What’s Going On?

As many of you are aware, it is hard for me to find time and motivation to update the blog very often.  Here is a little bit of what has been going on lately.

Alot of this has been going on…orange days.  This is a view from inside one of our buildings.  I took this photo about noon so it should show full, bright sunlight.  The dust storms that we have had are not the kind that you think of like a wall of dust blowing through.  Usually the dust builds gradually on a windy day until it look like this.  Many times it will settle overnight and then start again the next morning.  Side note…lungs do not perform as well when coated with dirt.

 

 

My friend (and roommate), CPT Andrew Sanders took command of the Echo 3-7 INF Engineer Company.  It was a day that he had long waited for.  This picture shows (from left to right) the outgoing company commander, CPT Neels, the 3-7 INF Battalion Commander, LTC Newsome, and CPT Sanders.

 

 

 

I’m sure that the chopper pilots certainly feel exactly like this from time to time.  They do such an important job of moving people and things around the battle space.  I appreciate them so much…expecially when they practice their tactical flying skills when I am a passenger.

 

 

 

I was recently able to travel to some new areas to provide religious support while other chaplains were on leave.  One site I went to has a really nice building that serves as their chapel on one side and a coffee shop/video game/movie hangout on the other.  It was good to spend some time with those guys.  We had 2 chapel services while I was there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a view of the Euphrates river as it passes by a small inlet at the FOB I was visiting.  Not much to look at from this angle but I was glad to have a view of such an historical landmark.

 

I am very much looking forward to taking leave soon.  I am ready to transition from the chaplain role to the husband and daddy role for a few days!