The View from the FOB

Well it rained like a mother the day before yesterday. And I mean it rained. Mud all over the place. But afterward it was really clear. I know I have said this some already but it is very different here than at Bastion.. There definitely is a view here, and it can be very beautiful.  I have been outside the wire like 8 times now and have gotten to see the "country side" some. Like I said, very different from Bastion. I have kind of gotten into taking panoramic pics. Have a really neat program that stitches them together. This is after the rain storm

Thanksgiving Day in Qalat Afghanistan

I would like to say that Thanksgiving Day is really different than it is at home. But in so many ways it is not. Bigger family maybe, but same sense.  Pic is of the "troop" after Turkey Day dinner getting together for Turkey day "snacking" and then vegging and watching "A Christmas Story"

The View from the FOB

It is really different here than it was at Bastion/Leatherneck. One is the air quality is definetly better, and although there is the "dust" it is nothing like KAF or Bastion. You actually can see at a distance. The view definetly has beauty to it.  Picture is taken on the backside of the FOB which is more open.

Combat Medics

I would not in ANY sense use the word combat in the same sentence as our unit. But it does seem that we are a little more combat oriented than with the last deployment. We have to carry our weapon with us at all time. Still it is pretty safe on this FOB with few incidents that I know of.  Pic below is some from our unit and KAF returning from a visit to our "sister" FOB up the hill.  Kind of scary.  I do however so love our FST's motto: "Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight"!

Halloween

Forgot to post this earlier.  We did have Halloween. Not a lot in the way of costumes so it had to be original. I went as a Special Ops...humm I know..not so original. It was fun and everyone had a good time!

A Trip Outside the Wire

Ok well this was a pretty unusal thing as several of us had to make a special trip to our sister FOB up the hill, FOB APACHE. It was unusual in that we went by Ground Movement which does not happen very often for us medical types. The trip actually is pretty short since the distance is not large. We did have to go through Qalat wihch is the town we are close to. Pics are of 1) our method of transport and yes that is a Stryker which was pretty neat. And 2) of me on the ride back in the Stryker.
Definetly don't plan on making this a habit though.