CHARMKINS RIP

“Of course I am very sick of the war and would like to leave it, and yet I know I can't. I've been part of the misery and tragedy of it for so long that I feel if I left it, it would be like a soldier deserting.”-- Ernie Pyle, letter to his wife in 1945.

I just want to mention now that I have a lot of trouble getting on the internet. If I have not gotten back to you it is because I only get 30 minutes of internet at a time and it takes about 5 minutes to get my email open and another 5 to send a message without attachments. So, if I am lucky, I get out 4 or 5 messages in my 30 minutes of time. And Tribe.net rarely works. That is why I switched my blog to http://charmkins.blogspot.com By the way, if anyone has a video camera I can borrow, have an account for shipping. A fedex package can get here in 4 days. I am settled in my room in Kandahar. I share my room with other visiting journalists. But it is very comfortable, and spacious. We have 110 electricity and hot and cold running water. The concrete floors bet the wooden ones I had in Iraq when I lived in a tent there. The room has 5 bunks 2 being bunk beds, then my bed in the back. Being in back offers a little privacy, and is actually nicer than my apartment was in Gerlach. The area I am in houses many soldiers. It is something like a low income housing project in Southern Nevada. The mess hall is a block away from my complex. This place is a lot like the Black Rock desert and Burning Man. Lots of shipping containers and tents are sprawled out in the dust. Crazy military vehicles, and art cars. Well, art trucks. I shit you not. The military has leased giant art trucks for the locals. Pierre Pre$$ure was the first person to type me off on this phenomena of decorating trucks in Pakistan, India and Afganistan. I saw many trucks in Kabul. They are also on the base here in Kandahar. Yesterday, I stopped in at the hospital and updated my shots. They were out of Antrax shots. I probably don't need to finish that. But I got my last shot in the Hep A vacinations. I stopped by the PX yesterday. They have Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut run out of semi trailers, as well as a 24 hour coffee shop that resembles Star Bucks, but is called Green Bean. Most places on the base do not allow you to have bags with you. The PX is an exception. The Mess Hall and Morale, Welfare and Recreation center (MWR), gym and computer center you can't have a back pack, or anything. This is after the attach in Mosul last year. A foreign soldier had a back pack with explosives and ball bearings in it. Many people were killed. I end up packing everything in my pockets. I feel in my element here. I am my own boss. I have free reign of the base, within reason. I set my own schedule and whatever I see that interests me, I can write about. In two days, I have my first mission on a CH-47 Chinock. I am flying around to a few Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). This where the Special Forces operate. I am flying to Kalat, which is a Fortress once occupied by Alexander the Great in 300 B.C. It is still in use. The 113th Co D. specializes in CH-47s. I am also interested in flying some combat missions on Black Hawks. That is another unit. But I am setting up a few rides doing that next week. And then, the other combat trip I am setting up is on the gun trucks that patrol in and around Kandahar. I can't go out this week. They have shut down the media embeds due to recent political unrest. But I will get in a few missions before I go. I have only been gone a week, and only in Afghanistan for 4 days. I have 26 more days on my visa. I am setting up 3 embeds in Iraq. Nothing is guarenteed, of course. But I may be in Iraq from 23 November to 7 January. As far as Pakistan goes, I filled a request to travel there for two days. If I get that, I fly over to Islamabad, then fly some aid routes around the disaster area on Ch-47s. Time permitting, I am going to write about the French and Canadien troops that are here. Remember, the Afghanistan invasion was UN and Nato supported, so many of the countries that did not support the invasion of Iraq are here. Currently I am writing up and in interview with a guard member that did aid work in Pakistan and just returned. I am also writing a column about CW4 Sean Laycox from Stead. I should have that stuff down tonight. Then will write more. . . So, I went for a walk and drank an N/A Beer while sitting outside. I started talking to a fellow named Peterson from Gardenerville, NV. He told me that this morning “someone” drove two HMVs into a the shit pool, where all the shit literally goes from the base. I hope I can get out there and get a picture. Real DPW like here. Ha ha ha. I am staying with two Army journalists currently. SGT Jackson and SGT Wilson. They do video and radio for the Pentagon channel. They are pretty cool, and have given me a lot of good advice. Last night SGT Jackson almost died. He was in terrible pain over the last week. The doctor he saw previously gave him antacid. Come to find out his appendix almost burst last night. So he is in the hospital for a while. I stopped in a set up a flight this afternoon on a Black Hawk. CPT Austin is in charge of that unit. I asked for “action and adventure.” He said that is the kind of stuff they don't like. He looked at the schedule for the week and told me that it would be after November 4th for “action and adventure.” So, I'll be flying into that in about a week. I am also going to set up some gun truck embeds. I want to drive around Kandahar and check things out from a HMV. In two days, I'll be flying out on a CH-47. . .
My address, if you want to Fedex me: Caleb Schaber Northern NV News Wire c/o US Army Press Office Building 5798, Room 7 DSN 841-1314 Kandahar Air Base Afghanistan

“Of course I am very sick of the war and would like to leave it, and yet I know I can't. I've been part of the misery and tragedy of it for so long that I feel if I left it, it would be like a soldier deserting.”-- Ernie Pyle, letter to his wife in 1945.

I just want to mention now that I have a lot of trouble getting on the internet. If I have not gotten back to you it is because I only get 30 minutes of internet at a time and it takes about 5 minutes to get my email open and another 5 to send a message without attachments. So, if I am lucky, I get out 4 or 5 messages in my 30 minutes of time. And Tribe.net rarely works. That is why I switched my blog to http://charmkins.blogspot.com By the way, if anyone has a video camera I can borrow, have an account for shipping. A fedex package can get here in 4 days. I am settled in my room in Kandahar. I share my room with other visiting journalists. But it is very comfortable, and spacious. We have 110 electricity and hot and cold running water. The concrete floors bet the wooden ones I had in Iraq when I lived in a tent there. The room has 5 bunks 2 being bunk beds, then my bed in the back. Being in back offers a little privacy, and is actually nicer than my apartment was in Gerlach. The area I am in houses many soldiers. It is something like a low income housing project in Southern Nevada. The mess hall is a block away from my complex. This place is a lot like the Black Rock desert and Burning Man. Lots of shipping containers and tents are sprawled out in the dust. Crazy military vehicles, and art cars. Well, art trucks. I shit you not. The military has leased giant art trucks for the locals. Pierre Pre$$ure was the first person to type me off on this phenomena of decorating trucks in Pakistan, India and Afganistan. I saw many trucks in Kabul. They are also on the base here in Kandahar. Yesterday, I stopped in at the hospital and updated my shots. They were out of Antrax shots. I probably don't need to finish that. But I got my last shot in the Hep A vacinations. I stopped by the PX yesterday. They have Subway, Burger King and Pizza Hut run out of semi trailers, as well as a 24 hour coffee shop that resembles Star Bucks, but is called Green Bean. Most places on the base do not allow you to have bags with you. The PX is an exception. The Mess Hall and Morale, Welfare and Recreation center (MWR), gym and computer center you can't have a back pack, or anything. This is after the attach in Mosul last year. A foreign soldier had a back pack with explosives and ball bearings in it. Many people were killed. I end up packing everything in my pockets. I feel in my element here. I am my own boss. I have free reign of the base, within reason. I set my own schedule and whatever I see that interests me, I can write about. In two days, I have my first mission on a CH-47 Chinock. I am flying around to a few Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). This where the Special Forces operate. I am flying to Kalat, which is a Fortress once occupied by Alexander the Great in 300 B.C. It is still in use. The 113th Co D. specializes in CH-47s. I am also interested in flying some combat missions on Black Hawks. That is another unit. But I am setting up a few rides doing that next week. And then, the other combat trip I am setting up is on the gun trucks that patrol in and around Kandahar. I can't go out this week. They have shut down the media embeds due to recent political unrest. But I will get in a few missions before I go. I have only been gone a week, and only in Afghanistan for 4 days. I have 26 more days on my visa. I am setting up 3 embeds in Iraq. Nothing is guarenteed, of course. But I may be in Iraq from 23 November to 7 January. As far as Pakistan goes, I filled a request to travel there for two days. If I get that, I fly over to Islamabad, then fly some aid routes around the disaster area on Ch-47s. Time permitting, I am going to write about the French and Canadien troops that are here. Remember, the Afghanistan invasion was UN and Nato supported, so many of the countries that did not support the invasion of Iraq are here. Currently I am writing up and in interview with a guard member that did aid work in Pakistan and just returned. I am also writing a column about CW4 Sean Laycox from Stead. I should have that stuff down tonight. Then will write more. . . So, I went for a walk and drank an N/A Beer while sitting outside. I started talking to a fellow named Peterson from Gardenerville, NV. He told me that this morning “someone” drove two HMVs into a the shit pool, where all the shit literally goes from the base. I hope I can get out there and get a picture. Real DPW like here. Ha ha ha. I am staying with two Army journalists currently. SGT Jackson and SGT Wilson. They do video and radio for the Pentagon channel. They are pretty cool, and have given me a lot of good advice. Last night SGT Jackson almost died. He was in terrible pain over the last week. The doctor he saw previously gave him antacid. Come to find out his appendix almost burst last night. So he is in the hospital for a while. I stopped in a set up a flight this afternoon on a Black Hawk. CPT Austin is in charge of that unit. I asked for “action and adventure.” He said that is the kind of stuff they don't like. He looked at the schedule for the week and told me that it would be after November 4th for “action and adventure.” So, I'll be flying into that in about a week. I am also going to set up some gun truck embeds. I want to drive around Kandahar and check things out from a HMV. In two days, I'll be flying out on a CH-47. . .
My address, if you want to Fedex me: Caleb Schaber Northern NV News Wire c/o US Army Press Office Building 5798, Room 7 DSN 841-1314 Kandahar Air Base Afghanistan

Getting to Kandahar from San Francisco

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Greetings from Kandahar, Afghanistan. I apologize for this less than personal response, but my access to Internet is limited, and my time focused on writing about the war. If you do not want to be on this list, or do not want attachments sent to you, please let me know. I am posting two different versions of this. One with photos attached and one without. The text will also be posted on my blog @ http://tribe.net/ under Shooter. Feel free to forward this to others. After numerous delays, cancellations and tribulations, I have been able to launch my company, the Northern Nevada News Wire, with tons of help, especially from Matthew “Metric” Ebert. Originally, I was headed to Iraq first as an embedded journalist. However, that didn't pan out, yet. But I made it to Kandahar, where I am embedded with the 113th Co. D, a Nevada National Guard aviation unit. I am here for a month. Then I will be heading to Iraq, most likely 2 weeks in Baghdad and 2 weeks in Kabul. I am setting my schedule today. I'll be flying some combat missions, supply missions and most likely heading with the 113th to Pakistan for a little aid work. I live and work with the troops. The Northern Nevada News Wire is the company I use to distribute my articles to various newspapers and magazines. Eventually, everything I write and photograph will be on the website. Thanks to all of you that helped me with this project. Your help and my persistence made it happen. I left Saturday 21 October 2005 at 1:20 am. from San Francisco. I stopped in Hong Kong for about 12 hours, then flew to Dubai. I had a last minute going away party with beer and big chunks of meat: steak , ribs and boneless chicken breasts. I took some chicken with. I kept it in a baggy in my breast pocket. Security never inspected it. I ate it for breakfast in Hong Kong. Thanks Brett and Big Daddy! Later in Hong Kong, I sampled a Tsing Tao at the Champ1ons Sports bar (they use a “1” for i.) Champ1ons did not have ESPN and wasn't playing the baseball game in Houston. At least 5 people came in and asked for it, and left, murmuring things about what kind of sports bar doesn't have baseball at this time of the year. . . Things were pretty smooth until I got to Dubai. My bags were only checked to Dubai, not to Kabul. I had to go through passport control, then get my bags, then go through customs. At that point, I was told I could not get to the departure area of the airport AND it was a 15 minute drive away. I left with $80. I was down $60. So I had to spend another $20 getting to the other part of the airport. The ride didn't cost that much, but I only had $20s to change into the local currency. Once I got to the airport, I was not allowed to check in for 8 more hours. A big Arab in a white gown kept yelling for everyone to get out of the airport, in various languages, if you were not getting on a plane that was immediately boarding. Around 2:30 am. Dubai time, I was let in. Once I got in, the big Arab was back and told me I was too early. But he relented and let me sit around for another 90 minutes until check in. There is a jpg of me waiting at the airport attached. At this time, I noticed a lot of Arabs that looked remarkably like Taliban. I've been around to Kuwait and a few other places and seen Arab fashions. This was distinct. And then I realized that I was going to be on a plane with these guys. They looked like merchants, because they had a lot of stuff. Most of the guys did not use suitcases. They had everything wrapped in a big tarp, then they tied it. After that, they wrapped the packages in big sheets of saran wrap. My favorite “bag” used by the men I was flying into Kabul with was a 55 gallon blue plastic drum. And I thought I traveled in excess. . . Upon check in I was told that I was 13 kilos over the weight and would have to pay $35. I was down to $40 and I needed cash to get a cab from the Airport to Camp Eggers and from Camp Eggers to Bagram. I asked my military contact how much I should pay and he told me no more than $20 for both rides. So I needed that $40. I got out of line, unpacked my guitar amp (I always bring my strat to the war. . .), flak vest and leather jacket, plus a few books. That lowered my weight 10 kilos and I made it to check in, with a lot of carry ons, plus a bunch of wires. I was searched checking in after making it through passport control. It was about 5 a.m. Local time now. The morning prayer began. I have frozen images of barbed wire, turbans, robes, vests and funny little hats set to the morning prayer songs. The leg room on Ariana air lines was great, although the seats a little narrow in coach. Cathay Airlines was made for smaller people, and were bad all around for my size body. Ariana's fleet is a bunch of old planes. So old that they had ashtrays in the bath room. They gave us shesh-ke-babs and coffee for breakfast, with a small croissant. I asked for beer and/or wine was told that they do not serve alcohol. I figured as much, but always ask. The flight proved to be filled with spectacular views of Afghanistan. I flew over Kandahar. From there to Kabul, I only saw one small settlement. This was the first time I cut through the mountain ranges in a 747 jet. We often flew eye level to the tops of mountains. The land between mountains looked like rumpled brown paper. Jagged mountains and irregular shapes of geographical chaos marked this land still untamed. I noticed a little playa, but much smaller than the Black Rock. When I get a map, I can look up the names of these places. We were in a holding pattern for at least 30 minutes, circling the mountains and outskirts of Kabul. From the air, I noticed a lot of square walled areas made of brick that had nothing in the middle. I have some photos of this from the side when I drove to Bagram. So, when we landed, we were not allowed off the plane for about 45 minutes. We noticed a diplomatic procession out side of the plane. The plane was 20 or 25 degree hotter than the out side, and it is 75 tp 85 degree F in the day. I noticed clean shaven white men in 3 piece suits walking around the runway with unusually large machine guns, and a motorcade with a Mercedes and a couple black SUVs. I thought maybe it was Condi Rice, but found out later that it was the Governor of the Kabul Provence. He was flying to Pakistan. This is were my nightmare begins. Custom/passport control was not a problem. I did notice that some people, including Americans were able to bypass customs and passport control. (CIA is what I thought. But then aren't they supposed to blend in, not just waltz through customs and passport control?) The airport is really small, too. I waited in line and got to my bags after passport control. Pick up trucks brought our bags in the back. . . I don't really want to write about the part from the airport to Camp Eggers. I find it rather disturbing. Let's just say that my cab driver was not really cabbie, and he wasn't taking me to camp Eggers. . . I don't care to get into the details. So, fast forward to Camp Eggers a few hours later. The guards at the gate searched my bags for alcohol and bombs. SGT Donde met me. He was my press contact. “There has been some changes since I last talked to you,” he says. “All embeds have been canceled for the country.” Because of the recently cremation of Arab bodies, all embedded media were kicked out and no new embeds were allowed. I played it very cool and said, “OK.” I was then asked if I could leave the base and get a hotel for the month I was in Afghanistan. I still looked cool and acted cool. But inside I was a mess. The idea of trying to survive Kabul for 30 days with $40 felt like a death sentence to me. With the embed slot, I get free food and place to stay. I would need no money. My press contacts took me to lunch on the base. The buffet had a lot of meat. I ate BBQ ribs, hot wings, meat loaf and fried fish. The sign on the mess hall exit read: “Got Gun?” like the got milk signs. Everyone carries guns here. It is a military base and we are at war. After lunch, I sat down and read and was told to wait for further instructions. SGT Chang later came out and sat down next to me. “Let me ask you a question,” he said. The fear and loathing had set in. I thought he was going to ask something like “Are you really a journalist?” But it was the other “J” word. “Are you Jewish?” he asked. “If not, you'd be kicked off the base.”“Yeah, yeah. I am Jewish,” I said. He said that he got me a space on the base to stay by saying that I was Jewish and feared for my life should I return to Kabul unescorted. Later that night, I found out why I was going to have even more trouble gaining an embed slot than because of the two dead Arabs getting cremated in psych op: The day before I got to Kabul the Press Officer googled me and found out all sorts of things about me, particularly my work in college as a gonzo journalist. The Brigade Commander was not impressed with my previous work and did not want me around. Regardless, I was told that I was heading up to Bagram. It was unlikely that I would be embedded in Kandahar, but I would find more to write about there than at Camp Eggers. The Press Officers at Bagram air base were very cool, and appreciated my work as a gonzo journalist. One of the guys was fired from the Stars and Strips because, as he put it, “I pissed off Donald Rumsfeld.” It was this guy that got me in. I heard him argue for over 30 minutes with officers way up the food chain on why they should take me. He told me that I was flying out to Kandahar and should be ready to go, regardless or not if they were ready for me. I did not sleep well that night. Anxiety and despair plague my waking mind a restless dreams. After dinner, one of the press guys told me his impression of Kandahar: “Everyone is on acid down there.” Just like Willard in Apocalypse Now, everyone gets what they want. I've been waiting for this mission for almost a year, maybe most of my life. And I made it to Kandahar, and I was granted an embed slot with the unit. I encountered minimum resistance, once I arrived here. I attached a couple images for your pleasure. Kabul 1 is leaving the airport; Kabul 2 looking for camp eggers; kabul3/4/5 art cars (they are all over here); kabul6/7 on the way to Bagram; Kabul 8 waiting to get off the plane; Kabul 9 me in Dubai waiting to fly to Kabul; Kabul 11 notice the vehicle. This was on the road to Bagram. So I am flying to Pakistan for a while with the 113th, hopefully in a week or two. Then I get to ride in a few combat missions so I can experience firefights, and write about them. Other missions I ride on I am not allowed to discuss many of the details, except those that do not involve who or what is being transported to what location. Towards the end of November, I am heading to Iraq for more combat, on the ground. The Northern Nevada News Wire website is not up yet. I directly distributing articles via email to newspapers. I will let you know once I start putting images and content on the website. You can Fedex/DHL me. I am only here a month, so first class mail, if not sent right away, wont make it. Email me for the address. I could use some Gaulouise filterless cigarettes, raspberry Ozona snuff and some kind of liquor put in a mouthwash bottle. Also money. I am broke until I start selling articles and it will be weeks by the time the checks are deposited and get on my credit card. Paypal editor@nvnewswire.com
Hope everyone is well.
Caleb “Shooter” SchaberPO Box 111 Gerlach, NV 89412Cell: (206)-856-4594
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY If this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt frommandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom ofInformation Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DoDInformation for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Securityand Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release" apply.