So now what?

The MPPAT is now in the hands of Lieutenant Commander Mark Walton. It’s his baby. Like Ted Williams or Babe Ruth, I ended my career there with some stats I’m very proud of; a team that produced 140 print stories, 130 broadcast stories, 60 live television interviews and nearly 3,000 pictures posted to the web.

In my final 45 days here in Afghanistan, I’m working directly for the Chief PAO, Captain Mark Durkin to produce videos for him. The first is on Kabul; a relatively safe city which the media often like to report as being surrounded with the enemy banging at the gate. This simply is not true and my video will tell the true story not through my eyes, but the eyes of Afghans who live here. We interviewed nearly a dozen people off the streets and their perspective is very interesting and different from what you hear on TV or read in the paper.

Here is a link to the Kabul; A city of progress video. I am very proud of how this video turned out. So far it has gotten 300 hits on the DVIDS web site.

http://dvidshub.net/r/pf8nr2

Back in Kabul

It’s been a while since I wrote anything in the journal. When I got home from R&R, I didn’t want to take a single second away from playing with the family. Now that I’m back in Afghanistan, I have been so depressed to be here, I didn’t want to acknowledge my presence in words because those words would only serve as a reminder to my situation. But alas, I have returned.
Let me begin with my R&R; it was awesome. When the plane landed in the United States, my fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines all burst out into applause. That was in Atlanta. On my connecting flight to Memphis, the flight attendant made an announcement for everyone to remain seated and allow the military to get off first. That was pretty cool.

My reunion with the kids was just as I expected; Kathryn and Charlie running into my arms. Susan was right behind snapping pictures. Next to the day they were born, it was the happiest moment of my life. It had been nine long months since I last held them and while the seemed a little bigger, a little more mature, they were still my babies. My wife was as beautiful as ever yet strikingly different. It took me a day or two to figure it out. Her appearance hadn’t changed; she was just a stronger person. My being away has given her a confidence and strength she didn’t have before. I am in awe of this woman and so proud to call her my wife.

We spent a couple days at home which gave me such an odd feeling. Home was so familiar but so different at the same time. I felt like the Lord of the Manor and a stranger. Sleeping in a comfortable bed, a bath, food whenever I want to eat; these are thing I just wasn’t used to having. It’s a good thing we didn’t stay at home long because I’m not sure I would have felt normal by the end of my trip. When I go home for good, it will take me a solid month to readjust.
Within 48 hours we were off to Disney World and the dream vacation Susan and I have been planning for months. To see the Magic Kingdom again after so many years was exciting but to see it for the first time through the eyes of my children was truly magical. We ran our children ragged from the early morning until the late hours of the night. We rode rides, had breakfast with Pooh, ate lunch with the Princesses, watched parades, swam in the pool, made new friends and celebrated our anniversary. It was a great vacation; hopefully the first of many to Disney World.

I am the luckiest man alive to be blessed with the family GOD has given me.