Thanksgiving Week

Jason had a busy week in Hindu Kush...and Fayetteville for that matter.  He started the week getting to meet the Hungarian Minister of Defense, a Four Star Chief of Staff and the Command Sgt. Major of the Hungarian Defense Forces.  A pretty good group of folks according to Jason.  Later last week he was promoted to First Lieutenant, which put a smile on his face and in his wallet.  Here is a picture of his promotion which was taken on the golf course at COP Khiligay.

Jason wrote the following post on Thanksgiving Day which appeared on his Facebook wall:

There is a lot to be thankful for out there. Thankful to sleep in a warm bed at night and to wake up in the morning. Thankful to have a sackful of naan and a rice cooker to make some queso. Thankful to have a little black bar instead of a little gold one. Thankful to have a good group of guys over here with me. Thankful to be born in a place not resembling the bronze age. Thankful to know all of you. Wish I was back there, don't have too much fun without us.

He later added, and thanks for the TCU win!

Thanks to Mary Noel and Laura, while Jason was in Afghanistan his alter ego, Flat Jason, was in Fayetteville enjoying all Fayetteville had to offer.  You can see that Nancy was still a little bitter over the Longhorn's loss to TCU.  At the same time, Jason is still smiling!  Below are several photos of Flat Jason from the Arkansas-LSU game:

All's Quiet in the Hindu Kush

Not much happening in the Hindu Kush mountains as the region gets closer to winter.  Jason says everything is fairly monotonous right now.  He is inter-acting more with the Germans than he had before.  The Germans seem to have a better set-up than the Americans, with a paved road and get this, a hot tub and sauna.  According to Jason they are available for the Americans to use from time to time, but apparently the clothing optional rule for the hot tub seems to cut into the Americans use of the facility.  Jason was a little bummed that TCU didn't have a game this weekend, so I think he channeled his energy into the Cowboy game.  While the Cowboys won, it was in overtime and I don't know if he stayed up to the end.  The first half was all Cleveland, and the second half favored the Cowboys, so he may have gone to bed after the first half.  He also told me that now that daylight savings time is over, they are only eight and one-half hours ahead of us.

Last bit of news, the TCU Magazine did a short piece on Jason as his never ending support of the Horned Frogs.  You can see the article at:

 http://comradestrue.blogspot.com/2012/11/frog-spirit-in-afghanistan.html

Here is the text of the article:


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Frog spirit in Afghanistan

Second Lieutenant Jason Bonds (right) is the platoon leader of the Blue Platoon in the Bonecrusher Troop in the 3rd Squadron of the 7th United States Calvary Regiment, deploymed at Command Outpost Khiliguy in northern Afghanistan. His unit is part of the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.

Bonds and his Horned Frog spirit are alive and well seen here unfurling a TCU flag at the snowy Salang Pass at 12,723 feet in the Hindu Kush Mountains north of Kabul.

Bonds' spirit exceeds that of most Frog fans. He routinely stays up all night to watch the TCU football team play games. Last week's game against Kansas State kicked off at 4:30 a.m. Afghan time and Bonds was watching. In October, when the outpost experience a bombing attempt, Bonds told his family he was more concerned about the TCU-Texas Tech game.

Interestingly, Bonds is not a TCU alumnus. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2011, but he grew up a TCU fan from birth. His family lived on Greene Avenue, just east of campus, and took Bonds to football games before he could walk.

"I don't remember missing many up until I went to college, and even after that I would time my leave to coincide when TCU was playing at home," Bonds wrote us. "Long story, but I am a pretty massive fan, and to me home, TCU, and Fort Worth are indistinguishable. I am hoping to go to TCU for grad school depending on how my contract with the Army plays out over the next couple of years."

Friends and family follow Jason's service and experiences in the Lone Star Over Afghanistan blog set up by his father.
POSTED BY THE TCU MAGAZINE AT 9:31 AM

On Texas leaving the Union...

Jason posted this on his Facebook page this afternoon asking those advocating that Texas leave the United States to stop.  He wrote:

Dearest FB friends advocating for a peaceful secession of Texas from the Union: please stop.  Just stop.  There are a number of reasons why you should stop:  A) We tried already, and unless my eighth grade history is failing me right now I seem to recall we lost; B) There is no such thing as a peaceful secession, again, we tried this already; C) What you are advocating is on the wrong side of the line that separates free speech and sedition; D) This is why on occasion people outside our fine state think we are idiots; and E) There are a bunch of hardworking men and women doing things you either can't or don't want to do that are a long way from home.  They are working for their country, not our state.  I could go on, but I don't think facts and data would have the effect I am hoping for.

I hope you realize that our state has the 15th largest economy in the world (insert whatever rah rah random fact you'd like) because it is operating in the American system, not despite it.  So again, stop.  If not, and you would like to see what a theocratic nation with a weak central government looks like, feel free to come to Afghanistan.  I am sure they would love to have you over here.

Love,
Me

Salang Pass

This week our hero went to the Salang Pass with an expedition.  The Salang Pass is in the Hindu Kush mountains north of Kabul.  It is at 12,723 feet and is snow covered, or there is snow on the ground, almost all of the year.  If you look carefully in the first picture you can see a village in the valley below.  Jason says it is getting colder every night and that they are already freezing at night.  He stayed up all night last night to watch the TCU game, so he was a little tired today, since the game didn't start until 4:30 Afghan time.

Reenlistments

Even in Afghanistan soldier's commitments to serve expire.  In the photo below Jason administers the oath to a soldier who is reenlisting in the Army.  Jason's commitment on the other hand doesn't expire for a number of years.  The report for the week was that it was pretty boring except for when someone decided it was time to trigger a bunch of IED's outside the wire.  Apparently it had the place rocking.

The other big news from the weekend was the West Point victory over Air Force.  It was the first home win over Air Force by Army since 1996.  Clearly all of Jason's buddies at the Point will be granted amnesty and other privileges for the victory.  This makes the showdown with Navy extremely important for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.

Golf?

A couple of new pictures from the Hindu Kush mountains.  The one below is of a couple of soldiers trying to get out of a sand trap the Afghan National Golf Club (it looks a lot like Augusta National where they play the Masters).  I have to admit that the natural beauty of the area takes your breath away (if you are hit by a bullet or other life ending ordinances).

The second picture is of the group and is really added to allow you to follow the growth of the Caterpillar.  This will be a regular feature of the Blog, unless he Caterpillar were to die unexpectedly.  He is the guy holding the flag in the picture.  Jason reports that the week has been pretty uneventful and that they really didn't do anything for Halloween.   I am trying to think of things to send for Thanksgiving.  If you have any thoughts, let me know...