Artoo Potatoo...the Saga Continues

While I didn't blog about Darth Tater in Iraq, many of you have seen the pictures and know what he went through on my tour there. He was a real "trooper" and stormed all over with me on my many travels around beautiful Balad. While he didn't get the chance to see a whole lot of Iraq, he had a great time!

Well, I am pleased to let everyone know that the saga continues here in Afghanistan thanks to Angela. She planned accordingly and surprised me last month with my very own Artoo Potatoo. The good news is that he will not be confined to base. Accomplishing our mission of training, sustaining, and developing leaders means trips outside the camp. In fact, he has already ventured into Kabul and gone to the airport. Below is a picture of him and I getting our convoy briefing from the convoy commander.

The trip was great and went off without a hitch. He kept his spud down and let us focus on our mission. So far, his adventures have been good. As they expand, look for updates here.

My First Trip Into Kabul

Well, it didn't take long for me to take my first trip downtown and it was great. Today, I rode along with one of my Petty Officers to look at some warehouse space for storage. We also had to pick up supplies from another warehouse. The 2 truck convoy was awesome and exciting. Driving in Kabul is a lot like driving in a demolition derby, but the goal is NOT to hit the other cars. Some interesting rules of the road...well, there really aren't any. If you can make a lane...make a lane...driving on your side of the road is optional, and of course, off-roading occurs on the road due to the numerous really deep pot holes (which I would call ditches). We did encounter one cartoon incident in which our lanes of traffic were stopped due to oncoming traffic in our lanes. Something had to give and the Afghan National Police had some cars back up, while stopping cars from the other direction...then we all cleared out. The low point of the trip occurred when we were passed by a horse and cart! (not our fault though!) The great news is that we all made it back safe and sound with all our boxes in the back of the truck! A special thanks to both drivers for doing a great job keeping us all safe and moving...and of course a special thanks to our convoy commander for keeping us from getting lost! That map reading class paid off! :)