End of week 11

Still surviving. This week was a scorcher…again! The weather forecast says next week it should temper and the following week start to break.

I had the opportunity to brief BG McMahon about the KAF plan. I had given the brief twice the past week to the satisfaction of the Col’s I work for. Between technical problems that did not allow me to show or talk to the dancing animated slides – only the paper slides - and the fact the VTC was scrambled and the voice communication was only good for broken sentences - it did not go very well. It did cause enough confusion and consternation that the General is making a personal visit here in the near future to see the problems for himself – I guess that is something. I'm not sure what the score is for the week, but as the wise philosopher Meatloaf once said – “two out of three ain’t bad”.

Col Bittick came to KAF for a visit and the change ( or assumption) of command of our 777th Expeditionary Prime Beef Squadron ( 777th EPBS ). Below are pictures that show the traditional passing of the guide-on from the current Commander LtCol Sloop to the new Commander LtCol Dujak. This is a very traditional ceremony performed at most change of commands. It was performed on the site of the future home of the squadron – team 4, it should be ready to work out of when you get here.





As I am working through the deployment, I am now beginning to see people that I have worked closely with leave for home. This is actually good for the psyche because it reminds you that someday that will be you. Even though you only know these folks for a few months, you work so many long hours with them, that you feel like you have known them for much longer. We said good-bye to Capt Altman and Capt Lukawski a few weeks ago – they were great officers all around great guys to be around – I wish them luck.

This week we say good-bye to LtCol Rick Sloop and Maj J.B. Byrnes (Picture Below). LtCol Sloop assumed the command of what would become the 777th EPBS back in July. He provided energetic leadership and direction that allowed a successful transition to occur. I appreciate the fact that his leadership style provided mentoring and encouragement through my steep learning curve the first few weeks and he was a great support throughout the rest of his time. Maj JB Byrnes was my roommate – sort of. He worked some strange hours and I sometimes only saw him in passing during the day. He worked very hard to develop a structure that we will follow through the rest of my time here. As I got to know him, he is smart and witty and provided some much needed humor for me over the last 2 weeks. I will miss them both around the spaces and wish them the best.



Things are moving along. Appreciate all the e-mail and continued support for me and my family. Until next time……

End of Week 10

Well, approaching the end of week 10. This week the weather turned hot again. I'm hoping for better next week weather wise. We are transitioning to another group and my job will keep the same responsibilities I have now and add a little more - I am a little apprehensive, but if staffed correctly, it should be ok. I did spend much of the week preparing a brief on the base Master Plan for BG Hodges, the new RC-South Afghanistan Commander. I learned alot about powerpoint in a hurry. It was challenging because I was doing the brief at the direction or one Col on behalf of another Col who is new and really doesn't know what he wants - just not what I had most of the time. I revised it many times and rehearsed it - hopefully it will meet the expectations of the Col's. Ah, the life of a staff officer - though I do feel more comfortable doing that kind of work rather than the tasks that ask me to play "real" engineer.

For the pictures of the week, I will talk about he Bizarre. The Bizarre is held every Saturday from mid morning to mid afternoon. Due to the heat and meetings, I have only gone twice. It is like a flea market where locals are allowed to come in and set up shop. The big items sold are rugs, cut stone, dvd's and electronics and some traditional garb. If you look closely you can see examples in the pictures below.





The dvd's sometimes include titles that have not been released yet, hmmmmm. The most expensive items are the traditional rugs. They range in cost from $800 to thousands of dollars. It appears that rug collecting and research is addicting - most who buy, return and buy more. I have not caught the bug, the cost probably has alot to do with that :)

I am drawn to the less expensive items. I found these bowls interesting. They lay flat and when you life the handle, it becomes a bowl. I did not buy any but they are $10.



I did buy a shoulder holster for my weapon. It is better than the belt I wore when I got here, but it also has its draw backs. It doesn't fit real great and sometimes it wears on your upper back and neck. It works best for now. It costs $10. I am modelling it below.



The other item I bought was a cool pointer. All the meetings I attend include a power point presentation projected on a wall. It is a requirement for anyone in my group to have a laser pointer. I found a pointer at the bizarre that is a telescoping pointer, a laser pointer, a flashlight and a pen ! If you had to attend as many meetings as I do, you would be excited to. All those features for, you guessed it .......$10.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for following along and all your e-mails. Until next time........

End of Week 9

End of week 9. Look at the picture below



Seem insignificant?
Well this represents the first cloud I have seen since I have been here. This picture was from Wednesday – that day turned out to be windy and very overcast all day. Unfortunately, it was still in the mid 90’s. Hopefully, it is a sign of cooler weather ahead.

Work is ok. One of my most time consuming jobs is taking complaints about someone parking vehicles, containers and, yes, even tents and buildings where someone else is about to build on. That should tell you how full we are. One day last week when I was headed out on one of these missions with SMSgt Sund, we came across these camels along the perimeter fence. There was a young boy near there herding them. I snapped a few pictures through the fence. SMSgt Sund joked that no one would believe us because we had to take the picture through the fence just like at the zoo. We were close enough to smell them – I don’t really remember any clichés or jokes about smelly camels, but they would be true.






This week we had a visit from BG Byers. He is the head of all of Air Force Civil Engineers. Here is a picture of him addressing the RED HORSE Squadron - RED HORSE is an acronym believe it or not - Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, hence the red hats.



We had a ceremonial ground breaking ceremony for the new Prime Beef Squadron which I am a part of - another acronym believe it or not - Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force.



For team 4, this will be up and probably your office when you arrive. I had the opportunity to brief him during the ride to the site about the projects at KAF. I always appreciate those opportunities.

At the Officers call, he gave a very good speech on what our job means to the overall fight and how much of an impact we are having. He also addressed the fact that the Air Force Civil Engineer career field is narrow enough that it is almost a family. I am amazed at how many of the active duty folks know everyone from one place or another. I actually met Col Brian Yolitz who I had worked for previously at my Pentagon Joint Staff tours I would do regularly a few years ago - it was nice to have someone show up and know your name. BG Byers also mentioned that the whole point is about building relationships - this struck me because I have used that same thought process when I explain to people why I have stayed in so long - it is because of the quality people that I am able to meet and interact with that I would normally not have access to. It was a good visit. It served as a nice reminder of what we're doing here and provided some encouragement - always a good thing.

Well, that's it for now. Until next time.....

End of week 8

Well things are moving along. I am still a little under the weather, but otherwise doing fine. The weather continues to become cooler – down around 90 for a high now.

The MWR (morale, welfare and recreation) folks did put together a bbq for us for Labor Day. They grilled chicken, hot dogs (more like sausages), ribs and hamburgers. They also had potato salad, cookies and a type of ice cream cake. It didn’t quite taste like home, but as I told my wife, I appreciated the effort to make it seem like it. The lines were long, but I took time on Sunday to go, and glad I did. I have included some pictures of questionable quality – the lights, dust etc made it tough to get good pics. I am eating sitting with 1Lt Dejuan Saunders and CMSgt Alt – my friend LtCol Pollock is taking the picture.




Mid-week they brought in a band named Finger Eleven. The difference between this band and the other bands they have had is that this Canadian band actually has had songs people might recognize. You can google it if you are interested. I did not attend, but walked around it. My friend LtCol Pollock stopped in and took a few pictures that I stole to share for you music buffs.

We had a 9-11 ceremony on Friday. It was well done and a good reminder of where this all started 8 years ago. CNN's Anderson Cooper was here for it. He was very nice and hung around a long time talking, taking pictures etc. My pic is not great due to the sun and a little goofy - that's what you get when you're talking and getting a quick picture I guess. It is good enough for the blog post though.




Other than that, lots of work being done – results still tough to come by but for what it is worth it was announced at a meeting I was at that MG MacDonald, who visits periodically, is very impressed with the engineering planning and execution progress. I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

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

End of week 7

Well it dropped below 100 for the high for the first time this week. It was really hot (113+) early in the week and then we had a windy day and now it is in the mid 90's and it actually feels cooler - I still sweat at that temperature, of course, so I need another 10 degrees to feel comfortable, but it is a nice change.

My friend Bob was nice enough to figure out how to send me pictures and videos from the sonogram. Below is a picture of the profile, Rebekah already says she looks like her - you be the judge. If you have a good internet connection, I was able to load a video of her sucking her thumb.







I am doing ok - feeling a little under the weather this week with some congestion though. The job continues to be a challenge. Not too much going on outside of work (which I can't really discuss), hence the pictures from home this week. I will continue to look for opportunities to share interesting tid-bits from here in the upcoming week.

Hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend. Thanks for following along. Until next time.....

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......