We left for Afghanistan on the 19th of May, my son’s birthday. My son was all I could think about every day during sunset in that unfortunate country. It helped to ease the frustrations that came from the days of sadness, brutal heat, and fatigue that shook the proverbial hand living with the catastrophic reality of the dreaded IED (improvised explosive device). My platoon lived in a small, burnt-out schoolhouse south side of the village that we did patrols in and around our little piece of the pie. Although we encountered the almost daily harassment of small arms fire, the peppering of bullets hitting the walls on the other side of our bed spaces was comforting.
Our sleeping spaces were no larger than the military issued aluminum folding cot. Thank goodness for the bug tents, which were just large enough to fit myself and my sleeping bag. These were definitely essential in keeping out the swarms of insects, camel spiders, and scorpions. We quickly got used to these pests. You would find …show more content…
At least I was safe from those darn IEDs being inside our CP (check point). I was more comfortable living with bugs and playing cards with my brothers to my left and right. This was our home for the next 12 months. I was more comfortable getting into a gunfight with my fellow soldiers by my side than I was searching for IEDs. The thing about guns, is that you can see someone shooting. You can hear the ‘crack’ and the ‘wiz’ as it sails by. An IED is a weapon used by cowards, which is what makes it so scary. I remember one time in mid-July, it was a usual 100 degree day, and my section was on quick reaction force (QRF). QRF and CP duties consist of building sandbag walls, repairing old sandbags, and burning our own body waste with JP8 (army fuel we use on our vehicles). The best part was cooking BBQ if we had the meat for it. We would use an old wheel rim we had found on a mission also known as “rest
Our sleeping spaces were no larger than the military issued aluminum folding cot. Thank goodness for the bug tents, which were just large enough to fit myself and my sleeping bag. These were definitely essential in keeping out the swarms of insects, camel spiders, and scorpions. We quickly got used to these pests. You would find …show more content…
At least I was safe from those darn IEDs being inside our CP (check point). I was more comfortable living with bugs and playing cards with my brothers to my left and right. This was our home for the next 12 months. I was more comfortable getting into a gunfight with my fellow soldiers by my side than I was searching for IEDs. The thing about guns, is that you can see someone shooting. You can hear the ‘crack’ and the ‘wiz’ as it sails by. An IED is a weapon used by cowards, which is what makes it so scary. I remember one time in mid-July, it was a usual 100 degree day, and my section was on quick reaction force (QRF). QRF and CP duties consist of building sandbag walls, repairing old sandbags, and burning our own body waste with JP8 (army fuel we use on our vehicles). The best part was cooking BBQ if we had the meat for it. We would use an old wheel rim we had found on a mission also known as “rest