Halloween

I dreamt of flying last night. Of course, I spent over 6 hours in the air over Afghanistan in a CH-47 with the Nevada National Guard. They decorated the inside with a number of American Flags and one Nevada State flag. It was very touching. I got to ride in the jump seat, which is in the cockpit of the helicopter between the pilot and co-pilot. I had a specatacular view of the flight. I got to see camels, goats and numerous Afghani villages. Afghanistan is about 2/3s mountains and I got to fly over a bunch of them. I can't say much about the places I went to, or what we did. That stuff is classified. I have some pictures I will be posting soon of the unclassified stuff. I can't post pictures of Black Hawks. Those are classified. But I will be riding on one next week. I am setting up another mission. Not sure where I will be going next. MAJ Capps and I had lunch today and he told me to stop by tomorrow at 0300 ZULU to set up another flight. Some how I find it strange that I can just walk into a military operation and ask for ride. But I can. Tomorrow I am setting up some rides on the gun trucks. When I leave Afghanistan, I am riding a convoy from Kandahar to Kabul. I am in my element here. I've been in Afghanistan over a week. I like this place, and I like my job. I am getting along well with the troops. I finished two articles and they should be printed in the next week. Internet is totally fucked the past few days. I haven't been able to get but one or two emails opened, and usually can only respond to one. PLEASE NOTE: If you email me crap, or want to start shit with me, or waste my time about rumors of things I have done in the past, or anything unrelated to me being in the war, now, and my immediate needs, you will not hear from me, and you will piss me off and I will block your future emails.
I got to set in on the briefing before I went on my flight on Halloween. I left early in the morning and did not return until almost sunset. I had on a headset, so I was able to listen to the pilots and the crew. They are a fun bunch of guys, all from Nevada. They treated me very cool. Certain restrictions of my job do make me feel that the balls are more than a little shaved from my writing and the information I am able to pass on to you, my humble and faithful readers. I am working slow, getting a feel for what I can and cannot say. Things regarding the special forces in any capacity are a no-no to talk about. Wink, wink. Numbers of troops, and helicopters shot down are also a faux pas to mention. Well, at least I like the job. I should. I made it, and I am the boss. Today, I took it pretty easy. Slept in. I have 3 more weeks here. As I get closer to the troops and my writing format unfolds, things will go much more faster. Then I am most likely off to Iraq. I tried to watch the movie THREE KINGS last night. They have a little movie theater here in the MWR that seats about 24. I couldn't really get into the movie. And the DVD messed up in the middle, anyway. I did watch THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK this afternoon. That was OK, I guess. Some kind of distraction. Watching a war movie in the war just doesn't cut it for me. I have more stuff to say, but I guess my blog is being put second. I am developing a column called DISPATCHES to sort of blog-like-cover what I am doing here. But I want to get it in a newspaper before I put in my blog.