21 May 2007:
All,
Now that I was able to get to church and let folks know that their prayers have been answered, I want to let you know that I am back in San Diego , done with my mission with the reserves. The process took five days to complete and some of my teammates from Tombstone are still there trying to get through the admin.
The flight from Afghanistan was quite a long one. We ended up going to Kyrgyzstan for a day where we were able to all load up on an ATA charter flight. The plane needed to be hand loaded and 30 people volunteered to get the job done with promises of the best seats on the plane. Once we loaded onto the plane, most of my timed escaped me since I slept most of the journey.
The plane flew first to Turkey, where we stayed on the plane when they refueled. After that we flew to Shannon Ireland. Everyone took the opportunity to drink Guinness that came from Ireland in Ireland. I liked the fact that there was free internet if you had your own laptop. From there we were teased with being in the US by landing in Maine, so close but yet so far. Here we were able to use cell phones and call folks in a time zone that both could agree on. The visit was short and we still needed to get to Norfolk.
We landed in Norfolk around 11:30 pm to find some of the families waiting for us, but of course we could go see them with our weapons. Time needed to be taken so that we could drop off our rifles and pistol. Folks took the serial number and took what we had, once we dropped off the weapons, we walked to the building where we were given USO care packages and waited to be greeted by a captain who was responsible for getting us back home. We grabbed one of our bags so that we had our toiletries for the night and went to our rooms. The next day was gear turn in.
Gear turn in was long, but went well. We were the largest group they had, so it went a bit slow at first, but was able to finish by then end of lunch. Just in time to talk to the chaplains about the good and the bad of mission in Afghanistan. Most people were very open, but we were all tired of complaining and were ready to head on home.
Fast forward through dental and medical and getting our paperwork done. Things went so fast that I was home a week before the advertised date. This was good since that meant I was home before my countdown calendar hit zero making my return a surprised.
Now that I am back it is time to get back to a normal life. It was great for everyone to be there while I was gone these last 15 months. I want to thank all of you. I also want to thanks for those who served with me. This may be the last email I sent to everyone on this list, but may continue writing on MySpace or Yahoo 360. I would be more than happy to write back if you write me. Take care, God bless and be seeing you.
- James
09 May 2007
All,
My time here is now coming to an end, but the journey is long and hard. We have meet those that will take our place and passed on to them all that we could. We tried our best to tell them what they needed to do.
So far we have traveled to Kandahar to drop off some gear and given our awards. It was nice to see how much Kandahar has grown with the coalition forces bringing in a bit of their home. The Dutch has brought their coffee shop/restaurant and it was nice to get a real meal on real plates with real flatware. After nearly a week in Kandahar, staying in the large 300 man open bay tent while we waited for a flight heading to Kabul so we could join the rest of the team at Camp Phoenix.
In Camp Phoenix we were able to stay in smaller tents, but this time we got to see the awards for those staying in Camp Phoenix earned...
Now we play the waiting game to see when and how we can get home. It is almost here and out time is almost done. Day 356.
- James
27 Apr 2007
All,
The days are a bit brighter and it's not because it is getting hotter. The great thing is that our replacements are now here. We now start the great processing of passing everything we know and sharing all our experiences into a very short period. Hats off to them, they have a big job ahead of them, and we hope that we are leaving them in a good position. Just as we start preparing our journey we find that some of the luxuries are now arriving: cell phones, better Internet, new gym equipment and the list goes on.
The great thing is that we can say that we built the camp that the ANA live in. For those folks we leave behind, they will remember us and the first. This is history being made and we have are a small part of it. I hope that the sacrifices that all of our team gave will pay big dividends in the long term. Good luck to the new team, the ANA and linguists in their efforts to make Afghanistan a better place. God speed.
- James
17 Apr 2007
All,
Today is day 333 in theater. Spring is here and the place is coming alive. The bugs are everywhere, crickets and flies are alive. When you walk, the ground comes alive with critters running for cover. This is a very different place when I first arrived nearly a year ago, a land full of sand storms and high temps. The weather has been nice so far and it is funny to hear the new folks complain about the heat. We laugh since our highs of 100+ days will be the lows in a couple of months from now.
We are slowly getting ready for our departure from Afghanistan, but we are still waiting for the final day to be "official". The post man came and took my 8 boxes of things (Amazon has been good to me this past year), along with things the folks in my team didn't want to carry home. We will still have bags of goodies that we need to turn in, so it is a good thing that I have been working out since the bags are not that light.
Many who have sent gifts throughout this year, thank you again. Your thoughtfulness have always been appreciated. And those who continue to keep us in your prayers, they do help, we have a small group that I know benefited from those prayers... Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we finish our time and start our journey home.
Mahalo, arigato, shey shey, go map sup ni da, salamat, gracias, danka shor, mercy, sho kran, tasha kor and many more thanks.
- James
29 Mar 2007
All,
We hit yet the next wicket for out time here in Afghanistan, the 50 days to go mark. We have been going through a lot of changes the last fifty days, like new folks, change of weather (it's getting hotter) and a change of focus (we can see the light at the end of the tunnel). You may think that 50 days is a long time, but we know if we don't start packing now, we will never be able to get everything we have collected over the year packed, mailed or given away. Good thing the majority of what I have is edible.
Yesterday we marked the first time we had all our navy folk in one place by taking a group picture. I hope to get that loaded up on my Yahoo pictures soon.
I have been seeing a lot of changes with friends. There are both friends and family that are getting married. When I get back I will have to attend a couple of weddings within the first month I get there. It is great to see this happen and I am grateful to be able to attend such events. I just hope that there is enough time to drive to each event since they are happening all over the US, but I really love driving my MINI!
Let hope that we are out of here sooner than the 50 days than some time after. Please keep praying and may I see you sooner than later.
- James
12 Mar 2007
All,
One of our own has taken everyone's pictures that have been taken during our year in Tombstone.
If you go to www.YouTube.com and put in both key words "Tombstone" and "Afghanistan", you will be able to see our slide show with sound.
There is a ton of pictures and they move pretty fast, so it is worth watching a few times.
Enjoy.
- James
06 Mar 2007
All,
A year ago today I said good bye to family and friends before heading off to Norfolk, VA, to start my in-processing and training for Afghanistan.
It is hard to think that my trip would change my life forever. For some areas, there are positive changes. In other area I will carry scars that will never heal.
All and all, what we are doing is making a change. We have made many friends and have stories that we will always be able to share. Despite my ability to tell it the way it is in the worst possible way, there will be good stories that people will be able to tell to bring smiles to everyone who hears. It's a good group and I doubt that Tombstone will have the same chemistry of people who are able to work together, despite their differences.
The best thing about this year is good health. We may not have the best gym in the world, but it is enough where I am able to return home with some to show for it. I like to call it my prison arms, and they have four times the power now than when I first arrived. I thought I did good loosing 30 pounds, but that was nothing when I gained 20 pounds of muscles. It is great now that I can eat anything I want and not gain a pound, I just hope that I will be able to do that when I get home in just over two months.
As we count the days (73), we start thinking what we need to do to help the people that is coming in behind us to do our job. I think it will be hard to do since most of the work we did is things we had to establish ourselves. How do you teach someone to be McGuyver? It is amazing what you can do with a Swiss Army knife... Just keep the new guys in your prayers as they finish up their training and start their journey to wonderful Tombstone.
Thanks all for being there vicariously through these emails. Keep praying because Spring is here!
- James
27 Jan 2007
What do you do when the cycle menu has your mouth saying "not again"? Not to say that the food we are given is bad; it's just certain menu items keep reappearing more than others. When that happens, you come up with creative things, like sushi.
You may ask, how do you get raw fish in the desert? Nothing can replace the read deal, but when you have the nori (seaweed), wasabi, vinegar/sugar mix, soy sauce and tons of canned meats to choose from, you have a sushi party ready to happen.
Having a Japanese mother helps getting to ingredients and tools needed to make sushi. I had purchased on the internet a 5 cup rice cooker and one of the National Guards had calrose rice (Japanese white, sticky rice). It was now time to make sushi.
We got really creative with our creation. Using mostly smoked salmon and canned crabmeat, we created various rolled sushi to include rolls with cream cheese and cheddar, which were as outstanding as the ones without. The only problem was that I love wasabi and I put it on thick, mixed some in the soy sauce and didn't think to warn anyone about it. Regardless, everyone enjoyed the event and I hope to do it again.
Just 111 days to go!!!
- James
28 Dec 2006
All,
It just felt like the other day we were celebrating 7 months in theater. I guess it was just last week. Only 144 days to go.
Today started off with rain, but that didn't dampen any of the Christmas Spirit. Everyone greeted each other with a big smile and the traditional "Merry Christmas". It was good. I told the ANA that I was not going to see them today because I was going to celebrate the birth of Jesus. They respect him as a great profit, so they are cool with the celebration. I guess Easter would be a different story...
But later we were told that the British were going to have some tea and minced meat pie for the ANA leadership, so you have to go over and get your counterpart for the celebration. But that was later on in the day, but first it was the traditional gift exchange. All the military and some of the contractors got together with their "gifts" and put them in a pile. The numbers were given out and you had the choice of taking a gift from the pile or taking it from someone else. Some gifts were funny, like the frame picture of our engineer or the spike armband, and some were serious like the CD player and DVDs. Afterwards we had two soldiers re-enlist for some tax-free bonuses. Time to get dressed and get out ANA counterparts...
We all jumped into our Humvees and road off to get our ANA counterparts. The mud and driving a big vehicle was great, but it wasn't off road... We get over there and of course if you invite one officer, the whole office wants to come. I ended up with three "counterparts" that came along. It would have been more, but other mentors showed up to help with the load. We road over and went to the tent where the celebrations were happening. Nice cups and little tins of minced meat pies. We ended up taking some of our folks over to our office for some Christmas coffee and picture taking. Some of the photos are posted on my Yahoo site. Afterwards the coffee was drank and the pictures taken, we loaded up the Humvees to take our guest back. We returned and broke out the summer sausage, fresh baked bread from the bread machine and more coffee. The rest of the morning was spent playing ping pong on our make-shift table, watching the enlisted folk play their XBox 360 and downloading pictures to share with all.
Dinner was done by the British. They had all the food prepared at their camp from across the way. If they only brought the trifle... I had the turkey and the beef since everything else had swine in it (the pig and I don't agree). Drank plenty of eggnog as we watched the UK drink their wine and beer. They had brought enough for us Americans, but even the 2 star general that visited us the day before told us "no" in somewhat colorful terms. Forgot to mention his visit. He gave us all a hug and a coin and told us we were going to get the NATO medal.
The rest of the night was just resting and watching more Ping Pong and XBox 360 while Christmas music played on the loud speakers...
Trying to make phone calls, but you can imagine every serviceperson is trying to make a call to loves ones in the US. I will try calling mom, but the lines are impossible...
Sorry, no services...
Merry Christmas All!!!!
- James
26 Dec 2006
Well All,
Santa was late, but most of our boxes arrived the day after Christmas.
Our resupply kept on getting delayed and since we didn't want to make others soldier work on Christmas day, we had them delay until the day after.
Thanks all who sent us gifts, but espcially to Phil, Kelly, Larisa and John for their big boxes and all the gifts (especially the coffee).
More photos are being posted of all the boxes the whole team received from family, friends and folks like you.
Thanks all and Merry Christmas.
- James
Pictures HERE
22 Dec 2006
All,
Some folks asked for pictures. Not too many exciting ones, but new ones never the less. Also tried to sort pictures by dates, but if you just want to see what was loaded most recently, go to the folder called "All New Photos".
Loading more as I send this email.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jefarrens/albums
- James
19 Dec 2006
All,
Well really it is 9 1/2 months if you count the in-processing and training at the Mississippi National Guard Camp Shelby. Just another 150 days left in country.
Just finished the last week and a half in wonderful Kandahar Air Field (KAF) doing supply related functions, eating no less than 100 doughnut holes from Tim Horton's, the Canadian version of Duncan Donuts. The great thing, no weight gain!!! But a lot of work was done.
Since returning from leave in November, most of my work was at the ANA (Afghan National Army) camp at Shirzai, the camp that Kandahar is responsible for. Shirzai is the home of the 205th Corps and the higher of my ANA camp, Shorabok, Third Brigade. Since Shirzai is the central location of the 205th, it holds the central store house and where a lot of our supplies were held up due to paperwork. Paperwork done, supply loaded and run down range. The amount was less, but with the bull dozers and excavators, it was the heaviest load moved...
This was my second trip to Shirzai to help move the supplies. But this time there was no rain and I was back in my favorite tent (I lived in that tent for a month when I first arrived nearly 7 months ago). The great thing is that Tim Horton's is next door, great coffee and great doughnuts. The day spa helped pass the time. Only the Americans would have massages available in a war zone...
Things are not all fun in the sand and sun. One night we had two rocket attack where one landed within 50 meters of the tent. Good thing it was a dud. Was thinking about putting in for a combat action ribbon, but I doubt that it would get approved...
Now that I am back in Tombstone, it back to mentoring the ANA Garrison staff. We have a new Supply Officer that just arrived and he is like a keg of gun powder. Since they call me "Time Bomb", it's an explosive combo. We have the galley to upgrade and offices to setup. The hardest thing is the paperwork, but with a staff of ANA to talk about...
Well, with the new camp open, a Garrison staff finally here, and working out every night, the next five months should fly by quickly. Thanks everyone for support and sending us coffee and other gift. Merry Christmas and God bless!
- James
25 Nov 2006
Well, it time for that holiday that comes 3 Thursdays after the first Monday of November: Thanksgiving. And this year, just like every year during my military career, the command puts on a great spread, but this time it was provided by our contractors, KBR.
Today was a low tempo day, but I was dressed and ready to go over to the Afghan National Army base to ensure they were ready to work. It was a short visit, but I still had to put on my super suit to get the job done. After I returned our American servicemen were ready to do some Ultimate Football, a two step and throw the ball until you score type of game. We had enough people playing to make it an Army/Navy game. Eventually the teams were mixed so not one service was dominating the other.
I had to stand the phone watch in the afternoon, but they had me come in for the dinner. We had a short prayer and toasted the services, our love ones and those who had come before us. The meal was great. We had more food than you can imagine. Steamship round, turkey, shrimp, lobster tails, and all the fixings. The deserts were great and the time spent together was memorable. We had the dinner early so that all the Americans could have a sitdown meal together with the British eating afterwards in the traditional cafeteria style dinning. Same food, but a very different atmosphere.
Movie tonight and late night/all night football (since we are halfway around the world) for those hardcore fans.
This time would have been better with love ones at home, but they understand and support us in the job that we are doing. Thanks all for the support and prayers you give to us and an extra thank you to those who have sent us care packages and gifts.
- James
16 Nov 2006
All,
If you don't include the two plus months for training, we are at our halfway point for 365 days Boot on Ground in Afghanistan. 182 down, today, and 182 to go.
They say time flies when you are having fun...
This week I am in Kandahar where we are getting rain everyday. I thought this part of Afghanistan was suppose to be arid, but I guess it is a blessing so I shouldn't complain. The dust is down and so are some of the associated smells of Kandahar base (those who have been here know what I mean)...
Things continue to be quiet but busy with moving supplies for our ANA. It's a good thing since it helps keep my mind occupied from what's going on in my life.
Thanks again for your support and keep praying for our safe return.
- James
11 Nov 2006
Woke up this morning to the sound of drips. Thought it was the AC unit freezing up again and started to defrost in the cubical next to mine. Since it was time to get up, I got out and started to get my things together so I could do my morning routine. To my surprise the sound was from the outside, there was rain (really a drizzle) and the ground was all wet. It's the first rain anyone who has been here the last year plus has seen.
It was nice to have the air dust free and things cleaned. Even the Internet was working better, perhaps the dish could reflect the signal to space a whole lot better with a clean dish.
Hopefully we see more of this in the next 6 months of my stay in Tombstone.
- James
24 Sep 2006
Well, yesterday's was the end of the new moon and with a sliver moon peeking out behind the shadow starts the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, or in Dari: Ramazan. Now we have to their daytime fasting into consideration and that most of the folks only are eating two meals a day, before the rising of the sun and right after it sets at night. You can see the grumpiness on their faces since not only do they give up food and water during the daylight hours, but any other pleasures, like tobacco products. They will take this time to read and reflect their scriptures and to pray.
Went over to the ANA camp today and watched the cooks get the evening meal started. There were a lot of naked goats being purchased from the local vendor from the back of what looked like an old taxi and the large pots of rice cooking on an open fire. Being a big rice eater, their meals smelled very inviting. The last meal our folks were invited to I missed due to off post duties but the pictures taken of it showed me I missed a great meal. Maybe one day I will enjoy some local cooking. Can't wait.
On the other hand, just because it is the holiday season for the Muslims, that doesn't stop the Taliban from doing what they do best, kill and blow things up. Now that NATO has taken over, the Taliban has found a renewed strength to test the new kid in town. NATO team on ground is referred to as ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, and certain countries are each given a region to manage. In Helmond, we have the UK forces doing the job. Our group is picking up a bit of the Queen's English and we are now referring to things just like a Brit, like a "truck" is a "lorry", "stuff" or "things" is "kit" and a "thanks" is given out with a simple "cheers".
Speaking of talk, our Navy team for the last seven months had to learn to speak "Army". Recently the Royal Army has been replaced with the Royal Marines and it is great for our little Navy team. Marines have a lot of naval references and traditions, so now we feel a little bit more at home. More pride in the morning colors, a greater attention to details and now we can start talking "Navy" with the US Army having to adapt. It's good to eat in a "galley" again and not a dining facility.
Let's hope that our work together will be professional and enjoyable so that we can achieve our common goal: make Afghanistan a safer and better place for future generations and to give Afghans the tools they need in order to be a great self-sustaining nation in the area.
09/11/2006
All,
Here we come to look back on the reason we are here in Afghanistan. Five years ago today was when the planes hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon and changed the world forever. Who would have thought that we would still be fighting those folks until now?
This week was Operation Medusa, where coalition forces reminded the Taliban forces that they will not have the opportunities to take over Afghanistan , fill the world with drugs, or train those wishing hate upon the rest of the world how to perpetrate terrorism.
Our day started with the raising of the flag. As you can imagine, everyone here wanted to fly their flag on this day. The camp engineer, Dave, took it upon himself to raise each flag for 9 minutes, 11 seconds until the stack of flags where done, over 4 hours later. One of the flags didn't fit our flag pole and needed a crane to hoist it up since it was 17 by 28 feet.
The day was pretty much uneventful until the evening where both the Americans and British forces came together for a time of silence, prayer and remembrance. A short speech was given and the flags of our two countries were lowered to the sounds of a bugle playing colors, ending our day but not the reason.
The evening meal was like most of our others, but the night film was United 93, the retelling of the events that took place five year prior to today. Who would have thought that nearly 7 months ago I would be called to serve in the area that tried to bring the United States economy on its knees only to be here showing the Afghans the kindness that only American is able to give so freely. Let's all pray that our presence here makes a lasting change for the better.
08/25/2006
My friends
We made a major milestone in our mission, 100 days. It's been a frustrating trip getting us here as well as a time for us to evaluate what is important in life. You can only be mad at the system for so long and dreams of grandeur eventually degrade to pictures of reality.
So far, for my group, we have been keeping busy trying to get a camp open while maintain two other camps, ours and the Afghan National Army's temp camp. We are the city managers and the day to day duties are never ending. But there are times that our interactions with the ANA and our interpreters are enjoyable and memorable. Last week was the Afghan Independence Day where Afghanistan won their independence from Britain. Funny that the day was celebrated with UK forces present with music, song and dance. There was a feast during lunch, which I missed since I had to go to the British camp when everyone else enjoyed a course of lamb rice and nan. Everyone who went enjoyed the meal and some of the folks had the pleasure of watching the cooks prepare the very fresh meal.
After the sun set and it was dark, the ANA gathered in a big circle and a few paraded inside to the music doing what we call the "Man Dance". A couple of the army folk had the traditional clothes and took part in some of the festivities just like the locals. Everyone that went had fun, either dancing or just enjoying the whole show and song. These are the things that you won't get to experience as a tourist.
There has been a ton of people that I have been keeping in contact with; most of them I met via websites that connect service members with volunteers who promise to help support the troops with letters, prayers and care packages, giving us a little taste of home and a lot more support. I have said it many times and will say it again: Thank you for your generosity. I know that you all appreciate the mission that we do and understand what we give up by being here, but it means a lot to us knowing that you are behind us.
To Phil, football season is just around the corner and hope you have your shirt ready, GO CHARGERS!!!!
These next few months are going to fly by quickly. There is Ramadan and the feast afterwards, more people coming and going, and a new camp to open. Things are always changing and staying busy will make the time pass by quicker, but not quick enough.
James
17 Aug 2006
This is a link to my pictures from Qatar. Click Here
Notice that there are boats, a large body of water and green grass, things we don't have in Afghanistan.
It was a great time and I hope that you enjoy the photos of my trip.
It was quite the trip getting down here, but we finally made it. Time for some R&R! But let me tell you a little about trying to get down here. Communication is always the key to making any event successful, and we were lacking it trying to get down to Qatar. Flight schedules are posted in advance, but sometime it is easier to pass your problems down range, in our case we moved from one base to another.
It took over 5 days to get a plane, living in large tents with no privacy and walking everywhere we needed to be but at least the base was nice. Later we found that there were flights to Qatar from where we came from the day we left. But now we were waiting for a direct flight while a group went ahead of us making a stop at the base we just came from before heading to Qatar. And wait we did, for nearly 7 hours for a "direct" flight while the other flight was already enjoying their R&R by the time we boarded our flight. The rule is, the day you arrive doesn't count, but if you get there at 2330, that is still a day on your clicker.
The good thing is, bedding is provided, but the sheets are shorted than the bed. For me it wasn't a bother since I am a short guy, but for the other guys in the group, they got cold feet. The rooms were 10 man rooms for the officers of all grades. I had the top bunk the first night and lucky for me the guy on the bottom left in the morning. Those beds are tall, and trying to get in and out of them in the middle of the night is dangerous. The building had no male toilets and so we first walked a block to use the facilities two buildings down, just as it was posted at the doors of the building. We later found out that there was a trailer next to our building that gave us the basics: shower, toilet and sinks. This made things easier.
Tours were limited, and for what ever reason, most of them were canceled. They gave us the option of two different boat trips, a trip to the mall or a ride through the desert to a beach picnic. If you went the day before to signup for a tour, you had a good chance of getting onto a standby, and there are always folks not showing up for their trip. Each group gets one priority day, usually day three, but you can always signup, room permitting. On occasions you can show up at the time of the trip to jump in, and I have seen folks able to jump in because of the space (or the coordinator was being extra nice).
Another thing that you can do is to sign up for a sponsor. There are folks attached to the base that will take you out to the shops and sites in the area. For the best shopping, this is the way to go. Sponsors know where the good deals are and will take you away from the tourist areas. Was going to do the sponsorship, but my "battle buddy" didn't make the cut, but we were able to get to the mall instead.
A friend and I ended up going on three tours, two different boat rides and the mall. The first boat ride was on a Dhow boat where we anchored in the harbor and was able to jump in and enjoy the water. =] I decided to enjoy the sun from the deck and the local lunch they served up. There was Bar-B-Q, but I decided to eat the rice, pita and hummus along with watermelon for desert. The other trip had jet skis, a banana boat and more jumping off the side of the boat. This time I went for a ride on the banana boat but spent most of my time in the water than on the boat. One time I had the front position and hit everyone in the water as we all fell off. Doing both of these trips gave me a lot of sun and even with 30 SPF, I still got a burn. I felt sorry for those who only used the free 15 SPF lotion that was provided.
There were free internet, but was afraid to use the virus infected computers. There was another computer center that was more controlled, but was opened during certain hours. I took advantage of the gym and the day spa but not the chilled pool located next to Chili's. Getting everywhere was easy, once you figured out the bussing system. There was a bus pretty much every 10 or so minutes and waiting for a bus was much better than walking in the humidity.
There are self service laundry (also located in the other building), but bring your own soap or buy the one time use packets at the PX. Since it took 5 days to get onto our 4 day trip, we all needed to get our clothes cleaned before we could enjoy the events, just not to be to offensive. Laundry gave us the opportunity to be able to wake up in the morning and asking one self "What do I want to wear today?"
Not like our flight to Qatar, our flight to Afghanistan was pretty much on the day that was posted, but still had a 7 hour wait in the terminal before boarding. I am sure that my shipmates are waiting to hear my stories about walking on green grass, sidewalks and driving on real roads, but I think they want more for me to get back to Tombstone so I can get back to work.
06 Aug 2006
This last month has been a period of growth for our small camp. With more and more Afghan soldiers arriving, we are at a challenge to make space for them all. All and all this new group has been great and willing to work.
We finally got DSN lines at our base, which means that we can call within the area. We hope to have access to the US so that we can make morale calls.
It also been a tough time for our British brothers in arms who, if you have been reading the news, have been taking a beating down range. A couple of weeks ago we had a dedication of our MWR hut in remembrance of the first British casualty. We also had a group photo done that day of our Navy team, the US Army team, the British team and a portion of the ANA.
Click Here
Today is 80 days in country and I get to go on R&R in Doha, Qatar. Hopefully I will see some green plants there and just relax by the swimming pool.
Thanks all that have written and those who enjoy my emails/blog.
Keep praying and giving of your support, we need every bit of it.
- James
More Photos
21 Jun 2006
Thanks all that have sent boxes and magazines. I was in Kandahar when the boxes arrived and the convoy from our FOB happened to arrive the same day. The soldiers that drove in appreciated the gifts provided.
Now I am at FOB Tombstone getting things ready for training the Afghan troops. We hope that by the personal relationships that we make here in the next year will be the building blocks of a long term partnership with Afghanistan.
Compared to the other bases, FOB Tombstone is one of the sandiest in the country. I must eat a pound of sand everyday and the handy wipes are a dark tan when I am done with them.
There is a need for AAA batteries. We have small radios that we use for around the camp and they eat batteries. Also we use them in some of our flashlights.
Thanks again for all you have done.
V/R
LCDR Farrens
02 Jun 2006
The Navy ETT is a small group training the ANA in Garrison support (how to take care of your troops at the home base). Once an Army job, the Navy has volunteered to assist in the non-combat missions. This is not to say that we are working in the safest area. Of course there are Soldiers here protecting the base and helping train the ANA.
Our team is made up of folks, both active duty and reservist, from California, Louisiana, Texas and the DC area with our training at Camp Shelby National Guard Center, Mississippi.
Despite living in the hottest part of Afghanistan, both in weather and in the fight, the living conditions have been improving at FOB Tombstone. With new B-Huts for living quarters and an enclosed dinning facility, life is good. Laundry is self done in a washing trailer with everything provided, shopping is done online, when you can surf the web and 20 minute phone calls done weekly via a sat phone.
Since we just arrived, we are still trying to find what we need. For now what would be nice are DVD's, which are difficult to find when we are able to visit the Kanadar BX and there is no satellite TV (as of yet). Some of us have PSP to help pass the time. The electricity is 220 with a few converters.
For the most part, the Army has provided most other things we need. Of course please remember us in your prayers.
