After three weeks in Germany it looks as though I'll be deploying on Monday. I have my itinerary, orders, and all of the documentation/immunization I'll need for my six months "downrange". My itinerary includes flying Turkish Airways to Istanbul, then Turkish Airways again to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. From there I will be hitching a car ride to the Manas NATO base outside of Bishkek. There I'll wait for a spot on a flight to my FOB (Forward Operating Base). I'll also be picking up my kevlar vest and helmet there.
From what I've heard the Kevlar is the reason we even go to Manas at all, and that for most people, their kevlar gear gathers dust underneath beds or in lockers, but thems the rules. We've got to pick it up in Kyrgyzstan - besides, afterwards I can say I've been to Kyrgyzstan!
Should you care to mail anything to me downrange - please do so. The address can be found below.
Kandahar Education Center
Attn: CTC, Joshua Kramer
APO, AE 09355
It costs the same to send something to Kandahar as it does to send something from anywhere in the US to New York! So it's really reasonable! I'm also told that it takes a relatively short time for mail to get there, but much longer to get back. Also, spend the extra dollar or so and make it priority - apparently the difference is really noticeable in terms of arrival time. Mail breaks up the monotony over there so PLEASE feel free to send me stuff (letters, packages, anything at all).
It's a balmy 120 degrees in Kandahar this time of year and they're not quite over the hump of the summer heat yet (good thing my six months didn't start in May or something, then I'd melt).
I wanted to create an Indiana Jones-esque montage of my plane flying from Frankfurt to Istanbul to Bishkek to Kandahar with a little red dotted line trailing behind the map that my plane is super-imposed over, but apparently that takes some sort of skill. So just pretend I did it.
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