Almost my birthday...

Well, it is another beautiful day here in the Stan. Highs are in the low 100’s, and we have had some pretty wicked thunder storms lately. I decided to take my squad for a little surprise walk this morning. We went up to one of our OP’s just after first light. It is only about 1.3 km in distance, but the elevation is a kicker. We went up about 531 vertical feet in that distance. That is we just walked right up the side of a small mountain, well hill I call it. But with all of our gear on, it takes a little bit of the oxygen out of you. We finished in under 30 minutes, which isn’t too bad, but we can do better. That’s ok though, as our times will improve each week. Yes it is my birthday on Thursday. Just another day here, but I can’t wait for my wife’s homemade cookies. I don’t care if they are all crumbs when they get here, it will be so good. We are staying busy mentoring the ANP (Afghanistan national police), and it is a good challenge. They are motivated to do their jobs and take it seriously. One key thing to make this all work is having a good interpreter. My terp is outstanding. He has been doing it for a couple of years and he is one of the best I have ever worked with. He just had his second child recently, a daughter. I think he will keep trying until he has a boy. Well, not much else is going on here, just doing our thing and trying to pass the time. Thanks to all of you who have sent packages and letters and emails. Every little bit helps the morale here. Gotta sign off for now,
Russ…