Jason Swift is a long-time friend. He was actually the first friend I made when I joined the military in 1995...taking me under his wing and making sure I stayed out of trouble. Today, he's a school teacher in Huntsville and sent a few thoughts to me yesterday. I've had these same considerations from time to time when I've been at home, enjoying a cold beer and the company of friends and family. It's too well-said not to post here.
"The leaves are starting to turn colors here and football is in the air. We had homecoming last week and it got me thinking about you and all the soldiers fighting over there. If it weren't for you patriots taking the fight to the enemy in his own backyard and making him constantly worry about his own life, then we probably wouldn't be able to have this football game; and all of these students and parents sitting in the stands without a care in the world, but for their son or daughter and what a great life they have. It's you and your men and women fighting the enemy and destroying their maniacal way of thinking that keeps us free to live our lives in freedom.
I want you and all of your soldiers to know that I appreciate the commitment you all have made to keeping my life free from the terror that plagues the citizens of weaker nations. I go to work and my students attend class and football games under the umbrella of protection that begins in Afghanistan and spreads across the globe. Without the sacrifice your making over there, my life would not be the same. What you all are doing on a daily basis makes a difference; not only where you are, but also here in America, and for this, you and your soldiers have my unending gratitude."
Thank you, Jason, and, again, thank you to all of the friends and families thinking of us here.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Commander’s Update – from October 13, 2009
My initial plan was to forego taking leave during this deployment; however, with the news of an addition to the family I couldn’t give up the opportunity. With the two weeks behind me, I can only say that I’m extremely thankful to have made the trip. Our son is amazing, and leaving him was one of the most emotionally difficult things I’ve ever experienced. He’s also, if I do say so myself, pretty photogenic.
Having returned to Afghanistan, I find no great surprises in terms of progress. My intent when taking command was to ensure that the company would be able to operate with or without my presence, that the unit leadership is encouraged and capable of taking initiative and making decisions autonomously. They’ve done a fantastic job over the course of the last month, and I can’t be more proud.
Of course, most of the actual work comes at the hands of the NCO’s in the company (kidding), but I have managed to get a couple of photos showing what 1LT Penn and 1LT Vick have been doing lately.
Our project in Bagram is complete, and we were able to maintain our timeline to wrap it up by the 1st of October. We were also able to complete the Winterization assessments of the Afghan National Army operating bases ahead of schedule.
We’ve tried, for the most part, to maintain platoon integrity in the missions we’ve received so that 1st Platoon is the main effort in working on completing the Container Storage Yard, 2nd Platoon is the main effort in the Winterization projects, and so on. The mission in Bagram, however, was so large that it required more than just one platoon. With that project and with key leadership beginning to take their R&R leave, we’ve somewhat been thrown off of our rhythm and have moved more toward focusing on assigning skill sets needed as opposed to keeping platoons together as a whole. We have ten or twelve soldiers from each platoon working together as teams on each ongoing mission, allowing us to shift platoon leaders and platoon sergeants to manage as needed. 3rd Platoon remains at FOB Shank, working for the 168th Engineer Company, to complete expansion projects there.
Some projects seem to be never-ending. The container storage yard continues to come back time and again with additional needs. The latest is the addition of a B-hut and interior fencing to separate it from the rest of the area.
We’ve also been working for some time here at FOB Sharana to tear down the HESCO barriers (wire and canvas baskets filled with dirt to protect against any enemy indirect or small arms fired at us), replacing them with more permanent concrete barriers.
Another project on which we continue to work is the new Entry Control Point (ECP). We pick up additional projects with a greater priority, and that reduces the number of soldiers we have available to maintain a steady work rate. Nonetheless, the project is a large one and is coming along very well.
Winterization is ongoing as well, but we’re beginning to make some serious progress toward completing the work at all of the sites we’ve been assigned. We did receive the majority of the materials we will need but are finding that moving all of it still proves difficult. I expect that, if all goes well, we’ll meet our deadline of 15 November for finishing that project as a whole.
We’ve picked up a few new projects as well, both here at FOB Sharana and at one of the Combat Outposts nearby (COP). We’re improving housing and pouring concrete slabs here and working to expand and better fortify the COP. Again, these are combined efforts with soldiers from 1st, 2nd, 1613th Engineer Company soldiers, and assistance from the Arizona’s 920th Engineer Company soldiers who are responsible for the earthwork portion of the missions.
Despite the continued fast-paced environment here, folks still make time for enjoying daily life. One such instance was celebrating SPC Roley’s birthday last month.
In the coming months, I expect to receive several other projects here at FOB Sharana. We’ll also begin taking steps toward preparing for receipt of our replacement company, the 226th Engineer Company from Kansas (Winfield, Kansas, ironically enough). We don’t yet know the exact timeframe for our redeployment, but we continue to anticipate returning in February 2010.
As I’ve said in every other update, our soldiers continue to do amazing work and they do it without the slightest hint of a complaint. It’s beginning to ease into the colder months here, with highs in the upper sixties and lows in the upper forties each night. I think it’s a much-welcomed change throughout the country as well. Families and friends at home continue to support us with care packages containing all sorts of much-needed items, including blankets, which are starting to be put to use. Our thanks go out to everyone who keeps us in their prayers and remembers the soldiers of the 166th Engineer Company each day.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Home and Back Again
SPC Bailey Bullock
166th Engineer Company
2nd Platoon
Let me start off by saying that I hope everyone has been good this last month. It has been awhile since my last entry, and I apologize, but I’ve been on the go since the end of July. In fact, I’ve been to the other side of the world and back, literally. I came home on R & R during the month of August. As I’m sure some of you have heard we had a group get stuck in Germany for 53 hours. I was a part of that group. That was an experience to say the least, but it was all worth it just to get home. Let me just say, I will never look at bratwurst the same way again.
I’m sure that some of you reading this are current or prior military that have been stationed away from home or been deployed, so you will understand what I’m about to say: God, are we blessed to be Americans. It is something one truly comes to appreciate when you leave your home for a place that is truly foreign in every way. And, I think that we as soldiers experience this appreciation in a different way. While we are gone, serving our country, we are still connected to it through our service. We are not in the U.S., but we are an extension of it. Our country is a part of what we do each day, but also a piece that is absent from our lives. So, when we come home, we feel like we are coming back to a part of ourselves that was missing. The best way to put it is that we truly feel like our country is a part of who we are, unlike any way we had before. I know I’m not alone in this. I saw the faces of my fellow soldiers as we got off the plane in Atlanta, most of whom had hours more to travel to get to their own homes; once we set foot on American soil, we were all home. And in that, there is a bond unlike anything I have ever known. Even though we were all headed in different directions, we were together; we were a unit; we had a connection and commitment that distance couldn’t diminish. It is something I will forever be thankful for.
Upon returning to Afghanistan, I returned on the downhill slope, having officially passed the halfway point of our deployment. We have started and completed many missions, each one successfully, with a few more to come, but for all intents and purposes, we have completed the bulk of our mission. And this realization is palpable. It’s like something in the air has changed. We know we are working our way home.
Through all this time and work, we have become a cohesive unit. I can see it in all the work that we do now. We are confident in our abilities; we approach each new project with the experience and attitude of veterans, knowing that we will be successful. We have worked together for a long time now and know what we can do. The only questions are: what will we need and how long will it take? All of you would be so proud to know how your loved ones are performing their duties. Every project that has been thrown at our unit has been completed successfully, usually better than previous units and in less time. It is our cohesion as a unit that has made this possible. Truly working as a unit is part of our success, and it is something that I have seen is not always common over here.
All of that being said, I’m sure you can gather that things are going well for us over here. We are doing what we came here to do, and doing a good job of it. We are soon to be starting the process of winding down, and making our way back to all of you. Again, and I know I speak for almost everyone on this, I thank you for all of the support you have given us during this deployment. It has made a difference, and we wouldn’t be successful without it.
166th Engineer Company
2nd Platoon
Let me start off by saying that I hope everyone has been good this last month. It has been awhile since my last entry, and I apologize, but I’ve been on the go since the end of July. In fact, I’ve been to the other side of the world and back, literally. I came home on R & R during the month of August. As I’m sure some of you have heard we had a group get stuck in Germany for 53 hours. I was a part of that group. That was an experience to say the least, but it was all worth it just to get home. Let me just say, I will never look at bratwurst the same way again.
I’m sure that some of you reading this are current or prior military that have been stationed away from home or been deployed, so you will understand what I’m about to say: God, are we blessed to be Americans. It is something one truly comes to appreciate when you leave your home for a place that is truly foreign in every way. And, I think that we as soldiers experience this appreciation in a different way. While we are gone, serving our country, we are still connected to it through our service. We are not in the U.S., but we are an extension of it. Our country is a part of what we do each day, but also a piece that is absent from our lives. So, when we come home, we feel like we are coming back to a part of ourselves that was missing. The best way to put it is that we truly feel like our country is a part of who we are, unlike any way we had before. I know I’m not alone in this. I saw the faces of my fellow soldiers as we got off the plane in Atlanta, most of whom had hours more to travel to get to their own homes; once we set foot on American soil, we were all home. And in that, there is a bond unlike anything I have ever known. Even though we were all headed in different directions, we were together; we were a unit; we had a connection and commitment that distance couldn’t diminish. It is something I will forever be thankful for.
Upon returning to Afghanistan, I returned on the downhill slope, having officially passed the halfway point of our deployment. We have started and completed many missions, each one successfully, with a few more to come, but for all intents and purposes, we have completed the bulk of our mission. And this realization is palpable. It’s like something in the air has changed. We know we are working our way home.
Through all this time and work, we have become a cohesive unit. I can see it in all the work that we do now. We are confident in our abilities; we approach each new project with the experience and attitude of veterans, knowing that we will be successful. We have worked together for a long time now and know what we can do. The only questions are: what will we need and how long will it take? All of you would be so proud to know how your loved ones are performing their duties. Every project that has been thrown at our unit has been completed successfully, usually better than previous units and in less time. It is our cohesion as a unit that has made this possible. Truly working as a unit is part of our success, and it is something that I have seen is not always common over here.
All of that being said, I’m sure you can gather that things are going well for us over here. We are doing what we came here to do, and doing a good job of it. We are soon to be starting the process of winding down, and making our way back to all of you. Again, and I know I speak for almost everyone on this, I thank you for all of the support you have given us during this deployment. It has made a difference, and we wouldn’t be successful without it.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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