Gardez

Ok it is official, I am going to Gardez soon.  I have sent around my new address.  It can be used right away, and dont worry if you already sent something, they will all get to me.  It will just take a little longer. 

I have talked to the PA who I am replacing and he was very encouraging.  He has been here almost 1 1/2 years and has lived at 8 differant FOB (forward operations base), and says that Gardez is the best one he has lived at.  The facilities are nice, there is good internet access, and best of all there is not hundreds of staff officers every where.  Much more relaxing enviornment.  The other good news is that there are only 2 places for Americans to climb here and that is at Camp Phoenix and Gardez, so I am going to be able to do both.  Going to get the t-shirt and everything.  There are not a lot of people who have done both (at least not a lot who will admit their stupidity).  I have to admit that I am pretty sore today, and I am not pushing hard on my work out for a day or two.

Also to let people know, I have started doing some of my replies back to people within the post, so do keep an eye out there as well.

The last bit of good news is that I am now back in the system for promotion to captain.  The only problem is that it takes about 3 months to get through the system, and since they pulled me out, I have to start all over again.  So I will be a captain possibily 1-2 months after I get home.  So even though they are moving the right direction the Army is doing its best to drive out good officers.  So far most of the people being affected by this (8 in this unit alone) are planning to get out as soon as they can.  I dont blame them, why should we work hard for the Army if the Army will not even do something as simple as promote you when you are due the promotion.  There was a great article in one of the military magazines that gets sent to us, talking about having a shortage of captains.  NO KIDDING.  We sent a letter back to the editor of that journal telling our side of the story. 

Well thank you all for your continued prayer support and God Bless

The Start

At 5am this was an intimidateing view, but ready to be scaled.

Sponge Box

Yes he carried that all the way to the top, just so Sponge Box could claim to have climbed the Ghar as well. 

P.S. This is Jennings, and he and I were in Ranger Battalion together, same company even.

The climb

climbing almost to the top, just as the sun was peaking over the horizon.  A truely beautiful view.  Also a bit steep.

The peak

pictures of pictures

The sights

A sheep herder on the way down the Ghar.

The finish

Tired, but succesfull.

HOLD THE MAIL / I did Gharib Ghar

Ok bad new first.  Hold the mail to Mazar-e sharif.  I am no longer going there, there has been a change of plans and I am headed south to Gardiz.  It is about one hour south of Camp Phoenix and I am told that I will have a great group of medics down there.  At this point I dont know when I am going but it will be in the next week or so.  Everyone can use my old address again.  I do not think there is a seperate one for there because it is so close, but if it is differant then I will let everyone know.  Dont worry if you have sent stuff to Mazar-e Sharif it will get to me, or if you send it here and there is a differant address in Gardiz it will still get to me.

Ok for the fun stuff.  I took a short hike this morning.  It was only about 9/10 of a mile.  EASY!  Well except the 1580ft elevation differance from start to peak.  It has a 40% grade in the steepest area.  WHooo wheee I am one tired puppy.  It was a lot of fun and I took a lot of photos which I will be publishing some of in the next day or so.  The record for the climb is 23 minutes, but I did it in about 45.  My goal was to keep Mark Olson in sight, but I managed to peak at the same time he did.  Doctor Olson is 59 years old, so I thought that it was a good goal for me.  We were in the top 1/3rd getting to the peak, but my true goal was just to get to the top.  It was a great morning, and we were off the mountain (Ghar) by 8 am.  We started at about 5 am so we would be climbing while it was cool, but there was another group behind us that started as we finished.  Way to hot for me, as I was soaked by 5:20.

Living quarters

Well this is where I live, well for the next few days anyway.  I am headed out soon.  I will add some travel log when I get to Mazar-e Sharif

Funny Guys

Life is not all just work around here.  We get entertainers from all over the US, from comedians to rock bands.  These 3 guys were a riot.  They had the whole place in stiches, so thanks to Larry Myles, Tobe Hixx, and Marc Howard.  The reason we got the signed photo was 2 of them came in for treatment after their show.  I cant say which ones or what, but it was nip and tuck for a while, but we managed to save both of them. (Shhhhh dont tell anyone. Dehydration and a Splinter)