48 hours. That's how much time I had after I was notified. Having been back in Arifjan for nearly a month and having only a little over a month left on my deployment, I figured my travels would be done. No such luck. I say this not because I didn't want to go to Afghanistan, I say this because the week before I was told I was going back, I had packed all my cold weather gear and shipped it home. Perfect. So I spent a day scrounging up a sleeping bag, fleece jacket, gloves and anything else I could in an attempt to prepare for the mountains of Afghanistan.
This trip was different than the last though. I was asked by my battalion commander to go with him to visit the unit I had deployed to BAF to see how they were doing and to go on a convoy. Yes, go on a convoy. My second trip to Afghanistan I chose not to inform my family back home about this event simply because I didn't want them to worry. Flying is always safer, a convoy that took us on the outskirts of Kabul a few days after the Quran 'burning' started riots probably wasn't something my family would want to hear. They also probably wouldn't have wanted to hear that the night before I left on this convoy there was an operation conducted by an air weapons team that had spotted insurgents setting up an ambush site. The Apaches and fast movers (F16s) in the area engaged them with 4 hell fire missiles and a 500lb bomb killing all 21 insurgents, and ultimately saving anyone traveling along that route. The convoy took roughly eight hours, entirely at night, through the mountains between BAF and Jalallabad Airfield (JAF) also known as FOB Fenty. The roads here are completely different that the roads of Iraq, especially through the mountains. With sheer cliffs on one side of the road, we hugged the inside lane as best we could. Plenty of times we would pass civilian trucks within inches of each other with hairpin turns pushing on coming traffic closer than you'd want it to be. One of the more intense moments was when we came up to the switchbacks. The vehicles we were driving couldn't make the turn without having to back up a few times....but when you pull as far forward as you can before the road ends and you know that if you go another inch you'll end up tumbling down a mountainside, you learn to trust your driver! We got to FOB Fenty with no issues and the following night we left Fenty to head back to BAF. However, about 3 hours into our drive we were told to turn around and head back because the mountain passes were too icy and the risk wasn't worth a life. One of the cool things about Fenty was the location of the transient tents in relation to the DFAC. Every day I got to cross the flight line to go eat or do anything at the MWR so I got to see all the aircraft up close and see them take off and land. I kept thinking to myself that I missed my calling, that I should have been a pilot like my grandfather and uncle.
We got back to Fenty around 3am and made it into our tent by 330am. I woke up around 615am to the loudest explosion I had ever heard. The alarm went off and everyone scrambled for their gear. As I made my way outside, I saw a plume of black smoke billowing from where one of the gates to the base was located. Eventually I learned that there was two suicide bombers driving two cars toward the gate. The first was to detonate to blast a hole in the gate and the second was to drive as far into the base as it could and detonate. This same thing happened at another base not too long ago. Depending on how you look at it, we were fortunate that these terrorists were not too bright and the second car followed too closely behind the first so when the fist detonated his car, that explosion caused the second to go off as well. Sadly there were a few Afghani Soldiers who were killed in the blast.
Because of the protests outside of BAF and the bomb that hit the gate at JAF, we were put on water rations, to include not being allowed to shower. This was done because not 100% of all water treatment can occur on base since there isn't enough room. So instead there is a facility not far off base that takes care of the water. Because of the protests and bombing, the hired individuals (Afghani) were not allowed on base for a few days causing a backup of blackwater. What did this mean to me? I didn't have a lot of clothes so add that to not being able to shower for 4 days.....I smelled like fresh roses.....
This trip was different than the last though. I was asked by my battalion commander to go with him to visit the unit I had deployed to BAF to see how they were doing and to go on a convoy. Yes, go on a convoy. My second trip to Afghanistan I chose not to inform my family back home about this event simply because I didn't want them to worry. Flying is always safer, a convoy that took us on the outskirts of Kabul a few days after the Quran 'burning' started riots probably wasn't something my family would want to hear. They also probably wouldn't have wanted to hear that the night before I left on this convoy there was an operation conducted by an air weapons team that had spotted insurgents setting up an ambush site. The Apaches and fast movers (F16s) in the area engaged them with 4 hell fire missiles and a 500lb bomb killing all 21 insurgents, and ultimately saving anyone traveling along that route. The convoy took roughly eight hours, entirely at night, through the mountains between BAF and Jalallabad Airfield (JAF) also known as FOB Fenty. The roads here are completely different that the roads of Iraq, especially through the mountains. With sheer cliffs on one side of the road, we hugged the inside lane as best we could. Plenty of times we would pass civilian trucks within inches of each other with hairpin turns pushing on coming traffic closer than you'd want it to be. One of the more intense moments was when we came up to the switchbacks. The vehicles we were driving couldn't make the turn without having to back up a few times....but when you pull as far forward as you can before the road ends and you know that if you go another inch you'll end up tumbling down a mountainside, you learn to trust your driver! We got to FOB Fenty with no issues and the following night we left Fenty to head back to BAF. However, about 3 hours into our drive we were told to turn around and head back because the mountain passes were too icy and the risk wasn't worth a life. One of the cool things about Fenty was the location of the transient tents in relation to the DFAC. Every day I got to cross the flight line to go eat or do anything at the MWR so I got to see all the aircraft up close and see them take off and land. I kept thinking to myself that I missed my calling, that I should have been a pilot like my grandfather and uncle.
We got back to Fenty around 3am and made it into our tent by 330am. I woke up around 615am to the loudest explosion I had ever heard. The alarm went off and everyone scrambled for their gear. As I made my way outside, I saw a plume of black smoke billowing from where one of the gates to the base was located. Eventually I learned that there was two suicide bombers driving two cars toward the gate. The first was to detonate to blast a hole in the gate and the second was to drive as far into the base as it could and detonate. This same thing happened at another base not too long ago. Depending on how you look at it, we were fortunate that these terrorists were not too bright and the second car followed too closely behind the first so when the fist detonated his car, that explosion caused the second to go off as well. Sadly there were a few Afghani Soldiers who were killed in the blast.
Because of the protests outside of BAF and the bomb that hit the gate at JAF, we were put on water rations, to include not being allowed to shower. This was done because not 100% of all water treatment can occur on base since there isn't enough room. So instead there is a facility not far off base that takes care of the water. Because of the protests and bombing, the hired individuals (Afghani) were not allowed on base for a few days causing a backup of blackwater. What did this mean to me? I didn't have a lot of clothes so add that to not being able to shower for 4 days.....I smelled like fresh roses.....
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