Beautiful distraction

My apologies for not keeping you in the loop for the last week. We've been extremely busy with patrols and after every day I could not find the energy to post. Last night I fell asleep with my arm crooked and my hand on my cheek. The guys came in from shift and thought I was looking at a blank screen. The workload is gonna get a little less strenuous with the return of Bergeron and Riley. They got back on the ground today and I haven't really got the chance to talk to them about their vacations. Tomorrow is a relaxed day around here and I'll get the chance to catch up with not much going on. A few small scale tasks that should be done pretty quick.
We've got a few trees to chop down along the route that parallels our PH. They've been a visual impedence since our occupation and we can finally get rid of them. The locals will get the wood, but we'll have an open field of fire down the road. This particular stretch has been polluted with IEDs since we've arrived. It seems almost everyday there is a new one planted. This part of the road is crucial to our movement in and around the area and its about time we get good eyes on.
The patrols have been long range and a lot of work for the engineers. We're bringing the shotgun on patrol now for locked doors, and ole JTDollah has been busy blasting locks and kicking in doors. We pay the locals for new locks if we don't find anything. The shotgun is a handy tool and Dorner has decked his out with a custom sling that his Mom built. He told her to sew elastics about the size of her thumb all along the length of the sling and then paste an Iron Maiden sticker on it. Its pretty checked. Not much in the IED finds lately, however I talked with Yan today and he's plucked 3 out of the ground in as many days. These things are a menace. All around we're finding RPGs and munitions moving into the area. Another call sign stopped a vehicle the other day and found 25 RPGs in the trunk. It looks like its gonna be a haywire spring. I don't know if I've mentioned it but our PH is the furthest front on enemy lines. We patrol and have sets of eyes watching our movement from rooftops and from behind mud walls. It seems as though their very interseted in our movements and our SOPs. Go figure.
My Pashto vocabulary is expanding daily. I seem to get along with the locals in our area pretty well, however its hard to know who to trust and who your friends are. Who wants your help and who doesn't. The kids all holler "moustache" at me even without one, or "beard". They get a kick out of me trying to speak their language. Even the old guys get a chuckle out of it. I think Dorner has a pic of me wearing a locals hat, and the local wearing my helmet. It took me some convincing but I finally broke. Again, maybe he was just busting my balls, but he sure did get a kick out of it. He had his cigarette hanging out of his mouth like a soldier and was looking all hard. It was kinda funny.
So, ole Hawk is back home by now I reckon and should be back in mid to late Feb. We are 5 now and like I said this takes a lot of strain off hte patrolling. I never thought I could feel this stressed but its right there in the back of my head at all times. There is a tonne of things you need to be thinking about when you're outside of the confines of the PH. LIke where and where not to step, what to clear and what is just normal ground, rooftops and eyes watching, enemy movement, and where you're gonna fire from if contact occurs. At times in the middle of fields, there is nowhere to adopt a firing position. You find yourself thinking that you'll adopt the prone and fire from behind a small mound of dirt no more than 6 inches high. The mental aspect is worse than the physical. Our packs are heavy and at times a guy can get distracted at the weight on his back and forget about the threat environment. Sometimes I start daydreaming about Chandra at home and what you might be doing. I gotta snap out of it from time to time and remember what I'm doing. They're great distractions but very dangerous.
Well, time to unwind and enjoy a slower day tomorrow. Til the next..... out