Ask ISAF & ISAF Update

My teams are doing such a good job of producing stories out in the field, I thought I'd step up our game with a couple of new video products.

I've combined their incredible print and still photography experience with my TV news background to produce a twice weekly 2-minute "ISAF Update." I'm not expecting CNN to pick it up but it does run twice a week on the Pentagon Channel. It's also a great way to inform the international media about some of the "good news" stories happening here.

Here's a link to today’s ISAF Update: http://www.dvidshub.net/vjump.php?vid=50796

General McKiernan wanted his generals to be more proactive with the media and so I came up with the idea for "Ask ISAF." Each week, we ask media around the world to send us their questions. We put the generals on a rotating schedule and every Wednesday we answer them on camera. Media can either pull quotes from the video or download it for broadcast. Last week, more than 100 media outlets around the world watch the video.

Here's a link to this week’s Ask ISAF: http://www.dvidshub.net/vjump.php?vid=50797

Ripped from the headlines

I hate these stories most of all. Imagine this being the place where your kids have to grow up.

Afghan boy, wounded in mine explosion, assisted by ISAF

KABUL, Afghanistan (December 04) — A young boy was evacuated to an ISAF medical facility at Camp Warehouse yesterday after having received serious injuries from stepping on a mine. Accompanied by his father, the boy was evacuated to the medical facility by a French military helicopter. Afterwards he was transferred to a civilian facility in Kabul. “Since August 2008, the French military hospital at Camp Warehouse has treated more than 60 Afghan civilians for such injuries,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jerome Salle, a French military spokesperson. “Citizens must remain conscious of the danger uncharted mined areas pose to them,” he added.

A bridge over troubled water

The highlight of last week had to have been my trip to RC West and the opening of the Bala Murghrab Bridge. I'll begin by saying this bridge is in an extremely dangerous area that's mostly Taliban controlled. Forty-eight hours before we arrived, the Taliban killed 17 Afghan soldiers about a mile away. But orders are orders and mine were to take a team to document the ribbon cutting. For three days prior I got little sleep out of concern... but all those concerns vanished when I got on the plane and saw a VIP who was traveling with us.

At the last minute, Gen. David McKiernan decided he wanted to go along. Gen. McKiernan is the top military boss in Afghanistan, the commander for all US and International forces. If you don't understand his importance, Gen. McKiernan is to Afghanistan as Gen. David Petraeus was to Iraq. If this were World War II, he'd be General Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander in a theater of operations.

I sat no more than 10-feet from him and his very presence told me all was going to be fine. That's because everywhere we went, there were three attack helicopters constantly circling above and a very well armed security detail surrounding us on the ground.

Before we traveled to the bridge, the general attended a Shura at a military outpost near Bala Murghrab. A Shura is a meeting of tribal elders similar to a city council meeting. While he was in there, I checked out the FOB (forward operating base). If you ever wondered what the Alamo looked like back in 1836, this is it; mud walls, buildings with no roofs, soldiers who haven't showered in days. These are the guys that are fighting the war, not bums like me who have a cushy life back at the headquarters.

After the Shura, we convoyed to the bridge, cut the ribbon and flew home. No problems. Part of that flight home was aboard a Chinook helicopter. They kept the back open for the rear gunner which gave us a great view of this beautiful country. The whole 45-minute flight we were never more than 200-feet above the ground. Weaving through canyons and over one small village after another, it was the highlight of the day. The terrain here is awesome, like something I've never seen before. It's mostly untouched as if GOD just created it yesterday. Which isn't to far off from the truth for Afghan people. As I've said on this blog before, to see Afghanistan today is to live in a Chapter of the Bible. According to the Afghan calendar, this is the year 1327.

Santa Claus is coming to town

While shopping in the Friday bizzare just outside of our base, I looked up and walking right towards me was St. Nick himself. I didn't know people actually requested cheap Afghan crap on their Christmas list. He must have been here for the fake Rolex watches and pirated DVDs.

Actually, the man behind the beard is Dutch Rear Admiral Matthieu Borsboom, the Deputy Commander for Stability. He was walking around the bizarre collecting donations for the Children's Hospital I wrote about last week.

How I see the kids

Thank GOD for Skype!!!!!!!!!! Kathryn and Charlie showing Daddy their new Justice League action figures. We try to log on and see each other at least every other day. I'm not sure which they enjoy more, seeing me or themselves on the computer. Seeing them is always the highlight of my day. I really miss my babies.

On the run!

Just before I deployed from Memphis, I was in the best shape of my life. I was running 3-5 miles a day. My time in the Germantown Half-Marathon was 2:14 minutes and I had just completed in my third Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge. But our physical training at Fort Jackson was minimal and I spent the first month here focusing on the job. The downtime really caught up to me and I was starting to feel like a slug. So now that I have a full grasp of what I'm doing here, it's once again time to start running. I've been hitting the gym every morning for the past couple of weeks and today, I hit the road for the ISAF 10K. My time; 57:36. The race was run completely on base so no worries about suicide bombers and snipers. There was only 20 of us, but it was still a fun race. Canadian General Richard Blanchette and I finished the race side by side. My right hand man, Tech Sgt Brenda Nipper took home the woman's first place medal. While she did an outstanding job, I must admit, she was the only woman to compete.