I wonder where the half-hour goes

It's been...not very long at all since my last update - a few days. But it feels like longer. I'm in country now; got here a few days ago. Generally I think this place is what you'd expect. The base I'm on is enormous, and without a means of transportation (yet) one of the challenges is the amount of walking you do. I've probably been averaging 8 miles a day, not counting my morning run. Actually, the problem is less the amount than the surface you walk on, which is usually either a fine dust/dirt or gravel made of fist-sized rocks. Not good for the weak-ankled. But even though I'm sore, I'm already starting to get over that as my body adjusts.

Ok enough complaining. The best way to describe this place is probably to give you "a day in the life"...at least so far.

I get up really early, even by Marine Corps standards. I'm usually out running by about 4 AM. I run 3-4 miles around a nearby construction site. Then I head back to my room to pick up my shower stuff. I live, currently, with 9 other guys in a room no larger than 400 sq ft. But I'm never there except to sleep so it's not too bad, and it should get better once the units we're replacing head home (I'm excited for them - they've worked hard and deserve a break).

Showering involves a treck to the shower tent or trailer (former = hot water, little privacy; latter = cold water, better privacy). Then back to the room, dress and head to chow. While the heads (bathrooms) and showers leave something to be desired, the chow hall is great. Good selection, food generally edible or better, fresh veggies at the salad bar, decent amount of healthy options.

From there it's off to work. So far this has involved a lot of trecking around, as I've said, since I don't have regular phone or e-mail access (yet) and my job involves coordinating with lots of other units. I try to wrap up my day around 5 or 6 pm and track down some of my friends for dinner. They're about to take over 24 hour ops at their jobs (in shifts of course), which makes me appreciate my freedom of movement and ability to set my own agenda that much more. I'm thinking a two-hour siesta after lunch every day.

Finally, I commence rack ops around 8 or 9 pm, and start it all over again the next day. In country, every day is Monday.

As far as my job, I can't share much in detail but I definitely have enough to keep me busy. I'll be here for at least the next few weeks getting to know my areas of responsibility on base, and then branch out to other places to take a look at what they've got going on. I know this is comically vague but even things that might be OK to share in person are better left off the Internet, obviously.

Well I think that's about it. I've got very limited Internet and phone access for at least the next few weeks, so it will be a while before I can post pictures, etc. If you want to send me stuff, I've posted my address previously, but there isn't too much I need. The PX (base convenience store type thing) is like a trip to a medieval bazaar, but I can generally find what I need, with a few augments sent by mail from my family. Since I don't have Facebook access though, if you want to be in touch, e-mail or this blog are the way to go (leftofrightsite.blogspot.com for those reading this on FB).

Oh, if you're wondering about the title to this post: it's currently 7:20 AM local, and 10:50 PM Eastern. Why Afghan time is a half-hour off from the rest of the world is a mystery to me, but it's a fact that seems full of potential as a metaphor.

Is this where the 1/2 hour goes?

Short layover in the past

My friends know that I've never really been a fan of country music. Today for the first time I learned to appreciate it.

I'm writing this while sitting in a big bar straight out of Heartbreak Ridge, on a U.S. military base in one of the 'stans that seems still to still be nursing a post-Soviet hangover. Somehow, surrounded by members of all the US military services as well as some foreign troops (most notably, Poles), "Should Have Been A Cowboy" and even "All My Exes Live in Texas" put me in a distinctly and comfortingly American mood.

---

We left San Diego many hours ago - I have no idea how many and with all the time zone changes I'm not really sure how many days have passed. About two, I think, since then it was Monday there and now it's Wednesday here. We flew overnight and arrived in Bangor, ME, where no matter the time of day or night there are always volunteers to greet troops - outbound or inbound. We knew they'd be there, and we weren't looking forward to that awkward moment when someone says "thanks for your service" and you say...you're welcome? No problem? If you knew what I do in the Marine Corps, you'd find someone more worthy to thank?

That last sentiment is one felt by pretty much every Marine I know, no matter their job, and it's one that, I think, causes many of us to avoid as much as possible those conversations with civilians. This time, I'm glad we didn't. It felt good to know that someone got up early in the morning just to be there to shake my hand.

Then we stepped off U.S soil for the last time for a while, and landed a few hours later in Shannon, Ireland. Join the Marine Corps, I heard someone say, and see the world...'s airport terminals. I had the best Smithwick's I've ever had, and flirted with a cute Irish blonde who thought I was "21 or maybe 22." Paid in Euros.

Then back on the plane, a DC-10 (pics to follow in a later post) crammed full of Marines including my once and future unit, MASS-3 (nice to be flying with friends). Seven hours later a day had passed, and we landed, again in the local morning, at our current location, which out of an overabundance of caution I'm not specifying online.

So in all, a long flight to nowhere, interesting only because I've got nothing better to do right now than make it so. Hope you enjoyed my first deployment ranting - many more to follow.

BRB

Well I'm heading out for a bit - be back before you know it. Pretty much the first question everyone asks on learning this is "how do you feel" or "are you excited" so here's how I feel: excited.

This is after all what I signed up to do. Out of the five other people I shared a room with at TBS (to pick a random sample of newish Marines) I'm the first to get to go, and I feel lucky to have the opportunity. I think we are doing far more good than harm in Afghanistan, both for Afghans and for our own interests, and I hope we can maintain our initiative there long enough to make our positive impact a durable one. I respect others' opinions but that's mine.

A little background info: I'll be in the 'stan for 13 months or so, arriving around the end of this week. Things will be intense at first but should ease up after a few months. I'll be in Helmand province, which is in southern Afg where the recent push in Marjah took place.


Hopefully I'll be arriving just in time to have the Pesach Seder in country. A Rabbi comes several times a year for the holidays, but when he's not there I've volunteered to be a Jewish lay leader, which will help keep me connected to my Judaism in a place not overflowing with Yiddishkeit.

Things I'm having a hard time imagining:

• no weekends for a year. war's a 24/7 kind of thing, apparently.
• the wind of 120 days
• life without my car
• missing the 2010 season (and #28)

Things I plan to do in my free time:

• Learn some Pashto
• Eat some authentic Afghan cuisine
• Finish my book
  
• Start a Kandahar branch of jdate

Things I'll do when I get back:

• Take a one month vacation
• Take a two month shower
• Rock the House harder
  
• Volunteer for a MEU (not right away)

Best show on TV

Many of you have generously asked how you can send me stuff while I'm there. I'll have all the basic necessities and then some, but if you think a tin of home-made cookies will raise my morale and that of my friends, you're probably on to something. My address:

2ndLt Me
MWHS-3 Det A (G-3)
Unit 41007
FPO AP 96427-1007

Packages take 3-6 weeks to arrive I'm told. Letters take from a few days up to ten. As for what to send me - use your imagination. The more personal it is, the better.

You can send me "instant" letters via www.motomail.us. I think this is more for Marines who don't have regular access to e-mail, which I should have, but hey if you want to use it, go nuts. Someone in Afg prints your message and it gets delivered to me like regular mail.

My cell will be shut off for the next year. If you call it you should get forwarded to a voicemail service which I'll be checking, but we'll see if that all works like it's supposed to.

I think that's about it. I'll post again next chance I get!

No better friend, no worse enemy.

The Green Prince: A True Palestinian Hero

Wow. If there were more Palestinians with Mosab Hassan Yousef's insight and courage, there would be peace in the Middle East already.

Haaretz exclusive: Hamas founder's son worked for Shin Bet for years

G-d, Country, Corps

From a Jewish retired Marine Col. I know:

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of the courses had a professor who was a devout atheist.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, “God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.”
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, “Here I am God. I'm still waiting.”
It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him, knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.
The other students were shocked, stunned, and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, “What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that?”
The Marine calmly replied, “God was too busy today protecting American troops who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me."

-----

As promised, I'm going to try to keep these updates more regular. I've added fiber to my diet, and that helps.

I'm back from EMV (Enhanced Mohave Viper, the big exercise in the desert). It was a great learning experience, and I got about 100 hours of controlling under my belt. The TRAP mission I mentioned last time was awesome - I got dropped off in the middle of nowhere with a Harrier pilot who was playing a "downed" pilot. Some Hueys came by, shot up some "enemy" near us (not too near) with rockets and guns, swooped in to pick us up, shot up some more enemy, and went home. They don't seem all that flashy but hueys, I learned first-hand, are very capable and maneuverable platforms.

I didn't have a camera with me, but google images did, so here's a huey...ours weren't nearly as clean and new-looking:

UH-1N Huey

The last few days of EMV were the best. The air traffic picked up, so I had to pay more attention to make sure I deconflicted aircraft from each other and from mortars/arty. We also did a few mock casevacs, which meant I was briefing a pilot on where he was going and other such info as he was lifting zone and en route.

In other news, it rained, biblically, in CA last week. There are large ponds in the desert where there was previously dust, and the mountains are snow-covered.

The desert

It's cold in the desert!

Also went to Palm Springs and played blackjack. I just can't lose at this game (I know, famous last words). Won back for my friend the $ she'd lost and called it a night.

Next week I start pre-deployment stuff down in Miramar. Oh yeah. I met my Gunny at 29Palms (the one who will be my chief in my wing billet) and he's great. 18 years in the Marine Corps and lots of experience in the kind of work we'll be doing. Any good 2ndLt knows how little he knows, and how much he needs dependable SNCO's to help and teach him, so I think I'm in good hands.

The adventure continues...

Sunset in Twentynine Palms

The adventure begins

Welcome...or welcome back. It's been a long time since I posted, but I wanted to start (again) using this space to bring people along for the Marine Corps ride that I've been on since the fall of 2008.

Since we last saw our hero in this here blog, a lot has happened. A quick (haha, you know me better than that) rundown:

In May, while still a student at The Basic School, I got my MOS. I am a 7208: Air Support Control Officer. Actually I got my top choice first - intel - but higher powers determined that with my many connections abroad, it would take too long for me to get clearance. My next choice was combat engineers but that was extremely competitive and I ended up with #3 (still not bad). The job is awesome and one to which I think I'm well-suited. Just as an air traffic controller (ATC) controls aircraft over the airfield, my job is to control aircraft over the battlefield, deconflicting them from one another, from other supporting fires and from enemy threats, in order to get them where they're needed (e.g. close air support, CasEvac, assault support, etc.). It's not a terribly difficult job under most circumstances, though in a high-tempo environment it can be challenging.

I State Your Name, Do Solemnly Swear...

In July, I graduated and took leave to see family, and then drove cross-country in 3 days (plus one spent at the Grand Canyon) to s. cali. If you've never seen the desert, I highly recommend it. I've never seen anything like sunset on the red rocks of Sedona, AZ.

The Grand Canyon

Sedona

In August, I reported to my unit - Marine Air Support Squadron 3 (MASS-3) based in Camp Pendleton, CA.

In September, after 6 weeks of on the job training at MASS-3, I went to air schools in 29Palms, CA - about two hours inland in the high desert. I learned a lot about friendly and enemy air assets, how to control aircraft without being able to see them (we don't use radar, which makes us a lot more versatile and expeditionary than we would otherwise be), and related stuff. I went to Vegas and gambled for the first time in my life, and somehow came out ahead. I watched the Yanks win #27 and lost my voice.

It's hot in the desert

In November, I finished air schools and went for a quick visit to Atlanta/Montgomery for Thanksgiving, where I went hunting for the first time and dropped a deer within my first hour (ok maybe 70 minutes). Watched my brother miss a buck at 50 yards, scope notwithstanding. A marksman not is he. Watched him and his wife have borderline coronaries before Alabama finally put away Auburn.

In December I went on leave again for the holidays and got to see my whole family for once. Watched Tebow cry. In NH I took the brothers to the range where I taught the middle one the basics of marksmanship (brass to the grass, pointy end toward the enemy/deer). In his defense I should say that he is pretty good with a bow, having killed numerous stationary targets (but no deer) in the eight years he's been using one. The youngest brother is no doubt a killer with his IDF-issued bullpup, but should not be allowed near a pistol. But I digress.

The youngest bro with his bullpup

While on leave I was offered - and accepted - the opportunity to deploy not with my unit, MASS-3, but with the Wing - the air equivalent of a division - in a billet outside my MOS. Erring on the side of caution, I won't post specifics here but just say that it's an opportunity I've been waiting for, in which, I'm told, I'll be working with and training Marines on security-related matters. The one drawback that I identified in my MOS even before I left TBS is that you don't get much of an opportunity to lead Marines - to train them in a specific mission and help them execute it. I think I'll have that chance in this billet.

So now it's January. Last week, I watched Alabama win #13. The tide rolls on. Now, I'm out at 29Palms again, this time supporting Enhanced Mohave Viper (EMV), the Marine Corps' biggest training exercise. My job is pretty easy - I talk to pilots and get them from point A to point B safely so they can support the troops on the ground. Two days ago, I got to go out with a FiST (Fire Support Team) and watch how they integrate supporting fires from mortars, artillery, and fixed and rotary wing aircraft. A day observing what they do, how they do it and what challenges they face in doing it is worth all the classroom instruction I've ever gotten on the FiST, and helps me understand what I can do in the DASC (Direct Air Support Center - the agency I work for when I'm controlling aircraft) to make their jobs easier. On Monday (MLK day) I'll watch choppers practice evading/returning ground fire, and then watch a TRAP mission (tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel). Cool stuff.

In February I'll leave EMV and actually get to sleep in my apartment for more than a few nights in a row, as I report to Miramar for pre-deployment training. Then, some time shortly thereafter (it's best not to be too specific online though it's hardly a secret) I'll deploy to Afghanistan. I'll do my Wing billet for six months and, if everything goes according to plan, transition to doing my actual job, controlling aircraft, for six more months. In all the deployment will be around a year; not more than 13-14 months at the most I would think. It's the equivalent of two back-to-back deployments for most Marines, but it allows me to get experience both in and outside my MOS - something that every Marine wants and needs but few get so early on.

Ok, as always I've gone on far too long. I promise to try to make future posts more frequent and thus shorter. One final note on my safety, because I know many people just have a vague picture of Afghanistan as an unsafe place. Like any place, there are parts that are "better" and parts that are "worse." I'll be spending most of my time in the "better" parts, trying to support the Marines who are in the "worse" parts. My challenges will be those of most Marines and other troops in Afghanistan - trying to stay productive amidst boredom, connected despite distance. So no matter how inconsequential it seems to you, trust me, I want to hear what's going on with you while I'm away. Check back here for ways to reach me once my deployment date gets closer.

Semper Fi