To Herat and Back

Made another trip out to Herat and back this past weekend. The flight there was one of the worst C130 flights I've had. 1st it was an Italian AF flight and I am pretty sure that was an original C130 from the 50's. They were 4 hours late and they couldn't figure out how to turn the air conditioner on (we sat in the back on the tarmas for at least half an hour before take off.

The quarters in Herat were much better this time, 3 to a room, real mattresses, and wall lockers! Luigi is leaving to go back to Italy as his tour is up and Aaron will leave in August, a little early, as his wife is due with twins. So besides business it was good to talk with them one more time.

The flight back was much better. It was a Royal Air Force C130J and the Brits even gave us a sfety briefing and passed out earplugs. Two things the Italians didn't do.

A Busy Week

The week started with the "Emergency" order of security badges coming in. This meant I got to sort and Johnnie and I delivered/are delivering this week. I will finish the week tomorrow flying out to RC West to deliver badges. Unfortunately the "Emergency" order created another emergency because we only got one type of badge we needed out of the three.

Tonight I had dinner with our company's VP who is in theater visiting the different contracts and some of the employees. It was at the Turkish Restaurant which meant lots of flys this time of year. The staff there doesn't seem to know how to keep doors and windows closed or the concept of fly traps.

Finally

Well after about 4 months they have finally come in and built a wall seperating my office form tha base security office. At first we thought they were going to leave gaps at the top of the paneling but they installed a make shift "Molding". The door goes unpainted but the boot prints on it add character as well as "Top" written in pencil so we know which end is up.

Goodbye to Friends

Over the past two days we have said Bon Chance and Goodbye to two friends heading home. The first was Marc, a Belgian, we worked with in my office. Johnnie and I bought pizza for our combined security offices and of course we had to play a final game of darts for the US vs Belgium championship...I let Marc win. Tonight we said goodbye to Diego as he heads home tomorrow.

We started darts in our office when I was given an extra dart board someone had. Each day about 5pm we will play a game.

Personalities

I thought I would describe some of the people around the base.

The Hippie: Always has on red pants, a black t-shirt, sandals, and a black all cloth cap. Oh, and he uses two black scrunchies in his pony tail.

The Danish Joe Dirte: Unless you have seen the movie or a picture of the character you probably won’t understand. He looks like Joe, hair wise, but his hair is reddish (not bright). Of course he has the facial hair to match. One thing different is his walk. Actually it is more of a strut. There is no way I could get my shoulders, arms, and legs to move like that. He must be real proud of that mullet.

Panama Jack: This una-browed fellow is always found under his straw hat, even at his desk and in the chow hall. I am not sure he sleeps in it, but he must have a manikin head he puts it on at night. He wears his pants a little higher than the waist and he walks kind of stiff like with a slight waddle, even though he is skinny.

The Cougar: She can’t be a day younger than 65 and pours her clothes on in the morning. I keep waiting for her to go face first in the gravel as she seems to have only one pair of shoes…those being stilettos. I couldn’t make that up if I wanted to.

A Solemn Reminder

I remember plenty of ramp ceremonies down in Kandahar. Many people think it is just the US who is suffering losses. At a NATO base you realize we are not the only ones fighting this war.

On a better note I saw a Jordanian airman in the chapel service today. Apparently from what I have read, Jordan is one of the more tolerant of Muslim nations towards Christians.