Job Update

Well, most of the last post can be disregarded. I am working with my battalion's SFAT (Security Force Assistance Team). So far it has been pretty good. I was right, the crowd is a lot better than my old job. Things are going well so far. I enjoy even though there are sometimes long hours. Today I was up at 0415, that wasn't very cool, but I did get released at 1900 so it kind of worked out in the end. I jumped online and had hoped to talk with mom or Angie, but no one was around. Sad day. I feel like my job is more pertinent now and I think that is where a lot of the job satisfaction comes from. It's still really hot. Low 100's. Tomorrow is supposed to be cool- 99. I am still waiting for fall to arrive here. I wonder if all the sand will fall of the trees? That's about it. Just going one day at a time right now. Two months was a good time hack for me, but other than that I'm not really counting the days. I hope you are well. I love you and miss you.

Regards, Mark

First Post From CNS

Hey All,

I hope you are well. It has been a while since I have posted, but I have been working some long days. I'm going to get a new job in the coming days and I'm pretty excited for it. I look forward to saying good ridance to sitting behind a computer and doing the same thing every day. I'm not sure how long things will stay like they currently are, but for the short term I will be something of a liason officer to a groupo of Candian civilian police that links in closely with our battalion. I am still not too read up on what I will be doing, but that will come. I will also be working with my battalion's 'SFAT,' or security force assistance team. It will be nice to have some coworkers who I know again, some people who are, 'on the same team,' if you will. All in all, I'm looking forward to it. I'll let you know my thoughts after a week or so of being with them.

Another reason why it was good to arrive at CNS- I received two back-packages and yesterday three more, and today one more. Crazy. So if you have started a package go ahead and send it, but if you have been meaning to get around to and haven't yet, you waited too long and were beat to the punch- please wait a few weeks. Thank you very much (in order received): Nate and Lindsay, Angie, Peter, Angie, Angie, Mom and Dad, Dave and Shannon, Dan and Mary Beth. I think that accounts for the mountain pilled on top of my bed right now. If I forgot someone I'm sorry and thank you so much! They have been awesome. And I'm not sure who made the home made jerky, but whoever it was, please identify yourself. That stuff is awesome!

And finally three news stories that I was really excited about (Angie this is for you because you don't watch the news anymore):
1. I was thrilled to see that Farve finally made it to a practice at training camp.
2. A new species of bearded monkey was found in Colombia!
3. Brian made it through Beast at West Point and he's finally a cadet. Congrats, Brian!


That's all I have for now. It's almost midnight, yet again (that's not so bad, I usually go to bed a little later). Have a great day. Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. I think about everyone often and I can't wait to see you soon.

Love, Mark

Mark's first Convoy/Patrol

Hello everyone,
I spoke with Mark today and he was in a new location! He is now no longer at Kandahar Airfield and will be residing at Camp Nathan Smith (CNS). His job will remain the same for now, it will just be occurring out at CNS. Right now he isn't even sure how everything is going to transition. There will likely be some changes, but right now he has no idea what they may be. Mark did not even know he was going to be moving tonight until he walked out of work and got word from a captain to pack up his bags and he's coming with him out to CNS. As of right now, his bags and belongings are somewhere at CNS, but he has no idea where. Mark is very excited to be back with his buddies and not be alone. He said it was good to see everyone and they were all just as shocked to see him! He has asked me to send him bags of assorted candy (small stuff- jolly ranchers, star burst, smarties, tootsie rolls, etc) so that he has stuff to give to Aghani children. Feel free to include a small bag if you plan on sending a box to him. As far as communication- we are not sure how it is going to be. The internet has a much better connection than at KAF (from what we experienced this evening) however, we will not be sure how often he will be able to communicate at this time.

Above is a picture of Mark from the webcam. It was great to see him and it was very clear today! I told him he's looking a little smaller, especially in his arms and face, but that just means I'll have to send more goodies in the mail!

Hope all is well and much love,
Angie

Mary Beth Email Inspires Reflection

Mary Beth wrote me an email and as I responded to it I began to think and reflect on my service in Afghanistan. It helped produce the following words. I think it is a pretty accurate collection of my thoughts on the whole situation. Thanks, Mary Beth for helping me put my thoughts into words. Below is a section of my email to Mary Beth.

It is an understatement when I say that I cannot wait to see Angie again. I understand why we can’t be together and my mission here is very important, but I really do miss her many many times every single day. If nothing else, a deployment certainly teaches you to be grateful for all that you have in terms of love, family, and safety. It also makes you grateful for what you don’t have (in the US) like insecurity, corruption, and hunger; fear, uncertainty, and a lack of things essential. This is what many Afghans live with every day. So while I miss Angie dearly, as long as I have to be deployed, I work to improve the situation here.

Every day the military police in my battalion partner with the Afghan police and government officials to get rid of some of those things that we are glad not to have in the US. And where we cannot get rid of them, we work to lessen their impact on Afghans. It is precisely these shortcomings that make the environment ripe for Taliban to win over followers. While the Taliban’s success relies on the further degradation of conditions in Afghanistan, the Afghan government’s success and the success of all of the coalition forces here depends on the ability of the government and security forces to better serve and provide for Afghans and improve conditions. Clearly these two objectives stand in contradiction to one another. With coalition attempts to provide security, Taliban attempt to undermine it through violence and destruction. With coalition attempts to recruit legitimate security forces, Taliban attempt to insert evildoers who will wait for their time to again degrade the improvements made in Afghanistan. The hope and the prayer then, is that which has been hoped and prayed for for centuries- that good will overcome evil. I believe that in the end, it always will.

And while these goals are noble, let us not forget our ultimate end here- providing a secure and stable Afghanistan that will not stand for and has the means to prevent those supporting the evil that conspired and trained in Afghanistan to attack us on September 11, 2001. Our road is not easy, but our efforts are significant and this end is crucial.

The 91st Psalm

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust." For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.

For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Brian Writes

Today was a really good day. Mostly because it’s Saturday and tomorrow I have my 4.5 hour weekend where I don’t have to start work until noon. But I also got out of work and back to my room about 45 minutes early because our late night brief was cancelled. Yippee! So I guess this weekend I have a 5.25 hour weekend. Sweet! On top of all that, when I got into my room, my phone rang and I found I had mail to pick up. Brian wrote me a letter. This makes it official- Brian, who is in the middle of Beast at West Point- has communicated more with me than Dale, who… I guess nothing’s really changed there.

But it was great to get Brian’s letter. He is doing really well. It sounds like he is over the frustration he voiced to Nate over his first phone call that I didn’t inform him that the cadre have a tendency to yell a lot. Really though, if you aren’t going to do any of your own research before something like that, you deserve a surprise or two. I was amazed by how fast it got here. He wrote me his last entry on 26 July and got it in the mail that same day. I picked it up here on the 31 July. It was still 30 July in New York when it arrived here. That’s pretty impressive. It must have been on the first thing smoking. I’m sure he has a slight advantage with his position in NY. He made me chuckle with comments about doing wall sits as people tried reciting knowledge and having the laundry system mess up only the laundry that you really need back- things that I don’t miss at all about West Point!

He made me laugh again with his closing comments. First, “We are wrapping up our 4th week tonight so that is awesome, I’m so close to my laptop, I can almost taste it.” And second, “I can’t wait for Beast to be over. I never thought I would be so excited to see the end of summer.” While his second comment is very fitting, with regards to his first comment, I think Cadets MacArthur and Eisenhower would contend that being a plebe at West Point is now a complete joke.

But I am very proud of him. He really is almost there. I would argue that he has the hardest part of his summer behind him. By now he is catching onto the game. In the letter I sent him I explained that cadre are people too and they don’t like doing stupid things like standing outside 15 minutes before the sun comes up at 0445 just like anyone else.

And Dale, you don’t have to write me a letter, but if you could spare a few minutes to write me an email with what’s going on in your life, it would be great to hear from you. If not, maybe you can get a day or two of vacation while I am home on R&R.

That’s all from my neck of the woods. I hope everyone is well. I love you!

-Mark

Email to Angie

(Dear All,
The below message started as a Facebook message to Angie. It grew too long and Facebook wouldn’t let me type any further so I started to type it up for an email. Then I decided I wanted everyone to know how awesome Angie is and so I brought it over here to the blog. So it’s really an email to Angie, but you can check this one out. When you get a chance, make sure you let Angie know how awesome she is!)

My Baby Dear, My ba baby der!

Hey there beautiful. The one with the pretty eyes and the disarming smile. The soft touch and the warm lips. The huge heart and the brains to boot!

You are the highlight of my day. The love of my life. You are perfect in absolutely every way. I just wanted to let you know that even when I am tired you make me warm and grin on the inside. I could never love anyone else like I love you. My love for you is complete. It is unending. It is overflowing. You are the reason I laugh and the reason I love. Every day I am a better person because you are in my life.

I thank God every day for having you as a part of my life. I am so fortunate and so blessed. Haha. And it just crossed my mind that this note might make you cry. Sorry about that. Know that I love you and that even though I am not physically there, these are the thoughts and prayers that I am sending you now and always. And that with these thoughts and prayers I also imagine myself next to you and wrapping my arms tightly around you and protecting you from everything I can. I know you don’t like it sometimes, but that’s what I do. I’m a protector. I’m like a papa bear. I’m doing it right now.

I hope you have a great weekend at your two celebrations. I will be thinking of you often. Please enjoy yourself a little for me. Have a drink, give someone a hug, make a smart ass remark to your dad, make your mom church pinch you. PS I’m glad you are going to hang out with your peers tonight. That makes me happy. I hope that it’s good to see them and that there are lots of smiles and hugs there too. You guys are all so awesome and so so close to being done. Only 3 more weeks and you start your very last academic semester. I’ve said it before, but I will say it once more. I am so incredibly proud of you Angela Marie. You impress me so regularly it’s incredible. In case you haven’t reflected on it yet, I would like to remind you that you saved a woman’s life yesterday. Your skills and intuition (gut) are developed beyond your years. You have a sense for being a great PT. And while it will take some time, there is no doubt that greatness will absolutely come to you as a PT! And did I mention that you are almost a doctor? You’re almost a doctor! It’s gona be Dr. Angie to me soon.

I love you and I miss you. Can’t wait to talk to you next.
XOXO
Your, Mark

Surprise Phone Call

Yesterday afternoon I received a wonderful surprise phone call from Mark. Man, was it wonderful to hear his voice! He started with "Hey baby, its me!" and oddly enough I had to take a minute to think of who was calling. I'm just not used to phone calls and hearing his voice!

 He has been feeling much better over the last few days and all signs of the previous sickness is gone. His room mates have all moved out as well. One guy Mark was not to fond of since the random stranger moved his bed when he wasn't around from the bottom bunk to the top. So he is happy to be back on the bottom bunk! In addition, he also got to say farewell to the kid who didn't wake up to his alarm clock any time it went off. So he is back to having some peace and quiet in his room when he wants it.

Our conversation was not too long since he had family he wanted to call as well and their phone call time is limited to a half hour due to the limited amount of phones on post. It was plenty of enough time to take a sigh of relief, smile and enjoy hearing his voice, and know that he has high morale and is safe.

Love,
Angie