https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/The life of a soldier deployed in Afghanistan as he shares the good, bad and often ugly side of being so far from home.hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/658373With all the fighting and wasted resources out here, it is that time of year where the Girl Scouts of America brighten our day, and fatten us up. Every year about this time, the Girl Scouts and their supporters send us what seems to be a million boxes of cookies. We indulge and share the kindness...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/658087So another week of missions come and go and I am not sure if any one is any better off. We work hard and I don't think there will be any tangible results for us, here and now. I would hope that we are keeping the next generation of young would be soldiers from coming out here for a mission they...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/657191I am sorry to those readers who were worried. I appreciate your thoughts and I really missed being a part of the Blogit community. I have returned from missions outside the Kabul area, which has become my home. I just wanted to reassure everyone that everything was alright out here, for me...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/649634I think of myself as a patient person. I give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I meet someone new out here. Inevitably I hear war stories of IED's and gun battles, of fighting off one hundred men with a rock and a stick, stuff like that. The surge that has packed us on this little camp...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/648936Today was another day out on the road. We were getting a peek at what our millions and millions of dollars are buying. There are uniforms, ammo and weapons. There are the training sites, living quarters and food. The vehicles, fuel and trainers. This is not for us, this is for the Afghan Army....https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/648702As I expected with our offensive down south of here, the Taliban make there point with more senseless civilian deaths and numerous injured as they attack Kabul. They are out to show the country that they are not going away. We are right here, and I am not saying I want to fight if it can be...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/647899We are back from traveling the country and should have a few down days. It is so easy as a spoiled American to worry about things that are truly trivial in every sense of the word. I still get frustrated with these things, however, it is trips like these that are really putting things in...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/646877As I check my military E-mail today and expect the typical junk about meetings and conflicting schedules, I came across a great mystery. The greatest military in the world has a huge issue. We seemed to have lost 100 chairs. Yes 100. They were being used in a conference hall and apparently, under...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/646655A quiet day. That is good. More people come, more friends go. Today I thought quite a bit about loneliness. How strange it is to never be alone, to always be around hundreds of people on camp. To be in a city of 5 million people and still feel all alone. The bonds that I have out here can seem so...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/souljacker1972/646506Tragic events happen out here daily. They are usually due to some type of military attack or the Taliban killing civilians and soldiers to remind us that they are still here and are not going away. News of about 166 deaths in a massive avalanche along the Salang Pass, which triggered about two...