Almost Home

I have one more day here at Manas and then it's off to Savannah with one little stop in Dublin Ireland. I can't wait to be home with my girls I miss them so much and I want to be with them for some needed vacation even if it ends up just being a staycation. Night all

Wow out of the blue

I got this email from the Doctor I meet in the airport last tour when I was on my mid tour break, what a really nice American. I think I will try to stay in touch with him, he seems extremely sincere in all he says, I find it really refreshing that this country still has folks out there like him.

Hi Rob,

Wow, I thought (and was hoping) that you were finally home for good the last time we wrote.  Thank God that you are ok and going home soon!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much respect and admiration I have for you and your fellow soldiers.  God bless you and all of them and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!!

I am doing well and working hard in my medical practice.  I am going to hire another doctor (that will make 3 besides me) and open a new office (that will be # 4) soon and that takes a lot of planning.  I have a very good staff which makes it much easier to do my job and to take care of my patients.

I have been traveling to Europe a lot, specifically Romania, where I have a girlfriend and also I have "adopted" a little 11 year old girl over there.  I will leave her there, rather than bring her to the US at this time, but I am supporting her to go to a good school in Bucharest and I have a nanny taking care of her.  I will also go to Mykonos with Elena (my girlfriend) and to Prague.

My Mom just turned 80 years old and we all celebrated her birthday last weekend.  She is wonderful and even works in my office one day a week.

I have to go as they are calling me for surgery.  Please keep in touch with me and let me know as soon as you arrive back in the US.  I would love to invite you and your family to visit me here in Atlanta....my treat!  Just let me know if you want to do this.  I will be leaving for Romania on July 26 and return on August 25, but I will have my iPad with me so I always am available thru email.

Rob, please stay safe and thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for all that you (and your fellow soldiers) do for all of us here in the US to keep our wonderful country free and safe!!

All my best,

Randy

Pretty cool, well I leave the Stan tomorrow at 2300 hours and I can't wait to get the heck out of here. Girls I will see you soon and I love you three all to much, night all

Just got extended

We just got extended for another day here at KAF. We are still scheduled to get out of manis on the 15th which will have us getting home on the 15th at 9:30 PM. I think we got extended here because Manis does not have the life support to house transients for more than 40 hours. It all fine with me I can't wait to see my girls in five days, I miss them more than they will ever know. 

Two more days at KAF

Well the four of us have been sitting here in our room waiting for the FOB attack to be over, big voice has been going off for the last two hours apparently we are in the middle of a ground attack and we are all being told to remain in our rooms. Leave it to the Taliban to screw me out of lunch, by the time we get the all clear message I am sure the chow hall will be done with lunch. Oh well tonight at 2000 we manifest for our 11 July flight to Manis. I hope we are scheduled to leave at 0001 on the 11th that will be one less day I have to spend here in this dusty inferno. I will keep you posted...

9:20 PM 15 July

This is when we are being told we will have our welcome home ceremony on Hunter Army Airfield in the hanger. Hopefully we will not have any delays with aircraft or maintenance. 

4th of July

Well just another extremely hot day in Kandahar Mike Carman and I spent most of it in doors. Tomorrow I will get up at 0230 so I can go and lay out all my stuff for the customs folks to look at. I also need to add my last tough box that has my computer and camera gear in it. It will be going home in a sensitive items container so it should be just fine. Well it's getting lat and I just wanted to make a quick post to update what's going on with me, night all

It's HOT

Kandahar is probably 20 degrees hotter than Wolverine and it is taking its tool on me. You just can't seem to drink enough water to keep from getting a head ache. I can't wait to get out of this God forsaken country and back to the states. I think Robby left today for his trip to South America and I am so happy for him, it should be an amazing adventure. I will be home to welcome home home from his trip and I look forward to it. I can't wait to be welcomed home from my Girls I miss them so much and I can hardly wait to see the three of them.

CPT Boston just moved into the room next to mine, I really feel bad for him as well. Today he went to see the General and he was relieved from command and will be forced out of the Army shortly after we get back to Savannah. CPT Boston was the commander of the Path Finder company that was attached to Task Force Viper. Their primary mission was PR (personal recovery) and they were really great at what they did. The night we had an MC-12 go down they were the first team put on the crash site and they were the last ones out. I flew over six hours that night flying security for them while they did their job. When we In filled them the enemy was all over the crash site and even though the enemy out numbered his team three to one his ten man team took the crash site and did what they were trained to do. They striped the aircraft of all sensitive items and recovered the four Heroes, a job in itself that takes a certain kind of man to deal with that level of stress. The entire time they were on the ground for over seven hours we operated in the first level of the stack. We would have the F16s come down for show of force when we would break for gas. It was a long night and his guys executed their mission like true professionals, considering most of his guys are just a little older than Robby they will always have my respect. It was nice to know that if I had to crash land somewhere out side the wire Boston's guys would be there ASAP and help to get me out. And now he is being fired for Hazing which I am not to sure really took place, but this Army that we now work in has changed so much you always have to be so politically correct that it just drives most of us crazy. He commands infantry soldiers that have to follow orders right now or people could die, and some folks just don't get that. That's why I personally don't think it's a good idea to have an infantry company working for an Aviation task force. We are pilots and we just don't get it, I wish him the best in all he does and I hope he does well in his future.

Well it's getting pretty late and tomorrow I need to get up and pack so I can move into the VIP quarters   Where I will wait for the Boss and Mike Carman to show up. I hope to find some Internet tomorrow so I can post these post, night all

FEB Complete

I think I was a good witness for the prosecuting attorney and I am pretty sure Jeff will never fly an Apache ever again. I can't even imagine what that feeling would be like, I have grown pretty fond of this amazing machine and to be told I will never fly it again would be really hard to take. I think Jeff truly thinks what he has done is not a big deal, when in fact he put many people in grave danger and I am sure that is how the board members will see it too.

Enough on all of that, I had dinner at TGI Fridays tonight, not exactly what you would expect state side but I thought it was great. It's nice to go into a restaurant and have someone bring you your food and drink. Seven months on the chow hall going through a line for the same old crappy food gets old pretty quick. I think that might be why I like eating out so much when I am at home, but Shirley rest assured I can't wait to try all of your recipes, and I know they will be amazing just like you.   

Now I have just eleven more days to spend here at Kandahar with just enough cloths to last thirteen more days till I am home. I can't wait to get home and see the Girls and spend some quality time with them. I come over here and I see things so much different with such clarity. Why do I have problems with things that are obviously important to me when I am at home. Life is not that difficult, one day at a time and do the right thing, it's not that tough. Well once again I am getting pretty tired today started at 0500 and did not end at the court house till1900, 14 hours later. I hope time passes quickly and I am home till then I will try to keep you all posted I just need to find some free wifi somewhere, night all

Day two at KAF

Well tomorrow I will testify at Jeff Crownover's FEB, not something I am looking forward to as it will most Likely end his aviation career. Not that he did not have it coming he made some really bad decisions over here and he is pretty reckless in his actions in the Apache. But none the less it's not something I am looking forward to being a part of. 

As for KAF, this place is like it's on city, I got on the blue line bus and 40 minutes later I got to the boardwalk. This place is huge! The boardwalk has all sorts of restaurant with all sorts of shopping as well I was able to waste a fare amount of time there. Tomorrow after the FEB I am going to try to find some Internet so I can try to FaceTime with the girls and make these post to my blog. I will keep you posted, but I am still tracking that main body 2 will be wheels up KAF on the 11th of July. I am keeping my fingers crossed.....  

First night in Kandahar

Well I have arrived on the first leg of my journey home. I have no Internet so I will have to post these later but I wanted to keep up on what was going on. I met with Tony Born this afternoon, he was on the schedule to fly so it was a short visit. However he seemed to be in pretty good spirits, I don't know if I could be that way seeing how everyone who leaves Afghanistan comes through here and he is not out of here till the end of AUG. Tomorrow I have but one mission and that is to find the Kandahar Court House. I should be able to do that but this place is huge so it may take me some time. Today for lunch I went to a Italian restaurant and had some home made pizza it was not worth the fifteen bucks I spent on it but it was the first meal I have had that did not come from the chow hall. Well I am getting pretty tired so I think I am going to try to get some sleep, night all

Last night

Tomorrow I will be leaving for Kandahar and I will be there till the 11th of July. Then I will continue my trip to Savannah, hoping to be there some time around the 14 or 15. I can't wait to see everyone especially by beautiful Girls, I miss you three. Rob I will see you after your trip to South America, I hope it is an awesome adventure, I love you. Night all....

Last flight

Well the time has come once again, I flew my last flight in Afghanistan. And now I am in the process of trying to fit all my crap into a few boxes and bags. It was a little easier last tour because I was at a fob that was not shutting down so I mailed a ton of crap to the house. This FOB has not had out going mail for months so I am limited to what I can do. I will try to get buy with the amount of space that I have but I am sure some things will not make it home. I will have to make some tough decisions as to what I bring and what I throw away. Everything that I throw away I will burn myself, as to not leave anything here that can be used once we are gone. I have burned every package that Shirley and Marie have sent me just to make sure that the mailing labels are destroyed and addresses are safe and secure. Not that I am paranoid, it just makes sense to keep things secure, after all this place will be in the middle of nowhere in less than three months with no US forces around here for miles. 

My time here has been short, and I am not complaining I will be home two months early. My Apache company will be going to Kandahar and they will stay there till the end of Aug. the rest of us will be going through Kandahar to Savannah. I should be home on the 14 or15 of July if we do not have any travel issues. I am pretty excited to get home and have just a little summer left with the kids. Although Robby will be in South America till the end of July I can still spend some time spoiling my three girls. 

I look back at the seven months that I spent here and I think of all the things I have been through with Task Force Viper, I have been so lucky. Our BDE has had so many miss fortunes with aircraft and personal and bad shoots and a litany of other issues. We are so blessed to be taking all the Vipers home this tour, although our BDE Has suffered some losses and those folks will be missed and never forgotten. I thank God for looking over our team here at FOB Wolverine and getting us all home safe and sound.

Wow this is out of control

I woke up this morning to these flyers all over the FOB I can't even tell you how much this sickens me. The fact that this is shoved into all of our faces is a true testament as to how our society is going to the toilet. What about my rights to not have to have this thrown in my face, to not have to explain to my 12 year old what transgender means. I feel discriminated against I mean after all there is no heterosexual month, and nor should their be. Why is it the norm for all the gays and homosexuals to constantly be throwing this crap in my face.

This was the email that came with it....

As we recognize Pride month, we thank all of our gay and lesbian service
members, LGBT civilians, and their families for their dedicated service
to our country. Before the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," they
faithfully served their country with professionalism and courage. And
just like their fellow service members, they put their country before
themselves. And now -- after repeal, they can be proud of serving their
country, and be proud of who they are when in uniform. The pursuit of
equality is fundamental to the American story. The successful repeal of
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" proved to the Nation that just like the country
we defend, we share different backgrounds, different values, and
different beliefs -- but together, we are the greatest military force in
the world. It also reminds us that integrity and respect remain the
cornerstones of our military culture. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and
Air Force implemented the repeal with a focus on respect and individual
dignity. So, come out and support this event to promote understanding,
teamwork, harmony, pride and esprit among all groups. This event will
take place 25 June 2013 at the KAF Fest tent @1100-1200. 

Not to many flights left

Today I flew an instrument ride with CPT Kelly, I worked with his dad at Rucker back in 2001. CPT Kelly brought a flag and we flew it then had to get a picture and here it is. 

Less than one month and I will be home, can't wait to see everyone.....

Fathers Day

I was not on shift today, but not much of a day. I am in my room laying in bed trying to face time with Marie and the kids and once again I have no Internet. So I will write all of my thoughts into my blog and post it the next time I have a connection.

Well for starters, I wish Dad was still alive to spend this day with his kids and grand kids. I also wish I was at home to spend this day with my own kids. Next year it will be different I hope, time is going bye too quickly. My kids are getting so big and they have lives of their own, all I can hope for is to be able to share some time with them and watch them grow in to the amazing young adults that they are. This generation is so different from when I was their age, the stresses and challenges that our kids face are so different. Elli is 12 and in ten years she will be graduating from college and starting her life. And at that same time I will be 57 wondering what to do with mine, I have three and a half more years of the Army and I will retire and after that I have no idea what life will have in store for Marie and I. I hope to stay put, the kids call Savannah home and hope to be able to keep us all together right there. There are many jobs that I would like to try my hand at after I retire, from EMS Pilot to greeter at Walmart. I am sure I will be able to find something in the middle somewhere. I spent my Army career flying the coolest helicopter in the entire world and I would not have changed anything about my career. Except for the few times that I could have put my family first and the Army second. I hope that some day my wife and kids can find it in their hearts to give me a pass. I know they understand my commitment to my job and my country and the feelings that I have about what it is that I do. But none the less there are so many things that I was just not part of in their lives and I can never get any of that back. For that I have much regret and all I can do is try to make it up to all of them as often as I can. You four are my life and I am so lucky to be your father and husband, It is the most precious gift I have been given and I love you guys with all of my heart. Happy Fathers Day........

Report Card Time

Time to start planning the GRF

The GRF also known as the global response force is the next chapter in the Task Force Viper book of woe. We and when I say we I mean they because I will be the BDE Master Gunner by then are to assume the GRF on 01 April 2014 and have it for six months or better. What this means is that if something should happen anywhere in the world they would respond to it. So needless to say that even though I will be nestled away at BDE I will play a major part in getting it set up and ensuring that Viper gets trained to accomplish the mission whatever it may be.

I also got word that Robby's ISOPREP is good to go for his trip, for those of you not tracking Robby was selected to go to South America for one month through his ROTC program to do some training. I am sure it will be an amazing adventure for him and I hope he embraces it and has an awesome time. I know I will miss him on my return, hopefully I will get home before he gets home and I can welcome him home for a change. Well getting pretty tired I hate to cut this post short I have so much to catch up on but I need to hit the sack, night all

Getting Crazy

Well it is getting more difficult to even wipe my nose these days, this place is literally falling down around us. This is the first time I have ever been involved in a retrograde operation to this scale. We have identified that we need 1700 trucks to line haul everything off this FOB and we are lucky to get ten trucks every few days. Well I am not the best mathematician but it's easy to see we are going to fall way short. 

As for me I have my marching orders, I will fly out of this FOB on the morning of the 29th of this month to be in Kandahar to testify in the FEB (flight evaluation board) of Jeff Crownover the morning of the 30th. He will probably be permanently suspended from aviation service for some really bad decisions that he made over here. So since there is no reason for me to go up there for two days and then come back here for three I will wait to be joined by my TaskForce on about the third of July. Then we will get the last four Apaches ready to ship home and through customs and once that is done sometime around the 14th we will fly home. I hope to be in Savannah sometime around the last week in July. I can't wait to see the girls and Robby. Although Robby I will have to wait to see because he was selected to go to South America for an ROTC program to teach English to kids in a small country down there and he won't be home till the end of July. 

For the last two days I have been in Kandahar at the commanders conference working on personnel lay down for once we get back. They have identified my replacement and I was told that I will be doing my handover with Dave Lewis prior toThanksgiving. Right after thanksgiving I will be getting my hand over from Tony Born who is the current Brigade Master Gunner. It's hard to believe that I have had this job for two years all ready. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to bring these guys to combat as their Task Force SP, it was a job that I will never forget. I hope that I will do as well with my next assignment as the Brigade MG. 

Well it's nice to be back in my RLB safe and sound on FOB Wolverine, even if its only for another twenty days. I will be out of here before I know it, the time has passed quickly and for that I am thankful. Well I will try to FaceTime with the girls here in a bit then I am going to bed, night all 

Wave One

Well another bunch of folks just left FOB Wolverine and are heading to the house. I am glad to see them go I am just that much closer to going home to my family. I am on tomorrow night and I hope it's a quite nite, we are now strictly QRF and unless we have folks in harms way we sit in our CP (command post) and wait for the call. Well speaking for myself I hope the call never comes I have a pile of paperwork three feet high and I can't ever seem to get ahead. I still love my job, but come on all ready enough with the paperwork. 

I sit here, no I am laying here in my bed listening to music on my iPad typing this post to my blog on the same iPad thinking about Marie and the kids wondering what they will be doing when they wake up. It's about 0600 in the morning in Savannah and I am sure the kids are on summer schedule by now sleeping in till noon or so. I miss them all the time and it get so much harder the closer you get to going home. I can't help but to think of how things will be once I get home, kids are older I know they are more independent and I know Marie has been running things on her own and doing a great job. Shirley has really stepped up to help around the house and from what I hear has really taken a liking to cooking healthy. I look forward to having her cook some home cooked meals but I also look forward to taking them all out and eating at some of our favorites around Savannah. 

I don't know if you all are tracking but I was able to hand pick this team from the entire Battalion, I was able to bring with me all of the people that I wanted to deploy with. Task Force Viper is the best group of folks I could ever hope to spend time with down range. These guys and gals are some of the finest sons and daughters our country has to offer and it's been my pleasure to serve with them. This morning we had the pleasure of promoting one of our specialist to Seargent, Seargent Spence he is our para legal. Spence has an amazing story, you see he has his doctorate and he was a practicing attorney in his home town. But Spence wanted to be a soldier, when he went to the recruiter they tried to give him a direct commission to Captain so he could operate as an attorney on active duty. Spence wanted nothing to do with it, he wanted to be a soldier, he wanted to go infantry but they would not let him based on his age. He is an amazing person and I am lucky to know him, he has given up so much to do what he feels is what every American should do for his country. I could not agree more, we have talked Spence into going green to gold once we get home and to serve the army in another way, he will be an attorney again. He is truly an inspirational man and so many people have learned so much from him and his positive attitude and how he deals with every task laid in front of him. 

Well it's going on 1600 and I need to start bringing this post to an end, I have found that the time I spend jotting these notes on here helps so much with everything that I do over here. I spend so many hours a day listening to so many people talk about everything that is bothering them, I am the oldest guy in our Task Force and with that seems to have come and additional duty that I will always be there to listen to anyone who needs to talk. It's a task that I know is needed and I try to always make myself available when anyone needs to talk or vent, it helps me as well. I sometime get a great big dose of reality and a sanity check as to what is really important and the fact that some things in life are really just not that important. We all have problems, and we all try to deal with them the best we can, but some times we just have to concede that some things are just out of our control. Life will go on and things will get better and sometimes you just have to have faith that things will work out. Night all  

Some are going home

Well I wish it were me, but I still have work to do here in the wonderful world of Afghanistan. I am glad to see about 90 Vipers going home in a few days, our main body 1 is scheduled to be wheels up June third. I am on main body 2 and it can't get here soon enough. We will depart FOB Wolverine on or around the 7th of July for a wheels up from Kandahar on 9 July. I am being told that there is some mandatory training that we have to go through in Manas but hopefully that will only be a few days. I hope to be home by the ire to last week in July.

I am on the schedule a lot more now that we have fewer pilots here, we are shifting to pure QRF starting June first. That mission set will be TIC ( troops in contact ) or urgent medevac, we will posture for quick reaction force to support the ground troops. 

I spent the last week dealing with the BDE attorney because of one of our engagements. That's when I truly realized its time to get out of here. One of my teams was called in on two military aged males who were caring a PKM machine gun, once the AWT (attack weapons team) was on station the two males busted into a house where they shot at the low Apache then they made a run for it down a dried river bed. The team engaged the enemy and called two EKIA ( enemy killed in action) to higher. Then things got crazy, the GFC ( ground force commander) called for an immediate re attack so the AWT set up for an immediate re attack. They did all the right things they cot clearance to fire again from  the GFC and even got initials. But what they did not capture was why? They did not ask why the GFC wanted a re attack, under the laws of war once a target is considered to be out of the fight they can not be targeted. It took me a week to get the attorney off our back, the GFC two days after this engagement redeployed to the states. So the time it took to get sworn statements from him made it next to impossible to put this engagement behind us. What we were not tracking was that the GFC had a UAV (unmanned arial vehicle) in the stack that was giving home info that led him to be leave that the two males were still in the fight and he still considered them to be hostile and a threat. And that was all we needed to be in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. This is a different fight this tour, there are to many rules and there are too many people who sit behind a desk who have no idea what it is like to make those kinds of decisions especially when you are under fire. The ROE ( rules of engagement) is so restrictive this tour, I got it no one wants to have a bad shoot lord knows I don't but I tell my guys all the time that the right to self defense is without question. And that is why I know it is time to pack this place up and go home. This place has changed so many lives for the worse and the cost has just been to great. So many kids who came over here to fight our nations war will never be the same, and the outcome of this decade long war has not really changed anything. I would like to think that maybe just maybe we prevented some of these nuts from coming to America to do harm on our streets but I see in the news all the time of all the crazy things happening at home. Only God knows, but I know I am ready to go home. Well it's getting late and I need to get my beauty sleep so I will say good night for this one, night all

Flew in support of Romanians

Was a pretty good flight, today is Memorial Day and I can't think of a better way to spend it than in a crappy country 10000 miles from home flying an Apache looking over a ground unit going door to door looking for folks that are making road side bombs. No Grill out for me today, but that's ok, I will make up for it next year when hopefully I will be at home with my family and someone else will have the fight and do the right thing and keep these guys at bay. I hope that everyone has a great day and truly enjoys themselves, we are all doing fine over here in Viper Land and we can't wait to get home. Well it's been a sixteen hour day and I need to hit the sack, night all

DES Complete

Well we just got out briefed by DES and now it's time to take a breath and get back to work. Speaking of work I am on tonight and its almost 4 PM so I need to hit the sack, I brief at midnight, night all

Last but not least, TASK FORCE VIPER OEF 13

Could not be more proud to have been given the opportunity to stand in front of this formation as the Command Warrant Officer of this Battalion. These are some of the finest young Americans serving our great nation and it was my absolute pleasure to serve with each and every one of them.

The rest of the Command Team

Here is the rest of our Company Commanders and First Sergeants with the Command Team.

Command team photo

Well now that the light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel it's time to take som pictures. First up Me the BN CWOB, the Task Force Commander LTC Brian Schaap and the BN CSM Dove.

It's been a while

I know it's been a while, I have been getting ready for DES, they are the guys that come from Fort Rucker and try to help us figure out all the things we are doing wrong. One of their biggest things they like to help with are our records, it's so hard to maintain flight records. You would think it would be pretty easy but there are so many things that have to be documented in a certain. It takes dot the i and cross the T to the next level. And not to mention all the test and evaluations that will take place while they are here. 

Other an DES I am doing great I will be out of here in less than two months and I can't wait to get home to my family. As you all know I was offered a BDE job and with that will come much more responsibility but it will also come with some additional time to work a easier schedule. I know it doesn't sound like it would but it should. I am getting ready to have my out brief with COL Pepin on my OER (officer evaluation report) and I was told that he rated me as his number one CW4 in the entire BDE, this is the best I could hope for seeing how this is the OER that I will take to my primary zone CW5 board. I wish the numbers were better for next year but only time will tell. I am being told that big Army will only promote 10 to 13% to CW5 next year, it will be a slim group of folks that get picked up. I will know next August if I get picked up or not, time will tell. It sure would be nice to finish my career on the top of my rank structure, for a Warrant Officer CW5 is as high as I can go. But if it is not in the cards it will be ok, although the extra 1200 bucks sure would be nice especially for my retirement. And speaking of retirement November of 2016 will be here before I know it and then I will have to go find a real job. There are all kinds of jobs over here right now, and there was a point in my life when I think I might have come back here for one of them, but I look forward to spending some quality time with my family when I retire. I think I will take an EMS job and spend some time trying to save lives with my helicopter for a change. Time will tell and that's all I have these days is time, and I can't wait to spend more of it with my family. I love you guys, night all  

To all my mothers out there

I just had the best FaceTime session with my wonderful family and I wanted to put up a quick post to tell all of my sisters and nieces out there happy Mother's Day. To bring a child into this world is a huge responsibility and a life long commitment. But I sit here in Afghanistan thousands of miles from home and the joy my family brings me is something that you just can't explain. I hope everyone had an enjoyable day and I hope all of you were able to spend it with your Moms and children. I look forward to being able to be at home next year to spend this day with all of mine. Life is short, every day is a gift and it should be treated as such. So for all the Moms out there, I hope your day was wonderful. And to the newest Mom in our family away from home in California congratulations to the three of you. Cindy I am sure that new Grandmother is so excited and all ready planing her next trip to see you guys. I will see you all soon and I can't wait to be home with all of you. Night all

Mothers Day

Well once again I find myself sitting here ten thousand miles away from my wife and kids on yet another holiday. Marie I hope you have a wonderful day with three of the best kids on the planet, happy Mothers Day. I am not on the schedule to fly again till next Tuesday and I will spend most of my nights trying to get on top of all my paperwork. The CG has approved our course of action to finish retrograde operations here at FOB Wolverine and head to the house. So as for me I should be loading a plane to leave Afghanistan on 09 July in route to Manis Kazerkistan  where I will spend some time going through some mandatory classes to be reintegrated into society. I can't wait to see all of you, I just got done face timing with all of you in the side yard putting together Marie's Mother's Day present, a new trampoline. I will try to call back later I hope you and the kids had a great time today, it sure looked like Elli did, night all

Kandahar

Well this will be my longest day yet, you see I am now on nights and I work from 7 to 7. Tomorrow morning I meet the Boss and we are flying to Kandahar for some meetings. The aviation branch team came over and they want to meet all the command teams that are in theater so off we will go. It sounds like a typical day that I would just as soon pass, but when you add two General Officers and the CWOB of the aviation branch not much we can do but go.

Nights have been pretty quite we are spending more time flying around the FOB pulling security ourselves. Some of our contract tower guards have been seen buying drugs from the locals that they allow to walk right up to their guard towers to buy from. No one feels to safe at night with the foreigners guarding this place. Not to mention all the spotters that we have all around the FOB that report everything that goes on around here. We listen to their radio transmissions and we have interpreters translate the calls, most are about aircraft movements and what kind are taking off. We have pathfinders in some of the guard towers with sniper rifles and they are within the rights of the ROE to shoot them for hostile intent. Their are so many they just don't know where to begin, this place is getting crazy and many folks in the command have this opinion that If we don't bother them they won't bother us. I am quick to point out that I was there when they attacked my last FOB and we had insurgents coming through the wire and trust me we had not bothered the locals there either but it didn't matter they attacked us anyway. I flew for five hours that morning and reloaded twice, I made a lot of introductions, and I don't care to ever go through that again.

Well I will be out of here some time around the end of July unless something changes, I hope nothing changes. I will be in Savannah for just a bit of the kids summer vacation and I am sure we will do something fun. Speaking of kids, I am so lucky to have the best kids a Dad could ask for. Robby congrats on getting your 4.0 GPA your first year in school I could not be more proud of you. You are setting some great standards for your sisters to work for, you are a great son and I am sure you will do just as well next year. As for my girls, I could not ask for any better, you two ROCK I love everything that you two have become. Shirley I can't thank you enough for all my videos not a week went bye without getting one from you, THANKS. Elli I can't wait to get the next one and watch you play some ball, I miss going to the games with Mom and cheering you on I miss you guys all so much. Marie what did we do to be so lucky to have such wonderful kids, I miss you and I hope you have a great weekend, I love you guys

Went to nights

Well I have not written In a while because I have been trying to shift my schedule to nights. I now work from 7 PM till 7 AM it was a little hard at first but it's now almost six and I am still awake so I think I am doing ok. Although the boss sent me an email today telling me that he and I will be flying to Kandahar on the 7th to meet with General Magnum and his staff they are coming in from the states. So just when I get reversed out I will have to fly out early in the morning and spend all day at Kandahar, great. Well I don't have much to say I am trying to start to pack things that I don't need here anymore like all of my cold weather gear we are packing up many of our containers to get them out of here. Retrograde is in full swing and we have a lot to do, I hope to be flying out of here by mid July and home by the end of July. Hopefully that will be the plan and it will not change. Well I am going to get off of here and try to call Robby before I go to bed, night all

Hail damage

I forgot to post about Kandahar's hail damage. Well Kandahar reported taking some serious hail damage so we ran to the airfield and covered all our aircraft with everything we could get our hands on which basically was rolls and rolls of bubble wrap and cardboard. Fortunately for us the storm took a turn to the south and missed us. Kandahar however lost most of the fleet, they had aircraft with broken windows and ruined rotor blades and damaged panels and covers. It made FOX News this week, there are more aircraft at Kandahar than any of the other FOBs. They have 24 Apaches and all four rotor blades on all of them had voids in the composite cord length. At 130,000 dollars a blade you can only imagine the amount of dollars it will take to get the fleet up and running. Oh well I am sure some of you saw it on the news I took some pictures of our cover up job I will add them, night all

Waiting for the girls to call

It was an ok day, I put down in the tracker that I was off today but spent about ten hours in the office trying to get five of my guys set up to go home early to become IPs and MTPs. I can't really remember the last time I took a day and just spent time in my room watching movies or TV shows. This tour has been so much different than the last tour, I fly so much less but work so much more. Tomorrow we will have an AAR ( after action report ) we will try to capture everything that happened during the DART mission, mostly good but many things that we could have done so much better. We had a fallen angel and we were slow to react, and that will just no do. We had misinformation in the TOC ( tactical operation center ) that put folks in the wrong mindset. We were slow to launch and once we had the AWT (attack weapons team) airborne they did not have the most up to date information. And that information was critical to getting them on station quickly and informed as to what was going on. We had a UAV ( unmanned arial vehicle ) that had a sensor on the crash site where we were watching in real time Afghani locals picking through the wreckage. We all ready knew that based on the crash site and the type of aircraft that there would be no survivors. But not having air coverage on station to chase away he would be on lookers and watching them pick through the downed aircraft made a lot of us pretty angry. I know we can do better than we did yesterday, and although I pray we never have to fly in support of another DART we must tighten our shot group and refine our procedures. When I launched several hours later, I did my BHO ( battle hand over ) with Mike Carman. Then I was responsible for the security of the crash site, and the recovery operations. After we insert the DART team the first thing the team tries to do is capture the crash site with pictures to try to preserve as much detail as they can to help with the investigation as to what went wrong. After that they remove the fallen Soldiers which is something I know I could not deal with personally, however we have some of the youngest Soldiers in our formation with in the Path Finders that are assigned to us. And once that was done we slung a conex trailer into the crash site with a CH 47 and then asked those same kids to pick up every piece of that aircraft and place it into that container. And we wonder why most of them suffer from PTSD ( post traumatic stress disorder ) I have done many things that I have had difficulty dealing with over here, but it has usually been through the optics of my aircraft which allows me to disconnect emotionally from what it is that I have to do. It can be like a video game at times, my job is to find bad people that are trying to harm US Forces and prevent them from ever doing any harm ever again. I take the responsibility of my job extremely serious because I know how poorly I would deal with the outcome of me doing harm to and innocent civilian. Our BDE has had two CIVCAS incidents and both were friends of mine and I truly feel so sorry for them. I don't know if I could ever get back in the saddle from something like that no matter what the circumstances. Well this went a little longer than I wanted so I will call it a night and try to find out why my girls have not called me back yet, night all

DART

DART ( downed aircraft recovery team ) well I wish I had better news but I flew almost six hours in support of an aircraft crash and there were no survivors. It was a fixed wing aircraft typically a crew of four and we put our DART team in to recover the fallen Heros, all were recovered and then the DART team put the remains of the aircraft into a conex container that a CH47 dropped off. I felt for those guys not only did they have to do the Hero mission but then they had to pick up all the broken burned pieces of wreckage. It was a pretty bad crash site and I am sure they did not feel a thing the aircraft looked like it lost part of a wing and hit the ground upside down. Again like I have said before there is nothing here worth the losses we have suffered, this place will not change. Well is late almost 0300 and I want to try to decompress a bit before I try to go to bed, time to call my girls, night all

My Girls

I got to talk to them tonight and its amazing how a short conversation can change everything. I am one of the luckiest people I know, I miss them but thanks to the age we live in I don't feel like I am that far apart from them. Marie I can't wait to get home to you guys, I want you to know how proud of all of you I am. I have the best family a man could ever ask for. I hope that this world decides to take a time out and this is the last time I have to ever leave home. It's great to know that you girls have absolutely every thing under control, but I don't want to watch videos of all I am missing, I want to be there.

I am on mission tomorrow with one of our new and up and coming pilots CPT Kelly, he will be taking command of Alpha company once we get home. I worked for his Dad at Ft. Rucker COL. Kelly he was a great BDE Commander. We are so busy with the retrograde operations that its hard to keep things straight in my head. I have had so much email traffic these last few days dealing with HRC ( human resources command ) trying to get all my new guys into schools. Once we get home HRC will pull half of our tracked guys to fill needs of the Army, and that will leave us in a bad spot. I need to get five of my guys out of here early to go to Ft Rucker to become IPs and MTPs.

Well as I once again lay here in my bed typing this post I am listening to music on this iPad, I truly love this thing it is an amazing device. I can FaceTime with my girls and listen to music and type post for my blog and this battery seems to last forever. Well it's about two AM so I guess I should try to get some sleep and cut this post short, night all

Dave

Hi everyone, today was a pretty good day and I am glad I was not on the schedule to fly. I got on face book earlier and I was looking around and I saw a great picture of my bestest girl Elli doing what she loves to do and that is to catch softballs. I also came across a great story about a girl who is a freshman in college who was diagnosed with autism when she was three. I can't even imagine what that would be like to go through. One of my best friends over here as you all may know is Dave Lewis. Dave's son Mark was just diagnosed with autism Mark is quickly approaching three years old and Jen, Dave's wife had noticed that Mark was not developing like another friend of ours son who is the same age. I have spent some time with Mark and would never have guessed. The girls and I went to Dave and Jens for a bond fire before Dave and I came over here. Mark is such a cute kid, I have no idea what kind of challenges are in front of them but I hope that Mark will be as lucky as the young girl who's story I read on Facebook tonight. Dave and Jen are a couple in their early thirties and they are two of the best people I know, I hope that Mark does well with his therapy and he advances as best he can to enjoy a normal life. I am such a lucky Dad, to have been given three of the most perfect healthy kids that posses some of the most amazing talents and skills. Marie and I are truly blessed!

Tomorrow I will be flying with Mike Carman, he and I will do his night reset and his ATM implementation. I look forward to it he is another one of my close friends over here. If it weren't for Dave and Mike I think I would have lost my mind by now. I am sure that we will remain friends for a very long time and I hope to continue working with them for years to come. Well I think I will try to FaceTime with the girls it been a couple of days since we last spoke our Internet has been spotty at best till next time, night all

No Internet, again

Well this cool app lets me compose blog post anyway so that is nice. Not that they will be ant out anytime soon but at least I can capture my thoughts. The a boss called me into his office tonight to talk about the road ahead as fare as our senior warrant officers are concerned. First Jeff Crownover has been fired for doing stupid things that would have ultimately gotten some one killed. Next Mike O'Mary will move from Kandahar to TK to take Jeff's place, then Jerry Works will move from here to Kandahar to take Mikes job. So all in all the only ones that will be down a man is us here at FOB Wolverine. Not that I am complaining because we are the ones who have been identified to retrograde and leave a little early. We are probably looking at getting back to the house by late to end of July. But part of the reasoning for this is Task Force Viper has been identified to assume the GRF ( global reaction force ) it will be my responsibility to get them trained up, but I will be going to BDE to start my new job before Viper takes the GRF. I just need to get them ready, and for the most part these guys are ready for whatever this crazy world has to throw at them. I will miss being Viper 09, like I said this is the best job I will ever have in the Army. It's Been the hardest job as well but for sure the best and I will never forget it.

Well I lay here listening to my music and its hard for me to keep my thoughts straight, I am not the best writer by any stretch of the word. But I do like to get on here and just talk about how my days go and whatever pops into my head. I got to talk to the girls last night and Robby as well even Marie was home so I felt pretty lucky. I even got to say hey to Sam before she had to go to work, hope she had a good night. Well I fly tomorrow night with one of our young Captains I will be doing his new ATM implementation plus flying him one hour of NVS and one hour of NVG to reset his night system flying. We have a requirement to fly one hour NVS and NVG every 60 days to maintain our proficiency. If they don't do that then they must go out with an IP or and SP and do a PFE ( performance flight evaluation ) so we rotate the guys who are on days to nights about every 55 days or so to let them reset their night system. Well I think I will try one more time to FaceTime with the girls and to post this and then I am going to bed, night all

Another day of briefs

I really get tired of going to meetings, especially when that seems to be all I do. We have had some bad luck, some of it due to folks doing the wrong things and making bad decisions. So what the rest of us get to do is go to BDE directed briefs where we get to listen to folks talk about what went wrong. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that it is important to learn from others mistakes so we don't repeat the same mistakes. We have had our share of aircraft accidents, and we have lost some amazing people and I would give anything to have them back. But we must remember that we are all capable of making bad decisions, it's how we choose to execute our mission and how we operate as professionals that makes the difference. I could not be more happy with each and every Aviator that I have in this TaskForce. This has been the best and worst job I have ever had in the Army, so many things are so out of my control but yet my name is on the blame line for all most everything aviation training related. My guys are doing the right things, they are flying on the conservative side and getting the job done and I could not be happier.

I am off tomorrow and I have absolutely nothing to do, nothing. So I will sleep in go lo lunch and then come back to my room and maybe watch a movie or something. I get an off day every fifteenth day wether I need one or not. I usually find myself on my off days with meetings or video teleconferences that I have to be at. Tomorrow is the first off day that has not fallen on a day where I have other stuff that I am responsible for, awesome!

I hope to talk with the girls tonight, they have been pretty busy with softball and getting their healthy on. Shirley has become quite the cook from what I am hearing and I can't wait to get home and sample some of her new dishes. Don't get me wrong I am sure I will be trying to drag the family out to eat as often as I always did but it will be nice to try some new things as well. I miss real food, like Carrabbas and all of my Mexican favorites. I know it seems wasteful and most of you are probably right but I truly think the only thing we can waste in this world is TIME.

Come November I will have three years till I can retire, hard to be leave the day is so close it seems like May fifth 1998 was just yesterday. I have no idea what retirement will be like? Well it's not like I will be going fishing every day with two kids at GSU I know I will have to find something to keep me busy. I get lots of offers in my email box but I think once I am done with the Army I will be done. Besides there are plenty of things out there I just need to start setting myself up for after the Army. I do like Savannah though, I can see that being home for some time to come. I think the kids like it as well and they too think of it as home, time will tell. Well I think I am going to try to call my girls so till next time, night all

Steady state

Things are going pretty well, I spent most of today in VTCs with BDE and I have two more tomorrow. I have had to have all my IPs present to listen to BDE explain that we are responsible for what our young pilots are doing. You see as an instructor pilot, we set standards by our actions and if we are observed doing anything stupid our young Aviators think it's ok to try to emulate what they see and that's how we get people killed. We must instill in our formation what right looks like at all times, and here at Wolverine that is exactly what my guys are doing.

I have been lucky here at Wolverine we have had no issues with anything aviation related, no issues at all. Mike Carman and I being joined at the hip on all matters relating to aviation have done a great job with keeping our guys doing all the right things and I am glad to have him here with me. I have some great folks here with me and I hope to stay in touch with most of them once we are out of here.

I was contacted by the 15-6 investigating Officer today in reference to Jeff's investigation, based on the questioning I think it's safe to say he will never fly another Army aircraft ever again. Which is a good thing because he will never have the opportunity to put another pilot in harms way. I respect this machine every time I strap it on, and I owe it to my front seater to fly it as safely as I can to allow hem to do their job in the front seat. I typically find myself flying the most junior pilots in my formation, and I know they are watching what I do and I must always do the right thing because I know my actions speak so much louder than my words.

It's starting to heat up here even though we are sitting at 6200 feet MSL ( measured sea level ) and I am not looking forward to the true summer heat the guys we replaced told us we can expect 100 to 115 this summer, oh boy can't wait.... Well time to try and call the girls, night all

Normal day

My day was just like most days I have here, normal routine when I am not on the flight schedule. Tomorrow I am flying with the boss and we will do his ATM implementation should be pretty un eventful. I sit here in my prison cell also known as my RLB listening to my music typing on my iPad and once again the net is down I am hoping it will come back up while I am typing this post. If not I will post as soon as it comes back online, hopefully tonight before I go to sleep. I have been pretty lucky these last few days getting to FaceTime with the kids. I saw on TV in the chow hall yesterday that this is military child month, it's a month that we can tell our kids that we appreciate their sacrifices too. And for a lot of people who just don't truly understand the magnitude of the sacrifices our kids make I will try to spell it out. For starters they ultimately will never have the roots that the average kid has the opportunity to lay down. They will have the opportunity to meet and say goodbye to many friends before they turn eighteen because they will find themselves living all over the globe. They get the chance to go to so many different schools and never really feel like they are more than just a transient student, to really get into the school spirit because they never know when it will be time to move on to the next duty station. And let's not forget how many first that they want to share with both of their parents, first soccer goal, first home run, first date, first prom, graduations, birthdays, Christmas and I could talk for days. I know how I feel about what I have missed, and I was not an Army Brat. I had the friendships that I will keep forever the kids that I played with after school from first grade till high school. It's hard sometimes for me when I think of what my kids have had to give up, the closeness to their aunts and uncles and all of their cousins and grand parents. My kids did not have the choice on any of this and I hope that they know just how much I appreciate the sacrifices they have made. I love you three more than you will ever know and Marie I can't even begin to express to you how great full I am for all that you have put up with when it comes to the Army, and me for that matter. You are my best friend and I love you with all of my heart. I know that I could not be who I am if it weren't for you being there to support me every step of the way. I have made some really big mistakes in my life, and you have always been there to help me get through it. We have three of the best kids that a Mom and Dad could ask for they are bright, intelligent, athletic and most of all they are all three so ahead of their time when it comes to maturity and grace. And I know they get most of that from Mom. Marie I started this journey in the Army in February 1984 and then you and I started this active duty life in May 1998 and it's been an amazing ride. Marie thank you for what you do for our family and what you do for me, I could not be who I am with out all of your help. Thanks for picking up the slack when I am not their and making our house a home whether its in an apartment in Germany or a house in Alabama no matter where we are it's home and that is thanks to you. Since we have started this journey I have spent almost five years away from you and our kids and I will never get back that lost time with you or the kids but its what I signed up for and you have supported me through it all the way, Thanks. Robby, what can I say, I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments. From maintaining a 4.0 GPA your first year at GSU to scoring over a 300 on your APFT ( army physical fitness test) I can't express to you what I feel and how happy I am to have you as my Son. Shirley, you are truly an amazing young woman and I am just as proud of all you have done again with the 4.0 GPA and as for keeping your Dad In Th loop on what is going on at home. For those of you that don't know Shirley has sent me a home movie every week covering just about everything that goes on at home and she has not missed a beat and I will never forget that as long as I live. Elli, you know your my favorite, just kidding Shirley, Elli I am so proud of how much you have been helping your big sister with all she does as well. Like videoing her cooking or helping her so she can help Mom. I am so luck to have two of the best young ladies on this planet. I wish that I could be there to do all the things that I miss so dearly like watching Elli catch at softball or throw her into the pool or to go see a movie with my movie buddy. You three kids are the best a Dad could ever ask for and I love you guys so much, always know that, and Dad will be home soon, night all

Just another day

Well it's Sunday and as much as that means something at home here it's just another day here we have church service but its just not the same. I have tried to go a few time when my schedule has supported it but its just not the same. I find myself saying a prayer more often than I go to church that's for sure but I think once I get home I would like it if the Senefeld family could find a church that we all like and truly feel inspired by. I was suppose to fly today and I was suppose to fly tomorrow too. But duty calls and once again I get to fly the desk and watch younger less experienced pilots go out and fly the missions that I was suppose to fly. I guess that is what it's all about and I just need to embrace it, embrace the suck that is. I have no idea what it will be like once I am the BDE master gunner and flying even less once we get home. I also know that the job I have right now is probably the best job in Army aviation, to be the Task Force SIP has been the biggest privilege I will ever experience in my army career. Today I spent around five hours typing my Dash One, which is a form that you fill out and give to your Boss that explains to him or her what you have accomplished in the last twelve months. Then they take your Dash One and they write your OER (officer evaluation report) which is how we are graded for future potential and job placement. The best you can hope for is a ACOM (above center of mass) which means that you are in the top third of your peers and that you are ready for more responsibility and more challenging positions. I will not know what I get until my boss's boss comes down to out brief me on my performance. Based on my boss's boss telling me that I will be coming to BDE to work directly for him I think I should be ok. My last seven years of OERs have all been top block or ACOM which is not needed most people still get promoted with just a heart beat. The heart beat is when you get an ACOM and then a COM ( center of mass) which still shows that you have the potential for more challenging future positions. This OER will be the OER that is seen by the board that will ultimately decide if I will be a CW5 or not. I will not be disappointed if I do not get selected for my next promotion, we are all ready being told that my year group will only have a ten to thirteen percent selection rate based on the draw downs the Army is experiencing. So needless to say it will be a tough year to get picked up. All I know is like I have said before there are only thirteen Apache Battalions in the Army and I was fortunate enough to be selected to take one to Combat as their SIP and that is something I will remember for the rest of my life. Now all I have to do is get all these guys home in one piece and this will be the most amazing thing I have ever accomplish in my military career. Night all, Vipers STK ( strike to kill )

Again, no Internet

Well this is getting old, especially on Saturday night this is my time to FaceTime with the entire family. We hopefully it will be just like last night by the time I was done typing my post the net came back up and I was able to FaceTime with the girls.

Well today I was not on the schedule but I was really busy working on so many different things that you can't even imagine. The fall out from TK loosing there SIP is going to be pretty severe, they are all ganging up of the Aviator who brought it to my attention and that is the wrong answer he did what should have been done months ago. We are lucky that the reckless behavior and gross negligence that Jeff showed as a senior aviator ultimately did not end up getting someone else killed. All I can hope for is that in time this will bring that Task Force closer together as a team and make them better. Ultimately all any of us are trying to accomplish as SIPs is to keep the ground forces on the ground safe and to get all our people home safe.

I am going to try to get up earlier tomorrow and try to FaceTime with the kids one more time before they go to bed. I will cut this one off and try to see if the net is back online if not I will post this tomorrow, night all

Internet is down

Well so much for FaceTiming with the girls the net just went down again for the gazilenth time. So I just figured I would get on here and type up a post, of course I will not be able to post it till tomorrow when hopefully the net is back up. My day was not to shabby, I had lunch around 1230 with Jerry Works and then I went to get a hair cut. After that I went to the office to check email and try to stay ahead of the craziness, too late the craziness has all ready past me bye. So I spent the next few hours trying to answer all the emails that deal directly with craziness and the ones that are just boarder line I saved till after dinner. So I went to dinner with Mike Carman and then after dinner he and I went back to our office and continued to deal with putting out fires. While we were doing that we had two soldiers come bye and ask us about how they go about becoming a warrant officer and going to flight school. So we took a break from our madness and explained to them what is required of them to put together a WO packet. I told them if they come back once they get all the paperwork complete to come back for a formal interview and based on how that goes I might write them a letter of recommendation. I normally will not write a letter until I have had a chance to do a sit down and review there paperwork. There is a lot of paperwork and test and physicals that have to be completed prior to getting accepted. I use to write them for anyone who came and asked for one, but not that the Army is cutting back I want to see what their packets look like before I waste my time. I tell them straight out that the numbers aren't what they use to be and minimum scores will not get you there. Typically there will 30 to 40 people applying for every flight slot so obviously not everyone will get one. And if your scores are not near the max you don't have a chance especially if you wear glasses or have some other type of waiver, it's just no going to happen. Well that about sums up my off day I got back to my room at about 2330 and Face-bookedwith Robby and then I laid down and tried to FaceTime with the girls and then the net went down. Now I think I am going to hit the sack and try it all again tomorrow, night all

All good for a change

Well it started like most days, get up go to the office sort through a hundred emails and then head to lunch. When I got back from lunch I went by the ALOC and I had four packages, not one but four. Two from my bestes girls and one from my sister Lynda and the last one from a Girl Scout troop from Maine, like I need more junk food let a lone a entire box of Girl Scout cookies. By the way Shirley they do not hold a candle to your peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Lynda thanks for the candy they are great for a snack in the aircraft on those long flight days when we can't get out due to all the bad people over here that try to keep us busy.

Tonight I flew Jerry Works, his daughter is in the same grade as Elli and he is doing the job I did last tour over here. Jerry is the TF Master Gunner and tonight I gave him his APART we flew for about 3.5 hours and we completed the new ATM implementation as well. It was a good flight and we both had an easy time with not being on mission. And then I came to my room and I am now in bed and I am getting ready to try to call the girls. My Internet was down for two days as the provider was moving into a building that is not going to be removed from the FOB.

TF Brawler lost their SIP, Jeff Crownover will never fly an Apache in the Army again. I feel sorry for him for what he has in front of him, but as for the reasons why he brought it all on himself and he will have to pay the price. Sad thing is he was next to be the SIP of 1-3 ARB he was inline to take my job once we get home. Not that I want to give my job up, but I understand how the machine works. I am the next in line to be the BDE Master Gunner and it is a great job and I am appreciative for the opportunity. I will be responsible for five battalions worth of gunnery training and that is a huge responsibility. My scope of responsibility will go from my 450 people to close to 2500 and I look forward to the challenge. Well it's now 0130 and I will cut this one off so I can call home, night all

Another bad day

To early to say but we had an Apache crash this morning I am being told there were no survivors. We have no idea what happened and I am sure we won't for some time. It happened in my old stomping grounds near Jbad. The last time I flew there I was there for ten days for the Dust one mission when the female reporter turned up missing. It is some of the most challenging terrain we fly in over here. I am really getting sick of this war, the cost is too high and it's time to let the government of Afghanistan take control and expedite our retrograde. I am in RC South the crash happened in RC East RC stands for regional command and your either in north south east or west. FOB Salerno was smack dab in the center of RC East and this trip I am in the south near Kabul province. I am near the mountains at 6200 feet but I am near a vast desert area as well and the terrain all around me is pretty consistent. To my north west is Kandahar it's about a thirty five minute flight. To my north east is TK or Terrin Koust which is where I was suppose to go initially but we got switched at the last minute and now I am here at FOB Wolverine.

Not much to talk about really, I spent my entire day receiving and delivering bad news from higher to higher and talking on the phone to some of my Apache pilots from TK. It seems that my counterpart at TK was fired today for putting his aircraft, copilot and potentially some folks on the ground in harms way. He was fired from his Task Force SIP job and grounded until the outcome of the investigation is complete. Based on what I know his career is over, there is a video floating around which shows him doing a high speed pass over friendlies at about fifteen feet. He is lucky he did not kill someone, he will ultimately be found guilty of gross negligence and be stripped of his aeronautical rating and forced to retire. What bothers me is he is the guy who is suppose to set high standards and show junior pilots what right looks like. With all our BDE has been through this month he will be lucky if he doesn't go home in handcuffs. It's a dangerous job, we all understand the inherent risk of what it is that we do as attack pilots, you have to respect the machine and the environment that we are flying in over here. I know that I do and I foster that respect in all my guys, I hope that they try to emulate what they see me do and try to be just as conservative as i am and with a little luck I will get all the Vipers home. Well it's getting near that time, so I will cut this post off and try to call my girls, night all

Typical Monday

Just kidding every day in the Stan is just like the next one. I spent most of my day putting out imaginary fires that I did not start however I am getting pretty good at putting them out. Trying to follow the news from home with North Korea is next to impossible all I can do is hope that cooler heads prevail. That's all we need is a renegade young dictator with nothing to loose he is going to be worse than his father. I am sure we have a sub or two off the coast for contingencies.

I am flying the day after tomorrow for two days conducting training and implementation of the new ATM should be fairly easy. I am not flying nearly the hours that I flew last tour but I am twice as busy, I typically put in 12 to 14 hours each and every day with an off day every 15th day that usually has me in my office for 6 to 8 hours anyway. This tour is so different than the last, we are only allowed to be in our PT uniform if we are doing PT where last tour that was your off day attire and that was how you could tell who was off. Not that we have things to do on an off day pretty much if I don't check email each and every day I would get so far behind I would never catch up. I spend most of my time trying to keep up with all the changes, policies, ROE, ATMs things like that. I despise writing memorandums and I hate all the memos that I am the author of that seem to change on a regular basis. Well I am going to try and get on with the kids and see how their day went I hope all are well and I will write more soon, night all

VBIED

Vehicle born improvised explosive device, that's what was in the news today with John Kerry talking about his 25 year old intern. It was another tragedy. It happened not five miles from FOB Wolverine we had no air assets in the air at the time but more than likely not much we can do about them anyway. All and all I think there were about fifteen killed mostly Afghani, two US troops some American contractors but mostly Afghani civilians, a true shame. Just another reason to pack up our ball and go home.

Got to FaceTime with the kids tonight and that was great as it always is, Marie was at work but the kids answered and I got to say good nit to them at least. Shirley was diligently working on next weeks video which I can't wait to see, all of her videos have been wonderful I just wish I had faster Internet I would put them all up on my blog.

Tonight I was watching an insurgent who just planted an IED on one of the roads that our RCP (route clearing patrols) frequently use to get over to MSR (main supply route) 1 and we followed him for quite a while working up clearance to fire through the GFC ( ground force commander) and before we could action on the target we were told to RTB(return to base) which completely pissed me off especially in light of what just happened in our back yard not five miles from our FOB. None the less we followed orders and returned to base and assumed redcon three, which means that our readiness level is three which means that we completely shut down and assume a standby posture. Apparently the IJC Commander who is the four star General over all of Afghanistan has put out a new policy in light of the accident outcome from our UH-60 crash and now we are not authorized to fly during red illumination. Keep in mind the Apache is not affected by red illum, we do not use light intensifying goggles like all the other aircraft we use our NVS (night vision system). NVS is a FLIR ( forward looking infra red ) system that needs no light to amplify unlike the googles. But none the less until we are cleared we are all grounded for red illumination flights. Red illum is anything less than 30% moon angle and over here in this God forsaken country with no other light sources less than 30% is dark like you have no idea. We will see how long this last though we experience a lot of red illum over here so for the Apache guys this will have to be lifted or we are not going to be very effective in our mission. Well the Ambian that I took is starting to take effect so I will cut this one off, night all

APART Complete

Well Dave Lewis and I finally got to fly tonight, we self started the new ATM (aircrew training manual) and he finished my APART. We spent most of the time talking about what he will do once we get home. I am trying to talk him into stating at Hunter and he is ready to leave. Dave and I have become good friends and now that I am going to be leaving to take a BDE job and Dave not being a fan of my replacement, he is ready to move on. I want him to stay for selfish reasons and I know that is wrong but I am not a fan of my replacement either. I know Dave will take good care of the Vipers and after training them up and taking them to combat I have become pretty close to each and every one of these guys. This will be the most important accomplishment that I am likely to complete in my entire Army career.

Tomorrow I have to give three classes, well actually one class three times. The safety center out briefed us on the first accident and we have been directed to brief every crew member in our Task Force the results of the accident. Basically it was a disaster, one bad decision after another. An IP took it upon himself to do multi ship training with an RL3 Aviator during red illum. The findings that came from CRC were the crew was not briefed for multi ship flight, the pilot being trained had only 47 hours total night vision goggle time of which all but forty five minutes she had flown over 13 months ago. They spent 45 minutes in the traffic pattern and then they hooked up with another aircraft and were heading to the north test fire are to do some gunnery training. While in route to the north test fire area the pilot in training who had 45 minutes of NVG training in the traffic pattern became disorientated and put the aircraft into a right bank. When the IP took the flight controls he thought they were flying straight and level and he increased the right bank angle putting the aircraft In an unrecoverable attitude. The aircraft struck the ground upside down at approximately 200 Gs. This was completely preventable we have checks and balances in place that keep thing like this from happening. I found these finding extremely hard to take, there were so many failures on so many levels that it truly made me sick. Tomorrow I will brief my Task Force on these findings and then I will go into our briefing process and reinforce our established standards to make sure everyone is on the same sheet of music and to make sure something like this never happens again. Any loss of life is too great this late in the war we are In the middle of retrograde operations and there is no reason to push the boundaries of established procedures. We have lost seven Crew Members in less than a month and there is nothing over here worth that kind of sacrifice. Well I need to try to call my girls and get to bed so I can get up early to start my day of classes, night all

Time to move forward

We have a job to do and it's time for me to get these guys moving forward. Today we got the out brief of what went wrong with the first aircraft crash that tok five lives. The bottom line is pilot error and that never sits well with me, because I am in the business of making these guys better and reducing the chance for pilot error. However on this accident the IP made some really bad decisions and in my opinion put the entire crew in harms way. For starters he elected to fly an RL 3 Aviator multi ship and then take it one step further and conduct door gunner training. This was a hard brief for me to sit through because I am so regimented when it comes to how my Taskforce conducts RL training. There is only one way to conduct the training and that is by the book. F06 showed up today for a battle field circulation. He has been trying to get to all the FOBs as often as he can to see everyone. My boss get nervous every time he comes and I understand why, I am not looking forward to leaving Battalion when we get back and taking the Brigade job but I know it is all part of the plan. I just feel so comfortable as the BN SIP, for the most part I do my job and in force the standards and establish training guidelines and everyone stays out of my lane. And as for who I report to I have only one Boss and he is charge of everything on this FOB. Everyone knows that I work for and advise V06 (Viper 06) on all things relating to aviation and they stay out of my lane. Don't get me wrong this is got to be the hardest job I have ever had and it comes with so much responsibility that sometimes the thought of all I have on my plate just wears me down. But with hat responsibility come great satisfaction when things are humming, it's like a great big well oiled machine. Well I am starting to feel the effects of my Ambian that I took so I will close this post before I am reprinting it tomorrow. I miss all of you and I can't wait to come home and start the rest of my life, I will write more tomorrow, night all

Another hard Day

Got up at 0430 and flew to Kandahar for Scott's service, not a dry eye in the house. Tony Born gave a great speech I have no idea how he made it through the entire speech. He and Scott have been together their entire careers bouncing all over the globe. Scott will be missed by many and talked about often.

While I was at Kandahar my Boss's Boss approached me and said welcome to Brigade, did you bring your stuff? Although he was just kidding about bringing my stuff he did say that after looking at the candidates they had available to come to BDE after we get home he wanted me to come and fill Tony Born's job. Not sure how I feel about it, I like where I am these guys are like my extended family. I am the Command Warrant Officer of the Battalion, the Senior instructor pilot and for the most part when it comes to WO business I am your guy. When we get back I will go to BDE and I will be the master gunner, it will be a challenging job with a great deal more responsibility and it will look good on my Officer Record Brief ORB, might even help me make CW 5, but none the less I still like being the BN SIP/CWOB. Having the BDE job will not require as much flying which is a down side but being on BDE staff I will have more flexibility to set my hours and I will work more normal day hours. I am torn on many issues with this move however ultimately the COL. has all ready decided who he wants joining his staff so I may as well get use to the idea. Well I am getting pretty tired I will try the girls on FaceTime one more time then I am going to hit it, night all

Slow day

Scott's service tomorrow was changed from 1600 to 0830 so Dave and I had to cancel our flight tonight. We will get the ATM started real soon and then we will train the rest of the Task force. I will try to FaceTime with the girls tonight but I will have to try early since I have to be up at 0430. I missed them last night and I hope to catch them tonight.

The weather has been pretty crazy these last few days, the wind has made the sky brown and I am really getting tired of having gritty teeth from all the dust. I would try to take a picture of it but I don't want to take even my little camera out in this mess. It is starting to warm up though and for that I thankful.

Tomorrow will be a hard day for all of us, Scott's memorial will be hard for me to get through for sure. I called Tony Born a good friend of mine from Kandahar today and as we spoke he was finishing up his speech that he will give tomorrow. Tony and Scott were WO1 together and have been friends for over twenty years. Tony sounded good and I am sure he will do well tomorrow, he knows that Scott would have wanted it that way. I hope that they honor Scott's wishes and the ceremony goes some what how he would have wanted it to. He was such a great guy and he was always there to try to pick you up when you are down and he was such a caring person to all who knew him. He will be dearly missed by so many.

Long Easter Day

Well first off to all my family at home, happy Easter. As for me I am doing well, I flew five hours trying to keep the Romanian army safe all evening. When I got back to Wolverine I went to the chow hall for Easter dinner and was able to scrounge up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as I was a few hours late. But it is all ok, I am alive, and for the most part healthy, and I have family at home that love me and I hope to be able to FaceTime with them soon. I have tried a few times with no answer but I am sure I will get through real soon, it's 0108 am over here they should be home soon. Tomorrow I fly with Dave, he and I will self start our new ATM and the day after that the Boss and I will fly back to Kandahar for Scott's memorial service. I will then take a day off and spend it catching up on my email traffic. I get so far behind when I am on the schedule for more than three days in a row. I love to fly and get out of the office but sometimes I just get so far behind. This Easter was tough, I spent a great deal of my time thinking about Marie and the kids, thinking about what they might be doing. I hope they had a great day, and I hope the girls have a great spring break. Well I want to close this post and try to call home, again happy Easter everybody, night all

Trying to fall asleep

I got to talk to Marie and the kids tonight and that helped a ton. This was a hard day for me, Scott was a good friend, he was about my age and had me thinking about how fragile life is all day. I can only imagine how hard it will be on his family, he was going home in less than a month. Scott was going to law school and had the rest of his life ahead of him, he will be missed by many. I am trying to stay up beat and motivated and at the same time trying to arrange for as many folks from my Task Force to b able to go to his service Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it at all, but I will go and celebrate Scott's life with the rest of his friends and remember him for all he has done for Army aviation. Rest In Peace Scott you will never be forgotten....

Another bad day

Well as most of you can tell we have lost another Soldier, His name was Curtis but we all called him Scott, or Skinny. Scott was a great guy he was a CW5 and had the respect of all that served with him. I will miss him he was a good friend. Scott was leaving here in less than a month, he was retiring and he was going back to school. He was accepted into law school and really wanted to be a Congressman. Scott was a great guy, he was always in the know on so many things, he always had the skinny on the best place to go for lunch or the best place to RON (remain over night) during a trip pretty much always had the angle on everything. This Tuesday I will be going back to Kandahar for his Memorial service and I cant even imagine how hard it will be. They have all been hard but this one is for Skinny, my friend, a fellow Apache pilot, a guy my age that I knew so well it makes it all so real. This place is really starting to wear on me, I need to get on tonight with the kids and try to decompress a bit. I pray to God that I never have to hear that trumpet player play TAPS ever again, I am ready to go home to my family.

His name was Curtis Reagan

Curtis was a great ME ( maintenance examiner) I flew with him only a few times as our career paths didn't really pass that often. Curtis was going home early to start law school, he rose to the rank of CW5 and had way over twenty years of service, It was his time to retire. His new hopes and dreams was to become a senator or congressman, and all that new Curtis knew that we would some day see his name on a ballot. Curtis who was also known as Skinny for reasons that were somewhat confusing use to be this skinny little CW2 early in his career. Later in life like most of us that live well put on a few pounds so when his old friends would call him Skinny others would look at him like what the heck are you guys talking about. I use to call him Curtis only when I was mad at him he went by his middle name Scott for the most part. So when I would walk up and call him Curtis he would be like now what did I do Rob. Last night Scott left us he will be missed by many but Scott you will never be forgotten, rest in peace my Apache Brother, we have the fight...

Wow

Well like I said I would be back and here I am, the rotor noise is crazy outside tonight it sounds like there are twenty five choppers out there. I am not flying again till this Sunday, Easter, lucky me. I am hoping to get to talk to Robby and the girls later tonight its about 1030 Pm here I still have a few hours till I will have the chance to talk with any of them. Like I said earlier I took my PT test this morning with a bunch of kids and boy was it sad. At 47 you would think that I would be the last one across the finish line on a two mile run especially with kids half my age but how times have change. I hope to be able to continue to lose some weight over here and continue to keep running and working out. I have lost about ten pounds mostly because everywhere we go we walk, it takes eight minutes to get to the flight line. I took my camera to the flight line to take some pictures of these 18 to 25 kids who do everything on this FOB from guard to work on the aircraft. And they are all positive and happy to be here doing whatever it is that they have been trained to do. I find it refreshing to say the least that they get it, they have a sense of pride that many will never have or see and these kids get it. It’sall about something more than yourself, to be a part of something for the better good. Wow now I am sounding like a nut job so I will move on, on another topic I just took an ambian so I won’t have much time left, but I am not on the flight schedule tomorrow so I figured it would be ok. Sometimes it takes acouple of hours and sometimes its quick and this one seems to be working pretty quickly. Oh no, I just heard the guys talking about having to deliver a redcross message to someone tonight. And it doesn’t get to crazy to night, if it does we will have to come together to make sure this person is ok. as for the kids this week end I sure wish I could talk to all of them. Well I wish my life was more exciting at sometimes and that we were doing more here as a Taskforce. We have not officially killed anyone from our FOB and for that I am happy, we are doing the right thing to get this job done with little to no bloodshed. Wow the meds are starting to work what I can say I need to get this posted as soon as I can before it is to late. Marie, you are my best friend and I love with all my heart.....I had to come back to this post and make some changes. I am not sure if it was the drugs or if it was me falling asleep in the middle of posting, night all

No Internet

Well the Internet is out and so is our power for that matter. This was my third night that I was suppose to fly and once again I never got off the ground. Tomorrow morning at ten I have to take a PT test oh buy I can't wait, nothing like running two miles at six thousand feet. I have been running though so I should be ok I am about two and a half minutes under my time. Not that I am doing great it's just that I am an old man compared to most of these kids here and I get like twenty minutes to run two miles. Don't be a hater Rob when you are 47 you can have nineteen minutes and thirty seconds to run two miles too. Well like I said I am three for three not flying, tonight I spent three and a half hours doing table talk with Aaron Schaefer who will be our next Pilot in command (PIC) he is ready and his oral knowledge is right where it should be. I just need to get him into the aircraft and let him impress me with his conservative flying skills. We are all about tired of the weather and I know that I will be ready to get caught up on my training flights as well. Yesterday the Boss and I were going to go to TK for a change of command, one of our sister FOBs Apache company Commanders was relieved for not taking care of his company and we had to send them Craig Kuphole which really hurt because he was doing a great job in our FUOPS ( future operations) cell. But I guess if it didn't hurt we probably weren't sending the right guy, Craig will be a great Company Commander I am sure of it.

Shirley, I got you package and your clone video was awesome I watched it twice. Your cookies are awesome and my Easter notes from my kids made my day. However your second video was a blank DVD, so please burn that week again please. It was Robby on spring break and a few other things that I got excited to see and when I put it in my computer asked me what I wanted to do with this blank DVD. It happens, your videos rock girl, especially your clone videos. Your art work was amazing too, but my favorite was your story. Your story and the comments that your teacher made, I would agree with her you are ahead of your time Shirley. Well I am going to save this and add to it tomorrow for sure, I love you guys....

Well it's Friday night I just got done eating and I am in my room for a needed break. It's my off day and this morning I took an actual PT test which I passed with flying colors. I will write more later I am sure but I need to get off here right now and get a few things done, till later, night all