Some New Stuff.

This is where I work. The pink sign says it all!

Photo by Jeff Ballew

This is our quote book... we stole the idea from the outgoing unit, but they took theirs so we had to start a new one. I'm usually terrible at art, but I will take credit for the design of the cover! The large black shape on the top right symbolizes the velcro on our uniform that our unit patch is supposed to be stuck to... the one we're not allowed to wear anymore. So much for morale!

Photo by Jeff Ballew

A typical Afghan house.

Photo by Jeff Ballew

It's amazing how quickly this:


Can turn into this. Look closely... it's in there!


This is a rarity... a clear day in Kabul. Usually the bowl is extremely hazy and the visibility is horrible.


This is what we've all been doing for the last few weeks: Stuffing our faces with Christmas candy and junk food. It's been nice and we're all thankful for everyone being so generous and supportive. Unfortunately, it doesn't exactly do great things for our health. :)


Santa gave up... he's throwing in the towel... "I'm sorry, there's really nothing I can do about the food."

Photo by Jeff Ballew

Astro reverting to his childhood ways. I didn't really get what his deal was. He was spouting off a bunch of stuff in Spanish.


I saw this sitting on the table and thought it was pretty clever.


The start of a long day of planning.

Photo by Jeff Ballew

Relaxing.

Photo by Jeff Ballew

This is what we do for fun.

Photo by Jeff Ballew

The sleigh broke down so Santa had to bum a ride... just like everyone else!

Photo by Dennis Taylor

And here's where I go to church.



Complete with a stained glass "window"!

The Evil Taliban

Somewhere in Afghanistan:

Here's the story I found online about the Buddhist Statues. Google 'Buddhist Statues Taliban' and read more:

In March 2001, six months before the September 11th bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Taliban destroyed two ancient statues of the Buddha called Bamiyan in an attempt to cleanse the country of Afghanistan of what they perceived as Hindu heresy.

An Old Story

To be perfectly blunt, this is an old story. New landowners of a country move in and do their best to obliterate all traces of the conquered and now minority population. Former cultural monuments, particularly if they are of a religious nature, are pulled down, and monuments for the new group built, frequently right on the top of the foundations of the old. The old languages are forbidden or limited, along with other cultural phenomena such as marriage customs, rites of initiation, even food taboos.

The reasons the conquerors give for this trashing of the old ways and structures are varied, and include everything from modernization to saving the souls of the recently conquered. But the purpose is the same: to destroy the remnants of a culture which represents a threat to the new dominance. It happened in 16th century AD in the New World civilizations; it happened in Caesar's Rome; it happened in the dynasties of Egypt and China. It's what we as humans do when we are afraid. Destroy things.

An Ominous Warning

So, it shouldn't have been as shocking as it was, to see the Taliban in Afghanistan blast two enormous 3rd and 5th century AD statues of Buddha to powder with anti-aircraft guns.

"We are not against culture but we don't believe in these things. They are against Islam," the Taliban's Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil is reported to have said.

The Taliban has never been known for a generosity of spirit or interest in cultural diversity, and as I say, the erasure of the past to protect the present is an old story. As archaeologists, we’ve seen evidence of it hundreds, maybe a thousand times. But the Taliban's destruction of the two Bamiyan Buddha statues was still painful to watch; and today it is recognized as an ominous forewarning of the Taliban's distaste of anything other than their own set of extremist Islamic values.

We had some stuff we were giving out to the kids... here are some of them fighting over a Coke. They spoke English surprisingly well. One tried to get my hat by giving me a guilt trip about how cold his ears were, but I didn't go for it. Maybe next time we head out there I'll take a few more hats.

One of our guys fell for it, hook, line, and sinker! This dude actually traded his hat for this one.


Someone said the Kiwis flew this little guy in from Sweden... I think. Some country that started with S. Wouldn't that be great if the Army would let us do that! It might be fun to have a dog around... if only we could get Chunk over here. Maybe Ashley can work that out somehow! ;)


Same guy from before, just happy this time!

Amazing Bread.

Is this the look of sheer bliss or what??? My mom sent me a few loaves of lemon poppy seed bread to share with the guys at work... they arrived yesterday so we busted one open this morning and tried it out. It traveled extremely well and was still moist and delicious. I needed to post a few pics just to show how amazing it was! The look on their faces explains it all!


SFC Leeper was excited to get a piece too... Thanks mom! I'm already looking forward to opening another one in the morning!


Burning stuff...

Long flight...

This is what I stared at for 8.7 hours the other day! She looks good, but that's really too long to stare at anything.

Bored yet? Now watch it 1204.6 more times...

To my left, the excitement raged on! This is my buddy Jason showing me the 'ropes'.


And a few more from the flight.

More Christmas Stuff.

I wanted to say a quick thank you to Bruce and Mavis for the package they sent the other day. It's always exciting to walk in and see a box with your name on it! I was even more excited to see the contents!!! The coolest thing had to be my new Beavs Snuggie... I was so excited I had to try it on for everyone. My excitement was obviously contagious because Adam had to get a piece of the action too. As I type, I'm wrapped up in it and looking at my Oregon Calendar and a picture of Mt. Bachelor in all it's splendor! I can't wait to come home!


Today I got a few more packages from my lovely wife! One had a few things I asked her to send me and the other was full of presents that I supposedly 'promised' I would wait to open until Christmas. I personally don't ever remember saying that, but someone claims I did, so, being the wonderful husband that I am, I will honor that promise and wait until Christmas Eve to open them. (My family always opened on Christmas Eve growing up so that will be a tradition that I will carry on!) Here are my presents under the tree my mom sent me!


And the enormous stocking I have hanging over my door. I may have to move it... we'll try it out for a few days.


We were flying down south today, heading back home when I looked out my window and saw this. It's pretty amazing to think we're in a war zone...

Address

I've had a few people ask about my address here so I'll go ahead and post it. If anyone is interested in sending anything, we would enjoy it, but don't feel obligated... we can really only eat SO many cookies! Most of the things people receive get shared with everyone else in the office so food tends to go pretty quick and a magazine gets read more than just a few times.

CW2 Kyle Johnson
B Co 2-3 AVN
TF Knighthawk
FOB Bagram
APO, AE 09354

Here's a little video of our flight the other day. Sorry, it's pretty bumpy in the Chinook and really hard to hold still.

It's beginning to feel a tiny bit like Christmas.

Our Charlie Brown tree in the planning room.


I heard a loud noise so I went and hid in the bunker. The others are farther back so you can't see them. ;)


First actual snowfall since we've been here. Nothing really stuck cause it was too wet, but it was falling for a little bit. It was more like snow/rain mix. Nothing like home, but nevertheless, it's better than nothing!


Matt's daughters sent him here with a few stuffed animals that he carries with him to work. I guess he's supposed to send pics of them every now and then.


Here's my Haley Bear my parents sent me in my first package. It stays with me in my left cargo pocket.


And of course the jokes are never ending.

Mountain Flying.

Here are a few pictures of our flight the other day. We got up to 13,500' at one point and I was definitely feeling the lack of oxygen. It ended up being over 6 hours of flight time and my back and butt were feeling it too! Hopefully I'll get used to it so the long flights don't bother me as much. I think I might be getting a seat cushion for Christmas! :)








Not too similar to Georgia, eh! Makes navigating pretty easy!