Civil Affairs - Army Strong Stories

SITTING IN JALALABAD

Cole Calloway — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:32:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
Well, came in from the small COP, which is out in the middle of nowhere and a few miles from the Pakistan border, to Jalalabad Airfield for some Finance classes for Pay Agent and FOO. Since we are in a transitional phase my job parameters are starting to shift slightly. But, either way, I'm eager to continue our mission and stay focused until the End Of Mission for myself and the company....read more

Keeping up with a little motivation

Eduardo Montano — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:55:00 GMT

By: Eduardo Montano
Apologize for the delay once again, It's been a very eye-opening experience these past weeks and well, I guess you could say everyday is filled with new eye-opening things happening. I have seen different soldiers come in with different views on why we are here? they question this while eating chow, chatting it up on a patrol, or just sitting around with nothing else to do but talk about "why the F*** are we here" I try real hard not to trouble myself with these...read more

MY MISSION GOING WELL

Cole Calloway — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:36:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
Afghanistan...now a days, the word itself sends rivulets of cascading thoughts of inhospitable landscape, insurgency and unhappiness. Yes, there is a group of individuals that are still trying continue an insurgency here; but I think and believe that their influence here is waning. I have met a lot of great children and seen a lot of happy faces and I believe that we are making a difference here. Our presence is making an impact. And when I see them, I see the...read more

Civil Affairs Specialist

Larry Marquez — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:58:00 GMT

By: Larry Marquez
Today, is Wednesday, I know, 'cause my friend on my wrist, says it is, if not for this little companion of mine, I would lose track of the days, the hours, the minutes and of course, the seconds. My friend is always with me, I can trust this little guy, he's so attached to me, not even a rainstorm can shed him off of me, he was with me when I kissed my family goodbye back in the States, he was with me when I arrived here in Afghanistan, and, I believe he will be with me when...read more

SETTLING IN

Cole Calloway — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
I have been here almost two months now and to say that we hit the ground running is an understatement. We are living on a COP [Combat Outpost] that is literally in the middle of nowhere. The most amazing thing is that EVERY NIGHT we sit outside of our B-Hut and look up and can see every star that God has created, twinkling down to us. The landscape at night really reminds me of what the Pioneers must have thought when crossing the Great Deserts of the U.S. way back in the...read more

Learning the Afghan ways.

Eduardo Montano — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:53:00 GMT

By: Eduardo Montano
I have to excuse myself and apologize for the gap in between my last post. Being a newbee to the whole deployment world, you have to try and take in as much as you can when you first arrive. Plus it doesn't help when you don't have interent working all the time. haha!! It's begining of Sept and I've been in country for about a month, its a different feel every day, not bad just different feel. I'm in the Province of Nangahar, The views here are...read more

Civil Affairs Specialist

Larry Marquez — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:23:00 GMT

By: Larry Marquez
Finally, my first letter on this site, not from the lack of trying, but for the lack of resources, a luxury that I so dearly miss from back home. I have had the opportunity of exploring various villages with the Cavalry unit I'm attached to, and even participated in many dismounted patrols, while in route to the villages District Centers (DC). It is at those DC's, that I conduct the majority of my business, from discussing future and excisting projects with the District Governor...read more

working out with CPT Matson!!!!

Rene Ruiz — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:21:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
Over the whole preperation period for the deployment CPT Matson has gotten us into really great shape.On the other hand being here and working out with the CPT and the NCO from the PSD PLT here is breaking me off... No pain no gain i guess . Work Outs The Murph: 1mile 100pull ups 200 push ups 300squats 1mile The 300 workout: Pullups - 25 reps Barbell Deadlift with 135 lbs. - 50 reps Pushups - 50 reps 24-inch Box Jumps - 50 reps...read more

renovations

Rene Ruiz — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:36:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
some times when u get frustrated about moving and packing all your things up. take a deep breath and think things could be so much worse. today gave us a great chance to blow some steam, and knock some walls down. not only did the CPT, SSG Sierra, and I have fun it gave us a second work out. just got to with it i guess....read more

hard times

Rene Ruiz — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 19:05:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
Challenges in life take us to strange, scary, exciting, sad, and far away places…what can we do about it??? Sometimes all we can do is just suck it up and go with it. Don’t sulk about it; step up to plate and face those challenges head on and know that whether win or lose you gave it your all. Take pride that you weren’t afraid to lose. It may suck to lose but, we win anyways because we get to learn from those losses and take them as a life lesson. So embrace it and drive...read more

Afghanistan Finally

Rene Ruiz — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:13:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
were finally here in Afghanistan. the Journey is just beginning and expect to see and experience a lot . Still open minded and ready to learn from all the infantry guys and from the locals....read more

MADE IT TO AFGHANISTAN

Cole Calloway — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:42:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
Well, it has been a very interesting past few days. This is what the Army is all about, getting up at the wee hours of the morning and flying by aircraft for hours on end to make it to this very moment....Afghanistan. This journey started Sunday night [7 days ago]. We flew through Germany and Turkey and finally landed in Kyrgyzstan, which is a former Russian satellite of the old USSR. It was interesting to see all of the old Soviet style buildings at the airport and...read more

Final Days

Rene Ruiz — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:30:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
Last days here at FT Dix it has been a fun run and warm up for the big game now. Feel as though what we learned here from the training excersises was good but i feel as though i learned more from my fellow soldiers and NCO's. that being said the anxiety is building up now and i cant really wait its my first deployement I know im going to learn alot about myself, my team leader and about the Afghan people. though its going to be a long year for us i know it'll feel even longer for our...read more

PREP TO CROSS THE POND

Cole Calloway — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:28:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
Or training has been very challenging and very welcomed. Though is my third tour, I don't remember everything. So, it was great to get this refresher course. Our unit has just been validated from Ft Dix and we are now making our final preparations to take our long flight to finally get overseas so we can start our work. My next logged post will be in a week or two from Afghanistan....read more

Integrity Check

Rene Ruiz — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:29:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
knowing that you did something wrong a quick reaction out of panic is to come up with a excuse or lie. Be the bigger person take a deep breath and do the right thing. worst thing that will happen is youll get chewed out and have to deal with some consequences but you yourself wont be known for being a liar. take pride in yourself and dont give yourself a bad name suck it up n drive on, its all you can really do and wait it out....read more

Civil Affairs Officer

Sacco Nazloomian — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:27:00 GMT

By: Sacco Nazloomian
Still at Fort Dix New Jersey waiting for transportation to Afghanistan......read more

Final stretch of MOB !!!

Rene Ruiz — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:29:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
still here at fort dix.. last bit of training left and we get to see our families again for the last time for a year ....read more

DAY 18/400 DAYS of ACTIVE DUTY

Rene Ruiz — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:59:00 GMT

By: Rene Ruiz
Here at MOB station almost 2300 HRS and thinking to myself if this is actually happening the training excersises are like those of any other training facility. the distance isnt an issue yet, but i can see the effects it has on the family back home.before i left friends would ask what i thought of this if i was nervous,scared, excited what was running through my mind. to be be completly honest I have mixed emotions about the deployment but I know that what myself and everyone on the team is...read more

CAT Team Sergeant

George Rodriguez — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:29:00 GMT

By: George Rodriguez
Currently, I am at Ft Dix to conduct training for deployment. I arrived shortly after my Company and should be caought up with my team as far as training in the very near future....read more

Ft Dix

Cole Calloway — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:26:00 GMT

By: Cole Calloway
Just started our training and adiminstrative roll up at Ft Dix, NJ. More to follow.......read more