Kandahar was getting too cold. I had to escape farther west into the lower desert to find more enjoyable temperatures. Enjoying a respite out here in the western-most Farah province. This is usually the quiet spot- remember my 2 months out here in Aug-Sep with no flying? After the hectic pace at KAF, this is nice.
I had one of those 'moments' the day we flew out here. I was just a passenger in the back and got to relax and just enjoy the ride. The weather was perfect, it was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day. As I sit along the back wall, I somehow started looking at things from an outsider's perspective. What if I had no clue what those pilots up there were doing? or what to expect from a helicopter ride through a combat zone? What if this were my first experience? It just hit me that I have a very cool job. Somehow the realization that I fly helicopters...in Afghanistan...during a war...and save lives...and it's all second nature just blew my mind. The stress on the family aside, I actually found myself happy. May also have something to do with all the reading I've been doing about this war, our government, our generals and the decisions they make. It's definitely not perfect...far from it, but I have a greater appreciation for the military and all the leaders at every level who work hard to do the best they can with what they've got.
Even at our level, sometimes that's all we can hope for. Got called out last night for an Afghan soldier who had been shot. It was just after sunset, and our first mission out here (and the first for the Farah PRT's new command group that just took over in a Transfer of Authority ceremony the day before). So we're looking to put our best foot forward. In the darkness our medic starts cussing and yelling that someone stole his ALSE vest (flight vest with all our ammo, survival equip and radio etc). We do a quick scan with flashlights and then assume it was stolen, but weren't going to delay the mission. Made the decision to execute without it (in violation of the rules...again) but we're all thinking- Mission First...deal with the consequences later. After our return- he's still fuming and reports it to this new command group. While they're getting spooled up to start searching soldier's rooms, the other pilot and I make a phone call...just as we suspected, he had left his vest on the other helicopter when we swapped crews 3 days ago! We just hadn't had a mission and noticed that it was gone- neither had the other crew, so they didn't notice until I called and they did a search of their helicopter. So we bit the bullet and reported it, stood the search party down, and waited till sunrise to go fly and pick it up.
Big picture- noone was hurt, it wasn't a sensitive item, we still saved the patient...water under the bridge.
Narrow focus- we're morons...and that's all anyone's going to remember for about another week until it blows over.