leadership environment due to all of the coordination required. The best part of my job is meeting and working with people, not only from all over the US, but all over the world. I have developed a little of the Kandahar Cough - very common due to the moon dust constantly in the air, not to mention what is being added from the "poo pond" that is noticeable still by smell. Other than that, doing ok and working to make things better.

The big news from home is that Rebekah had a sonogram yesterday and the baby will be a..............girl! Big sister Madison is very excited. The doctor also moved up the due date from the 25th of Jan to the 19th of Jan. That makes it tighter for getting home. I am told that we may be able to work something out to get a few days head start to try to make it home for the birth - no promises, so we'll see.

The picture of the week is of Fraise Chapel. It is close to where I work and where I attend Sunday services. The services are an encouragement. The paster is a good preacher and is able to weave the military life in which we are living into the sermons. It is the first time that I have attend services where most of the congregation (including myself) are carrying weapons. It is an interesting sight. The first picture below shows the outside of the chapel. Like most buildings and structures in the theater, this chapel is named for a soldier who had given his life for the mission. I have included pictures (not the greatest quality - if you click on them, you may get a better view) of the memorial in the rear of the chapel and the story behind the chaplain for which the chapel is named.








Thanks for following along and for all the correspondence via e-mail. I wish everyone well in the transition to a new school year either for you or your children, or both! Until next time....

End of Week 5

Things here are going ok. I am slowly becoming more comforable with my job.

The experience of the week this week is that I attended my first ramp ceremony for a fallen Marine. They have a ceremony every time a fallen soldier from the southern part of Afghanistan is being shipped to their home country or town. We have had them almost every other day since the push into Helmland Province by the Marines to stabilize the Taliban held mid-south region ahead of the elections. The ceremony calls for you to report to the ramp where the departing plane will be parked about 30 minutes prior to the ceremony. At 15 minutes of, you form up on the ramp. It was impressive to see all of the US force branches and also the coalition forces: the Brits, the Dutch, the Canadians, the Bulgarians etc. You then march in formation to the rear of the aircraft. Because this ceremony was for a US fallen Marine, the Marines marched up first. In formation there is a short eulogy given – in this case for a 26 year old lance corporal, a short prayer given and then you are called to attention and to salute as the flag draped casket is carried between the two formations on either side onto the plane. There is a montage of “Amazing Grace”, the Marine song and Taps played on what sounded like a bagpipe. The rear ramp of the plane is lifted – part of the formation turned and saluted the back of the plane before being dismissed. The rest of us were marched off and dismissed.

It was somber, but an experience worth being part of because it reminds you that we are at war and combat operations are occurring in our area where soldiers are risking their lives everyday. It is clear that the Taliban has made its mark in the sand where the Marines currently are because they are hitting resistance. Make no mistake, we are making progress, but it is going to take a some time, effort and lives to complete the mission. Keep those soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.

I am including my new mailing address here (yes, this is the third one if you have been receiving emails). This should be the final one:

LtCol Todd Hirneisen
EPBS-A(S)
APO AE 09355

As far as the picture of the week. I am going to have to refer to the previous post for this week.

Thanks for following along. Until next time......

Promotion Ceremony Pictures

I had my promotion ceremony this evening. It was scheduled for Brig Gen Walsh's office, but when we arrived he offered to do it on the A-10 ramp. As an aside, the Gen was out flying an A-10 that morning in response to a TIC (Troops In Contact) - so he is still an active fighter pilot - amazing. Commodore Borowy of the 25th Naval Construction Brigade (and my current boss) was generous enough to come along and participate. After the pinning, Brig Gen Walsh gave me my oath. It turned out to be a great little event - and, yes, the A-10 is armed for a mission if you look carefully. Also in attendance was Commodore Schmader (my new navy boss) and my teammates from Baltimore: LtCol Pollock, CMSgt Alt, SMsgt Sund, Maj Thomason and 1Lt Saunders. Like any event the facial expressions are goofy on some of the pics. I included a bunch for posterity sake. Enjoy and until next time.......

End of Week 4 Update

Hello and greetings from the busiest airfield in the world - at least that is what the leadership is saying in all my meetings to emphasize how cramped for space we are.

Well I am approaching 1 month here. It is strange, the days go fast but it seems like I have been here a year. The big news item of the week is that I received my promotion letter to LtCol. My leadership at my home base worked to understand the complex system that is promotions and saw fit to figure out a way to make it official. There was a lot effort put forth to track it through the system (Thanks Becky). I am currently wearing the new rank, though I have yet to have my pin on ceremony. The pace of things around here is crazy. I have a pin on ceremony scheduled with Brig General Walsh on Monday. He is the Wing Commander from my base in Baltimore and happens to be here as the Air Commander. There is a little history there, and I have a lot of respect for him so it is great that we were able to work something out. My current leadership has expressed interest in coming as well. It will be small, short and sweet but make for a great photo op – I hope. Pictures to follow.

Not much has changed here. I was hoping for an little change in temperature, but no such luck as of yet. I am settling into the job a little better, but it is still crazy and I am hit with things that I have no idea about every day – but fewer this week than last week.

The picture of the week is a “jingle truck”. These are the trucks driven by local nationals. They are colorfully decorated and have many items dangling from them. They usually have metallic chains hanging from the side and as they drive down the road they ……”jingle”.

Thanks for following along. Please feel free to pass the link along to anyone who may be interested. I will do my best to continue sharing the adventure. Until next time…..

End of Week Three

Hello - we things are moving long and I'm starting to get it - unfortunately, for me that also meant getting the three day stomach bug that was going around. I survived and am doing fine now. I am learning more information that I need for my job - much of the time this is good and bad. Good in that I can speak more intelligently, but bad because you realize how messed up it is. I am fortunate to work with a great team and, most of the time, customers who are very knowledgeable and professional. There are certainly significant challenges and many a crisis, but we're making headway.

Going back to a recurrent theme - I waiting for the weather to break. It has been, and will continue to be, somewhere between 105 and 109. It has begun to cool off in the mornings a bit. I decided to do some research. I was turned on to "weather underground" who has pretty good reports from this part of the world and found the seasonal averages below. It didn't come out great, but if you click on the graphic (with any luck) it should open a window that you can read better. Or you can go to weather underground yourself and look up Kandahar. Either way, you will see that there is reason for optimism temperature wise in the next few months. They do say that when it rains here, it is a mess. Mud and flooding everywhere, so we'll take the good with the bad.

The picture below is the picture of the week - a dangerous precedent I know. I have many meetings in this building with my NATO counterparts. Without going into detail on what or who is in this building for security reasons, the interesting tidbit I wanted to share is its nickname. It's nickname is the "TLS" building. At my first meeting I asked what that meant and they said it stands for Taliban Last Stand. Supposedly, and totally unverified, this is where the last element of the Taliban was ousted from in the south during the initial phases of the war.

Just one final note, please keep the fighting soldiers in our region in your thoughts and prayers. They are not only putting up with extreme heat but alot of resistance ahead of the Afghanistan elections later this month. The province next to us is still considered in Taliban control and the Marines are looking to restore order. It has been a tough and costly fight over the past week.

Thanks for following along. You are welcome to post comments but the best way to converse with me is through e-mail. Until next time......

End of Week 2 Tidbits

Well, it is the end of week 2. Not much new. I am slowly learning my job. I did have a meeting (one of 5 for the day) get cancelled near the French Cafe on the boardwalk. I decided to treat myself to an iced mochacchino. This was a treat for many reasons, first it was good, second the coffee part was good to keep me awake in the next meeting but most importantly it was ice cold!! Anyone who has been over this way knows that everything is warm. The sodas are warm, the water is warm and the fake milk is also warm - in this heat, like my friend Dave Pollock said, "all I want is a large diet coke with ice." Ahh, the strange things you miss. Below is a picture of the cafe.

I was remiss in noting that there were pictures of my workplace in a previous post. So here are some pictures. I work upstairs (see 2nd pic). Sometimes I stare up the stairs :) and don't want to go. The nice thing about the wood on the stairs is that it is an early warning device for people coming with new, old and messed up projects. Mark Jilka (the Navy Officer who works for me) often wince and groan when we hear someone coming. Our office seems like a revolving door.

Work Area and a taste of home

Here is me at work. I have a desk in the “cans” showed in one of the first posts. It is not glamorous, but it is big enough. The only drag is that there is a formaldehyde smell that we assume is off gassing from the glue. There is a/c, however we have to open the window to allow the smell to dissipate. It is certainly better than outside though.

Here is a picture of the subway sign at the boardwalk - I haven't had a chance to eat there but it is a nice reminder of home. Below is activity at the boardwalk. They actually set up a mini golf course for a few days and if you look in the distance you can see people playing hockey.

My work days are long right now while we are getting things figured out ( 0730-2030 on average). Not that there is anything else really to do but I have not hung out at the boardwalk or taken advantage of other activities. I am hoping once I figure out my job and am able to do some time management that I will be able to take advantage of activities. I do get up at 0515 and go to the gym which is right across the road from where I live.