Welcome to the COP

Look at the German Army Insignia on bottom left vehicle

Welcome to the COP

Jason is doing well, but a little bummed  that the Horn Frogs won't be on TV today, at least on a channel he can watch.  He has had a pretty good week and received a couple of packages.  The weather in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains is beginning to show signs of Fall, so I think it is getting a little more comfortable when you have to wear all of the body armor.  As you probably know, COP Khiligay is joint base with Germans, Afghans and American troops.  I am attaching a couple of pictures that gives you a little of the international flair of the place, and the fact that some of the troops compare it to the Mad Max movies.

The German Flag next door

And the beat goes on...

I heard from Jason over the weekend that all was going well in Afghanistan.  The days are a little boring, but he candidly admits that boring beats the alternative.  He also said that he is getting outside of the wire a bit, and when he goes outside the wire it breaks up the monotony of his daily grind.  Jason said the weather is getting a little cooler, especially at night.  He said that they figure the weather at COP Khiligay most closely resembles the weather in Buffalo, New York.  So the nights will definitely start getting colder. 

Home Sweet Home

While there are no chips to be purchased any where along the route outside the wire, he did say that there is a local bread which is a lot like Naan that is pretty good and available for purchase in some Afghan villages.  The guys apparently put peanut butter and Nutella on it to make it a little bit better.  They don't get any fresh bread to speak of, so the Naan like bread takes the place of regular bread, chips and crackers...unless they are sent something from the states.  

Birthday Candles?

Forget normal birthday cake and candles when you are in Afghanistan's high desert.  Undaunted, our hero scheduled mortar practice for his platoon to celebrate his birthday...or was that another TCU win?  While the Queso Dip (thanks Mary Noel!) and bean dip (without the benefit of chips) had to replace the birthday cake, he had a good birthday.  Here is a picture he took of mortar practice:

After seeing the picture I can't get Rat Patrol out of my mind.  Anyone else remember the old World War II series?

The Birthday Boy...er, Lt.

Jason got to watch the TCU-Kansas game on the Armed Forces Network as part of Uncle Sam's birthday gift.  He said he wished the Frogs had put up more points, but that a win was a win.  Here are two pictures of his TCU flag flying over Afghanistan which he flew prior to the game.

With the Hindu Kush Mountains as the Backdrop

In front of the Swamp

The football news was not so good outside of the Frogs, with Army losing by a point, the Cowboys getting routed and the Razorbacks still waiting to play Alabama.  Jason reported that he had received his first packages from home and that he enjoyed their contents, as did the guys in his platoon.  From what I can tell the packages took a little over two weeks to get from Fort Worth and Fayetteville to COP Khiligay.   He is still trying to figure out how to get tortilla chips to Afghanistan and that the food is so bland that he really enjoyed the hot sauce and spices he received in some of his first packages.

3-7 CAV owns the Mission

The 3-7 CAV has officially assumed the mission.  They have unraveled their flags and the Saber Squadron is in control!  The folks they are replacing have put covers over their flags and are preparing to make the trip back to the USA.

Our hero says all is going fine in the COP.  He recently found out that his good friend from West Point, Steve Convery, will be in Northern Afghanistan in early 2013.  Steve is an Army helicopter pilot that just got his wings at Fort Rucker a week or so ago.  His initial post will be Fort Bliss in El Paso (the part of America most like Afghanistan).  Since he will be flying helicopters he may have the ability to visit Jason in COP Khiligay.  Here is a picture of Jason and Steve (lower left of the picture) at a West Point football game.

Revised Address and Pics

The powers that be have just sent a new email with a slightly different mailing address for Jason.  The address the Army would like us to use now is:

LT Bonds, John

B/3-7 CAV

COP KHILIGAY

APO AE 09368

Notice that there is a new identification of the troop-B/3-7 CAV, and the spelling of the COP has changed to Khiligay.   Here are some photos Jason sent today from his travels outside the Combat Post.  They are from a village that is in a more picturesque setting than COP Khiligay.   I had two winners on the reference earlier to the "Swamp" and the "4077".  Cindy and Stacy both correctly identified MASH as the source of the reference.  After looking at some of the pictures, another viewer said the topography reminded him of Mad Max, Beyond Thunderball and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  Kind of hard to argue with the comment.

Afghan Village

Inside the Village

Scene form the Godfather?

Rif ram from Afghanistan?

It was the first TCU game in the newly remodeled stadium and no Fuzzy's pre-game for the newest war lord in the Hindu Kush mountains of Northern Afghanistan.  Instead, he spent the day and night trying to follow the Frogs on the Internet.  I did hear from him, however, that he was pleased with the score and that he is anxiously awaiting the next game against Kansas on Saturday.  He was a little disappointed in the Black Knights from West Point who went down to San Diego State.   

Jason actually got out of the COP over the weekend and he reports that the local area is like being lost in a time warp,not like in Marion, Alabama which is stuck in the 1950s, but like being back about two thousand years ago in time.  He didn't run in to Prince Harry his first day out, but I am sure they will meet up soon and tell Vegas stories.  Harry is still trying to get Lauren's phone number, but Jason doesn't think he is good enough for his cousin.  So no luck for Captain Wales.  

Here is a picture of Jason in his outside the COP uniform.

Hard to believe that you wear all of that gear when it is ninety degrees outside...

Home Sweet Home...maybe

Jason seems to be settling into a routine at COP Khiliguy in the beautiful Afghani hill country.  I think they are getting adjusted and ready for their mission.  Below is a picture of Jason's tent, which is not really very hard to find.  Not exactly the "Swamp" or the 4077, but about as close as it gets in scenic Afghanistan.  He got up this morning at 4:30 Afghanistan time to watch the Giants-Cowboys game and was glad he did.  Not a lot new to report, but when something comes up, you can catch it here...

I am curious if anyone caught the reference to the Swamp and the 4077, did you?  Bonus points will be earned for the first person that can correctly identify the reference.

The work begins...

Jason emailed last night that they had a great day at the pool, cold beer and bar-b-que as part of their Labor Day celebration.  Oh wait, that isn't exactly what he said.  There is no pool, no cold beer and no bar-b-que.  His actual email said that he and his group are working hard and getting acclimated to COP Khiliguy.  His initial observation is the COP Khiliguy isn't as bad as he had thought it would be, but it wasn't as built up as I believed it was.  They do get the various Armed Forces Network television stations in one of the tents, so they are looking forward to football season.  He said that the season starts on Thursday morning in Afghanistan, which would be the Cowboys game on Wednesday night.

In COP Khiliguy

Jason made it to COP Khiliguy on Saturday.  He actually called yours truly on Saturday night (our time) while I was at the Arkansas Razorbacks/Jacksonville State football game.  We talked for a couple of minutes and he got to talk to Johnny Dallas for a quick minute or so.  He was able to call from the USO tent which he has at least some access to, although he has to pay for the calls.  The calls are clear, with a little delay and the call was dropped in the middle of our conversation, but he called right back.  He does have the use of the internet from time to time, but I am not sure if he has it in his tent or if he has to go to the communications tent to get on line. 

He was happy to be at COP Khiliguy and he indicated that it "was better than I thought it would be."  He will not have a separate tent, but he isn't sure what his ultimate accommodations will be as the Troop they are replacing is still there for another two weeks.  During that time he said that his Bonecrusher Troop would basically learn the routine from the guys that will be leaving.  He did add that the place did not smell good, in fact, it stunk.  I couldn't tell whether that was outside or in the tent he was calling from, but I told him that I had sent a bottle of Febreze in his first package.  The only thing he asked for was stuff to make cheese dip.  I asked him how he was going to cook it and he said that he would find a way...

He sent the photo below, which was the last photo he took in Marmal: