Well, I have received permission to tell at least some of what we’re doing. We left Kuwait on a C-17. It was pretty amazing to see them load equipment into the belly of this huge plane that we were sitting in along with about 60 soldiers that were all being sent to somewhere in Afghanistan. It was quite humbling to see the demeanor of all of these soldiers who were being sent to an area with the potential of being in harm’s way. We had to fly south in order to go around Iran since we are not allowed to fly over Iran air space. Once we entered Afghan air space we went “Red Light” in order to be less visible as occasionally these planes are shot at. We traveled with battle gear that weighed maybe 35 pounds. We arrived at Bagram air base in the Northeast of Afghanistan and within 10 minutes of our arrival there was an alarm indicating that a mortar had been launched by Afghan rebels into the base, which I guess happens fairly regularly. Apparently the rebels aren’t very accurate with their shooting. They just lob them in the direction of the base and hope they hit something. The housing here was closer to what I had expected to see rather than the “country clubs” we had stayed in at Bahrain and Kuwait. Our housing is more like really bad college dorm housing with the bathroom down the hall and two of us to a room. The perimeter of the air base is 12 miles. The base is entirely encircled with tall cement walls and razor wire. No one leaves the base unless they are on a mission; it is too dangerous outside the perimeter. The air base is the largest in Afghanistan and it is entirely encircled by mountains that go as high as 20,000 feet. This is the same mountain range that connects to the Himalayas and there was still visible snow on the tops of the highest mountains. We are at over 4500 feet above sea level so it is not as hot as Bahrain or Kuwait, but it is still plenty hot. It is lovely in the morning, but the winds gradually pick up throughout the day and it is quite windy and dusty by the afternoon and evening. In the winters it is quite cold. We toured the base and got a special tour of the detention center where Afghan terrorists are detained, tried and sentenced. In the evening we came back and did a show for all of the MPs at the detention center. The concert was under a tent and the wind was really whipping outside. Jason made the comment, “This is the first time I’ve ever done a show in a tent, or a hurricane!” They were really appreciative of the show. It meant a lot to them to have us there and help them escape the stress, uncomfortable weather and occasional boredom of their situation as well as being away from their families. One young man announced that his wife just gave birth to their first child, a son, and he was going to be in Afghanistan for another 10 months. It was a very tender experience. They all stayed after to talk and get pictures. One dad had written “Hi Sarah” on a sign and had David hold it while he got his picture taken with David so that he could send it home to his daughter who was a fan. More when I can.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:48:54 +0000
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