Many of you remember my Chief Engineer from the THACH. Well, she's all grown up and has a ship of her own....she is the Commanding Officer of USS DEXTROUS, an MCM. She and her crew are out here for 7 months, and she came to dinner Friday night. It's always good times when Jen is around, although it's hard on Shaun to defend himself from a duo like us!

Here is my honey standing next to the humidor. Trying to keep the cabinet humidified has proven to be a bit of a challenge....but I'll keep working to get the humidity for my Cuban Honeys... just right!

Here is a photo of LCDR Rich Shettler and I in front of their fortified tent in which they process Sailors on the way home. The Warrior Transition Program reclaims all the Sailors Body Armor, equipment, and weapons. Then they hold some seminars to help the Sailors adjust to coming home. It's roughly a 3 day transition process that we put our Sailors through before putting them on a plane for Balitimore International Airport. On the day that this was taken....it was 121 degrees outside, which was quite pleasant considering that the day before was 132 degrees. When referring to Kuwait.....hot and dusty is an under-statement. The sun rises here early, by 0500 it's full-on-sun, so I walked over to the gym @ 0530 in which it was quite pleasant outside (mid 90s) and by the time I walked out of the gym @ 0700 it had crested 100 and was heading verticle quickly! I'm keeping track of all these mini-adventures and I'm seriously considering making them and the photos into a coffee table book.....need a catchy phrase for the book...any ideas, let me know!

Here is Dr. Sheep (yes that really is his name) and I by the pool last weekend. I think the Spiderman float is a nice touch! The boys went to the fish market at 0430 and got a HUGE red snapper, shimp, clams and we had a BBQ to say goodbye to one of Shaun's men.

Ok,

Here it is finally...my humidor, 6ftx3ftx24inches deep. And of course, it is fillled with Cubans! On the top I had hand-carved camels added as a unique feature.

This was the shower and toilet facility at Balgram Air Base. It is two conex boxes with make-shift shower on the top one and toilets in the bottom one. These are locker-room style facilities. Makes me thankful for everything I have and the country I live in.
Kandahar is located in the flat lands of the desert, which was 117 degrees during the day and not much cooler at night. The base had a square area in the middle of the camp called the Boardwalk in which there coffee shops and fast food. Everyone carries a weapon 24/7 even if you are in pt gear. There is no civilian clothes authorized and the base is dry, although the French PX did have non-alcoholic beer. With each step you take, little dust blooms explode under your boots. It is the finest dust, much like talcum powder.
From Kandahar we flew to Balgram which is surrounded by mountain ranges. It's a bit cooler in the day, around 110 or so, and much cooler at night (around 93 degrees). Had a really hard time sleeping with all the bomb, and aircraft noise, I'm told you get used to it, and there are bomb bunkers everywhere. I slept in what they call a "bee-hut" it's a 10'x24' plywood structure in which my room was 1/4 of the structure with a bed and tiny closet....and trust me, that is great living for a Captain! Most live 8 person to 1 structure, open bay (no walls) style.
It was truly a great experience and I look to forward to my next adventure in theater. Shaun and I are getting along and working through each day. We have 50 more Taco Wednesdays (normally named Taco Tuesday lunch menu), 17 more haircuts, and 11 more pedicures.....not that I'm counting or anything! Love you all!

Here is me in front of the camp of Khost. It is an isolated outpost and the vehicles on either side of me are armored MRAPs.

This is the city of Balgram as we lifted off on our way over the mountain ranges to the city of Khost. All of these structures are composed of a mud mixture, with most of the roof tops made of thatch or tin.

Me in the back of the helo. A lot of gear and body armor.

Here I'm getting ready to board the MH-60 helo over my right shoulder. We took an hour ride over the mountains to the city of Khost

Here is me in front of a rocket bunker in Kandahar Afghanistan. These bunkers are made of cement T-wall, with sand bags on top for added protection. This one just had some added art work.