A few Photos!

Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure. Sorry for the lack of news,we have been very busy and soon will have even less chances to get on the Internet. I will send news when I can!

Enjoy! Brent & Aggie a team not to be messed with!

Hanging out with the 10th Mountain JTAC. Feels good to know there's a B1 Bomber with a payload of over 125,000 lbs of bombs ready and willing to help out.

More mud walls and ditches...deja vue is a daily occurrence! Reggie, Rasit, Aggie & Brent early morning Me & "Lucky" Post-Op Passing through the FEBA. Passing through the FEBA, a good days work. Crossing the river. "Lucky" enjoys his new digital camera! Face to Face with Locals. L-R : "Rocky", Me, "Lucky"

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I am sorry I have not been able to post as often as I would have liked....but we have been busy. Rumours have it that the rainy season is going to start in a few days. Predictions of torrential rains and flash foods...thank god I got my NEOS in time (Thanks Ben, Pat & Logan!!) The good news in all of this.....weather prediction in Afghanistan is not an exact science.

Besides that things are going well, I got a few letters and packages from all of you! I promise I will get back to you shortly to send you a personal thanks! You are all too kind! The more time we spend here the stronger some of our friendships get with our American comrades. They are a great group of guys ( obviously a select few are not, but you can't let a few bad apples spoil the bunch right?).

I will leave you with a few photos from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy! New Years Day! No Patrols but Vehicle maintenance is a must! Sun rise over the open fields (No Sun = Cold Temperatures)! Rashid (Dog Handler), Aggie (Our Dog) and Doc Daniels rest during a long halt. Can anyone see the enemy? The "Dushman's" field craft and expertise of the local terrain make him extremely hard to spot. The "Real Motley Crew" - US Infantry / Canadian Infantry, PSYOPS / Turkish Dog Handler / South African Dog. I think this picture epitomizes the Multi-National Force fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan. Some days life just sucks, this photo was taken yesterday after completing a 6 hour 14 -15 km patrol. I haven't suffered like that in a really long time. ( Note Motivation Level Zero )

Merry Christmas!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support! Although I may not be there with my friends and family over Christmas, please know that I think of you everyday and hope you are all doing well. I can't wait to break bread and share a drink with all of you when I get home!

For us here in Afghanistan Christmas routines will vary. My gang here C troop of the 1/71 Cav had a feast! Most of us a got a well deserved day to rest and contact family. We have been very busy of late and a quiet day is just what we all needed.

So before I start to ramble on I will leave you with a Christmas card and few Christmas photos of today!

Merry Christmas All!

A Virtual Christmas Card. (Thank You PowerPoint!)

Who says we don't have a sense of humour? Would you like to mess with Santa and his Reindeer on Christmas?.....I think not!

OC C Troop & Acting First Sgt Serve Christmas Dinner from the field kitchen.

A Few Photos For My Loyal Readership

Here are a few pictures of the last couple of days... Enjoy.

Well this shouldn't be too bad...... nice weather, beautiful view..... Fast Forward...sometime later ................Fuck My Life.

Leaf Nation taking our frustrations out on the insurgency. (Note: Chin Strap Undone for Yvan to comment on :)To succesfully fight an insurgency one must shape and change the ways of a generation. The most malleable people of course are the children. How do we reach them: M&Ms, Pop Tarts, Water, Pens and a few phrases in Pashto (Our Language Assistant Lucky in the middle).

Almost Home.....

Apologies!

Sorry for the lack of fresh content folks, I have been busy lately and that is a good thing. Busy generally makes time fly by and in this particular case it has! It hard to believe that it has been a month already since I left Canada. Although my first month on the ground has been eventful I can really only comment on one particular change since my previous tour; the temperature.

From 11am until 4 pm the temperature is ideal, it may even reach a high of 20 degrees Celsius! But when the sun goes down so does the temperature....drastically. It gets well bellow freezing every night and I can assure you it has made for some unpleasant late nights and early mornings. I would never have imagined I would be worried about freezing to death in Afghanistan!

This afternoon 2 of my buddies played a game of cricket with our interpreters. I will post some pictures of the game as soon as I edit the photos (I will need to black out the faces of our interpreters for their protection). I highly doubt there are any terrorists reading this blog........

A few pictures....

My new girlfriend"Aggie" keeps me company in the back of U.S. Army Combat Vehicle. Aggie is a working dog who is trained to sniff for explosives. She protects the lives of many of us on a daily basis... the price for such selfless loyalty? Nothing more then attention and maybe a small treat! This particular road move was long and terribly cold. Not a happy camper!

No Christmas Music Here.....

Apparently Christmas is right around the corner, Afghanistan didn't get the memo. Its actually kind of refreshing to not be bombarded but the commercialism of Christmas, in fact there is absolutely nothing about Christmas in this far off land. Winter although a beautiful season is actually quite shitty in the city, dirty snow, slush and more traffic. So needless to say besides the obvious family gatherings and breaking bread with our friends, there's not much I miss about Christmas. So on that note, happy Christmas shopping (suckers!). Me & The Doc Kids never really know what to do in Photos. They are either extremely frightened or creeped out.
Info Gathering Leaving under the cover of darkness.

So here we are again!

Tonight I will be posting a few pictures that were taken on our patrol today. I have only been on the ground now for about 2 weeks but already I am noticing some huge differences. The most obvious difference is of course the amount of ISAF presence on the ground. There are Combat Out Posts and Strong Points everywhere. This is what keeps the "dushman" on his toes. For those of you who do not know my team is working exclusively with the American Army, specifically the 10th Mountain Division. The Americans are amazing and have completely adopted us 5 Canucks, I couldn't be happier! These photos were taken while speaking with villagers from a small village a few kilometers from our Strong Point.

Enjoy! Some of the more typical terrain you will find in the winter. Open fields usually freshly worked which makes for some tough walking. Taking a break before getting on with it.

A shura with the locals at sundown. In the fore ground you can see me (middle) with the American squad leader and the Doc (Combat Medic)

A Few Quick Photos

Here are a few quick photos, enjoy! Long Halt outside of an American Strong Point
Sundown on the Road....

And Last but not least a quick msg to my sister Kassandra and her soon to be Husband Oliver Moh who are getting married today the 27th of Nov 2010. I wish I could be there! Photo taken outside of my new home.

New Address!

Here is my new address for those of you kind enough to send this young man, a letter, a post card or maybe even a care package!

N29 829 168 / McNair / BA / CPL
TFK PSYOPS
PO BOX 5058 STN FORCES
Belleville, Ontario
K8N5W6

Bye For Now!!!

CBC Photo

I found this photo on CBC.CA while reading the following article: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/09/afghanistan-soldiers-canadian.html I realised that I was in this photo (3rd from the left with the radio antenna). This was a patrol we were doing in the Dand District in the month of June.

So close yet so far....

How time flies.....I just realised that its been about 2 weeks since my last post. I guess posting on this thing has been less of a priority lately, we have been pretty busy and I am very thankful for that. It seems like yesterday we were all looking forward to the first of October.

Here's what's new:

- The temperature has dropped significantly at nights and actually makes early morning runs pleasant

-We are starting to see a lot of new faces around here and hearing a lot less French, this is a very good sign of what's to come.

-Trying to catch hockey games in this time zone means waking up at 03h30..and makes for a long day especially when the Leafs lose.

Enjoy the photos 9er Tac Roto 7 Team Photo 9er Tac again....Me & the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Commander

Sgt Jesse Kantor enjoys his coffe with Joe in Panjwayi

Me & Joe in Belanday

MCpl Joe (Panjwayi) For the Sgt and his followers...

A few words of thanks....

A few quick words to all my readers out there. I apologize for the lack of material, time and energy I have recently put into this blog. I have no valid excuse! But at any rate I would like to take a second and send my thanks to all those who sent packages, weather they were large or little, a letter or a quick note...the gesture was much appreciated. We are extremely lucky in this day and age to have access to some of the stuff we have here. We have internet and phones and pretty much all the comforts one can ask for in a war zone. But irregardless it is still a great feeling receiving something in the mail. It is unfathomable to think what the veterans of WWI & WWII had to endure to fight for the freedoms we daily take for granted. For them a letter was a luxury and news from home almost non existent. So before I digress, I just want to thank all those again who took the time to send a few words!

Thank You!

Medal Ceremony

Being awarded the General Campaign Star for the ISAF lead operations in Afghanistan.

8 Years Later...

8 years ago today...September 11th, I still remember sitting in high school when it happened. Nobody quite new what would be the result of those 2 planes crashing into the towers but I definitely did not picture myself being part of the answer. The longer I stay in Afghanistan the longer I see how complex the situation is here. NATOs presence here is absolutely necessary and although it may not look like progress from the your side of the pond, we see progress perhaps slowly, but surely, everyday. To all those who died 8 years ago today and everyone who has paid the ultimate sacrifice in this noble cause you will never be forgotten.

Je me souviens...

On a lighter note, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name is Joe. Joe is technically 43 but really hasn't aged in years. Joe has become a tradition in the Royal Montreal Regiment Mens' Mess for sometime now. When members of the mess deploy overseas it is someone's reponsibility to bring Joe over with them. Joe was in desperate need of a new uniform, he was still wearing the old ones from the 60s so on OP Archer Roto 7, Joe was finally dressed in some modern clothes. Joe on CNS Joe - I think I saw the Glory Hound do this in Florida a few years back. Joe in the Mortar Pitt - PSS Belandey Ready to go....Belandey Strong Point Walakan last but not least...our home away from home...Dand District