The Official wish me luck in Afghanistan thread

[gaelic cowboy]

Bad form Kadagar 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....

[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

[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.

[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... 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/worl...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?

[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]

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.

[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.

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