Pics of my new bunk

Now I even have a 1/2 locker inside so all my clothes are inside. I'll keep my gear and such in the outside locker. Also got a new rug for my decor.

I wonder if the Italian who just got my old bunk will call me "Major." I hope not as our group is arelaxed sort.

MAJOR(?) Kerby

Well I guess according to the Italians and Belgians I'm a Major now. This all began back a week or so ago when an Italian officer came in asking for "Major" Kerby. I'm like, "Well I'm Kerby but I'm no Major." He continued to stand at the most rigid attention I'd ever seen while telling me what he was there for. I kept telling him to relax but I guess he got stuck in that position.
Next was a phone call asking for "Major" Kerby. Again I try and explain but I guess my Italian wasn't that good.
Today the base Security officer, a Belgian captain who has to report security issues through me as his higher HQ, says, "I know you are a civilian but you are like a Major, yes?"
I gave in. Sure just refer to me as Major. 2 Nations down, 26 more and all of NATO will think I'm a Major. Not sure which country's uniform insignia to wear though. Maybe a different one each week so they don't get jealous or think I'm showing favoritism.

The Good and the Bad

First item:
The Bad - I'm still in an 8 man bay.
The Good - I got a bottom bunk and there are only 6 of us in the bay right now.

Second item:
The Bad - We got in a new contractor named Amanda who wants to be called Jared. Yep, shaved head, a couple of things removed, and it is going to use money it makes to buy an add-on. And it is one of those in your face types. Notice I say it because...well because.
The Good - We're shipping it out to work at one of the Regional Commands.

"No" means "No"

A little background here: The former Theater Security Officer, a Belgian dude, for the past 4 years quit about a week and a half ago. He was responsible for ordering and distributing security badges around the country to the various commands. Well, he didn't go by the rules and would just hand them out and order whenever and not keep track. In comes American as Senior TSO and me here at the next lower level. We do things by the book. Old dude didn't leave very many badges and, oops, didn't reorder. So all the commands are going nuts because of change overs and needing badges and they have to go through me now to request and receive these stinking badges. Since I haven't got any from TSO (waiting for emergency order to arrive), I have been saying "No you will get them when I get some to hand out." Literally over 20 emails and they still don't get it.

Well, a couple of our allies who happen to speak Italian and Turkish (hope I'm not giving the nationalities away) don't understand the word "No." So in the past week I have had a Turkish speaking allie show up asking for badges (after being told at least a couple dozen times I don't have any) and then today an Italian speaking dude who had supposedly flown up here for a meeting shows up saying he was there to pick up badges. I told him,"Have a nice flight back." (see I can be politically polite). He then asked if he could come by at 8am tomorrow before his flight departs to pick up badges. By this time I'm just a little frustrated so I relent to make him happy and say "Sure." I don't go in until about 9 or 10 on Sundays so I guess he won't be too happy on his flight back. "Ciao Bello!"

Yep, I think when I pick up badges from the TSO tomorrow afternoon I'll send them out to the Germans first...I should be an ambassador.

Lamb Roast

We went over to Camp Phoenix (a US Base) today for a traditional lamb roast, with Afghan band I might add, we had been invited to. The big highlight though was going to the US PX. I was able to get a few plastic organizers for my socks and underwear, a birthday card for Kenzie (unfortunately they didn’t have one for Allison), and I even bought one of those shower sponge thingies…stop laughing…I had to get a lime green one because Adam took the last blue one. Found out I have to wait till I go back to the States to get my Retiree ID Card but it’s not like I need it here anyways. I also saw an old face from Italy/ACCI, LTC Martinez who was coming in as the Region Commander as I was leaving Naples.

I have posted a picture of my Bay from my top bunk and one of my locker with a few pictures from today. I posted a picture of some of the people I work with here; Nichole works at Phoenix so we only see her once in a blue moon, Eric standing next to her is my direct supervisor, then there is me, Diego (our token Marine), and Adam. Wish I could have added sound to the picture of the Afghan band as I am sure that is some of your favorite music.

Daily Life

So besides shaving my beard/moustache weird ways (the chops are gone by the way) my days are fairly standard. Wake-up around 6am. Shower (if I didn't go to gym night before and shower), go to breakfast, and at my office by 7am. Normally we have a meeting around 10:30am. Lunch about 11:30 with a walk around to pick-up or drop off laundry. Back to work until about 6pm when we go to dinner. Then back to office until 7:30 or 8:30pm. Gym if I feel like it (might as well as internet speed is normally terrible at night).

It is warming up here and getting very dusty. Instead of building more barracks they are building flower beds. Can't wait to see how that works out. I did get my name on the list for a 3 man room. I am number 114 in line right now. So, more than likely, I'll get to move about a month before my year is up.

Work? Well as the HQ Security guru I get to oversee badging, computer security, phone security, and those types of issues not only for our HQ, but I am the person in between all the Regional Commands and ISAF. So I get all the questions and have very few answers other than "No." Which nobody wants to hear. I even got asked if I could go to ISAF and ask for a speed gun for the MPs to use as all of the ones here were broken. OK, really? 1) Combat Zone 2) Base isn't large enough to get going fast 3) Not my lane. I was nice and sent question up anyways. Answer came back "No." When asked if I could contact other bases and ask to borrow one I produced a power point slide with a European police officer holding a speed gun and a pic of Afghans pulling a luggage cart at the Kabul airport. You can fill in the captions. I sent that as my answer.

Still more Aircraft

I wish I had gotten a pic of the DC-3 taking off.

Airplanes

Some of the aircraft I see.

Trip to Mazar-e-Sharif

I flew up to Mazar-e-Sharif (MeS) this week to look at a security issue. Of course dealing with NATO and it's partners meant that I still came back with questions. MeS is predominately a German base and many units like to bring autostrada signs from their locations back in Germany.

I flew up on a USAF C-130. I guess the USAF has to pay a heating bill for their aircraft because they only turned the heat on twicw for about a minute or two each time.

I was able to stay in a room in which I only had one (1) roomate for two of the three nights. The other night I had the room all to myself. I was also able to eat in the American chow hall which serves such delicacies as cheeseburges, chicken nuggets, and cole slaw on the salad line. The German chow hall was good also as I was able to sample all the different breads, meats, and cheeses. So much for losing weight this week.

Coming back I was scheduled for a German C-160, a 2 engined version of a C-130. Well the day before the Germans had cancelled all the flights. Then my flight was "delayed" by 4 hours...which meant it was going to be cancelled. An hour into the delay we were called to the desk...those of us still waiting in the terminal. I was able to get on a Norwegian Army flight. Well this was on a Fokker 50 which is a turbo prop, twin engined regional type aircraft. Despite being an "Army" flight, it had airline seats and came equipped with a flight attendant which provided coffee during the flight.