Salerno-All Kidding Aside

Hey Wannabes. I just wanted to take some time to be serious and tell you how it really is around here and give my teammates the credit they actually deserve. We kid each other a lot, and there's a good reason for that.

First, we really have a great team! I was here four years ago, I was in Iraq last year through May, and now this one. Of all three of those deployments, this is by far my best deployment with the best group of people. I'm not saying my other deployments were bad, but we all have a pretty good chemistry together.

Russ does a great job running the team and keeping the brass off our backs. He also does a great job getting us the "tools" we need to do our jobs. Tim (Crouch) is doing his damnedest to keep the project approval process in check, and is keeping the paving contractor on his toes. He's trying to drop the dust level around here by asphalting every road he can. Frank is our electrical guru, and has his hands full with making sure everyone has power. So far, every one does, and they're extremely happy. Aaron is our resident architect and is doing a bang-up job with airfield projects. Dave is really good keeping us in gravel and concrete, and is the king of heavy equipment and making sure our contractors can get on the base. Justus is kind of like me-jack of all trades, i.e. CAD and whatever projects don't fit in the categories above. Everyone does a great job and will pick up the slack for each other in a pinch.

You all also may not realize it, but humor is a huge part of keeping us sane around here. There are several reasons for this. We are constantly reminded every day and in the news that there are military members who are in Afghanistan who don't make it home to their families. We are here, and we don't want to be them. Humor helps us not to dwell on it.

We also hear stories (at least weekly) of our contractors who are enduring death threats and thefts from the Taliban. The Taliban is very active in coercing people who persist in working for us just to feed their families and hopefully achieve some semblance of success that they were not allowed under Taliban rule. Most of the time it makes tears well up in your eyes just to see their faces as they recount the stories and act as if it's just a cost of doing business and being free. We also know that most of the Afghans only make about $3-$6/day. It's hard not to wonder how they can survive on such a paltry sum.

Given these normally depressing issues, humor is the best medicine. Through this blog I'm trying to give you all a little taste of the types of things we gig each other about and how we deal with being here. You can bet that I get just as many shots as I give, but that's life here. You can't have thin skin. If you do it won't be the team members that skin you alive, the Army will do it. Air Force is in the serious minority here, but we're all here to perform the mission and help the Afghan people.

I hope this has given you more insight into us and my blog. Please try to take it the same way we do, and continue to support us as you always do with phone calls and emails. Thanks!