End of Week 19

This week was an interesting week. We had some power issues that took out our computers and other services at the office on and off for a few days, we had a visit from the Group in Bagram that we entertained, we had our first rain shower, and we had Thanksgiving.

We dodged a bullet as far as the rain forecast goes this week. It did actually rain, but just enough to make the ground a little wet. It was actually nice afterwards - it added a kind of freshness to the air that I have not witnessed since I have been here. Below is a picture in the morning right after the shower.



I did run for an hour on the treadmill on Tuesday. I felt pretty good. I ran 11.7 kilometers - I'll let that sink in for a while, because I know most of you are thinking, Is that far? I will help you out later on.

The other part to the running story is that when I returned, there was no water. On some occasions I would have been ok without a morning shower - after all we are in a war zone. This morning was not one of them, I was soaking wet from the gym. I had work to get to, so I grabbed 3 bottles of water and went into the shower and made do - I can't complain because that is my first combat shower since I have been here. The water was quite cold, but it was effective.

On Wednesday, Gary Sinise was here with his Lt Dan Band. I knew he was coming to town and worked hard to leverage my connections to try to get a picture with him. After a few misses, my friend MAJ Schermerhorn called and said "get to the boardwalk" - I ran there - he called again and said "hurry and come to our office" - I did. I waited for about 20 minutes for them to finish eating and checking e-mail and then had a chance to get my picture. By this time it was close to show time, so they said we have to make this quick. As an added bonus, Bubba of Forrest Gump fame was also in the room. I walked up to Gary and he asked "How do you want to do this..?" - meaning single pics or just one. I said "no, no, just one" Just then Bubba came closer and heard me and said "oh, ok I see - just one" I laughed and said "no, no, I meant just one picture" Gary backed me up and said "he meant one picture" We are still laughing about it on the picture. As a parting comment, I did tell Gary that I have had some people ( Joel from home in particular ) tell me that I look like his character in the movie Ransom - he smiled and replied "You're a mean guy". I was also able to alert my roommates in time for them to get a picture as well. Another good time and diversion chasing photo ops...


We went to his concert for a little while on Wednesday night as well, it was a good time. Gary Sinise did not sing, but played the base. They played cover songs, but put on a show as well. He gave a very nice speech at the end and ended with "Proud to be an American" which was a crowd pleaser with the Americans, not sure about the NATO folks. A good time all around.


Now back to my run...with those of you with good metric skills- 11.7 km is 7.25 miles. Again, on a treadmill..but not too shabby.

On Thanksgiving Day, I slept in, went to the gym and ran 5K on the treadmill, went to work to briefly clean out my e-mail and we had a squadron lunch at the picnic tables. The Commander gave a nice speech and we had a very nice talk by one of the civilian engineers about the history of Thanksgiving as well as a nice prayer. We ate a little of the food there waiting for the traditional Thanksgiving meal at night. Checked in at the office a few times in the afternoon. We had traditional Thanksgiving food for dinner and it was very good. Back to the office to check the official e-mail and make some calls. A good day.


LtCol Dave Pollock, Maj Nick Lynch, Chief Alt and myself at dinner.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I am most thankful that my family has done well through this whole adventure so far thanks mostly to the strength and character of my amazing wife Rebekah. She has juggled mom, home, finances, business and pregnancy with amazing stamina. We are coming up on eight weeks to go and we are looking forward to being back together and back to normal.

Thanks for following along and thanks for your e-mails and support. Until next time......

End of Week 18

Week 18...moving along. The weather has cooled nicely durng the day and is pretty chilly at night and in the mornings (40's). That is good for me though.

In our jobs we interact with many contractors. Some are US citizen's but many are from other countries. We have many contractors from Turkey. I interact with Turkish contractors twice week discussing road in utilities construction in a part of the base called South Park. Another Turkish contractor put in the gate shown in the previous post. His name is Ali. He is very nice and has been inviting me to his compound for a bbq he has on Saturday nights. Most of the time I have meeting that goes pretty long on Saturdays. Last weekend, the meeting ended fairly early and Ali had finished the gate a few days before and said "Sir, you must come to the bbq". I convinced Lt Germany - my new office mate and team member if he would go and we decided to try it. When we showed up, the fire was going and Ali told us that the food would be ready in 40 minutes - we were a little reluctant to stay, but did. We asked him how many people come and he said 20-25, we said "really". Soon after his wife, both very hospitable, started bringing out food. There was humus, onion salad, a vegetable salad, a cucumber dish and flat bread. They cooked marinaded steaks on the fire that were soon ready. If turned out to be very good and sure enough the people started rolling in - US service members, other contractors, other NATO military members. He was proud to say after he got off his cell phone that the special forces guys got called out on a mission and wouldn't be there tonight - he said that he would have a special bbq for them in the middle of the week. It turned out to be a pretty good time with some very good food and we were glad we went. Below is a picture of Ali and his wife and some of the folks who showed up to eat. 1Lt Rob Germany is the man on the far right.


1Lt Rob Germany is an active duty Air Force Officer originally from Atlanta, GA and now stationed in California. Rob is now my only team member after Sr Chief Shea and the rest of the Navy members have moved on. He has a great personality and sense of humor that is not only a huge advantage for the job we do - primarily interacting with people - but is great to have in the office. He is able to make me laugh and have been a pretty good team of 2 so far. I reserve the right to bring him back in later posts as well...

Recently, I received notes from my daughter's 5th grade class ( Mrs Kluck ) at Lincoln Elementary school. The notes took almost a month to get here - incidentally, I found out that letters and envelopes can take up to a month, but boxes arrive in 1-2 weeks. Every student wrote me a note. I read them all. Most had an attempt to draw a picture of my daughter. It was a very nice gesture and I appreciate them taking time to write. Below is a picture of me in my office holding the letter from my daughter.


In another package that arrived much quicker, my daughter's class wrote me poems about fall. Fall is my favorite season, so the teacher wrote that since I was not there for fall, they would bring fall to me. The poems were great and they add to the decor of my office. Here is a pic of me with the poems.

If you are wondering about my attire...on Sundays, if we do not have meetings - which isn't very often, we try to dress down and wear our PT's ( that is short for Physical Training Clothes). The Air Force clothes aren't the most comfortable, but they are more comfortable than the uniform and boots. If you notice, I chose to wear long sleeves because the weather is cool enough to....good for me.

I did receive a nice care package from the nice people at UTZ in Hanover, PA thanks to Joni in the administrative office at my school. UTZ is a big snack manufacturer near where I live. They sent two huge boxes of snacks. They were a big hit. Some of the folks here had never had them. It was also a nice talking point about home. Here is some of the crew digging in...


Time continues to move along. With the addition of more folks in the Garrison Command office and our efforts to define our mission, the pace of work was less hectic this week. Hopefully, we can continue to work more efficiently and effectively which will make life better for all of us...and team 4.

Hope this e-mail finds you well. Thanks for following along and for the e-mails - I am never too busy for them...Until next time....v

End of Week 17

Real close to 4 months now. The weather warmed up significantly this week - mid to high 80's again but cooled to the mid to low 70's by the end of the week. We did have a few sprinkles end of last week, but it made but a few small marks in the dust.

As the master planner, I don't get involved with many individual projects. One that I did do - because it was supposed to be easy - was plan for the placement of a gate to what we call Deep South. Even an easy project - ain't so easy. It took nearly four months, but we finally got the approvals, money and construction completed - may not look like much, but at least it is finally something that is complete!


As a group we are continually trying to find ways to mix things up a little to keep going. One day last week my friend LtCol Dave Pollock came up with the idea to get a some stuff to go at the "Lux" (short for the Luxembourg DFAC - the closest but worst DFAC on KAF) and eat it out in the Drost Pavilion. The area between our offices has some chairs, a table and a parachute cover due primarily to the efforts of SMSgt Kevin Drost from team 2 and for whom the space is named. The weather was a little warm but bearable. It was actually a good idea. The man in the middle is Major Nick Lynch. He is an active duty Major who came in with the last group. He is a great officer, workmate and roommate - we are fortunate to have him around for all three. I reserve the right to bring him back in later posts.... Here is a picture of us at our little "picnic".

As part of the farewell tour, two of my best comrades from COMKAF (the NATO side of things) departed this week. They are both Brits. Squadron Leader Robin Nash was the real estate officer for COMKAF. I worked very closely with him as I played a role as the defacto real estate officer for the US. Robin was one of the first people I met when I arrived and was a friendly face. He took time with me in the beginning and was a reassuring force when I needed it in the beginning. He turned out to be a great friend and confidant throughout my time here so far. He has a great sense of humor and wit that mixed with the uniqueness of his accent (to me) made him really fun to be around. I will miss his personality around the camp. LtCol Frank Green was the COMKAF Chief Engineer. He served as the master of everything from infrastructure (water, sewer, power, drainage etc) to land development. He chaired the land allocation board which I was very much involved in from the US side. He was very smart with everything civil engineering, but what made him a great leader here was his personality, leadership, and management abilities. Frank was a master collaborative leader. He was able to give very sound and direct assessments and directives without being condescending, emotional or even offensive. His direction and leadership was directly responsible for the ability of KAF to meet the very vast and challenging needs of multiple surges and changes in mission. He was a great friend and mentor to me - he even took time to encourage me when I needed it. I attribute my ability to have survived the first four months to my relationship with these two fine officers. I wish them luck..

In the picture below, it goes LtCol Frank Green, Myself, Sr Chief Shea (who left a few weeks ago) and Squadron Leader Robin Nash. This picture was from a few weeks ago so my hair was shorter than it is now...



In case you are interested, you should be able to click on any of the pictures to view them in a bigger scale.

On the workout front, I did run a 10K Tues morning. It was on the treadmill, so not quite as valid to real runners, but I'm still scared to run outside for risk that the dusty, nasty air will make me sick again. I don't know if I have the patience or energy to deal with getting sick again.

Hope this post finds you well. I appreciate you following along. Thanks for your e-mails and continued support. Until next time...

End of Week 16

This week started off with a brief to MG MacDonald. ( BTW the way to remember the stars on the Generals is “Be My Little General” which helps you remember that Brigadier General is a one-star, Major General is a two star, Lt General is a three star and a four star is just General). I think I mentioned this in a previous blog, but we had for a while a chain of Generals whose last names all began with M. McMahon, a one star, MacDonald, a two star and McCrystal a four star - it was easy to code them as M1, M2 and M4. My briefs to M1 were described in a previous blog, this was M2. He was coming down for a briefing on KAF projects and build out plan. I was told to dust off the KAF Build Out plan that I have been adjusting and briefing for a few weeks now and to add some additions due to some land acquisition that we just got approved. When you brief a two- star there is more preparation involved. I made the changes, met with my “boss” Commodore Schmader to review it and tweak it for about an hour. I met with COL Johnson, which is who told me to prepare the brief, as well. All the prep is to make sure that the “face” time you have is used most effectively to communicate your message – in this case we had an hour. It paid off and we were able communicate the challenges and also able to have some decisions made that give us a direction to go. As most briefs at this level, the direction given means some more work to iron out the details and make it happen. All in all, a good opportunity and experience. Below is a picture of MG MacDonald being briefed at Mustang Ramp. I was along primarily as a spectator but also in case the O-6’s who I work with had any questions that I may be able to answer. We travelled back to a conference room for my brief.


I have been feeling better. My ear is still bothering me after 10 weeks. I was told then that I had swimmers ear and that is would go away with a decongestant – no totally gone yet. I have been working out 4-5 mornings a week. I alternate lifting one day and running the next. My lifting is progressing slowly – I think I’m too old to make the progress I used to make when I was younger. I am up to about 4 miles (6.5K on the NATO treadmills) three times a week. I have been doing ok, hopefully I stay healthy and can keep bumping up the miles there. By the scale, I have lost about 3 pounds total – but I’m getting a little stronger too. The food here is still a little suspect, but for a war zone it is acceptable. I did go out to the DFAC in a tent called Harvest Falcon this week for lunch one day – we don’t go often because you have to drive and the lines are long because the food is better – and had a chicken salad sandwich on a roll with tomato and onion, a cup of new england clam chowder and chips…I actually said, that is the first meal that replicates something I would have had for lunch at home. The meals are usually not that great so I supplement with an item that is available every meal – french fries ( my daughter Madi would be jealous ). That may explain the lack of weight loss 

Otherwise, things are moving along – unfortunately, by this stage of the game, 16 weeks is not quite 4 months. I will have to wait a week for that. It will be a nice marker though – it will also put me under 10 weeks (single digits) if all goes to plan and no delays which are always a possibility.

I hope this finds you well. Thanks for following along and for your e-mails. Until next time….

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....