need a holiday.........soon

The last few days have been memorable ones to say the least, and at the same time, days I'd like to forget. The patrols have been exceedingly longer, and the days have been getting hotter. It's hard to piece the last couple of days in order, let alone the last week, but I'll give it a shot.
I had known about 99ers visit and aspiration to patrol through Nakhonay for about 2 weeks now, and the pressure had been building for the full 14 days. It wasn't until 2 days prior to the patrol that I really started to feel the stress. The route we would take passed through one of the most dangerous canalizing areas in the area and it was up to me and Riley to ensure there were no IEDs in the ground. We would be the 2 front men in this patrol for the clearance. The catch was that the clearance would not be deliberate, but instead quite cursory and hasty. Needless to say, when the day came, I found myself digging into the road with my bayonet more frequent than usual. The last thing I needed was the General of the task force to step on an IED after we had passed right by it. Well, it didn't happen and the patrol continued on into the heart of darkness. We toured General Menard through the whole town and into the surrounding area. The pressure was felt until we had made it back into our PH. He took off as quickly as he came and the patrol was a success.
The next day was one of transition. Bravo section was taking off on leave and Charlie section was arriving back. The guys were pretty stoked on getting out of here for 3 weeks and you could hear them hootin and hollering as their LAV pulled away. Basically, the remaining soldiers on the ground cleaned their weapons and prepared for the upcoming tasks.
Yesterday, was a complete success, however not nearly as morale boosting as today, but I'll get to that. So, on 31Jan, we stepped off to perform an engineer recce on an important piece of ground in the south. I cannot divulge details because of OPSEC, but I had the four of us on this task. Dorner, Riley, Bergeron and myself stepped off with Alpha section and moved deliberately to our site. We spent a good hour gathering information on the features in the area and proceeded north to recce yet another objective. The day was very long and by the time we got back the night had set in. I then spent the next 3 hours compiling information and labelling photos for my report. At 2100 we drove to Capt Hacheys location and I presented the findings. They weren't expecting me that night but instead the next morning. They were eager to find out what I had to say, and were extremely satisfied with the product I had produced with the help of the guys. Looks like the whole plan will go ahead despite several concerns and our recce was the start point. A great job well done by E$%C.
So today was a whole new day and yet another task which required the 4 of us out on patrol. Our objective was to clear the route where Toast was killed by an IED. Our clearance was deliberate, safe and thorough. Half way down the route I got a hit in the ground outside the walls of the route. I investigated to find a sandbag filled with 2 4L jugs of 7.62 AK47 ammunition and 7 60mm mortars. Not a bad little ammo cache, so we prepped and got ready to BIP. Well, HQ gets on the horn and decides that we should salvage the ammo and give it to the Afghan security forces. Easy for them to say, they didn't have to carry it back. So, we destroyed the mortars and moved on. We didn't find anything else on the route so we pushed on to our next objective. A compound where it was thought a weapons cache was hidden. We moved intot the compound and began our search. Not long after we started, I cleared up to a piece of ground with some thatch over top of it. I moved the twigs outta the way and began sweeping the area. I thought at first it was simply reinforced concrete that was giving me a hit, but when I began my excavation I found it was soft dirt. I ended up uncovering a mortar filled with ball bearings and bolts and pulled it out of the ground. I continued to uncover the dirt and uncovered a 155mm round with detonation cord coming out the top of the fuze well. At this time I called HQ and asked if they would like me to continue. They decided to send EOD in and further exploit the site. We linked up with EOD shortly after at a crossroads and walked them into location. They continued the job I had started and ended up uncovering 15 155mm artillery shells, all packed with explosives and det cord coming from their fuze wells. They were prepped and ready to be dug into the roads where we frequently walk. This was a HUGE find and needless to say I am still pretty pumped about it. This means 15 less IEDs we have to worry about while we operate in the area. We got the okay to BIP it in the compound and waited for the ROZ to go hot. Myself, Bergeron, Costall, and Riley all perched on a rooftop about 50m away to watch the thing go up. Well, I'll be damned if that explosion did not register on the richter because the whole building we were standing on shook and quivered when it went up. After the dust settled a crack could be seen in the middle of the building we were on top of. The explosion rocked the area and sent debris flying everywhere. It was getting late and we had to get out of there. While exfiltrating the area a local approached and had a massive chunk of artillery shell in his hands. He was saying it landed in his compound and complaining. I'm sure he wasn't the only one who would find chunks of metal in their yard after this one. I mentioned that perhaps this guy was stalling us so his buddies could finish digging one in and we took off on that cue, leaving the old man wondering what we were doing. We made it back after a good 10 hour patrol and supper was served. What a day.
Rediger is back for a couple of days to help with the upcoming tasks, as well, we have now attached Spr Rider. So it'll be the 6 of us charging into Feb along with the good old Delta crew. Looks like the days ahead should be interesting.
The phone here lately has been acting funny and I haven't been able to call when I've had the time. Its frustrating but theres nothing I can do. I love you guys, and I love you sweetheart. You truly keep me going and I know you are here with me giving me strength from home. Til the next........out