Kaleb Kester - Army Strong Stories

25/9/2011

Kaleb Kester — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:24:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
Ok. The other day I was a little mad. Once I got back to my hooch, I really thought that I was going to get hemmed up for being critical, but so far I have not heard any word about it which I am happy for. My day started this morning around 0300, 3:00 AM, for those of you not familiar with the 24 hour system. Originally we were slated to do a security patrol on the major road that runs through our little part of Afghanistan. That did not happen. Several hours earlier, some Aghan National...read more

23/9/2011

Kaleb Kester — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:23:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
I admit that I had really high expectations for this blog whenever I started it back in December. For several reasons I decided to stop. One of the reasons I stopped was due to a person in the chain of command being very critical of one of my posts. I took several hours trying to make sure that nothing I said was offensive because I knew it was a sensitive topic. Luckily, my First Sergeant backed me up when he read it. Another reason I stopped was due to the pickup in action happening in and...read more

A Fallen Comrade

Kaleb Kester — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:49:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
On March 19 2011, the world lost SSG Mac. To those that remember his memory, he was a very good person as well as an outstanding NCO. When my platoon heard the word we were all shocked. "How can this happen?" My section sergeant ,who is also my truck commander, served together with SSG Mac in Afghanistan on their last deployment. The night before this happened, he and SSG Mac saw each other at Camp Clark and talked and joked around. SSG Mac was a good NCO who could always make...read more

Brigade Operation and the Last Month

Kaleb Kester — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:01:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
It is hard to believe that it has been a month since my last post. Sitting here in my bed typing this I am trying to think back along the highlights of the past month. As far as missions go, I don't really keep track of the mounted missions that we do, only the dismounted ones that we walk the whole time. This past month we did two missions that were entirely dismounted. These missions consisted of walking out of our base and out into the mountains of Afghanistan. On the first...read more

COIN in Afghanistan

Kaleb Kester — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:54:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
Yeah. About the posts being more frequent.... It is really difficult to get into a rountine here. For the most part we are either pulling 8+ hours of guard or pulling a mission out into the Afghan countryside. Overall, things are getting better and we are now able to find some free time. I got two packages from my mom and one from my sister in the last two days. Just like in basic training, mail is such a moral booster and makes even crappy times that much better. Since my last post I have...read more

Afghanistan

Kaleb Kester — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:54:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
I am now in Afghanistan at my forward operating base we call a FOB. We made many stops along the way, but we finally made it here on the fifth. One thing that has been hard to adjust to is the altitude. We are around 8,000 feet and just walking to the chow hall wook our breath away even though we are all in pretty decent shape. On the second day we were here I sprained my ankle pretty badly while playing basketball and I am still struggling with the injury. So far I have missed out on three...read more

On the verge....

Kaleb Kester — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:55:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
My time here in the states is coming to an end and a new beginning is starting here shortly in Afghanistan. We are getting everything ready and ourselves mentally prepared to leave our family and loved ones for an extended period of time. I feel like I am ready to deploy. I remember my Drill Sergeants in basic training talk about what it was like to be deployed. One Drill Sergeant in particular would always talk to us and instill discipline and integrity into us...read more

First Entry 12/16/2010

Kaleb Kester — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:56:00 GMT

By: Kaleb Kester
Hello everyone! My name is PFC Kester. My duties include being a 240 B gunner and a dismount for my truck. Here is a quick synopsis of what I have done in the Army to date. I attended One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Ft. Benning, GA from Oct. 2009 to Feb 2010. After graduation I attended Airborne school where I learned how to jump out of a perfectly good airplane and land without hurting myself. After graduation I went to Ft. Bragg, NC for a preparatory course called Special Forces...read more