Centurion Faith

Carving up the Turkey at FOB Curry, The Cooks put on quite a spread!

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
(Matthew 8:5-10)

Thanksgiving at Curry...

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that centers around family. So itʼs easy to understand why the Army goes all out for Thanksgiving and Christmas, since most Joes will be away from their families even if they arenʼt deployed. One a stateside base, or on a large base in theater the scene will be about the same. A huge spread with every available option in the DFAC (Dining Facility), decorations everywhere, and the high brass serving up the food. And then you have Thanksgiving dinner on the small bases, like Curry. We had real turkeys and ham, 2 types of potatoes, and cranberry sauce (which was the big hit). And for desert? Incoming! Or so we thought... This year Thanksgiving falls on the eve of El Eid, a big Muslim celebration. The ABP (Afghan Border Police) next door to us decided to unleash some celebratory gunfire just after sunset. Here we were just settling down for a good ol Turkey-overdose nap when we suddenly are throwing on our armor and running to the aid station. Not funny...

Semper Gumbi

There are a lot of things I give the Army a hard time about. Little things, you know, like requiring 3 separate forms to change a light bulb (not an exaggeration), like sending a platoon of carpenters to build up a base and forget to send them wood or nails (again, not an exaggeration), or like establishing a good plan of attack and then changing it. OK, so the last one is not too bad, and it doesnʼt bug me too much. After all, in the Army if thereʼs one thing you learn quickly itʼs flexibility and the ability to change. If you canʼt adjust fire in the Army, then youʼre destined for the funny farm. As they say, Semper gumbi... (always flexible)

The change that weʼre dealing with now is a change in area of operations (AO). Sgt. Neal and I would spend our days flying around all of Paktika province, visiting mainly soldiers in the 509th and 501st battalions. But weʼre almost home, and for a number of reasons our AO changed. We are giving up our 509th locations and are taking on Patika province, filled with Georgia National Guard guys, the 1/121. Iʼm a little depressed about giving up the 509th guys, theyʼre great Joes and Iʼve made a home with them so to speak. Theyʼre also the guys from my brigade, so Iʼll be seeing them again when we get back to Alaska, as opposed to the 1/121 guys who Iʼll probably never see again. But change is sometimes a good thing. It mixes things up, keeps us fresh, and gives us the chance to do something new (or at least to sleep somewhere new).

The funny part? During our change over Fr. T (the other Catholic priest serving in TF Yukon) got stuck for a week at Zerok. Iʼm thrilled that he was able to hit one of my harder-to-get-to bases, but it threw his movement plan out the window. So even though weʼre not covering these bases anymore weʼre still covering these bases to help Fr. T get caught up. Hopefully we wonʼt get stuck too...

2 Digit Midgets!

266 days down, 99 to go! I donʼt know what it is, but when your days-to-go chart falls from 3 digits to 2 digits, you canʼt help but smile... Crossing that 100 day mark is a psychological breath of fresh air. Itʼs similar to the rush you get when your replacement emails you for the first time and says, “So, whatʼs it like over there?” The only answer you can give is, “Wish you were here!”

Anyway, to celebrate crossing the 100 day mark I decided to put together a little fun run (because whatʼs more fun that a little jog around the FOB?). So bright and early on the day before Thanksgiving the Battalion Commander, the Command Sergeant Major, and a good deal of the battalion woke up early and formed up outside the barracks. The CSM called us to attention, I gave a little speech and prayer, LTC Martin reminded us how close we are to going home and encouraged us to finish out the mission strong. And then we were off...

It was a nice little run, about 3 miles at a 9 minute/mile pace, nothing too crazy. There was one hill that gave some of the guys a problem, but they caught up (with a little encouragement), and we started the long downhill return home. As I said, a nice little run to boost the morale of the guys and show our spirit. After the CSM led us in a cool-down we passed out St. Michael medals and Armor of God coins in recognition of good spirit and service.

And that really is the point of these kinds of runs, doing something together, showing our spirit and camaraderie, and giving guys an opportunity to lend a helping hand or a word of encouragement to a buddy in need. I may be a little weird about, but I really look forward to these formation runs. Being part of a big pack, calling cadence, just letting your mind empty as you pound the pavement. Itʼs a great way to run. We start together, we finish together, and thatʼs what is all about!

One Great Shot!

Ministry in the Army is a lot like golf. You spend a lot of time and energy futility hitting a tiny white ball without any real sense of progress. And then, just when your frustration is about to reach itʼs boiling point, you come up with a beautiful, flawless, text-book shot that soars farther than you dared hope for... and youʼre hooked, all you need is one or two shots like that per round of golf to keep you coming back...

I canʼt even begin to explain the frustration SGT Neal and I face when we go out on mission, bust our humps getting to tough little bases, spend time coordinating mass, hanging flyers, BS-ing with the Joes, only to have one or two guys out of 150 show up for mass. It makes me glad that I have short hair, itʼs so short you canʼt grab enough to yank it out! It doesnʼt happen at every FOB, but there are some that just donʼt seem to respond no matter how you advertise or what time you celebrate mass.

Last week SGT Neal and I were heading to one of those hair-pulling FOBs. We arrived early in the morning and so dropped our gear and made a bee-line for the chow hall. Weʼre finishing up when SGT Palugod, the only guy who regularly attends mass there, spots me and asks when mass will be celebrated. We tell him the time and with disappointment he tells us that heʼs about to head out on a patrol and wonʼt be back before we have to leave. So I tell him Iʼll come over and bless the trucks and pray with the guys, I just need 5 minutes to grab communion (I keep a pix of consecrated hosts in a grenade pouch on my armor, Jesus is after all an explosive force!)

I grab my bible and my pix and walk to the rally point, only to discover that they are running ahead of schedule and everyone is mounted up and ready to roll. I see SGT Palugod and wave, making the sign of the cross in his direction. I turn to SGT Neal and shrug my shoulders when I realize that doors are opening and everyone is starting to make their way towards us. Iʼm flabbergasted as a realize that 25 Joes are heading my way just for a moment of prayer! I pray from Psalm 144, and ask God for strength, perseverance, and grace to grant these guys a safe and successful mission. SGT Palugod shakes my hand and tells me that they usually pray on their own, this was the first time theyʼve had a formal prayer before a mission. As they rolled out I was thrilled, you donʼt often see faith played out in such simple yet profound actions like what we saw that morning.

PICS PAGE!

Giving God thanks and praise before the feast.

Everyone loosens their belt today!

Thanksgiving dinner at Curry, no food fights please!

The MWR/Fireplace at FOB Chamkani.

SGT Neal gets big and strong at the Chamkani gym...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

An Afghan Police Officer giving a young girl a pair of mittens we found in one of our care packages.

Once again, the final page of this newsletter is dedicated to all those that have sent stuff forward to us to be distributed to the troops. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, itʼs easy to recognize just how much we should be thankful for. But more than that, itʼs important to be thankful in all things as well as for things. Being thankful in things means that we express our gratitude to God for the good and the bad, and His presence that never leaves us. Over here we see plenty of both, heartache and grief, fear and worry, strength and resiliency, joy and relief. The goods and care packages we receive and push out to guys in smaller FOBs play a big role in boosting morale, reminding guys of home, and helping make life just a little more comfortable. Of course none of these great things would happen without you and your generosity. So thank you thank you thank you for making a difference in our Soldierʼs lives, and in the lives of the locals with whom we work.