Going To Afghanistan

The time I spent at AAS was short. But at the time I had no idea how long I would be there. I was able to secure a bottom bunk in a sea of tents set up for all the transients. Bathrooms were in trailers parked on the periphery.

Every four hours or so we would wander to tent #4 to see if we made it on a flight manifest out. I was told to try to fly to Kandahar instead of Bagram in Afghanistan. Bagram was described to me as an overcrowded shit hole where you would be stuck several days waiting for a short (60 mile) flight to my final destination, Kabul. Kandahar, on the other hand, was described just as a shit hole with regular departure flights to Kabul.

I did have the opportunity to wander around a bit between flight checks and naps. I ate my first meal there at a McDonald’s late Thursday night. They have a small 24 hour outdoor food court there. Other food joints they had were KFC, Pizza Hut and a Subway. Early on Friday I found the PX and was able to buy my son a stuffed camel and get it into the mail back home. I realized how much I was missing my family at that point. Things had slowed down enough to let my mind wander back to Kansas and the loved ones I had left there.

Late on Friday the 8^th I was able to make a Moose flight (C-17) to Kandahar.