So it is the day after Thanksgiving here in the "Ghan". We had a big Thanksgiving meal which was interesting to say the least. They had the standard stuff along with a entire turkey made of butter and a ship made out of wood that contained shrimp cocktails.
I am on a Midnight to Noon Shift so it kind of feels like one day running into the other.I sleep from about 2pm to 9pm ideally but when people come in and out of the tent it becomes a little difficult especially when a man comes in because they apparently have to yell as loud as possible something like, "Man on Deck!! or Man in the hole!!. Whatever it is it wakes me up and I want to let them know that I, personally do not care if a man is in the tent. I don't make it a habit to walk around in the public tent indecent so therefore, he can speak quietly. My room is a mess at this time due to the fact that all my stuff is now here and I have to pack it somewhere. I plan to take apart my bottom bunk and make it a desk/storage area. My Battalion Aid Station or BAS is under major organization. We literally have turned it upside down and made it more functional. I have a desk area and bookshelves in the back so I can now have a place to work and study. We have a coffee maker, fridge, and microwave. I have put of Christmas lights already to be festive. I have my PA, MAJ Baumgartner with me working the opposite shift, and 4 medics. We all are about the same age except one medic who is 24 so we get along. We have decided on doing a dirty Santa for Christmas which will be interesting since we will probably buy the stuff at some Hajdi store on the FOB.
Hopefully, I will start flying since all my flight gear has arrived. The area is very pretty and unique. It is surrounded by mountains that now have snow on them. The landscape leading up to the mountains in rolling hills of sand. There is no green. When the moon is out it is brilliant and the stars here are clearer than I have ever seen. You can see the entire constellation of Orion and not just his belt
Love,
caton
I flew for the first time yesterday. It was just a training mission for about 3 hours but is was really awesome. It was also extremely cold up flying at around 9,000ft above sea level. This picture to the left is out of the right side of the blackhawk I was flying with. The silhouette is the door gunner/crew chief. I went out with two Warrant Officers named Mr. Pankey from Alabama and Mr. Easterwood. The landscape here is truly beautiful with rolling brown foot hills which look like sand dunes from far away with a back drop of jutting mountains with snowcaps. There are little clay houses all over the place with a clay wall surrounding each property. Mr. Pankey said that during the night the families bring in all the pigs, chickens, and other animals into the house to sleep so they do not freeze. It is weird to see all the houses because when I flew in to FOB Shank at night there were no lights or signs of habitation. There is little to no electricity. Peppering the villages are random huge bright houses that stick out like a sore thumb. They are westernized houses, two stories, and usually painted a really bright color like red or blue. There is very little greenery in the area but it looks like that a lot of the land is farmed and maintained.
