The Afghanistan Diaries: The Mission That Never Ends Edition: Part One

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about my overextended mission? This week's mission was a similar experience. It was supposed to last 1-5 days, and I naively took that to mean 1 or 2 days, as opposed to the 5 to 6 days that they actually meant. Each day brought with it new challenges and new stupidity.


Day -1

On day -1, I had just woken up after returning from a previous mission when I got the word that I would be heading out again. Needless to say, I was not happy. After making some phone calls, we managed to get out of going... or so we though.


In reality, the mission was only pushed back a few hours. This was done without our knowledge until about an hour and a half before we were supposed to leave. And so, tired, hungry, and grumpy, we began our odyssey.


We arrived at an outpost that night and slept under the stars on a concrete slab (comfy!). We were originally scheduled to leave at 0300 the next morning, but were awoken in the middle of the night with a new departure time.


We were now scheduled to leave at around 0200, but we needed to meet up between 0100 and 0130. I went back to sleep, not knowing that the fun was only just beginning.



Day 1

We woke up on time and packed our bags. Groggily we made our way to the truck we were slated to ride in. We loaded our gear and climbed aboard. This was at 0130. We left at 0400. Fun.


The first road we attempted to take was inaccessible to our massive trucks, so we were forced to turn around and take another route. This was at 0500. Fun.


We proceeded down the new road until about 0800. It was around this time that our truck broke down. We attempted to cram into another, smaller truck with limited success. Our team ended up being split up as we continued towards our objective.


Me and one of my teammates were basically stuck in a truck for the remainder of the day. Fun.

Home sweet home.

As it began to get dark, I was further separated from my team and placed in yet another truck, away from my bag and subsequently my PSP. This truck was far less comfortable, and I spent the night cold, cramped, and bored. Thus ended day 1. Fun.


Day 2

Day 2 began well enough. Someone in charge finally found me and had me link up with my team again. Thank goodness. I returned to the truck with my gear, and spent the day attempting to play PSP games and watch American Dad. The lack of a reliable means of charging the PSP meant my fun time was limited. Not fun.


As day faded to night, I was finally moved to an actual building with my teammate. I finally got a chance to lay out my sleeping bag and get a decent nights sleep.

To be continued...