A Soldiers Perspective – Part 2

I would like to start with thanking you all for the support and encouraging comments, it means a lot to us. It is truly my honor to serve in the US Army. My experience over here has only reinforced in my mind how amazing the United States is, not perfect of course but we are so fortunate compared to most people around the world. Our pets have a higher standard of living than the average Afghan child.

We have been here for about 2 months now. We have settled into our living environment and our work routine as best we can. The altitude still seems to have a negative effect on our energy levels. Many of us have stopped taking our malaria pills because we are just tired of feeling ill every day. The small exchange on Camp has a lot more items on the shelves now that the border of Pakistan is opened again. The Green Bean Coffee shop is still not open, I’m not sure why, so I have learned to like the Mess Hall coffee. In our spare time we have been building a running track around the camp, the tread mill gets old after a while.

We also are putting together a volunteer fire fighting team since the camp has no real fire department.

 I will say again that the Internet is our lifeline to home and family! I spend a lot of my free time on Skype with my Family or Facebook keeping up with friends at home.

Chuck Yeager and his wife came to visit us about a month ago. Things were kind of HOT over here when he came to visit so he was literally risking his life to raise our morale. Thanks Chuck!

During my interaction with the Afghan Army I have gained a great deal of respect for them, they are smart, tough, eager to learn, and devoted to the future of Afghanistan. The majority of the Afghan Army respects and appreciates what we are trying to do for them. There seems to be a small minority in the Afghan Army that resent us and would prefer we leave. The tension level has been rising a bit between us and them with the increased incidents of Afghan Army and Police attacks on coalition forces. I work for a Canadian Commander and most of the forces on this camp are Canadian, however there are forces from all over the world here training the Afghan Army; U.S. forces are a minority at this location.

Our mission doesn’t allow us much interaction with the Afghan civilian population; our contact is predominantly with the Afghan Army. We do spend a lot of time with the interpreters and they give us some insight into the Afghan civilian life. Most of our interpreters want to move to America, which in itself says volumes to me.

 The People in Afghanistan clearly live a much lower standard of living compared to what we are accustomed to. Most of their houses are constructed of mud and rock. Food is sold along the roadside in small stands and shops;  fresh cut meat hangs in the markets unrefrigerated. Small children are running around on the main streets unattended. Traffic seems to have no rules or enforcement. When we drive thru the streets it’s hard to tell how the adults feel about us, they pretty much just look.  The children on the other hand have various reactions to our presence. Some children wave and give us the thumbs up while other flip us the middle finger and sometimes throw rocks; I’m not sure what to think about all that but it’s hard to know what their contact with US force has been like over the past 11 years.   Afghanistan is clearly a complicated and conflicted nation after literally thousands of years of occupation and wars.

I would describe our state of mind as very alert but not afraid. It is hard to explain but you are so focused on the tasks in front of you and attempting to stay aware of your surroundings that you don’t really have time to be in fear. You are constantly watching people, vehicles and the terrain around you for something that might not look right.

We deal with so much just to move around you really don’t have a minute to think about what could happen, or maybe we choose not to? We do tend to joke around some which seems to defuse stress or fear. If you heard some of our discussion prior to going into dangerous situations it would probably seem odd or inappropriate given the environment but it is just a form of pressure release if that makes any sense. A typical convoy outside the wire (outside of our camp) requires putting on about 75+ lbs. of combat gear, carrying a rifle and a pistol, pre-movement planning and briefs, communications check, vehicle checks, reading the latest Intel reports and climbing into 10 ton armored vehicles. Just climbing in and strapping into our trucks is a workout wearing all of our gear.

I think it is important to let you all know that when it comes to your tax dollars I have seen daily how much better our equipment has become and it is saving our lives every day, for that I thank you!

Thanks again for all your support, I will send my cousin Karen another update in month or two, keep sending her any question you have and I will do my best to answer them.  – Dennis

A Note from Karen:  I can’t thank my wonderful readers enough for all the encouragement and support you have given my cousin in his first post, and I hope you will continue in this second installment. I am amazed at what these men and women are doing over there under difficult circumstances, and how much of their regular lives they give up to do so, always in danger.  Yet none have a negative attitude, all I’ve come to know are proud to serve their country.  I don’t think I could walk in their shoes…  Dennis’s oldest daughter will graduate HS in just a few days – it’s not possible for him to jet home to see it.   This is just one example of the thousands of sacrifices that are made.

 If you have questions for the soldiers, send them to me at karenthisoldhouse@hotmail.com or leave them in the comments section below this post and they’ll be answered by Dennis in the next installment.   Thank you for your time – and if you’re so inclined, spread the word of this post, lets show these guys we appreciate them.