Letter From Afghanistan #10

As I sit here on shift another week is coming to a close and it seems to have gone by fairly quickly.  Of course that is open to personal opinion.  Talking with my fiancé this week she mentioned that it felt like the week has been going by very slowly.  I find it funny how the passing of time is different between different people, even people in the same place or doing the same thing.

Last week’s letter seemed like somewhat of a coincidence as I was doing some reading online this last week.  I talked about solar weather and as I later found out we were in the middle of a meteor shower this whole last week.  I wish that I could say that it was planned that way but it was completely by chance that it happened that way.  After I learned that there was a meteor shower occurring I spent a lot of time walking around looking up towards the sky.  I would normally do this as part of my job but found I was looking up even when I was walking to chow and to work just to see if I catch a glimpse of this beautiful phenomenon.  I was fortunate enough to be able to view a couple of different meteors as they attempted to enter our atmosphere and streak across the sky in an awesome display of light.  While I was reading I wondered how big the meteors were as they fell toward the earth and I found out that many of them are about the size of a grain of sand.  It amazes me that something that small can produce that much light and be seen from that far away.

I also talked briefly about some of the wildlife that we have here on the FOB.  For the most part we don’t see too much other than a few birds (sparrows and pigeons mostly), a few snakes (luckily I haven’t seen any yet), and many different species of insects.  One animal that we have here on the FOB that isn’t considered wildlife are the FOB dogs that call FOB Lagman their home.  When we first arrived here at Qalat there were several dogs running around, some of them didn’t look very healthy.  Some were very thing from lack of food and others had different diseases.  Sadly the ones that were sick had to be put done to prevent the diseases from spreading to all of the soldiers on the FOB and also to keep the other animals in the local area from getting sick as well.  Some of them were able to be saved by giving them food.  One of the dogs, Bella, was a small puppy when we arrived.  She is now not so small anymore and she is spoiled.  Bella, along with the rest of the dogs here have collars and many of them also have flea and tick collars.  They enjoy a good petting whenever they feel like getting some attention and are doing very well.  One of the dogs here was named Baylough as that is where she came from.  Baylough is another FOB that is north of here and one day during a convoy from Baylough to Lagman this dog followed the convoy.  When the convoy was getting close to FOB Lagman they noticed this dog had been following them for quite a ways and decided to allow her onto the FOB.  This is now her home and I’m sure that she finds that she is treated very well.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Mel in Iowa with a couple of questions that I thought that I would address this week as well.  Mel was wondering how cooperative the neighboring countries are when it comes to sharing weather information.  As a general rule most countries are very good about sharing weather data.  Afghanistan on the other hand is a little different when it comes to weather forecasting and observing.  There is very little evidence of any type of weather system that has been established here in Afghanistan.  That can also be said for some of the other surrounding countries.  That of course doesn’t mean that they don’t have any type of weather reporting throughout any of these countries, but instead just means that we don’t have access to their information.  Lucky for us though we don’t really need to rely on our host country to provide weather information and can provide most of our own weather data.  Between the Air Force, Navy, and Marines an entire weather network has been created for the sole purpose of sharing weather data around the world.  The hourly weather observations that I take here are able to be seen around the world along with the forecasts for many of the bases here in country.  Through this same system we have the ability to view different models that are created for anywhere in the world and through these we are able to write our forecasts.  There is information that is kept classified but that is not for the weather itself but more for the locations that this weather is for.  When we brief a crew here the briefing is considered classified but that is simply because we don’t want the enemy to know where our pilots are flying and the times that they will be there.  We also have satellites that circle the globe that are responsible for the imagery that allows us to see current weather conditions.  Depending on the type of imagery that is provided it can be extremely helpful in data sparse areas like Iraq and Afghanistan to locate not only clouds but to also spot things like dust.  We also have the ability to apply modifications that make it easier to pick things out on the satellite images like thunderstorms.  The satellites are able to get such fine detail that we are able to see snow on the tops of mountains and fog down in a valley.  So for the most part we are very self-sustaining when it comes to the information that we need to do our job.

Mel was also wondering about the local people and their attitudes towards us.  It’s kind of difficult for me to answer this question personally since I don’t generally come in contact with too many local nationals in my day to day life.  We do have a few local Afghani people that work here on base.  Their jobs generally consist of working in the Dining Facility, the FOB’s janitorial staff, and maintenance.  They work very hard and seem happy to have a job that they are paid to do.  They are supervised in their daily tasks by at least one of the American contractors that we have on the FOB.  Back when we had the memorial service for the two military men that had been killed, we also had some of the local village leaders present to pay their respects.  Though I’m sure the understood very little of what was said during the ceremony, they sat with the rest of the observers and showed respect for the two men that had been lost.  Other than that I don’t really have too much contact with them.  As a general rule most of us are not allowed out into the villages for security reason.  I was also told that I better not be leaving the FOB by both my fiancé and my mom so I think for my own safety I had better stay put.  The only times that I will be allowed to leave the FOB is in transit between here and other FOBs, and that will be via helicopter.

Well on that note I shall sign off for another week.  Before I got I would like to those of you that have sent emails, letters, and care packages.  I would especially like to thank Cindy Maher for the letters and the Kathy Martin Family for the card.  I would like to send a very special thank you to Brandon Martin for the pictures that he drew for me.  I would also like to thank everyone for keeping us in their thoughts and prayers during this trying time in our lives.  I believe that just thinking of someone is often the same as praying for them.  Many times when you think of another person you are hoping for the best for them and your hopes are as good as prayers.

I would love to hear from you.  If you would like to contact me you can email me at john.iraq@hotmail.com.  I love to hear news from back home.  I also would love to try and answer any questions that you may have.  If you would prefer to send a letter, card, or care package they can be sent to me at the following address:

SSgt John B. Ferderer

Task Force Pegasus

HHC 2-82 (SWO) Task Force Corsair

APO AE 09355

If you are sending a care package please know that everything that is sent is shared with everyone here on the FOB and that everything is greatly appreciated.  Due to the heat I must ask that you please refrain from sending chocolate or anything else that will melt.  With the temperature still reaching over 100°F each day chocolate becomes soupy very quickly.

Have a great week and have a great Air Force Day!