promotion

So today, November 1st, was my promotion day. It was unique in a couple of ways. 1) We are in a war zone in the middle of Afghanistan. 2) I was promoted by the Marine colonel CO of MWSS-372 who happens to be the only officer higher rank than I (actually same rank now, but he is more time in service and my CO). 3) Everyone in the States will get promoted on Monday the 2nd since it is the first workday of the month. I got promoted on Sunday the 1st because we work every day in the field.

Really, all the promotion means is that I stuck around long enough and I have started to get gray. However, there are a couple of advantages I would like to point out. First advantage is that I will get some extra income each month. I am sure that if I do not find use for this that my family will :) Second, the higher the rank the fewer people I have to salute! I am also just one rank away from getting those prime 0-6 parking spots at the commissary and the golf course. Have a belated Happy Halloween.

Mark Tucker
CDR MC USN










Pinning.















Oath.















Handshake.

Officers of MWSS in front of BAS.

laundry

I was asked about how laundry is done here. Everyone has a net like laundry bag for which they put their dirty laundry. You bring your laundry to an Indian national working for a British contract through Russia, Sadish, in the morning. You then come back the next day to pick up your bag. What they do is tie up the bag and throw it in a big washing machine amongst similar bags. When done they pull the bag out and throw it in the dryer. Simple, right?

There are a few caveats that one learns about. 1) Do not overload your bag (meaning more than a few items) otherwise it comes back wet. 2) Do not buy a white laundry bag. Most Marines bought theirs here and they all look alike. I, thankfully, bought a black one and thus easy for Sadish to find my bag. 3) If you need something back the same day then tip the guy a couple bucks. This will get your items fully dried and folded. 4) Do not get upset if somehow women’s underwear/bras end up in your bag. There is no message here; it is just not a perfect science. I personally have not lost any garments or gained any garments, but others have. Usually it is the women finding that their underwear is missing!

The other service that the laundry guy offers is bracelets. He makes them out of different military cords and weaves in names or patterns. Pictures below.

Cheerio

p.s. you will find humor in that the chaplin tracked me down after mass today (that's right they do have mass on the weekdays too). Apparently he heard that I was learning the guitar and he wants me to strum along the hymms on Sundays. That should be wild. Only advantage is that everyone else will have their horrible singing drowned out by my grinding guitar sounds mimicking a cat being skinned. More news of this in future blogs.








Handicrafts of the laundry man. Making good use of that 550 cord.










Laundry complex.



















Laundry in a box.

Sadish.

water

I was asked about the prevalence of water at our establishment here in Afghanistan. There is no evidence of any water anywhere near here. There is not a green anything here except on Marines. Apparently one of the reasons that this base was built here is that it sits on a huge underground aquifer. The water we drink is actually ‘bottled in Camp Bastion’ which is scary enough. That being said, we have plenty of available water. There are wood huts situated throughout the base that has pallets of water that anyone can take. In the chow halls there are refrigerators full of water (which oddly enough always seems to be warm?). Our CO had a huge walk in refrigerator placed next to the BAS to store cold water for the Marines/Sailors. It was just placed in time for our oncoming winter.
Speaking of water, I should see plenty of it soon. There are a few months of the ‘rainy’ season. When it rains that water just sits on the ground as the ground is not porous at all. The BAS, and all other tents, will get flooded. We were told that there was a stream of water that flowed through the BAS in the past. The ground becomes a sticky mud (remember, all we have is dirt around here) that gets over everything. Should be tons of fun!

I am going to go get a cold one now. That would be water for me 







Typical water storage area.










Bottles actually tell you to keep out of direct sunlight! How about out of the sand!















The master of the water locker,

Is bottled in Bastion a good thing?

Camp Leatherneck Resort and Spa

I just got sent this. If you to see something really funny and get a taste of what are daily lives are like, then go to following site at youtube for a laugh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-ro9zLSb2s

Mark

blackouts

Hello,
In case you are wondering why I am not always consistent in my blogging, it is really three reasons. 1) I am lazy 2) It is a lot of pressure to think of new interesting topics coming from a very uninteresting individual and 3) Blackouts.
We have communication blackouts when there is an U.S. casualty. This is so no news of the event gets out before the family members can be appropriately notified. Sometimes this is within hours, sometimes days. Therefore, there are times I just plain cannot get on the computer to blog.
Today I am going to write about the Gurkhas from Nepal. They are part of the 'Queen's Gurkha force' which is part of the British forces here in Afghanistan. They are known as fierce warriors in the past. I will refer you to a wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha. I was able to purchase one of their traditional knives that are handmade. I also got some replica letter openers. The money raised by the sale of these items and shirts and such goes to a charity fund for those who have served in the Gurkha forces serving Britain pre-1997. They apparently do not get any pension and thus need added assitance. So below are some pictures for you to peruse. Cheers!









Knife has layer of oil on it to preserve. There are 2 smaller knives in the hilt that are used for skinning game.













Letter openers and signature patches.

Me outside Gurkha headquarters.

smok'n

Hello again,
So I have had some requests on topics to talk about in the future...is there enough water there?....how do you do your laundry?.....what happens to all the trash? I will get to work on these questions.
For today, I will talk about the smoke pit. It is conveniently located just feet from the BAS door. Who in their right mind would put the smoking area next to a medical clinic is a mystery to me. Of course we also have the port-a-potties and the haircut shed next to us as well. Now my corpsmen claim that it is a benefit as they go and socialize with the Marine and British smokers to, you know, make sure that they are feeling okay. Are they dispensing advice about quitting smoking...no! No, they actually are smoking themselves (about 5 of them). Not exactly the message I want to be sending.
I thought that I would take a shot at the smoke pit for your enjoyment.

We have continued to get lots of packages from AnySailor.com. We have truely felt blessed at the supplies and support they have sent. I have decided to post a package of the week. This week's winner is a tie. I received 3 boxes (one shown below) from a federal credit union in Florida of pure M&Ms. We also received about 40 boxes of Girlscout cookies from a troop of 18 girls in Misssissippi (I had to sing that to spell it).









I could play James Dean or maybe John Wayne.













We have been bartering with our Girlscout cookies.

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm.

hideout

Today I thought that I would talk a little about privacy or better yet the lack thereof. Here in the field there really is no such thing as privacy. I am constantly around people at work, play, chow, and even sleep. It is not that I do not like social interaction (most of you would probably state that I need attention), it is just that sometimes you like to have a little peace and quiet. About the only place you can have that quality time to yourself for reflection is when you go to the head (bathroom for non-Navy types). The problem is you do not want that much time in that situation because you are either sitting in a space that is smaller than an airplane bathroom (previous blog) or your olfactory system is insulted while you steam away in a port-a-potty
My original living quarters was with the younger, more hip, Marine lieutenants and captains. When it was realized that I am actually a field grade (04 or above) officer I was told that I must move to the hooch (tent) where the CO, the XO, the operations officer and now the Chaplin all reside. The Chaplin and I share the front third of the tent; I call it the parlor or ante-room if you will. The nice thing is that there is somewhat of a plywood partition that separates us from the other officers, but the negative is that everyone must walk through my space to get to theirs and the door opens right into sight of my rack (bed). Therefore, I had to find a way for a little, that’s right, privacy. I have included some pictures to give you an idea of how I can engage myself with different layers of privacy.










Open air.














Is he sleeping?

The man wants to be left alone!