The Khyber Rifles

Well, today was a very historic and very memorable day for me and my soldiers. We got to visit Pakistan and the Home of the very famous and historic Khyber Rifles. Holy shit, was it incredible!! We got the royal treatment and welcome that is usually is reserved for Presidents and heads of states. They welcomed us and had some ceremonial dancers, a band, and a feast. We also got to tour their muesum. WOW. There was so much that we got to see that we were all in awe. I will put alot of pics on this one and write more later. Enjoy. Russ.

always training

Well, it is now the 26th. Happy Birthday Ang. It is getting warmer here. We are stayin busy. Go to the gym alot, and play some serious ping pong. That is like a national pastime here. Some of the locals are awesome. They make Forrest Gump look like a chump. Anyway, the other day we were humping up some pretty good sized mountains. Hiking for all you civ's out there. It was good fun and a serious work out with all of our gear on.

This pic is from a range I had for my squad. Trigger time is always good. Plus it is fun as well. Yes that is a shotgun. Squad leader got to have some fun. The other one is my playing lifeguard. I was enjoying the sun and dreaming of some water.

Well, time is starting to go by faster now that we are working more. That is a good thing. I was hoping to be home on R&R for the kids b-days, but it looks like that wont be until later. Bummer. If anyone is wondering what to send, here you go. Snacks, candy, and hygene products are good. Also magizenes are good. Well anything to read from the world. Well gotta go for now. Love and miss everyone.

Another day in paradise

Well, it is the day before valentines day and I am 6,000 miles away from my sweetheart. I love you Ang. :-)) It has been raining here since Saturday and boy it is great...NOT. Everything turns to mud, and the wadi's flood, there are rock slides, and most of our building leaks. Well, not my room. Anyway, today it actually cleared up a little bit. We have taken over for the unit that we replaced, but they still have a few people here. Funny, I ran into a guy I went to basic training with. He is still an E-4 (cpl). Funny how that works. Also here with us is a K-9 team from Hohenfels where we were at in Germany. The MP corps is truly small. I hope everyone is doing well. The chow here is good, we have a tv, a great gym with lots of weights, a cardio room, shooting range for all of our weapons, and pretty nice rooms to live in. I just got a digital camera today, so I will take and post pics. I share my room with one of the other squad leaders, so it's nice to be able to vent to each other.

Other then that, keep sending stuff, as what I don't use, I will distribute to my soldiers or the local kids. We do humanitarian drops about every other week to local schools or district centers, so it will all be greatly appreciated. Well, I love and miss you all, and e-mail me questions and other inquiries and I will do my best to answer them on here, with out giving out any thing I am not allowed. don't worry, ask, if I can't answer, I will let you know.

Russ

first post

hey, this is the first post in my journal/blog. it might be pretty generic, but it will give you all an insight into our lives here