Sunday, May 23, 2010

End of Week 18 Update!

Hey All!

Welcome back to another edition of Todd's Deployment Adventures. I actually sat down with a calendar this evening to figure out just how many weeks I've been in country. Hard to believe, but I just wrapped up my 18th week in this glorious country of Afghanistan! I give thanks to the Lord Almighty for how quickly the time has passed and for his continued provision of safety over all of my fellow servicemen and women with whom I work here at Camp Leatherneck. I refuse to count how many days/weeks I have left in country as the work remaining to complete before I leave is great and the impact the work will have on the Marines here is high. I have realized that there really isn't a sunset on the construction activities. As long as there are servicemen and women aboard Camp Leatherneck, there will be requirements for construction. Though it will be hard to walk away from "unfinished" business, I know that whoever comes in to take my place on that glorious day in July will pick up the reigns and take the program to the next level of success.

The past couple of weeks have seen some really fun times and some really hard times. First, we were treated to an outdoor concert by Toby Keith on May 5th. He played a 45 minute acoustic set of all his famous military/war - esque songs. Toby definitely knows how to "play to his crowd." The next day, Toby spent some time on the camp meeting folks and posing for pictures. I was walking into the office and happened upon one of the photo shoot locations, so I jumped in line for a quick pic with Toby. He is a huge supporter of the military and was extremely gracious in his comments. Whether you like his music or not, he has a heart for the military, and we appreciated his time.


Unfortunately, last Sunday 17 May brought one of the harder times to Camp Leatherneck. We experienced a devastating fire within one of the main supply yards that destroyed well over 15 acres of parts, supplies and equipment. As I posted on my Facebook page, we were very fortunate to come thru this dramatic event with only minor injuries. The event started in the late afternoon and lasted well into Monday morning. All of the responders to this event worked throughout the night to safe guard the rest of the camp from what could have been utter disaster should the fames had spread to the life support areas that are right across the street. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation. Below are some pictures of the event.

In the middle of the fire, a massive dust storm blew thru the camp dropping visibility to almost zero. Below is an amazing picture that one of the combat camera staff got of the dust storm just before it overwhelmed the site of the fire. This is one of the most amazing shots I have ever seen.


One of the ironies of this fire event is the previous week, new fire trucks were set to depart Kandahar Air Field for Camp Leatherneck. Unfortunately, there were some challenges with the selected means of transport. As you can see the "jingle truck" selected for this critical mission was not quite up to the task.

One of the successes we experienced over the past week is the opening of the gravel transfer yard. You are probably asking yourself, "What in the world is a gravel transfer yard?" Well, this just happens to be one of the first efforts I undertook when I got to Leatherneck in concert with my Marine Corps Construction Chief counterpart. He and I developed the concept of getting gravel onto the base via a transfer yard vice truckload after truckload thru the main entry point. After working thru the security details with the both the US and UK force protection officers, we received authorization to construct a 30 acre complex for contractors to drop and pull gravel. We officially opened the transfer yard for business last Sunday 16 May. The picture below is of me in front of one of the security gates as the first trucks enter the yard to drop off gravel into transfer cells.

The new operation significantly increased the level of security of the material entering the base and significantly reduced the number of trucks our security personnel have to screen on a daily basis as the trucks hauling the gravel out of the transfer yard into the base never actually leave the confines of the base security perimeter. This is probably one of my most rewarding projects as it had an immediate impact on the security personnel's workload and drastically improved construction timelines across the board.

Before I close for the week, I need to send some "shout outs" to all of the folks who sent care packages over the past couple of weeks!

Thanks to Jennifer and the girls; Mom & Dad; the Booz Allen Team at Andrews AFB; Matt, Mike and the team at Smith Barney; and the Hirneisen Family! The treats and goodies are being enjoyed by all of the staff here in the office...not to mention Marines across the Helmand Province as we repackage items to send out to the field with staff when they travel for site visits.

This experience continues to be one that will forever shape my view of my fellow servicemen and women who put themselves in harm's way on a day-to-day basis to defend the freedoms that we all enjoy in the States. I in no way can compare what I am doing here at Camp Leatherneck with what the Marines are doing out in the villages across Afghanistan. My goal is that when these Marines are able to get back to home base after hunting those who wish to put an end to the freedoms we enjoy that they come back to a safe, secure installation with a comfortable place to rest, clean-up, get a good meal and mentally prepare for their next mission. My prayer is that as you have followed along with me on this adventure, you too will come to appreciate even if only on the surface the sacrifices the young men and women of our Armed Services voluntarily make for you and me!

Until we chat again,

Todd

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will Abide in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

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