The Official wish me luck in Afghanistan thread

[Major Robert Dump]

Someone died and they need a replacement pronto. I volunteered 8 days ago. Today I cleared. Friday the 5th I start mobilization. March 21 Camp Aderbury. March 24 in beautiful downtown Gardez City, Afghanistan. 6-12 month assignment. No drinking, no strip clubs. God help me.

[JAG]

Let me be the first to say my friend - good luck and keep your head down.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Good luck, and stay safe.

CR

[Furunculus]

best of luck, and have fun. my cousin did, so it's not impossible. :)

[Strike For The South]

Good Luck, thank you, and for Gods sake make it back in one phyiscal and mental peice

[Myrddraal]

Stay safe.

[Sarmatian]

Be safe and bring democracy and prosperity there, if it's at all possible.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Be well. Do good. Keep in touch. Stay safe!

[edyzmedieval]

Oh no. Major, please keep your head down, be brave but not foolish, and STAY SAFE. Please do not end up in a coffin.

Drop us a report any time.

[ajaxfetish]

Best to you, MRD. Come back unharmed.

Ajax

[Csargo]

Don't die.

[Subotan]

There's not much I can add to what has been said. But yeah, stay safe.

[drone]

Good luck and keep safe. :bow: If you find OBL, give him a kick in the groin for me.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Good luck mate. :bow:

[Aemilius Paulus]

Best of luck. :bow: Your cause is right, which is more than I can say for the troops deployed in Iraq.


Now, where is HoreTore? :laugh::laugh::laugh:



So, is there any chance will you have access to Internet & computers on the base?

[johnhughthom]

Make sure you come back safe, I still find your name amusing no matter how many times I see it.

[Beefy187]

Good luck and stay safe :bow:

[Centurion1]

be safe and tell me how it is........ ima end up there soon enough.

oh say hi to my cousin for me though you appear to be a bit too upper echelon for him. :wink:

[CrossLOPER]

Go, but return.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

God Bless and keep you safe, and may your family cope successfully in your absence.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Be safe, man. :bow:

[Lemur]

Be safe, be strong, and don't forget to drop us a line when you aren't cruising for pr0n on the base laptop.

[KukriKhan]

Good luck and keep safe. :bow: If you find OBL, give him a kick in the groin for me.

Yeah. You're old enough to know what to do, my friend. Stick with the guys who know what they're doing, stay away from the idiots, do the right thing - even when nobody's looking - and get back here safe and sound. God Bless.

[PanzerJaeger]

Thank you for your service to our nation. :bow:

[spmetla]

Good luck stay safe! Try to enjoy the sights and to ignore the smells.

[Gregoshi]

Thank you MRD. Stay alert, do right by us and the Afghans, make the most of the experience, check in with us when you can and come back in one piece. :bow:

[Brenus]

Good luke but help it keeping you safe.

[Fragony]

Yikes, stay safe

[KukriKhan]

Hey, random thought: make up a plain vanilla Facebook page so we can check on you. DoD lets GIs on there now. Don't need to post anything - you might not have time - but just logging in once a week or so will let us know you're OK (your last login date will be visible to us). That was the "no muss, no fuss" way I checked on my Sgt-son in Iraq (only we used MySpace).

Just an idea.

[CountArach]

Good luck and stay safe. The Org will keep your space warm.

[pevergreen]

MRD you dirty :daisy:

What about the love we shared? The terrible ping I'd have and the terrible connection you'd have, yet we'd still happily kill zombies together.

You were my brother in zombie blood, and before that, my Made gangster in the original CDTC. We may have died quickly in that, but you won't. You aint allowed to. You're required to get back when you do and play silly computer games with me.

And thats an order.

:bow:

[naut]

Stay safe.

[Sarmatian]

You guys realize what this means? We now have an inside man in Afghanistan, we can get first hand reports, make informed decisions and steer the country to go any way we want it. The influence of the org is expanding. Today Afghanistan, tomorrow the world! :sneaky:

[Ironside]

Good luck and stay safe. :bow:

[Jolt]

You guys realize what this means? We now have an inside man in Afghanistan, we can get first hand reports, make informed decisions and steer the country to go any way we want it. The influence of the org is expanding. Today Afghanistan, tomorrow the world! :sneaky:

I can already imagine the .org getting an influx of Afghans!

MRD will be there spreading the .org through the Afghans and Talibans alike!

Good luck and kick those :daisy: fanatics out of Afghanistan. :bow:

[gaelic cowboy]

Take care of yourself and come back ok

[Fisherking]

Good Luck is with you!

All the best.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Getting bored and looking for some adventure, eh? Remember your training and what they say about complacency. Good luck and look forward to hearing from you on your return.

[Husar]

Good luck and good senses.

Wish you could tuck that .org funniest member award ribbon to your chest while you're there but some heretics are voting for someone else. ~;)

Oh, and listen to Kukri, make a Facebook page but don't put pictures on it unless you can use a gun and a camera at the same time.
And be nice to the Afghans!

[CountArach]

You guys realize what this means? We now have an inside man in Afghanistan, we can get first hand reports, make informed decisions and steer the country to go any way we want it. The influence of the org is expanding. Today Afghanistan, tomorrow the world! :sneaky:
Don't forget the access to drug smuggling.

[Hax]

Stay safe and may you alleviate some of the suffering that is going on there.

:bow:

[Askthepizzaguy]

Best wishes, come back soon and safe.

[Ser Clegane]

All the best, good luck, stay safe and try to bring back mostly good memories

:bow:

[Centurion1]

I can already imagine the .org getting an influx of Afghans!

MRD will be there spreading the .org through the Afghans and Talibans alike!

Good luck and kick those fanatics out of Afghanistan.

our prophet shall spread our word.

Praise Tosa and Ser for they are the true gods and moderators are his avenging angels.


(yeah ill wipe the brown off my own nose thanks very much :wink:)

[Kralizec]

Good luck with your assignment.

Just voted for you as HOF 2009's funniest member. Stay sharp...or better yet, blunt :bow:

[Kagemusha]

Take care and be safe MRD.:bow:

[seireikhaan]

Take care, MRD. May fortune be with you.

[Tellos Athenaios]

The best of luck,

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Eyes and tackle, eyes and tackle. Keeep both safe, and try to keep all your fingers and toes as well!

Good luck.

[Beskar]

For some reason, I keep thinking this thread is a troll. I just can't see MRD signing up in the army.

[al Roumi]

Good luck, stay safe.

[Major Robert Dump]

No troll.

Currently at Camp Gruber, a training base for National Guard soldiers in Oklahoma. Being here reminds me why I prefer the Guard over the full time Army. The soldiers here are professional, knowledgeable (a lot of former full timers/marines/etc) and most importantly they are not bitter and miserable like the people I meet at large Army bases.

The instructors here are compensating for my lack of knowledge in certain things, and giving me a pass on other things that I am already well versed in. This would never happen in the real Army. I'm a prior combat medic, certified EMT and when I branched officer I went Transportation...so guess what classes I don't need? I don't need Combat Life Saver (a tier below combat medic, but still hasn't stopped me from having to take the classes at army bases multiple times after being a medic) and I don't need vanilla Convoy Operations training because I am a convoy commander by trade. So these instructors here let me skip those classes, they check the box, and they train me in something I do need. Meanwhile, the guy who is going with me is a prior Artilleryman, so he gets to skip call for fire instruction. This saves time and gets us off early for the day, so we can take care of personal business related to deployment. Would never happen this way at Ft Hood or Bliss.

Oddly enough, I will be performing neither of the aforementioned jobs in the Stan.

One more week here, then a couple days off. 19th We fly to Aderbury. We don't gt the luxury of sendig ur gear over in advace, so it looks like I will be boarding a commercial flight with armybags, armor, an M-4 and a 9mm. I'm sure the civilians won't mind a bit.

Not sure when I fly out of CONUS. Depends on how long Aderbury takes for things like glasses, dentist, etc. Will likely fly to Uzbekistan an go t Gardez via bird.

[Subotan]

Don't get boiled in Uzbekistan.

[Banquo's Ghost]

I'm late, but let me wish you the very best of fortune in your endeavours and please return safe and sound. I hope you will take Kukri's wise advice and find a way to let everyone know you're safe.

Take care, MRD. You'll be missed hereabouts.

[Kadagar_AV]

Good luck!

Try and do some good, will you?

EDIT BY CA: Removed inappropriate part of the post. Think about what you post before you post it.

[drone]

I hope you will take Kukri's wise advice and find a way to let everyone know you're safe.

If possible, just log onto the .Org. We should get an updated "Last Activity" date, right? And if you want to give us any mundane details, use the new blog feature. I want pictures of Afghani camels, at the least!

[Major Robert Dump]

Content removed

Good luck!

Try and do some good, will you?


I do not understand one bit your post

[Furunculus]

I do not understand one bit your post

nor do i.

[Askthepizzaguy]

I do not understand one bit your post

I believe that is his way of protesting the killing of Afghans, and is saying to you in the harshest of terms not to do that. I think it's quite rude and in very poor taste to wish that upon a soldier, especially when he is shipping off to war. But this is what we are to listen to in a free society. Just remember that without brave folks like yourself defending free nations from the aggressors here, Al Qaeda and the Taleban, we never would have the right to say such things. Also take note of the overwhelming support found on this page.

Just stay focused, keep your head down, be ready to do what you need to do to survive. Don't worry about this politics.

[Strike For The South]

Content removed

Good luck!

Try and do some good, will you?

Removed

[gaelic cowboy]

Bad form Kadagar :thumbsdown: it is your right and people like MRD will fight so you can say it but still bad form

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well, the rules of the free world do not apply to our benevolent overlord Tosa...

[CountArach]

Everything is dealt with. If you see a post that you find to be horribly inappropriate, please use the report post button on the bottom left set of buttons. This makes it easier for us to find the posts faster.

Thanks guys, now back to the well-wishing.

[Cute Wolf]

Good luck! wish you come back alive and completely healthy.... :bow:

[G. Septimus]

good luck!!!
ARMY STRONG, remember?
BTW, were you deployed with the Marines, or The Army?

[Kurando]

I remember many years ago before 9/11 one of the original org members, IRONLUNG, took off to join the USMC and was at the FBI academy training when all this stuff started. I often wonder what became of him. So let's not leave us all wondering about you! Keep in touch Dumpster and watch your rumpster!

[ICantSpellDawg]

Yeeeehaaaw!!! Intelectualize their posteriors!!! Ahheeeyuuuk!

Good luck!

[Major Robert Dump]

good luck!!!
ARMY STRONG, remember?
BTW, were you deployed with the Marines, or The Army?

Army. I am a 2LT (P) which means I am really a 1LT but my federal recognition packet hasn't been processed because they are behind by 67 days and counting. It's not just me, thoough, my entire OCS class is on the same boat.

I will be part of a team going into the rural areas to teach people how to farm and trade surplus. My primary role will be to go into villages ahead of time and and talk to tribal leaders so they allow us to come in and train their people. I will also be convincing them to send their youths into the college in Gardez City, teaching economics, english, and basic hygeine to children. I will be taking lots of pictures, doing an occasional press conference, etc. While our team is not looking for combat, they do come under fire a lot, obviously, and when that happens we will kill them and drive on. A FOBBIT I will not be.

Anyone interested can google "Oklahoma National Guard ADT"

The one cool thing is that our small group is led by a full bird colonel and lt colonel, which means my commander is the same rank as the FOB commander, which means our team will not be pulled to fill holes in the regular army. We have a very specific mission, and the mission just happens to be the baby of the theatre commander.

Leave for Indiana tomorrow for final mobilization. No idea when or how I will be travelling over, but looks like around a week on a mail plane. Yay.

[CountArach]

I will be taking lots of pictures, doing an occasional press conference, etc. While our team is not looking for combat, they do come under fire a lot, obviously, and when that happens we will kill them and drive on. A FOBBIT I will not be.
We have to figure out a codeword for you to use as a shout-out to the Org. That would be amazing.

Good luck with the final mobilisation, and once again I hope everything goes well :bow:

[drone]

We have to figure out a codeword for you to use as a shout-out to the Org. That would be amazing.

If he can work in a "Gah!", that would be awesome. :yes:

[G. Septimus]

well, good luck then on those villiage heads,
I don't want anyone from the ".ORG" to die , or heavily wounded

[al Roumi]

in detail,
wut Division, Regiment, and Battalion
sorry, just asking

Er, I don't think he can post that here... :dizzy: perhaps a PM would be more appropriate?

[Prince Cobra]

Good luck there!

[Furunculus]

interesting interview with an ex helmand taliban, put here for general interest:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7530164/Taliban-fighters-are-conditioned-to-die-in-battle-claims-former-insurgent.html

[Megas Methuselah]

You're probably overseas by now, but if by some miracle you can read this, then good. Don't be afraid to put your trust in God, as the Creator provides for all. I'll include you in my prayers, soldier.

Micwach, nichiimeyagh.

[Major Robert Dump]

Apparently it's a little harder to catch a flight across the pond than initially anticipated. Been on standby for a 3/30 flight out of CONUS for 6 days now. They are saying the surge has overwhelmed assets in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and people are sleeping in hallways and on floors while waiting for their transportation into the theater. Regardless of where they send me, I will be there a week waiting for a trip out. The waiting sucks, but at least the USO here is good, they had some hawt chic comedienne the other night who did a show and hung out afterwards, her entire routine was about testicles. My kind of girl.

[Megas Methuselah]

Damn mang. You got me all serious for nothin? :clown:

[Major Robert Dump]

Did not get a spot on the flight. Trans is telling us the soonest they can get us an official booking is the 13th, with two possible standby boardings next week. Seriously, we have been ready since the 23rd. I sleep, go to the gym, eat, and watch television all day. go to the gym, eat, poop, sleep. Like I said in one of my first posts, the Guard sending over individual replacements is kind of rare, so I'm guessing they did not anticipate this or they would not have rushed my butt out of Oklahoma so quickly. Kind of comical when you think about it. And to think, I committed suicide in the Dark Falls mafia game

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Good to know that we haven't discarded "hurry up and wait" in favor of some modern claptrap.

[KukriKhan]

Good to know that we haven't discarded "hurry up and wait" in favor of some modern claptrap.

Indeed. I once spent 2 weeks in El Paso, on the taxpayers' dime, waiting for a 'space available' flight to a 4-day job in Honduras. Gawd... that was 30 years ago, I just realized. Some stuff doesn't change.

-edit-
Maybe it's gotten better in the past 30 years, but here's some advice anyway: you're an individually-mobilized 2LT, so it'll be easy for you to slip through the cracks as far as personnel and finance guys are concerned; so: carefully watch your pay, get receipts for everything and keep them tucked away, keep a log of all travel and down-time, and ALWAYS report in to someone, even it's it just a local PFC CQ and you sign his log. Make friends with whoever does the input to the finance and HR systems. Also with cooks, supply guys and mail clerks.

[Major Robert Dump]

Actually, I'm a LT now.

And as it turns out there is a massive conference on base this week for exactly the type of mission I am going to be in, and my replacements from Oklahoma are attending. Since I obviously never got to attend the first conference, I am attending this one and making some good connections. Unfortunately, the overall program is run by civilians and contractors and they are trying to teach us like we are civilians and contractors and there have been a lot of shouting matches in these classes between GS-15s and 06s. I will probably skip tomorrows classes because of the way things went today. Monday and Tuesday were good, though.

[InsaneApache]

:beatnik: Good luck man.

[KukriKhan]

Colonels. Gotta love 'em.Especially the ones not bucking for a Star - statistically, 2-thirds of 'em, though half don't know it yet.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

.... Make friends with whoever does the input to the finance and HR systems. Also with cooks, supply guys and mail clerks.

This is very sound advice. Actually, this is pretty damn good advice for anyone anywhere in any organization.

[Major Robert Dump]

I sat in this morning with a bunch of Lt. Cols ( replacement team has 5 of them, and a col, for a 64 man team LOL) who were giving their strategic vision of how certain operations would unfold when they get there and how to improve on the current teams actions.

Let me just say that I am very happy I did not get selected to go with this team, and was instead selected to rush over and join up with the first one. It was also not the least bit surprising -- although unexpected -- to hear such things from 30 year vets with no deployments

On the plus side, I got a handy dandy Pashtu language CD that plays like a video game. I am also taking my micro-recorders to record everything+translation so I can double verify my translations with other translators in the event that I work with nationals as my translators (which is most likely).

Got my third issue of CIF so now I have triple of everything. Oklahoma didn't isue me everything, had to get a second issue here and the civilians who run CIF dont like to give out onesies and twosies, so they make you take an entire issue. Total crap. Then I learn from theatre that there is some new, required equipment that we need to take to the stan and that we should have never gotten the second issue, and instead should have gotten just this third issue which is, again, everything including what I already have. So now I have 3 of everything. Turning one set in today and mailing the other home., Jeebus. I hate these civilians. I had to go get the CWO4 from the 2nd OK team that is visiting to go bash heads and get me my new issue when I learned I would be getting all new stuff in Kuwait. I said "why not just get it here, so I don't carry over my stuff and have to mail it back" and the civilians gave me this whole "we arent gonna open up to issue 2 people" crap and a little "you need to modify your state orders to show x y and z" crap.....anyway, got it done, showed up, unhappy, snotty civilians who actually had the gall to try to shake my hand after making me jump through hoops for 11 days to get my issue. Had I left on the 7th I would currently be in Kuwait or Turkey with 3-4 additional bags, all of which I would have to pay to have mailed back to CONUS. Jerks.

[drone]

So, situation normal then?

[Major Robert Dump]

Yes. Perfectly normal I dare say. And after rushing me out of Oklahoma on a 9 day notice, I now sit here with a brand, spanking new pass. They initially suggested I take leave and go home, to which I scoffed. They rush me out here, they can feed and house me. No way I am paying to go home and using up leave time. So instead I took a pass, got a 15PAX from Trans and am now deciding whether I should go to Indianapolis and play the how-many-strippers-can-you-fit-into-a-government-van game. I will probably end up playing the going-to-a-movie-and-getting-drunk-alone-in-a-cheap-motel game instead.

[drone]

How long do you have on the pass? Go to Indy, check out the Final 4 scene. Go in uniform, maybe you can score some tickets or at least some free booze. :2thumbsup:

[Major Robert Dump]

I have until Tuesday. Forgot about the games, maybe I will check it out.

[KukriKhan]

Go in uniform, maybe you can score some tickets or at least some free booze. :2thumbsup:

Didn't work for me in the 70's, but DID in the 80's. Go figger.

[Major Robert Dump]

Coupe de Tat (sp?) in the country where I am supposed to land. Have been assured the base is secured, regardless what maniac is running the country. 4/13 still heading there. Incoming comments suggest the "surge" has caused a bit of a "surge" on rooms, bunks and general facilities and people are sleeping on floors and in hallways in an AFB. OMG, when an AFB is bad you know there must be horror. Thank god I have my woobie.

[Megas Methuselah]

Coup d'état. It's French.

Damn, man. That's terrible luck, to say the least. It seems to me you're already having a crazy-ass adventure before even landing in Afghanistan...

[Major Robert Dump]

Flight to Manas? Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike. Boarding pass says Wash to RM to Kuwait. Customs in Kuwait sucks. I swear I am never going to get there. Me and my buddy are the only 2 army on the plane. When all the AF peeps asked where we were going and we answered Manas they looked at us funny. Now I know why, as they are all headed to Kuwait.

[pevergreen]

Flight to Manas? Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike. Boarding pass says Wash to RM to Kuwait. Customs in Kuwait sucks. I swear I am never going to get there. Me and my buddy are the only 2 army on the plane. When all the AF peeps asked where we were going and we answered Manas they looked at us funny. Now I know why, as they are all headed to Kuwait.

You can't catch a break. :laugh4:

[KukriKhan]

Flight to Manas? Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike. Boarding pass says Wash to RM to Kuwait. Customs in Kuwait sucks. I swear I am never going to get there. Me and my buddy are the only 2 army on the plane. When all the AF peeps asked where we were going and we answered Manas they looked at us funny. Now I know why, as they are all headed to Kuwait.

Does my old enlisted heart good to see an Officer participating in "FOD Walk" (we used to call "Police Call"): picking up trash and debris on a flight line.

https://jimcee.homestead.com/publishImages/GrapeDay~~element53.jpg

Enjoy beautiful downtown Manas - the Airbase not allowed to be called an Airbase. Have a great flight.

[drone]

I was in the barber shop last night, they had Fox News[sic] on the TV. I saw on the ticker line: CENTCOM Gen. David Petraeus says political upheaval in Kyrgyzstan hasn't slowed the arrival of the reinforcements President Barack Obama ordered for the Afghanistan war.

I immediately thought of MRD's latest post, and lol'ed. Tough break, dude. ~:handball:

[Major Robert Dump]

In country.

Internet is not widely available to me except the governement version, with which I cannot access this site.

Been all over the past week, kind of awesome, kind of suck. Arrive at my home for next 6 months in a few days, will relay and maybe post pics then. Lots to talk about.

For those of you who work for the enemy and wish me ill, stop drooling, as nothing I post will help you kill me.

[Megas Methuselah]

Enjoy yourself, brotha. Take heart, and do some good things in the mess the USA made for ya. :clown:

[Kadagar_AV]

Good luck!

I hope you dont kill anyone.
I hope you dont get killed.
I hope you dont do anything who would have someone wanting to kill you.

But then, I am sure you have got over your very extremist views displayed in a previous topic and now go there to be a true humanitarian, entering a foreign country with all your military expertice ready to do good.

Don't forget to bring your bible (if you feel you need it), and extra socks (you can sweat away 3 pairs a day there).

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Having wished him well -- and in my case tossed in a prayer or two as well -- we will now close this thread.

MRD, stay safe, and PLEASE send us pics etc. when you can.