Latest update

[aadler]

4:20 PM Central Afghan Time

The last few days have kept me a little preoccupied. One of the elements in the task force to which I’m currently attached had a truck hit by an IED on the 13th, with fatalities. We held the ramp ceremony Tuesday, and the memorial service yesterday.

Meanwhile, I need to start prepping for transport to Bagram. It used to be possible to depart directly from here to go on leave, but since the Airborne unit across the road went back home, they’re not doing those flights anymore. As a result, I have to spend nearly a week at BAF getting briefings and filling out paperwork before I can hop a flight to Germany. The people at BAF are scary; they’re the headquarters element, and we’re the ones actually out in the field doing the job, and when we get back within their reach, they seem to go out of their way to make sure we don’t think we’re better than them. (Not having the chip on their shoulders to begin with would make a good start.)

When a guy is more worried about his HQ than about the rockets and mortar rounds that occasionally drop in, it says something. Just have to figure out what that might mean.

Let’s see, what else? I’m back up to Army standard for the 2-mile run. sroni got me an update on “Queen’s Gambit”; I could have hoped for more, but at least she’s still turning out copy. I wrote a letter to my son yesterday, and updated and posted it today.

I’m tired of time passing without me getting any writing done. I’m about to go start. Maybe, if I push, I can finish my current story before time to land at BAF.

Comments

[learnedhand-dj.livejournal.com]

Based on many stories I've heard from my Dad (Korean War vet), I think it's pretty common to be more concerned about dealing with HQ rather than with the guys trying to shoot you. After all, you can always shoot back at the guys shooting at you. HQ has you totally at their mercy.

[aadler]

That’s the absolute truth. The thing is, these are our people, the ones with whom we’ve been training and serving for years now. It’s just being where they are that’s made them a hazard to be around.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

I've been reading your updates avidly but I'm always too overawed to know what to say. This is actually no exception as I can't even picture myself where you are. All I can really say is how sorry I am for the loss your task force suffered and a huge thank you for the job you do for all of us. I hope BAF won't be as awful as you anticipate.

As I am still trying to catch up with what you have already written I find myself in the enviable position of having an embarrassment of riches and so haven't started clamouring for more yet. :)

[aadler]

I didn’t actually know any of the men killed, so it didn’t hit as hard as it might have. As for your not being able to picture yourself where I am, well, I know people of all types over here … and in most cases, it wasn’t being extraordinary that brought them here, it was being here that made them extraordinary.

The funny part is, I really try to keep this journal focused on my writing efforts, but when I don’t actually have a finished story to post, there’s nothing for me to talk about except activities and events here. I see plenty of people carrying tough duty (which I don’t), undergoing severe hardships and risks (which I haven’t), and doing their job even though they’d truly rather be somewhere else (I’m freakish enough to enjoy it here, which is easier to do when your duties are as undemanding as mine). I’m just waiting out the end of the deployment, and writing such stories as I can motivate myself to produce.

As I am still trying to catch up with what you have already written I find myself in the enviable position of having an embarrassment of riches and so haven't started clamouring for more yet. :)

I can remember when I was waiting until I had at least four stories before posting them on the Web, so I’d be able to present a body of work rather than one or two pieces. Now I’m approaching the thirty-story (and half-million word) mark, and I’ve enjoyed all of it. Not least because of appreciation and encouragement such as yours.