Greetings From Afghanistan

I just got internet working in my room, so this is the first time I am able to post to the blog. Here is something I wrote a few days ago. More to come soon:


This was written on 8 September 2010:
34 Days ago (Friday night on August 6th) I boarded a plane in Fort Campbell, KY bound for FOB Sharana, in the Eastern part of Afghanistan. After getting settled and having some time to reflect I thought I would post some of my journey and experiences.
The first stop we made was in Shannon, Ireland. I’ve never seen a more green countryside in my life and couldn’t stop staring out the window at the rolling hills. We spent about 2 hours at the airport and then re-boarded the airplane. A few people got in trouble for having knives which is completely ridiculous since everyone on the plain, except me, had guns!
We took off and landed a few hours later in Bucharest, Romania. Again, spent a few hours in the airport passing time, drank a phenomenal cappuccino, and then re-boarded.
Next stop was Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan (just north of Afghanistan). We landed on Sunday morning and made our way to the tent we would call home for 2 days. Let me tell you, these Air Force guys have got it made. It’s a small base but has its own PX/BX, a bar (at which they are allowed 2 drinks per day!), wireless internet throughout the entire base, and a great view of the Himalayan mountains. Oh yeah, and they’re only there for 6 months at a time. The Air Force has this deployment thing down!
We took off late at night in a C-17 and landed the next morning in Bagram Airfield just outside of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, finally having arrived in Afghanistan. The stay at Bagram was short lived (thank God). 4 hours later we boarded a C-130 and flew to glorious FOB Sharana.
We were welcomed at the flight line and after scanning our ID cards to prove we were really there, we got rides to our future homes! The housing situation is actually not all that bad, especially compared to some of the small FOBs and COPs that I’ve visited. We have a square room with a center hallway with plywood 3/4ths of the way up to the ceiling creating 4 smaller rooms. It creates some privacy but everyone in the quad can hear what’s going on in each of the rooms.
My individual room is about 8ft x 8ft. I’ve got a bunk bed (I sleep on bottom and store stuff on the top bunk) and some shelves that the guy who lived there before me built. It’s a cement floor but I put down some area rugs for comfort. Overall, its not that bad of a space and I’m finally getting some stuff up on the walls to make it feel more like home (Christmas lights would be a fine addition).
My office is a different story. I’ve got one of the nicest offices that I could ask for. Keeping in mind that its Afghanistan, so my walls are still just plywood, its great! I have a new black leather couch and 2 chairs, two desks, and 4 computers. It is a huge asset to do ministry and it is a great place for my soldiers to hang out and get away from all the other craziness that is happening.
All in all things are going really well. I will post again soon!

Getting Adjusted To Life In Afghanistan

Well I'm finally starting to get settled in at my new home. FOB (Forward Operating Base) Sharana is where I will be spending most of my time. The base is huge but size doesn't always equal quality. It feels like one big dust bowl where we are at. That being said, I have my own room, a nice office and hot chow every day. I'll be posting pictures soon once I get all moved in. Right now there is still stuff everywhere and if Christina saw that she would not be happy =).

Even though we just got here, I'm already out traveling. The Chaplain I'm replacing is back in the States with a medical issue so Chaplain Eric Alfsen has offered to let me tag along with him and see what his ministry looks like. He's an Infantry Battalion Chaplain so his guys are spread out all over the place which means we are flying around (fun times). He has been a huge help to me and has gone above and beyond in helping me understand what's going on over here.

Our trip over to Afghanistan was quite the event. We flew from Fort Campbell to Shanon Ireland. Then we flew to Bucurest Romania and then on to Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan. We spent a few days in Manas living in tents. Then we flew into Afghanistan. In all it took about 4 days of travel to get to FOB Sharana. And from stories I've heard from others, that was pretty fast. I think I'm finally over the Jet-leg.

I want everyone to know that things are going well. I can only talk about things that have already happened to avoid leaking anything about current or future operations. Please continue to pray for the safety of our soldiers, they risk their lives every day!

Things to do during the Deployment List

We're back to blogging again. Why? Because Chris will be leaving us shortly and this is a great way for us to communicate with each other and our friends and family. Also, I will be living with only a 3 month old. I know, I can talk to her and she'll learn language and it's good for her... but I want a way too keep track of my life during the next year. I've tried the normal journal thing, and I'm not good at it. Luckily, I have met some great friends at Fort Campbell, so It's not as if I have no one to talk to and hang out with for a year. I have plenty of people, which is a HUGE blessing.

So, with looking our first deployment in the face, it's starting to get sad around here. Everyone keeps calling to say "good bye", which is nice of the to think of us, but it makes it harder and harder each time. To get out of my sab thinking I am starting my list of stuff to do during this deployment. Here is my list so far and will be adding to it. I'll also hopefully update when i actually get this stuff done:

Sew Madison clothes
Make myself a new dress
P90X... twice (maybe more to get down to my goal weight)
Run a 1/2 marathon
Visit the Zoo
Visit Chicago
Visit New York
Take pictures
Go line dancing with friends
Get a massage (with my birthday gift certificate from March!)
Kayak with my own Kayak (still in Chicago)
Make baby food (thanks kylee for the idea)
Finish Madison's baby book
Put photos in a photo album
Take golf lessons (chris wants me to learn too)
Make a video of Madison
Learn a song to sing Madison
Get professional photos of Madison


Any more ideas?

Asking Why!

I heard an interesting leadership story today and it went something like this.

A young private was in the middle of boot camp at Fort Dix, NJ. One day he got tasked with painting the parking lot. He had to recover all the yellow lines that marked the individual spots. He was well on his way when he had an accident. He spilled some paint in the middle of the lot. There were no parking spots there so it kind of stood out. He took the paint and evened it out into a circle. So out in the middle of the parking lot there was a big yellow circle. He went on and finished all the parking spots and reported back to his drill instructor that he was finished.

This young private graduated boot camp and never told anyone what had happened. After a few years as an enlisted soldier he went to OCS (officer candidate school). He graduated and became an officer. After being in the army for 15 years and making LTC (Lieutenant Colonel) he found himself back at Fort Dix for a conference. When the sessions where over he happened to drive by the old parking lot that he repainted. To his amazement, it was freshly repainted. All the lines where done in a bold yellow. And wouldn't you know, the yellow circle in the middle of the parking lot was still there! Not only was it there, but it also was freshly painted and bright as could be. For 15 years soldiers in basic training had re-painted the same accident circle over and over.

The moral of the story has to do with leadership. In the Army we have a lot of training that teaches us to do what we are told when we are told. The "why" question is discouraged or even punished if asked. Granted, as a leader, sometimes you need your order carried out immediately and the why question only waste time you might not have. But on a routine basis, we need to train soldiers to ask why.

Good leaders should not fear the why question. Good leaders should explain why often enough that when they can't, their followers understand. Teaching followers to ask why also ensures they understand the intent of the order. If you want a gauge of the effectiveness of your leadership, find out how often your followers know why they are doing what they are doing!

Air Assault is almost over!

The 10 days (really 11) of air assault school seems to drag on and on. Thankfully, tomorrow is "sling load test" day. I've got a written test first thing in the morning. Then after the written test we move on the the hands on test. We have to inspect 4 sling loads and find the "deficiencies" in each load. We are given two minutes per load and there are 4 deficiencies on each load. We have to find 3 of the 4 to get a "go."

Hopefully, I will find all the deficiencies quickly and not have to re-test on anything. Once this phase is complete, we move on to phase 3: fast roping and rappelling. That will be Friday, Monday and Tuesday. On tuesday we get to fast-rope out of blackhawks!

That's really what I am looking forward to. Then its all wrapped up on Wednesday morning with a 12 mile road march! Finish the road

march and get my wings! Then I'll never have to go back there again.

Hopefully I'll be posting tomorrow at 10:30am at home after getting a first time go on all the tests. If not, it will be a long day. Hope you are all well!

This Army Life IS My Style.... Air Assault School Is NOT!

Hey Everyone,

I could only have imagined how busy I would be once things got underway for me as a Battalion Chaplain. Well, Army life has exceeded my expectations. I am going to carve out a few minutes each week to put out an update but for now, here is what's going on.

I've been on the job for a little over 3 months. There's been a ton of on the job training that I've gotten. There has been little from the Chaplain school that I've actually used, but I'm sure some of it will come in handy some day.

I've had all sorts of experiences that I didn't see coming and been able to help some people in some great ways. I've got a great commander and a top notch staff to work with. I feel privileged to work with and for such great people. I tell people all the time that I have the best job in the Army.

For some reason, a few weeks back, I volunteered to attend the Air Assault School. My commander was like "Really? Chaplain, you want to go?" I thought I did. I went to Airborne School and got through with out any issues. I thought Air Assault would be about the same. I was wrong. This school has shown me how soft I've become as I've gotten older. I can honestly say that I've not enjoyed one minute of being there. I've never quit anything in my life, however, the other day I thought about setting up my packing list wrong just to get kicked out so I could go back to my job. Like I said.... I'm becoming soft.

Its 11 days long and I'm through 3 days. This coming week, I'll take the test on phase one (hand and arm signals, pathfinder operations, and aircraft information), then start phase two (sling load). Then the following week we will move into the rappel and fast rope phase. It all ends next week Wednesday (December 16) with a 12 mile road march.

Then after that I'll go back to work for a few days and then start block leave. We will be heading back to Chicago December 23rd through the 30th. Hopefully my body will recover from all this abuse. Hope you all have a great Christmas and have some time of rest.

Life is going well!

So, I know we haven't written in a while... but it is because life is going good and is soooo busy! So much has happened since Chris wrote last, that I'll give a quick run down.

We are in Fort Campbell now, with our house (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, great back yard, dining room, etc... biggest place we've ever had, and it's single family!). We love our house! It might not be as nice as some of the houses off base, but you can't beat the location! We have great neighbors that we see and talk to everyday! We have a fenced in back yard that is great for the new dog, Cutler. He is a mutt of some sort, looks like a lab with German shepherd coloring. He is doing well. We started training today, and he learned to lay within 1 hour! Smart dog. It is great to let him hang in the back yard for a few hours a day, and he has learned to run with me really well! We go for a run/walk 3-4 times a week, and he already gets excited when I pull out my running shoes.

We also found out a few months ago that I am pregnant! Today I am 12 weeks, so the first trimester is over. It has been pretty easy, compared to others. I have not gotten sick at all, I only get tired. I probably get tired because I try to do too much, but it is hard for me to take it easy. I usually nap once or twice a day, but am blessed with a hubby with a great job, so I don't have to work while going through all this.

We have met and made some great friends. I go to PWOC each week, which is a group of wonderful Christian women on post. I have been part of a Bible study called "for women only" and I recommend it to all ladies who want to know how their men think! We also started to volunteer at Awana, and will eventually teach the 7th and 8th grade group. They are sorta crazy, but we already have some connections to our students. It's really fun to volunteer as a couple! We go to a church on base, called Chapel Next. It is considered the contemporary service on post. We only get to go 2-3 times a month, because we are on retreats and visiting Chicago the other weeks. Last night we had dinner with the other Chaplains from our Chapel, an it was a great time of fellowship, prayer and laughs. I think we have 25 chaplains that help out at our service!

Chris just left for the week. He is TDY (temporary duty station) in Atlanta for the week learning how to put on an amazing marriage retreat! We went to our first "strong bonds retreat" last weekend, and 90 couples learned how to improve various aspects of their marriages. It is great that the Army is dedicated to helping families stay together. You'd be surprised the stories that Chris hears everyday. There are so many struggles that couples are going through with stress of regular life + the Army. Everyday he knows why God has put him here. We know we are in the right place.

that's just an update... and I will be doing it more often... promise!

I hope you all are doing great. Please send us emails of what is going on in your life. We love to stay connected.

Love you all,

Christina