Liberty Call, Liberty Call ... (well almost)

Fist of all, I totally suck at blogging. I had no idea it had been three months since I last posted about my activities. I can blame the sporadic posting on the fact I don't have easy access to the commercial internet, but still a three month gap is pretty lame. So, I apolgize to any readers out there.

I am currently on a bit of a break from Afghanistan. My command sent me to Mons Belgium, the site of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) for a week long conference related to collaboration between NATO military forces in Afghanistan.

My travels took me by military airplane to Ramstein AFB, Germany. Unlike my flight into Afghanistan, this C-17 was virtually empty. I had room to lie down flat in my sleeping bag without having to maneuver between other sleeping people. Although the lack of people seemed to be a bonus shortly after takeoff, I soon realized that the nice thing about sharing an airplane with a hundred other military members is body heat keeps you warm. Since there were hardly any other people in the cargo bay, the plane was extremely cold once we reached our cruise altitude. Eventually I was wearing long underwear, a jacket and a hat inside my sleeping bag but I was still cold. Even the tip of my nose was cold.

Nevertheless, the flight was uneventful and I arrived in Germany about 8 hours after we took off. I spent Saturday in Germany, where I picked up my train tickets to transit across Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. I grabbed a workout at the gym and went for a run around the flightline. It was a real pleasure to run on grass (as opposed to gravel and rocks) and to breathe air that was not filled with dust.

Saturday night I indulged myself with dinner at the Chili's franchise located on base, and Sunday morning I caught a cab to the train station to begin my jouney. I got into Mons Belgium about two hours behind schedule but otherwise safe and sound. I will recount the details of the train ride and the week in Belgium tomorrow, but for now I am going to get some shut eye in a "civilized" hotel room, since I am heading back towards Afghanistan beginning tomorrow.

PS - I took some pictures, but ironically I forgot to pack the cable to upload them from my camera to my laptop so I will try to accomplish that in the next few days.

Erik