Bagram

                I’m in Afghanistan, I have made it to the location of the new headquarters for Trail Defense Service office Centcom, (they just recently moved here from Iraq).  Here is where I would meet some of the people I will be working with for the next few months/year (depending on when they are redeploying).  It was later in the evening when I got in and I have a couple numbers to call and try and reach people who were to help me with the next leg of the trip.  However, getting off the flight was, in my opinion, a very disorganized affair.  We’ve been doing this for over nine years shouldn’t this be like clockwork?  Anyway, we filed off the flight and down toward the “terminal”  it is cold and there is a lot of noise going on outside but this is where the Air force Sergeant decided was the best place to try and yell information at us.  It wasn’t working very well.  Eventually we figured out that he needed all of our ID cards so they could scan them in, then we were pretty much on your own as to what to do next, he was no help.  So the SGT took our ID’s and scan us in at the base, however this wasn’t helpful with regards to what else we were suppose to do, and it didn’t help us all standing out in the cold waiting for him to bring a stack of over 100 ID Cards back out and pass them out to everyone.  So we found the cargo fright with our baggage on it, I got mine off and went to another area outside with some concrete barriers and set my baggage down.  I then decided to find a DSN phone (again I don’t know what it stands for but it is the military phone system) and try and get in touch with someone from the TDS office there.

                Ah, another person…So I found a phone after having to ask a few people and getting directed to a few different places and I called the TDS office where coincidently the new Senior Defense Counsel I would be working for answered the phone.  He too was stuck in Bagram and trying to figure out how to make it to Kabul.  There was also another CPT from a different office in Afghanistan there who was also trapped in Bargram and had been trying to fly out for three days but flights to his base continued to get cancelled.  (Things are not looking good for me right now)  It was nice though they were able to borrow a vehicle for the main SJA office on base and drove the couple blocks to come and pick me and my baggage up.  That night a slept at the TDS office and would figure out in the morning what my next step was going to be.



My bed



                So my first night in Afghanistan,  at a new place, with new people.  I made it to the midnight chow time at the DFAC, and got some dinner/breakfast, or whatever meal you want to call that.  Then I cleaned up, luckily the bathrooms were only across the street from the JAG office, I got online quickly to let family know that I had made it that far and off to bed I went.  Where did I sleep you ask?  On the hardwood floor of one of the offices in TDS, I used the poncho liner I brought as my blanket and for a pillow I had my backpack (it was pretty hard) and my fleece wadded up, until it got to cold and I had to put it on to help stay warm.  But honestly after the few exhausting days and the lack of sleep I was running on, it was actually alright sleep, I can’t say it was good, honestly I can’t say I’ve had good sleep since I left home but it was better than I had up to that point, even on the dirty hard wood floor.    

                So the next morning I woke up with only a slight idea of where everything was, but I was the only one up.  The other two guys who also slept in the office that night (all different offices) were still asleep.  So I got my toiletries together and went to the bathhouse and cleaned up, I think decided to make my way back to the DFAC, assuming I could find it, for some breakfast.  I found it and had a little bit to eat.  By the time I got back to the TDS office some of the other JAGs and paralegals who worked there had begun to arrive.  I finally was able to meet them and talk with them in person and not just over email.  But, they had clients coming in and they had been in their routine for a while, not use to new people coming in so I was still kind of on my own.  The wonderful paralegal there did help me start to figure out how to get to Kabul.  The problem was that the earliest it looked like it was going to be possible was Friday, which as I write this is today.  Seems like forever ago that we were looking at travel.  Anyway, after that I talked with a couple of the people then I just kind of felt in the way, so I decided to go and try and find one of my friends who was on base there with the main SJA office to help and show me around.  She was much more understanding of being in a new place and alone. 

                Ah, help!  She was very helpful, she came out of her office, luckily it was her morning off she just happened to stop by to take care of a few things, and so she was able to walk around with me and show me the PX.  We stopped in and I got a second blanket and a pillow so that I wouldn’t have to scrounge again if I was going to be trapped on a wood floor for a while.  We also went for coffee, yes they have coffee shops at almost all the FOBs (forward operating bases).  While we were there we ran into a classmate of ours from the JAG school.  It was interesting hearing them talk, and a bit unnerving too.  I have constantly looked at this as an adventure, and I truly believe everyplace you are is what you make it.  Don’t get me wrong there are good things and then there are some really bad places and things, but it is all about what you do with it that makes your time good or bad.  All I can say is it is going to be difficult, but I am going to keep a positive attitude about being here.  I really and truly know this is where I am called to be right now.  But I want to keep that attitude and I know it is not going to be easy, this is not paradise that is for sure, but I have a lot to look forward to.  Plenty of time to spend in the gym, my goal is to be in great running shape by the time I leave, regimented meals so I get use to only eating at certain times instead of whenever I want and how many times I want, and a lot of walking from place to place, I have gotten lazy, getting in my car for a short time rather than just putting on my tennis shoes and walking there.  I am going to be a stronger person after this and a better person for this.

                Nevertheless, back to the story, I couldn’t be more thankful for that my classmate was there, she was a huge comfort and blessing and very helpful.  She really told me what to expect and how to cope with certain things, and as she stated, women here really have to stick together because there are a lot fewer of us.  I’m glad she was around.