cold blooded

My condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones as of late, and the soldiers who have passed. It was truly a terrible holiday season for the CF. I am not sure as to what happened in the latest and I will not speculate. Information about it is minimal.

The last week has been one to remember. We've been patrolling for kilometer after kilometer and I think at last count via GPS, we've logged well over 100 km on foot. My feet have turned into rocks that I can literally take a knife and stick into, peeling off chunks of skin and callous. I reckon its time to change the boots as the ones I am wearing are offering less and less grip by the day. We have patrolled and operated deep into the town where insurgents are operating without incident. On the 30th Dec. we moved into a position east of our objective with the ANA. About 50 of us moving in at 0200 and setting up at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere. We froze our asses off. It was 0430 when we were set, and by 0445 the wind and cold was settling in to our sweat drenched backs. We peeled off our wet kit and put on dry, however the damage was done and the elements were relentless. Myself and Browny (Sgt. Brownell) were sitting side by side against a wall, as the rest of the section positioned in all round defence. I can't imagine why, but at 0500 the ANA attached to us started giggling and began talking in a escalating uproar in Pashto. I said to Browny " They must be high," to which he replied, "There is no way they're not." Next thing we know, a local comes from his dwelling and brings out a tumbleweed. 30 seconds later the ANA are all huddled around a fire 10 ' high and warming up. We both moved over to the warmth for a few minutes and then relieved the guys on sentry. It was short lived as we were moving to another objective shortly thereafter. At 0630 we kitted up and began moving further west. We secured another intersection and began GSR testing ( gun shot residue) every swinging dick that came our way. All day long, pictures, names, and GSR to no avail. C Coy was pushing our direction and had come across 3 IED's in their advance. The deal was if C COy finsihed their search of the village come nightfall, we'd move back to our PH under darkness. Well, they finished just before nightfall and we could hear the choppers coming in to get them at 2100hrs. They up and left and I though forsure we were heading back. This was not to be. We kitted up and pushed even further west into enemy ground. We ended up taking up a position in the middle of an Afghani field. Then the cold came once again. We unrolled our sleeping gear and dug in for the night. I think I dreamt of fire the hwole time. Dorner woke up in his bivy bag and couldn't breath. ( bivy bag is waterproof) It took him a minute to realize that his air supply had been cut off because of him sleeping on the end of his bag. I woke up at 0600 and was soaked. The condensation in my bivy bag had dripped all over me to the point where my pants and shirt were soaked. I had fell aslepp with my arm outta the bag and I thought my fingers were going to fall off. We were wet, tired, and dirty. Yet we still stood around in a cirlce and laughed about it. Graham ( inf. Cpl) came up to us and stated this isn't really happening. He goes " I'm just floating around and nothing is bothering me because I'm not even here." It felt like an eternity before we stepped off to return back. It is an understatement to say we were relieved to start walking. Our feet were bricks of ice and we wondered how the hell they did it in WWI and WWII. It took half the march back to thaw my fingers, and at times I thought I would lose one or two digits. They were burning with cold. Well, we got back New Years eve morning and needless to say we all racked out for the better part of the day.
New Years day comes and we're all relaxing and enjoying a well earned day off. Turns out that was short lived. At 1600 we stepped off for a night OP in the middle of the darkness. We walked through the town and ended up at a high feature. We set up a roadblock for any traffic if it should come by, but it rarely does, and we end up freezing in the dark until 2330 when we were told to come back in. At least it didn't rain.
Well, its a few days later and Rediger is now back from vacation. Talked to him briefly and he's currently unpacking and settling back in. Dorner and Maddin were out on patrol today finding a couple of artillery shells. They had to carry them back from patrol because of a TIC ( troops in combat) north of their position. They waited for 3 hours for a ROZ but it never was granted, due to air traffic in the area. We now have hot showers and I spent the day building a patio for the entrance. I gotta say, it really is ghetto, but all the comforts of home. Thats it for now, gonna catch up with Red....... out