Life With My New Team

Old Glory

Very common way of life here

Burned out trucks from an attack

Me

We just finished our longest mission to date and it is good to be home again. We covered about 650 miles in 7 days. That doesn’t sound like much, but a lot of that was done at less than 15 mph. If you saw some of the “roads” over here you would understand why. I spent the trip in the gunner’s turret again so I got some good pictures. We provided security to the ANA troops who were taking soft shelled ambulances downrange to different locations. Driving with the ANA is something that I would describe as interesting if I was using a polite term. We had several unscheduled stops for bathroom breaks, stops for sodas and water, or just to say “Hi” to someone they recognized walking on the side of the road. We even stopped so they could pick up passengers. The problem is they would stop unannounced in the middle of town or nowhere, and we would have to block traffic and do security halts. That makes for some unhappy commuters. It got better as our commander would have conversations with the ANA commander at the end of every day. This is just part of their culture. Outside the wire our senses are heightened as we feel threatened. This is their home and they feel comfortable. Family and friends are very important to them, so it’s natural for them to stop and say hello. It was a lesson for all of us.
We have been working on a big project for the last 2 months and it has finally come to a close. We put together the first annual ANA combat medic competition for the entire country. We had medics from all over the country come and compete in a 4 day competition that included medical lectures and exercises to firing at the range. I was in charge of the range and put together a program for them to shoot their AK-47s. Some of them did really well while it was obvious that some of them had never fired a weapon before. Even so, they all said they enjoyed it.
We had a CSAR team come in and educate them on the proper way to approach a helicopter and load and unload patients. Hopefully this will keep anyone else from walking into a chopper blade. They also learned how to mark a landing zone in case they had to call in a medevac.
The competition ended with a mountain run carrying their medic bag and completing 3 medical scenarios along the way. I was part of the security team that climbed the mountain and set up the station at the top. We had to take a crew serve weapon with us and I carried the ammo for it. With my IBA, weapon, ammo and supplies I had at least 100 extra pounds on my back on a climb from 8000 to just over 9600 feet. It smoked me and I consider myself to be in decent shape. It was something that was on my “to do” list while I was here and I’m glad I did it. The ANA medics that ran the course made it look easy. They gained my respect in a big way. Not only during the mountain run, but during the entire competition. They are smart, eager to learn, and some of the heartiest, smallest guys I have ever met.
After everything was over we had a big feast to celebrate. Their hospitality was second to none as we dined on goat, vegetables, and Nan bread. They would not eat until our entire team went through and served ourselves first. We brought a huge cake and bunch of sodas to share with them. They loved the cake. Some of them went through the line just to get cake and nothing else.
The last week has been a blur and I enjoyed every minute of it. It may be over, but I take every handshake, smile, and thank you with me. I feel good about what we accomplished as a team. More importantly I feel good about what they learned and what they take away from the competition. After some much needed sleep it’s back to work with my new team and on to our next mission.