We're not in Kansas anymore Toto...We're in Kyrgysztan
Hello to all from Kyrgysztan! If you don't know where this country is, don't be ashamed, I hadn't even heard of it until we landed here. Wherever it is, it's cold and wet all the time. Getting here took some doing and some serious traveling.
Thursday night we left the Topeka airport at roughly 9:45 pm. We flew for a couple hours to Bangar, Maine where we sat in the terminal for about 2 hours waiting for the plane to refuel. We boarded the plane and sat for a 6-7 hour flight across the atlantic to land in Liepzig, Germany where we once again sat for a couple hours to refuel. Once we had boarded again, we set out to our final destination of Kyrgyzstan and landed there 6-7 hours later at 5:30 local time here....on saturday. All in all, we left thursday night at 9:45 and landed saturday at 5:30. Quite a way to spend a friday. I guess I could have had it worse, one of the guys I'm with had his birthday on friday. lucky him.
Once we landed in Kyrgyzstan, it was raining cats and dogs. We're at some airforce base here, so there is internet, showers, shops, a gym, and a chow hall that's open 24/7. however, due to the high terror threat, we can't leave here and there is really nothing to do. Being fairly exhausted after our flight, we all wanted to just rack out on the bunks for a while. However, due to a lodging problem, we had to wait a couple more hours.
The lodging problem was a multinational problem. The billets we were going to stay in, already had some Marines, and some Spanish forces in there. The Marines, being on top of their game, had doubled up and used the bunk beds the way they were meant to be used. The Spanish, had decided to put one man per bunk bed. This left us not nearly enough room and we had to ask them to move. I have no idea why this took two hours, but if you know anything about the military and common sense, you'll know exactly why.
Finally we were given our bunks and in the early afternoon i decided to take a short nap...for 9 hours. I've been running on what I consider 'vampire time'. This is because Kyrgyzstan is 12 hours ahead of us and we're all having trouble adjusting a full 12 hours. I'm frequently eating at the chow hall at 2 in the morning and doing most of my internet at that time too. This does work out however, becuase that's when people back home are online.
We've been giving a fly out date but it keeps changing. Plus for security reasons, even if I knew, I probably wouldn't post it. More than likely, I'll finally be in country here within the next week some time. This would be great since there is nothing to do here. I should have internet for the next few weeks for sure, so shoot me an email or put some posts on here and I'll get back to them in short time.
Thursday night we left the Topeka airport at roughly 9:45 pm. We flew for a couple hours to Bangar, Maine where we sat in the terminal for about 2 hours waiting for the plane to refuel. We boarded the plane and sat for a 6-7 hour flight across the atlantic to land in Liepzig, Germany where we once again sat for a couple hours to refuel. Once we had boarded again, we set out to our final destination of Kyrgyzstan and landed there 6-7 hours later at 5:30 local time here....on saturday. All in all, we left thursday night at 9:45 and landed saturday at 5:30. Quite a way to spend a friday. I guess I could have had it worse, one of the guys I'm with had his birthday on friday. lucky him.
Once we landed in Kyrgyzstan, it was raining cats and dogs. We're at some airforce base here, so there is internet, showers, shops, a gym, and a chow hall that's open 24/7. however, due to the high terror threat, we can't leave here and there is really nothing to do. Being fairly exhausted after our flight, we all wanted to just rack out on the bunks for a while. However, due to a lodging problem, we had to wait a couple more hours.
The lodging problem was a multinational problem. The billets we were going to stay in, already had some Marines, and some Spanish forces in there. The Marines, being on top of their game, had doubled up and used the bunk beds the way they were meant to be used. The Spanish, had decided to put one man per bunk bed. This left us not nearly enough room and we had to ask them to move. I have no idea why this took two hours, but if you know anything about the military and common sense, you'll know exactly why.
Finally we were given our bunks and in the early afternoon i decided to take a short nap...for 9 hours. I've been running on what I consider 'vampire time'. This is because Kyrgyzstan is 12 hours ahead of us and we're all having trouble adjusting a full 12 hours. I'm frequently eating at the chow hall at 2 in the morning and doing most of my internet at that time too. This does work out however, becuase that's when people back home are online.
We've been giving a fly out date but it keeps changing. Plus for security reasons, even if I knew, I probably wouldn't post it. More than likely, I'll finally be in country here within the next week some time. This would be great since there is nothing to do here. I should have internet for the next few weeks for sure, so shoot me an email or put some posts on here and I'll get back to them in short time.
posted by Ryan at
5:33 PM
6 Comments:
Ryan,
It seems that your life just changed irrevocably! You are outside the U.S., on a military base, and in a country most of us couldn't find on a map. That is exciting news, and I hope you are enjoying the positive aspects of that situation. We are all thinking about you, and praying for you and the other members of your unit. Be strong, stay strong, and remember: always focus on the front sight!
Ken
Uncle Ken,
Life here is definetly interesting. I've learned right away how grateful I am for the small things like hot showers and good food. Despite this, I am enjoying it. Thanks for the prayers, we're going to need them. If my ACOG decides to take a crap, and I have to use my back up iron sites, I will definetly focus on the front site.
Ryan
Ryan,
ACOG, SCHMACOG! You military types do love your acronyms. While the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight seems to be a serviceable unit, nothing is as reliable as your own eye and the front sight on your barrel. Another acronym may be of use here:
KISS: keep it simple, stupid! Don't rely on stuff that can get knocked off, broken, or limits your ability to acquire a target because your eye is looking through a magnified sighting system. It may be high-speed, but that doesn't mean it is the most reliable option available.
I have another acronym for you:BLUK. You are not familiar with BLUK, but it stands for Be Like Uncle Ken! There are 3 concepts you will have to adopt to utilize BLUK:
1. Hone your marksmanship skills to a fine edge through constant dry firing and actual trigger time.
2. Have reflexes that are faster than the "raw edge of lightning." This would be genetically easier for you if you were my son instead of my nephew, but I feel your genetic material is very acceptable. I bet that makes you feel better, eh?
3. Be ruggedly handsome. You're not a bad looking guy, but I think if you adopted an Uncle Ken-style beard you might be able to step up to "ruggedly handsome."
I am sure that after considering the advantages of BLUK, you will adopt it eagerly.
Since you are all AGOG about your ACOG, I have decided to use a new sign-off line for my posts. Are you ready?
"Remember, what puts the ape in apricot?"
You know the answer to that, and all of us back at home know you have that in spades. God bless you and your unit.
Ken
Uncle Ken,
Wow, i'm going to try my hardest to BLUK. I was sitting in the recreation area here in Kabul and I'm sure I attracted some strange stares from people as I was laughing out loud. A couple of guys i've seen here have turned in their optics and are sticking with the iron sights. I'll have to try and work on the beard although the Army frowns upon that. However, i'll definetly fit into the Afghan culture with a beard. Good call and thanks a bunch for the laugh.
Ryan
Ryan,
Front sight tip, schmont schmight schmip! Be like me, like the time I fired from the hip one-handed with an M-16 while firing an M9 over my shoulder. 35 confirmed kills that time, and that was before breakfast! He was half right, though, insofar as his son has reflexes like the raw edge of lightning, or at least when I'm sleepy. When I'm awake and alert, it's a bit closer to travelling in time. I react before there's anything to react to. Anyways, I do agree with the beard part. I shaved the other day, and I could almost feel my man-power draining as I did it.
Roger,
Your shooting style sounds very much like the days of us shooting nazi's and commi's in the woods. Any shooting angle can be done. We shoot so good we make Arnold Schwarzenneger look bad. Since it's such an unfair fight, i typically fight and qualify with a blindfold on. As for the beard, it may be a couple more years until it grows in thick enough to not look like white trash.
Courage, it's what puts the 'ape' in apricot.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home