Hello from the Stan

Hello My Peeps from the Stan,

Good morning from a chilly place called FoB Dwyer in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. I hope all of your NYEs were good and since I didn’t get any bad news I’m sure you were safe. Me…well I had an exciting night of Star Trek Marathon eating Chocolate Crunch and Jamesons (Thanks to Mom and Ernie) so there was no drinking and driving for me. LOL. It was just another day here in the Stan. Good thing is that none of my Marines were shot at and no Marines in our immediate area were in contact. Christmas was more of the same. Nice and quiet.

So just to keep everyone on track with what to do and not to do here in the Stan:


-Don’t accept cigarettes from the locals….they put hashish in them and it’s the “good $h!t” but we have a “no drugs” policy.
-Don’t touch what looks like baby $hIt in a bag….it’s probably heroin and we’ve confiscated quite a bit along with other drugs.
-Keep your weapon on you with a magazine of ammo w/in arms reach. We have ANA (Afghan National Army) on base and they are worse than Sailors with rifles.
-If you can catch or kill more than 13 mice in two months here at FOB Dwyer then you’ve beaten my gunners record.
-No you can’t trade your watch for a goat….no you can’t trade your watch for two goats no matter what the locals tell you.
-Yes I will help Osama Bin Laden meet 71 virgins. As a Marine it’s my duty to make introductions to new people so if you know where he is I’ll make it happen J
- NO………….you can’t take the new M-ATV off any “sweet jumps” even if the suspension is designed for it!
-Shoot first and ask questions later isn’t how we do business…..unless you get shot at first.
-No it’s not true: If Chuck Norris eats bullets for breakfast he fires a round when he burps….he fires a round when he farts!

So we are leaving FOB Dwyer in the next week or two. My platoon is going to link back up with the Company in Cam p Leatherneck and get our LAVs! We are going to be pushing farther south to conduct operations down there out of COP Payne. I won’t be able to send emails as often as I do now. Mail is going to be a lot slower too. We’ll be outside the wire on a regular basis operating in an area that not many coalition forces are in…..finally. Don’t worry we have more fire power than most 3rd world countries, Communication assets that can literally reach Mars (as long as we are in alignment), Optics that can see 6 miles away and attack helos and jets that are on constant stand bye to help support us if necessary. I’d gladly leave hot chow, warm tents and the creature comforts of a base to do what I’ve been training for (for the past 3 years!) in the Corps.

On to cooler things. We have a soak lot outside the base where the contractors/civilian trucks stay for a few days for safety purposes (I’ll explain more when I get home). One of the drivers was sleeping on his mat and he was using his prosthetic leg as a pillow. That’s how hard these people are. The picture is here somewhere and I’ll send it to you all as soon as I find it. I have a few pictures to send to you all back home. I shaved my mustache off because it was time. My Marines say I look younger. Sorry Martha ;). We have some new very cool vehicles….the M-ATV. Google it and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Going to take a ride in the Osprey to get to Leatherneck. Looking forward to that since I’ve not flown on that airframe yet. Did any of you notice the Blue Moon? Mom told me about it….no a blue moon isn’t something you’d see at a Duke Basketball game…well maybe. (joke)

So I’ve see a few of my buddies from OCS (one is actually the Lt. that is replacing me here on the base), about ½ dozen from TBS, and 3 from LAV Leaders course. Very cool to see those guys. We’ve gotten to catch up. One, my buddy Joey Newman from NYC), got me a patch from FDNY that has the EGA on it and USMC. Very cool! I’d emailed him before he left to come out here and he snagged it for me. He’s such a good dude and I wish you could all meet him. His NYC accent trips me out! He used to work for FDNY before he joined the Marines.

Ok well I think I’ve run my fingers enough. Please pass this on to everyone and anyone I didn’t reach. I don’t have all the email addresses I wanted so please pass this on and drop me a line when you can. It’s good to read mail and hear how you are all doing.

Semper Fi,

ws