Excess Humvees to BAF

My team is still trying to clear up the property book and we have given away or transferred everything possible, but we still have some excess up-armored Humvees to dispose of.  When we merged with the Brigade, our vehicle fleet doubled in size.  We managed to transfer 90% of our vehicle fleet except for two Humvees that aren’t as heavily armored as the other ones.  The closest place to dispose of these Humvees is Bagram Air Field (BAF).  As you already know, BAF is not our favorite place to visit and dealing with the BAF-fites is always an adventure.  Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil to clear the property book and only the BAF-fites could assist us.  We all promised to be on our best behavior, salute the officers, and try not to get upset at the bureaucratic processes in place.

AF Captain and SMSgt secure Humvees for transport.

Since we lacked the proper vehicles to transport the Humvees, we coordinated with our ANA counterparts for a joint mission.  They would provide the tractor and trailer and be integrated into our convoy.  Two of my teammates help secure the vehicles on the  .  The ANA soldier boasted about having more experience and he wanted to chain the vehicles down himself.  That is quite a change for an ANA soldier to step up like that and volunteer his services.

When I walked back to camp, I stopped at the gate to see how Bernie was doing.  The new soldiers who arrived are dog lovers and renamed the puppy, especially after I pointed out the puppy’s anatomy of being a boy… lol.  Bernie was sound asleep taking a

Bernie is taking a puppy nap.

puppy nap between two cement blocks and had his chin propped up on a piece of wood.  He didn’t have a care in the world.

The original plan was for 4 ANA LTVs and the tractor and trailer to join us at 5:20 am to depart for BAF.  I originally tried to go to sleep around 10:30 pm., but my new B-Hut mate has a severe case of sleep apnea and makes choking sounds in his sleep.  If he isn’t bellowing and gasping, then he is talking loudly in his sleep.  I also think he has restless leg syndrome because he constantly crashes into the thin plywood walls.  I last looked at the clock around 1 am and my alarm went off at 4 am.  Fortunately I wasn’t driving and would be the truck commander today.

Afghan men hoping to get hired for the day.

All of my teammates gathered at the MRAPs at 5 am and we prepared for the mission.  The ANA was on time, except they were missing 3 LTVs.  Never did find out what happened with them.  Driving to BAF, we drove through a different part of the city.  In the Pashtun market, the unskilled laborers were crowded at an intersection hoping to get hired for the day.  So

Afghan National Police providing security.

many people migrate to the capital city in hopes of finding a more prosperous life, but quickly find the competition is fierce and the wages are low.  Established Afghan businessmen are keen on maximizing profit by paying low wages to these unskilled workers.  I think they have taken a page from the business models US contractors

Afghan mud-brick house.

are using here in country.  They charge a hefty price, but maximize their profit by exploiting cheap labor.

Security in the city has definitely increased.  The ANP have established more checkpoints and armed policemen are seen throughout the city.  I think as more ANP are trained, this will continue to be the trend.  But the

Tending the sheep.

ANP still has an image problem due to corruption, theft, and bribery.  These issues are constantly being addressed and it will take time to win the people over and for the ANP to modify their behavior.  Hitting passing cars with the butt of their AK-47s only causes resentment among the populace.

After leaving the city, we passed through some smaller towns and more agricultural areas.  The farmers were busy tending to their livestock and the small shops waited on customers to buy their goods or produce.  An

Elderly Afghan man thumbs his prayer beads.

older man sat on a tin box threading his prayer beads through his hand.  I could only wonder if he was a wise tribal elder or just an elderly gentleman who has survived over 30 years of war.

Potholes on road leading to BAF.

It has been quite awhile since our last convoy trip to BAF.  The roads are in much worse shape than I remember and the potholes have spread like a bad disease.  It didn’t help matters that the slack in my seatbelt wasn’t retracting properly.  As a result, I was bounced around the inside of the MRAP like a rag doll.  I’m certain to have some new bruises when this mission ends.  To be cont’d ……..

Rainy Days and Armyisms

Rainy day.

Lately it has been rather dreary due to the sporadic cold rain showers we are receiving.  Today is the third day in a row we have received intermittent rain.  The farmers are not complaining as this has been an extremely mild winter and Afghanistan is still experiencing another drought season.  For the city dwellers it’s a double-edged sword.  The rainfall helps quell the choking dust, but at the same time due to poor drainage, large puddles form and the layers of dust form a muddy paste where it flows.  I also find it interesting that even when it rains, not many Afghans use umbrellas to stay dry.

AF TSgt tightening fuel cap.

For us, a little bit of rain doesn’t deter the mission.  Our timing coincided between light showers and allowed us to inspect our up-armored vehicles and fill them with fuel.  We were preparing them for our next mission for which I would be convoy commander again.  We planned to visit Kabul International Airport (KAIA) first and then travel to Camp Phoenix next.  The roads were still muddy from all of the rain and the locals were gathered at the side of the road waiting on buses and taxis.  My Captain

Muddy day in Kabul.

was practicing good COIN by not splashing the citizens as we drove by.  I couldn’t say the same for the local traffic as they weaved in and out of traffic trying to get that one or two car length advantage.  Often you feel like you are participating in a race as cars dodge in and out for the lead.  Driving huge MRAPs, we have the biggest advantage of being the largest vehicle and armed with mounted machine guns is also very persuasive.  It’s quite a deterrent and vehicles pull off and get out of our way.  We also swerve in and out, but it’s usually due to large potholes, traffic stopped in the middle of the road, broken down vehicles, donkey and horse carts, or bicycles and pedestrians who don’t think twice about running in front of our convoys.

We dropped off our teammate at KAIA and he was smiling because he was flying back to his home in Colorado to start his 2 weeks of R&R leave.  We didn’t stay long there and quickly departed.  We were only a ½ mile out of the gate when one of the up-armored Humvees radioed me that they were having mechanical problems.  Something came loose on the vehicle and was almost dragging on the ground.  That something turned out to be a drive shaft.  As a result, this slowed our convoy speed down to 15 mph.  Fortunately we didn’t have to travel very far because Camp Phoenix was only a few miles away.  So we putted along the highway until we reached Camp Phoenix and turned it into vehicle maintenance.  Once again I have to give kudos to the vehicle maintainers there.  They were able to fix our vehicle the same day.  We also learned our mechanics were at fault for using the wrong size washers on the bolts allowing the drive shaft to rock free or something to that effect.  I don’t proclaim to be a mechanic or understand all the inner workings of these components.

It’s been several weeks since I had an opportunity to mail anything out.  I kept missing the specified camp day when they accept items here (once every two weeks).  Tomorrow is the wife’s birthday and I wanted to send something special to her.  Well actually her birthday is every 4 years since she is a Leap Year baby.  So when I am old and gray, she will still be celebrating her teenager birthdays …. lol.  Anyhow, one of my teammates was mailing out some personal effects too.  The post office personnel inspect the boxes and contents before they are mailed.  He was trying to mail out some

Rubber magazine holder.

rubber attachments and they were disallowed.  These rubber holders attach to a weapon magazine.  But according to Camp Phoenix policy, you are not allowed to mail out weapon associated items.  I have to put this one into the category of “Armyism.”   Recall this is the phrase I coined for processes unique to the Army that make me scratch my head and fail to understand the logic in it.   I fail to see the harm of mailing out rubber made items associated with a weapon.

It was still morning and my teammates would experience two more “Armyisms” before the day was over….to be cont’d …….

Falling on your head is required

Imagine yourself strapped into an armored Humvee (HMMWV) wearing 50 pounds of gear and carrying a weapon.  The door barely closes because of limited space and is secured by a combat lock to prevent anyone from the outside from opening your door.  You have to tilt your head slightly forward to prevent it from hitting the ceiling.  Then all of sudden the vehicle you are in is turned upside down as it comes to a rest.   Now you have to gain your bearings unlock the combat lock and open the heavy door, then you have to release the 2 belts that secure you to the seat.  To compound the problem, all of your weight is resting on your helmet.  In my case, this was 235 pounds of body weight and 50 pounds of gear.  Fortunately the scenario I just described is a mechanical simulator (HEAT).  Unfortunately, I was unable to free myself because I hit my head so hard on the ceiling and I was unable to breathe because my gear was pinned against my throat.  I swallowed my pride before barely blacking out and yelled out the magic words of “rescue”.  It took a few minutes to undo the combat lock from the outside and then unbuckle my seat belt.  After being extracted from the vehicle I was escorted to the medical station for an assessment.  The Army Doc gave me a clean bill of health and told me “to get back on the horse and try again.”

HMMWV (HEAT) training

Later that night I seized the opportunity to “ride the horse again” and got back into the simulator.  This time I chose to sit in the back seat where there is more leg room.  Three of my teammates opted to join me and keep me company.  Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant and filled with anxiety.  The instructor gave us the thumbs up and we were flipped upside down again.  However this time I quickly found the door lock and unlatched the safety harness and flipped down to the ceiling, which now became the floor and exited the vehicle.  A sense of pride and accomplishment was reflected by the grin on my face.  I did it!!

The night was still young and a bed of shining stars illuminated the sky.  We were outfitted in full battle rattle along with a set of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) attached to our helmet.  We were being prepped to do nighttime driving using the aid of NVGs.  Driving an armored Humvee with NVGs might be a typical exercise for Army personnel, but to untrained Air Force personnel, this can become a challenge.  I can proudly report I was able to drive the HMMWV without incident.  I had to rely on my Troop Commander (TC) who sits in the passenger seat to guide me on 180 degree turns, because you are unable to see the side of your vehicle when you turn.  One of my teammates forgot to remove the lense cap from his NVG and stopped short of going over an embankment.  A female member drove off the road several times and was close to rolling over.  Rollovers in HMMWV are one of the leading causes of fatalities on deployments.

We finished our nighttime driving close to midnight and hurried back to the barracks to get some shut-eye because tomorrow we are doing live firing on the 50 caliber machine guns.