Home.

The last few days have been wonderful, but I need to back up by a week!

So a week ago Wednesday morning the Army Reserve Office hosted a pancake breakfast for us. Coming off sleeping in the transient tents and the insanity night when the casework system shut down I was far too tired to enjoy it. I went to bed shortly after and woke up in time for my last Zumba class. Given the date was September 11th however, I went onto facebook just to make sure the class was on... cancelled. :-( It was too much of a risk to hold the class on September 11th so I missed my last Zumba class.

The next 12 hours was a revolving door of goodbyes at the office. I worked my shift overnight and then left early at 5am to participate in the 9/11 5k, my last base run. Sort of fitting it was our last morning in Afghanistan. Also, it was run on the 12th for security reasons. The 5k was the greatest way to end the deployment. Tons of my friends were running or supporting the event and I managed to run my fastest 5k ever (didn't hurt I was pacing with one of the Vets who had run cross country!). After the run I went back to the office because we had a farewell with the Bagram Garrison Base Commander and Command Sergeant Major. It was the first time I have ever been so formally thanked for a deployment, it was pretty incredible.

I also had a visit at the office from several of the Afghan female interpreters that I worked with at the Korean Hospital. They had come to say goodbye and to bring me an authentic Afghan shirt which began the first of my tearful goodbye. From there I headed to the Korean Hospital to say goodbye to the staff and to Fatimah. I brought over my bedding and towels to donate to the hospital and I really started crying when I said goodbye to Fatimah. I had finished the flyer to the base community a few days previously and it was already being distributed. I think it's not knowing what will happen to her and even more so, I feel guilty for leaving the Korean staff to deal with this tragedy without me. I feel like I'm copping out. My heart was further broken when the staff gave me a piece of Korean artwork to remember them by.

After this goodbye, I went back to the transient tent to finish packing. I managed to catch only two hours of poor sleep before we were back up and heading to the Pax Terminal to check in for our flight. I had a bunch of friends come say goodbye at the airport, and was thrilled when it was confirmed that my Veterinary friends were on our flight home. This was compounded by learning that there would be two military working dogs on our flight who to honor their service, get their own seats on the plane :-)

In an unusual twist of luck, we managed to get the first flight out of Bagram that day and after flying to Kandahar, we arrived in Kuwait at 12:30am. In a more typical run of bad luck, we learned that we would be stuck in this remote desert shelter where they had taken us after landing for the next 5 hours! We literally sat in the desert sand for hours waiting for buses to come and transport us to Camp Arifjan. Due to the drawdown, all of the travel arrangements have changed significantly and I have to say, the new arrangements don't make much sense :-/

Once the buses came around 5:30am we boarded and began a two hour bus ride through Kuwait city to get to Camp Arifjan. But despite running on only two hours of sleep in 48 hours, when we arrived that Friday morning I had a major second wind...Arifjan not only has a shopping mall with dozens of restaurants... it has an outdoor pool!!! Ahhh!!! From that moment on "pool" was the only thought on my mind. After collecting our bags, manifesting for the Freedom flight which would be the next day, Saturday, we dropped our duffels into the transient housing and headed off to find the pool.

After having lunch at the mall, and buying the world's dorkiest bathing suit and goggles (no swim cap) we went to the pool and I was like a racehorse that's been trapped at the gate for the last 5 months. I swam and swam and swam and got thoroughly fried in the Kuwait sun, but it was worth every second. Once we got back to transient housing, it's fair to say I basically collapsed. It was 3pm in the afternoon on Friday... I slept until 6am Saturday morning.... 15 hours!

Once up though I was super charged to go to the pool again. I got some breakfast and went to the PX to buy food for the flight and then went back to the pool for a few hours. We didn't have to be back at the Pax Terminal until 2pm so it worked perfectly.  Back at the Pax we met the Kuwait Red Cross team who we hadn't seen since the beginning of our deployment in April.

Together we went through the tedious briefing, paperwork and customs process and then went into lockdown for 4 hours. At 9pm Saturday evening we boarded the buses that drove us to Kuwait International Airport where we boarded our long long long flight home. First flight was 6 hours to Germany, the second flight was 8 hours to New Hampshire, the last leg was 4.5 hours to Ft Bliss, TX. There were two great parts about this, I was so insanely overtired I slept every flight and kept waking up in a different country. The second was that I got to sit next to one of my best Vet friends!

Another incredible part of the trip was the reception that we received in New Hampshire. We were met by the Pease Greeters, http://www.peasegreeters.org/  a Pease Airport with deploying or redeploying personnel has a warm send off or welcome home. I have never ever seen anything like it. Hundreds of people had come out to welcome our flight, they had dozens of pizzas, donuts, a room with free calling anywhere in the world, free wi-fi, free gifts, free professional photos and best of all, a ceremony for the everyone where several Vietnam vets spoke. Everyone cried. It was remarkable.

not-for-profit whose purpose is to make sure that every flight that comes into

Once we FINALLY arrived at Ft Bliss later that Sunday evening, we were in-processed, given dinner at the airport hanger and then bussed to the Ft Bliss CRC (Conus Replacement Center) because the Ft Benning CRC, where I've always deployed in and out of, has been closed due to the drawdown. After waiting an HOUR in line to get a room, I unpacked as best I could and collapsed in bed because we had a 5:45am formation Monday morning.

Unfortunately, jet lag had other plans and at 3am I was so wide awake I got dressed and played on the computer until the formation at 5:45am.  We loaded our military duffels on trucks and then were bussed to breakfast, then bussed to the health out-processing. As civilians we don't do the health processing, but we still got to get up and share in the joy ;-)  The fortunate thing though was that after some phone calls, the CRC staff was able to arrange it so that while the military did health, we were able to turn in our gear which meant we were able to get to the airport in time for our flights that afternoon.

Once at the airport, we settled into a Mexican restaurant for Tex-Mex and margaritas. I'll be honest, 5 minutes in and I was pretty tipsy!  I said goodbye to my team at the airport and then promptly passed out on my flight to Chicago.

My wonderful mother met me at the airport and we just spent a few glorious days at a hotel in Chicago, where I became reacquainted with double beds, indoor plumbing and metal silverware.

I can't thank you enough for all your emails and messages and care packages and donations to the Red Cross these last several months. Your support continues to carry me through the hard times and help me realize how lucky I am to have such incredibly thoughtful, loving and generous people in my life. Please feel free to reach out again at any time.

Until the next adventure, signing off....

Doing nothing for hours sitting in the Kuwaiti desert

Just arrived at Arifjan, Kuwait and desperate for the pool!

Sweet Home Chicago, lunch downtown at a childhood favorite ;-)

On lockdown in Kuwait for the Freedom Flight! Promise a recap of these last few days when I get home.

Should be stateside by Sunday night! Signing off for now from the flip side...

:-)

I'm too tired to string a real blog post together, but wanted you all to know that after 36 action packed hours we made it to Kuwait and I am currently in refugee style transient housing, everyone is living on top of each other. There is so so much to write since Wednesday morning, but I'm going to have to save it for when I can think straight. I promise more to come. On track to be in the US early this coming week!

We spent hours literally sitting in the sand in the middle of nowhere Kuwait

 waiting for buses to come get us.

Exhausted but still functioning after arriving a Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Wow, I know I talk a lot about nights being crazy and hectic, but this one wins. Hands down.

I woke up about half an hour before my alarm was set to booms and incoming alarms and general chaos. I was already sleeping really poorly in the tent so this certainly fitting. The first round of alarms went off for about 40 minutes before they sounded the all clear. Just when I was about to emerge to the head to the showers, I hear an enormous, jarring "crrraacccckkkkk" noise and I actually swore out loud the incoming was so close. Then another serious of booms and alarms went off and the long and the short of it is, we were attacked for almost two hours.

When I got to the office we were trying to do accountability both with our team and the new team, which was a nightmare. Two of the new team members had left for dinner in between the two attacks and we had no idea where they were until we got a call from Air Force Persco saying that they had bunkered down with our two team members.

Once things settled down at the office, I came to find the replacement team member I am supposed to be training does not have access to log onto government computers so we can't do any training! So I am trying to cover the emergency message queue by myself and train her at the same time on one computer.

THEN around 2:00am the Red Cross emergency casework system goes down. At first I didn't think much of it because this occurence is pretty common. But then 15 mins passess, 30 mins passes and by this point I've called Kuwait and learned they are down and then I call the National Headquarters to find out that the system is down worldwide! So! No more training for the night.

THEN about an hour later the system comes up only for the caseworkers in the US, where people are starting emergency messages. A supervisor in the States calls me and tells me that the US caseworkers are going to start passing me the messages over the phone so that I can then pass them over the phone a second time, all without access to the casework system and while training to train my replacement! As soon as the supervisor hangs up the phone lights up with US caseworkers trying to call out there cases and I am getting so many calls from the US I can't deliver a single message in Afghanistan.

Suffice to say I am completely exhausted, but one of our neighbor units is hosting us a pancake breakfast so it's not quite bedtime yet!

Today was pretty representative of a deployment transition - hectic, sleepless and rather stressful. This morning the new team arrived at the office at 9am and both the new and old teams went over to base billeting. My team checked out of our Bhuts and the new team checked in. Then we did a run to the PX to buy supplies and my team leader and I brought the very last plate of mom's fudge over to the Engineers who had a mass casualty incident a short time ago. Saying goodbye to the units and my friends out here is really difficult.

Once we were back at the office, I took the truck and officially moved by duffels out of the Bhut where I've lived the last 5 months... and into the tents. Heaven help me. The tent is insufferably hot and it's- communal men and women, with only a small divider separating the two tent halves. There are two giant fans blowing air around the tent, but truthfully it is cooler outside at 90 degrees than it is in the tent. There are literally huge gaps in the tent walls where the tent has come apart and the daylight and the heat come in. It made for sleeping during the day, with the sun beating down on the tent, just torturous. Only two more "nights" :-/

I was so over tired I actually slept through my alarm which I never do, but still managed to make it to Zumba. Then I came to start my shift and found out my replacement wouldn't be come in to sit chair side with me until 3am so at midnight I went over and did one last Medevac at the Hospital.

Then this coming morning, the end of my shift, the Bagram Garrison Commander and Sergeant Major have requested a meeting with our team at 9am so we will all be in uniform for that audience. Then I will imagine it will be time to drop! :-)  

3 more days!

Another action packed day!

This morning we did the Russian Tower tour which was SO fascinating. The Russian Tower is one of the few remaining buildings still standing on Bagram (our office building included) from the time the Soviets built this base in 1979.  I learned so much about the history of Bagram as well as the political history of Afghanistan. I wish I had taken this tour our first week here! I also learned that you can reserve the actual air traffic control tower room -which overlooks the entire base- for personal events. It's insanely last minute but I am trying to reserve the room for this Wednesday to have a farewell party with some friends!

After the tour, I went to the Korean Hospital to do the interview with Fatimah and her family. The interview was truly one of the most incredible opportunities I've had in my life. I had an Afghan interpreter with me as well as the Program Director for the hospital, but truly the most inspiring part was sitting with Fatimah and her father, who sat cross-legged on his daughter's bed, as she received a blood transfusion and the two of them spoke with me about what the funding of her cancer treatment meant to their family.  The affection displayed by her father is in stark contrast with the reputation of Afghanistan's treatment of women.  And in an incredible coincidence, Fatimah's father, who is a local of Bagram, actually assisted in the construction of the hospital in 2010. I've finished the first draft of the flyer to the Bagram community and we hope to release it to the base community this week.

And finally, tonight was my co-worker's birthday so a bunch of friends came over to have a small party and after the party ended, two friends of mine brought over Pizza Hut and we were enjoying one of our last nights together when I get a phone call out of the blue from our replacement team...saying that they were standing at the Bagram Pax Terminal! Wow!! Shifting gears!! They've arrived! We cut our lunch short and I drove over to pick them up, arranged for their billeting, took them to the DFAC for a 2am sandwich and then got them sorted into their housing for the evening. Official transition starts tomorrow!  I should also mention we got attacked pretty hard tonight, booms going off all over the place, although none close enough that I was particularly worried. We are officially in battle rattle "until further notice" :-/

I can't believe the new team is here. It's real now. So much is happening and it's all coming to end, it's so hard to comprehend.

The Tower balcony view

Russian bunker in the basement

My Vet buddy and I in the Russian Tower Air Traffic Control Room

The center of the Air Traffic Control Room

Photo of the Russian Tower when the US forces first occupied

the building in 2001

Hanging in the control room...which we can hopefully

reserve for Wednesday!

What a day! Lots of news to share.

Beginning tonight it seems we are going back in to battle rattle because this coming week has the highest record of attacks annually, with both the anniversary of 9/11 and the anniversary of the death of General Massoud. We picked a great week to try and redeploy :-/

The base is likely going to be put on the highest security threat level we have yet experienced and rumor is we will be in 24 hour battle rattle, something I've not experience before in 4 deployments.

Later today, I went to visit my friends at the Korean Hospital to inquire if I could donate any of my clothes or bedding to the hospital. I spent almost an hour chatting with Director who caught me off guard by asking if there was any way I could help them on a last minute project. 10 days ago they acquired a 12-year-old Afghan girl dying of bone cancer. If she does not receive life-saving chemo and radiation the oncologist states she will die in 6 months time. The hospital cannot afford the drugs so they want to ask the Bagram base community to contribute to raising $10,000 for her treatment. The Director asked if I would interview the girl and her family and write an article to distribute to the Bagram community. So tomorrow morning I am going back to the hospital to meet Fatimah, her parents and her 4 younger brothers and put together a short article to share with the Bagram community.  I am so thankful for one last opportunity to assist the Afghan people.

And then tonight was the Bagram's Got Talent show hosted by the USO and MWR. The Red Cross was asked to set up our Lemonade stand and together with about half a dozen volunteers, we served refreshments during the show.  The event was  blast with about 20 people performing from the base community.

As exhausted as I am, it's days like these when the thought of leaving Afghanistan fills me with regret...

One more week!

It's finally starting to feel real now that I've shipped home almost all of my personal belongings so my room feels empty and impersonal. We move into the tents on Monday which I confess I am dreading. There's almost no security in the transient tents so theft is rampant and as a day sleeper I'm going to be a gonner with at least 12 roommates, possibly up to 20 coming in and out of the tent all day.

But before that super fun experience we have to get through this weekend which is jam packed as our last weekend in theater! Saturday evening is the Bagram's Got Talent show and we are setting up the Lemonade stand to serve refreshments. Then Sunday morning we've arranged to have a tour of the historic "Russian Tower", one of the last remnants of the Soviety presence in Bagram, Afghanistan. Then Sunday evening the 101 Abn band is actually throwing a farewell party for our team! Should be a really fun night, though I confess I wish it was starting later in the evening... looks like the sleep deprivation is going to start a day early ;-)

I promise photos to come of this weekend and keep your fingers crossed for our replacments who should begin their travel to Afghanistan tomorrow! We expect them sometime on Monday...

Happy Labor Day from Afghanistan!

Yesterday was our Labor Day celebration and the day was a massive success! I set my alarm for 2am night shifter time (technically 2pm in the afternoon) to be at the office for 3pm. After massive damage control Friday and Saturday we officially pushed up the start time of the event to 4pm to beat the 6pm "don IBA and Kevlar" protective gear for the evening.

Once at the office, the next three hours was a whirlwind. The Military police and Fire Department blocked off the road in front of our office, we set up at dozen tables, chairs, the Lemonade stand. The Airborne band set up on the front deck. We had a raffle set up with dozens of prizes. The major scare of the afternoon was at 15:50 when my co-worker still wasn't back with food for 400 and guests were already arriving! Fortunately with almost 30 volunteers we were able to get everything set up in a flash and with the grills already going, the party just took off! One of my favorite parts of the event were the 4 teams of military working dogs that came to support us. With the Combat Stress dog on the road, I invited the working dogs and was so surprised when 4 teams showed up with 3 Black Labs and a Spaniel, all desperate for affectionate and attention. I hate to say it, Major Eden (the combat stress dog) but I think these working dogs are going steal your job! The head handler told me this was the first time they'd ever been invited out to an event so it was obvious both the dogs and the handlers were thrilled!

After the party ended, Susanne and I took our left over dessert to the hospital and we visited with a few patients when we learned from a unit out here that a few of their guys had been ambushed. Then I managed to get in an hour of sleep before I came on shift. Mercifully, one of my close girlfriends  brought Pizza Hut over about 11pm and she stayed and kept me awake until 2:30am. Then I called home and managed to catch almost my entire family at my parent's house for a BBQ which was the best way to end the day!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

 

My good friends the Vets! They suggested using the Military Working Dogs

 

The CASF Medevac crew and I, this is the unit in charge of the

Medevacs and getting the wounded warriors home

 

We estimate about 300 over the two hours!

 

My friends at the Korea Hospital!

 

Playing with a mine dog :-)

 

Clark and I during clean up

 

My good friend and volunteer Ashleigh ran the raffle!

 

Kicked off this huge Labor Day weekend with the Dog Days of Summer 5k this morning! I was under 25:00 so I was pretty dang happy!

Then tonight I've got a bunch for girlfriends coming to the office to make the Oreo truffles for tomorrow's huge Labor Day Bash.

I should also mention that last night was insanely hectic damage control as the Garrison issued another base wide "uniform posture change", in other words, back into the battle rattle until further notice. Only this time, the evening start time for battle rattle is at 6pm, directly in the middle of the Labor Day party! The band can't play in their gear and people won't come to the event if they have to wear their Kevlar so I spent two frantic hours last night calling all 12 of our event partners and I miraculously got all of the them to agree to an earlier start. Then I went out and re-papered the base with an updated flyer, emailed all 30 volunteers and begged them to come an hour earlier, and called the radio station to promote the new start time.

Fingers crossed we pull this off tomorrow!

Me with my "Dog Days of Summer" Finishers shirt! Should 

have taken a photo of the back, it's way cooler than the front...

doesn't change the fact that's neon yellow though! :-/

Incredible to think our replacements have started their Red Cross briefings today! Saturday they move to the Conus Replacement Center at Ft Bliss to start their week of military training before heading over here. Two weeks to the day... :-)

Just managed to get hundreds of Krispe Kremes shipped from Dubai to Afghanistan for the Labor Day event next weekend!!

Also, found out that Major Eden, the combat stress dog, will be traveling the day of our party, so instead I managed to get a few of the non-attack, military working dogs to make an appearance and mingle with the crowd!

Check out the flyer, so excited! Now if I could just get the insurgents to take the night off!

 

The Vets came over to the Red Cross office to have a Despicable Me movie marathon with pizza... and because Zeko needs 24 hour care...they brought him along! :-)

I seem to be a regular at the hospital these last few nights! Two night ago there was an enormous Medevac mission leaving for Germany. There had been an extremely destructive suicide bombing down South on Saturday which resulted in a large influx of critically wounded into our hospital here on Bagram. After being stabilized at the Join Theater Hospital, 19 litters left for Germany on Sunday night. I went over to provide manpower, carrying the gurneys from the hospital and loading the patients onto the bus that would drive them to the flight line where they would be loaded on the plane. 6 of those patients were considered CKATs - on life support.

Then last night I got word from my Vet friends that they would be pulling all nighters with Zeko, a working dog who had been shot through his back. You can actually see the entry and exit wounds once his hair had been shaved. Zeko is the sweetest (most drugged up) dog and I've been over at the Vet clinic the last two nights to keep both him (and the Vets) company overnight.

And to top everything off we have been indefinitely ordered back into our battle rattle at night, which means all my late night escapades are done lugging around my 40 extra pounds of protective gear!

T-minus 3.5 weeks....I won't miss the gear, but nights like those are irreplaceable and incomparable...

A little impromptu water ballon fight with the Vets! Sadly there are no pictures of the catapault they made out of physical therapy stretch bands and a towel! We are playing on the backside of the Joint Theater Hospital, just outside their office.

I much prefer this incoming to the real deal ;-)

My team!

 



 

Team #2!

 

4 weeks to the day until we return to the States. It's absolutely unbelievable. I'm pretty sure yesterday was August 1st and tomorrow may very well be Labor Day. It seems the nearer the end draws the faster the time goes... and the more we have to plan!

The Lemon-aid stand continues to generate lots of publicity for the Red Cross. We have been invited by Combat Stress to set up the Lemon-aid stand for a two-day Volleyball tournament next weekend, the 24th and 25th.  We have also been invited by the USO to set up the stand at the next Bagram's Got Talent Show on September 7th.  I am also in the midst of the whirl-wind prep for our Labor Day event which with any luck will be reminiscent of our 300 person Memorial Day bash.

In the meantime, I thought I would leave you with a funny story... this morning was our bi-weekly radio spot on the Armed Forces Network. I had arrived to the studio early and the host and I were enjoying ourselves before the show, singing to the music he was playing. In an unfortunate turn of events, it turned out the microphone I was sitting in front of had been turned on....while we were singing... and I ended serenading Stacey's Mom to the entire Middle East.

When our show started, the host opened with, "And that was Stacey's Mom by Fountains of Wayne, featuring our very own Michelle Risinger" ... ;-)
 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Yesterday was our "Cake and a Puppy" engagement event at the Red Cross and it was a huge success! The intent was to provide the community out here with a few creature comforts and a bit of an escape from the daily routine of dank Bhuts, communal showers and 40 pounds of protective gear. So we invited over Major Eden, the beautiful Red Lab Combat Stress dog and together with a team of 10 volunteers, put together an enormous spread of homemade desserts. I spent most of the night Friday baking cakes in an easy bake oven using boxed cake mix and powered eggs. We baked muffins and cinnamon raisin bread, we had homemade fudge shipped courtesy of my wonderful mother. We had trays of girl scout cookies, plus we set up the Lemon-aid Stand and served traditional and pink Lemonade (thank you to those who donated!), Flavor-Ice Popsicles and water.

Everything was set up on the front deck of our building and I confess I was alarmed when I woke up at 4pm, before the event, and saw what appeared to be storm clouds off in the distance. But the weather held off until the end of the event making for an exciting finale, as an electrical storm rolled in with lightening streaking across the sky every few seconds. But with music playing and the smell of cake in the air, we had close to 100 visitors stop by to play with major Eden for almost two hours. It was the perfect escape to what has undeniably been a challenging month!

Yea Desserts!

So pleased with the turnout!

Not sure if you can tell but I am "knighting" my team member with a spatula.

 Major Eden posing for a photo in the background

The Vet team and I

This is the Armed Forces Network Radio Broadcaster who I do the bi-weekly radio show with!

Major Eden, her handler and I taking a break

 

The fates seems to be conspiring against Zumba...

Tonight was the last night of Ramadan and there were rumors to be ready for an attack. I woke up early again to go to Zumba. When I got to the office, loaded down in my battle rattle about 15 mins before the class started, I ran into our team leader who was on her way out. She looked surprised to see me and asked if I had gotten her text. I replied no, my phone was out of credit so I hadn't been checking it, but it hadn't occurred to me you can still receive calls and texts without credit. Her text read "Stay INSIDE tonight!!!! Come late to work."  Great. There goes Zumba again :-/

Apparently the intel was so great about an imminent attack that in addition to our Red Cross staff, several camps went on lockdown last night including the hospital.

We waited somewhat on edge during the the supposed timeframe, but when the timeframe came and went everyone relaxed. My coworker left his shift and from that point on it was myself and three transient soldiers that preferred to crash in the Red Cross canteen than at the passenger (PAX) terminal.

Then around 1:30am I was working at the computer when the "Incoming alarm" went off. Normally this alarm typically does not sound. What we normally hear are the rocket impacts and then the "IDF impact" alarm goes off. The actual "Incoming" alarm I confess is quite jarring and does wonders to get your heart rate up. On this particular night the omniscient voice backed by the alarm began grating 'Incoming, Incoming, Incoming" as I looked out the window and heard a rocket hit.  It hit close enough that I got up from my desk and moved into the hallway with the transient soldiers when the second rocket hit and you could feel the impact in your chest.

Fortunately tonight was just the two rockets and the "all clear" alarm sounded maybe a half an hour later.

Still though... I am pleased that Ramadan has ended. That was enough fun for one holiday!!
 

Quite a night out here. Woke up early to go to Zumba to find that we were in a blackout. Fortunately, the power was only down about 15 mins. Then I went to the office to drop off my stuff before heading over to the class. Just a minute before leaving the office for class we took incoming so close that is sounded like something fell off a truck just outside our window. That began a series of incoming that totaled almost a dozen and we knew something hit close because there was a fire truck and ambulance that pulled up maybe 25 meters from the office. The incoming orderal lasted about 30-40 mins (no Zumba for me!) and maybe 10 mins after the all clear alarm sounded we went into another blackout which made for relative chaos at the office as everyone was trying to call in for accountability and we has no phones and no internet! Just another day ;-)

For those who have asked about, or who have heard the news today, the answer is yes, we are also taking stricter security measures and precautions in this last week of Ramadan.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/02/politics/us-embassies-close/index.html?c=world

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/02/208255213/state-department-issues-worldwide-travel-alert

As I understand it, the last week of Ramadan is the most holy time, when Mohammed experienced his greatest number of visions and when the greatest number of alms are to be paid. As a result of the stronger desire to offer acts of sacrifice, we are, as such, prepared for more radical interpretations of this religious teaching.

I'm excited to report we are having our first (and possibly only :-/ ) night with Major Eden, the Combat Stress Dog, at the Red Cross! The event will be next Saturday the 10th and we are using the new outdoor deck on the side of our building. We will be setting up the Lemon-aid stand, and baking cakes and  homemade desserts and hopefully it will be just a really fun and mellow meet and greet with the dog at the Red Cross.  This event has been very difficult to arrange, as the number of Combat Stress dogs in theater is extremely limited right now and as such, Major Eden is constantly traveling. Whereas when I was here two years ago, we were able to establish a weekly night at the Red Cross with Sgt Timmy the Combat Stress dog, this time around I have been trying to catch Maj Eden almost all summer and this is the first time we've been able to set a date! Fingers crossed everything works out because the Combat Stress dog's schedule is completely dependent on what is going on in the conflict. If something unfortunate happens and a unit needs a visit from the dog, that will obviously take precedence over our event!

And on that note, I wanted to share the information of an organization I had never heard of before, Guardian Angel's for Soldier's Pets. Essentially, the organization provides a foster service for the pets of servicemember's that are called up for deployment. I thought this was such an amazing and kind idea. I hope you will check out their website!

http://guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org/

 

Today we toured the A-10 ThunderBolts which was such a fun expereince! Our tour was led by the only female A-10 pilot in theater which as a gender specialist I thought was pretty awesome. Technically, the position is not considered a combat role and is open to women, although clearly there is some disparity in the numbers.

We were given a tour of the plane and of the cockpit, it's weapons systems and some of the technology. One of the coolest things I learned about this jet is that it is the only fighter plane ever built that was designed around the gun (note the picture below!)