Connected to the World Again

Hey All,

I hope all is well. I am finally connected to the world again! I got myself internet in my room today. It's a pretty exciting day. I never thought I would pay so much for such slow internet. Wow! It's like dial up on downers. But hey- it's better than nothing! I imagine this email should be sent to you within 5 minutes of clicking send. Yeah.
 
So I've never been so happy to see the weather forcast call for a five degree lower high- to 105! Yes, I'm actually excited about that. That's like a cold front around here. Who knows, maybe hell will freeze over and start the next ice age. 
 
I am slowly becoming more involved at work as I take more responsibility from the guy I am taking over for. He is trying to get out of here as soon as he can, but he can't until I'm ready. hehe, sucker. He's a good guy and I am making great progress (big surprise, right). I think it's safe to say that I wowed the crowd today as I gave my situation update brief. I have a hunch they will want more... probably every day for the next few months- I was that good!
 
In the event that you're not like Angie and you've been able to restrain yourself, please feel free to send letters or boodle. By the time it gets here our mail shop should be up and running. I think Angie mentioned to me that she posted an article on the blog, but if you want a good laugh, google Kandahar Airfield Poo Pond. It gives me this feeling that cleaning a baby's diaper really can't be that bad. And the only thing better than the smell of the poo pond is really the poo pond combined with eating blowing sand and sweating your butt off because it's 95 degrees by 0800 and until 2100. 
 
This brings me to an interesting point. I was talking with some friends the other day and we said to ourselves: I wonder what it was like in the place before people reached Afghanistan. Because they must have been walking acrosss long deserts and up huge mountains, it must have been really hot, and I'm not sure if the poo pond was still there, but it probably smelled badly. At any rate, they got here and stopped. They stopped and said, you know, I don't think it's gona get any better than this if I keep walking. I'm going to stay right here. I guess it's just hard to imagine a place that bad. I mean it's no US, but this place is awesome.
 
That's about all I've got. I really enjoyed writing this. It made me smile and I hope you did once or twice too. Speaking of which, was I the only one who laughed when I realized that Brian (Mark's younger brother) had just completed his first day of Beast (worst day in the history of West Point- day 1)? All I could think was, ha, sucker. Glad it's him and not me. Yeah, it was about 0900 this morning, just about midnight his time. That is really the only day I can think of where I woudl rather be deployed for one day than relive that day. Ugh. I hope you all are praying for him and writing him letters too. You can send his boodle to me. Ha, sucker.
 
Alright that's all I have. I'm off to bed here. I hope you all have a wonderful day. I will check in again soon.
 
Much love, Mark

Early June Deployment Ceremony

Hello All,
I just came across and article written about one of the pre-deployment ceremonies that took place in the beginning of June out in WA before Mark left. It was a write up in the newspaper out west.

Deployment Ceremony

Here is also an article that explains what the unit Mark is in will be doing. This article is primarily written about the 97th MP battalion but this is who Mark's battalion is relieving.

Mark's Battalion's Mission

Love,
Ang

PS- I did get a short message from Mark today saying he moved into his permanent room two nights ago and is starting to settle into his first job. That's about all.

23 June 2010

After a night of being unable to sleep, I  got up to send Mark and e-mail. He just so happened to be online when he received my e-mail and so we got to talk on Skype for nearly an hour (12:30-1:30 AM here). I was a bit tired needless to say this morning at work- but being able to talk with him for so long made it all worth it. I got to hear a lot of information from him so here it is!

He stated that it is HOT! We all knew that, but his living arrangement consists of a tent that he shares with 12 people in a large building. Unfortunately, the air conditioning in the building had been broke the last 2 days and so it was even hotter. The outdoor temperature was 113 so I can only imagine how warm it was in that building at night. He said it was miserable. Mark said that the last few days they have been doing mandatory training. Mark's first job over there is as a Liaison Officer (LNO). I'm not sure when his first day of that will be but I'm sure it will be soon.

As for the poo pond- he said if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction he can definitely smell it. I offered to send some Vicks to rub under his nose on those days but he said that he didn't want it because the sand would just stick to his face then. I'm not sure which is worse- sand stuck to your face all day or smelling sewage?

As for the flight into Afghanistan he said it was incredibly cramped but went very smoothly. He said he didn't start getting nervous until the plane started its descent but he prayed the Prayer of Protection over and over and it helped ease the nerves.

Prayer of Protection

The light of God surrounds you,

The love of God enfolds you,

The power of God protects you,

And the presence of God watches over you;

Wherever you are God is and all is well. 

Amen

He said the Internet is pretty good at the "Morale Welfare and Recreation" building (MWR). That is a good sign and hopefully it continues!

That's all I have for the update. It sounds like he is doing alright which was wonderful to hear! Eased my mind for at least a little while.

Love,
Ang

Random Acts of Kindness

I just got back from Stefano's with my mom and Maryellen (mother-in-law). The man at the table next to us overheard me saying that Mark arrived in Afghanistan okay and telling mom and Maryellen about his jobs that he will be having there. After we were done eating, the waiter told us the man who was at the table next to us payed for our entire bill. The waiter said that the other customer wanted to do something special in gratitude of Mark's service to our country. I had the biggest knot in my throat and we all had tears in our eyes from this man's wonderful gesture. By that time though, the man was long gone and I could not thank him in person. The waiter said he comes in every couple of weeks. I will be dropping off a thank you at the restaurant and Stefano's said they would give it to the customer the next time he comes in. Thank You Danny (the other customer)- there are really good people left in the World.

Ang

Mark Arrived

Hello All,
I received a phone call from Mark today. I have never been so excited to see "restricted number" appear on my cell phone! He made it safely to Kandahar City today. He said it was 109 degrees today and though it was HOT he's managing. He said he has a whole bunch of meetings and orientations already today and that it was going to be very busy for the next few days for sure. I asked him if he had smelt the "poo pond" yet. He said, "Oh, I've smelt it!"I think in my first care package to him I'll send some Vick's for him to put under his nose to help with the poop stench that seems to surround Kandahar City.
Love,
Ang

"Poo Pond" at Kandahar Airfield

Hello everyone,
A friend of mine who's husband is also deployed (thanks Marianna) sent me this news article to help me smile. Basically it describes the sewer system on the airfield which houses roughly 20,000 soldiers. Just in case you were wondering.

Poo Pond Article

Love, Ang

June 20, 2010

Hi All! Happy Father's Day! Today was a really great day. I slept until about 0700 and then showered and went to breakfast. We lounged around for a little while, and then around noon we played some basketball and did some abs before going for a short run. After lunch I took a nice nap. After dinner me and some LT buddies played a few rounds of cards before calling it a night. The weather was gorgeous, probably upper 80s, maybe low 90s. There is a low of 73 tonight. Honestly I think it might be a bit cooler to sleep outside. (I won’t.) I was able to talk with Angie for a few minutes last night. That was good. She was at one of the spouse’s house for dinner so she actually had a bit of a heads up that I would be calling, as the spouses husband was sitting on a phone right next to me as I sat down. I tried calling Dad a few minutes ago, but he was at church. I will try calling him again in the morning by me (Sunday evening by you). No guarantee. It looks like KC (Kandahar City) is gona be hot this week. 108-110 degrees. I’m pretty excited about that, not. But I’ll be alright. I have been drinking tons of liquids here, but I have a hunch I am still going to need more once I get there. Again, I will let you all know as soon as I get a chance when I do arrive in KC. I hope everyone is having a great Father’s Day, especially Dad, Dan, and Nate. You all are awesome! That’s about all I’ve got. Catch you later. 

Love, Mark

June 19, 2010

Hey All- I’m half way there. The good bye with Angie was rough, but we did it. I had to be in formation at 0100 on Friday morning. We were supposed to fly at 1130, but didn’t take off until 1230. Angie, I’m not sure if you were still there then, but I wasn’t able to see you. If you did hang around at the airfield I hope you saw me. We were in a chartered double decker Boeing 747 from Delta. We flew direct from McChord AFB to Frankfurt Hahn Airport in Germany. The flight took about nine hours and we landed at 0630 local. After refueling, we continued on to where we are now, in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. We will be here for a few days, but I can’t say when we will fly to Afghanistan. The flight from Frankfurt to here was about 6 hours. I am currently 11 hours ahead of WI and 13 ahead of WA. It is coming up on 12:30 a.m. now and I am about to go to bed. We have our first formation in the morning at 0900 so I should get some decent sleep tonight. I hope all are doing well back home. Talk to you later. Much love, Mark