On my way home...

Well, I have left ISAF and Kabul and am currently at Bagram Airfield still in Afghanistan. I got my wrist re-checked on Monday and the x-rays showed no breaks so they cut off my cast and put me in a splint. Then the physical therapist looked at the wrist and thinks there is probably some significant ligament damage. Then, I had a CT scan and they found that I have a distal-radius fracture. I am still in the splint at least until an orthopedic surgeon can look at it on Thursday. I will be back in the states in a little more than a week and hopefully return to my family within two weeks (dependant on my wrist issues). Love to all!

Run in with insurgent Snowman

I went to visit the Turkish PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) in Wardak Province on Tuesday when we noticed there was a snowman hanging out by the Afghan National Police (ANP) guards to the Forward Operating Base (FOB). A couple of us went out to investigate the snowman when he jumped me and made me slip on the ice. We were not sure if it was a Taliban or HIG snowman, but he did manage to break my wrist so we figure it must have been an insurgent. The first picture is me with the snowman and the ANP who captured him taken about 1 minute after the fall. The second is my right arm in a cast. Since we were out in Wardak, I had to have my wrist looked at by an Afghan doctor who wrapped it in an ace bandage until I could get back to Kabul to have it X-rayed. When it was finally x-rayed 30 hours later, it turned out it was broken. I will be in a cast for at least 8 weeks, but will come home when scheduled. I am fine and it is minor!!!

Too late for mailing

Sorry I did not mention this earlier, but it is now probably too late to mail me anything and have it arrive here before I leave. I appreciate all the support everyone has given me on this deployment!! If you still have stuff to send for the orphans/children/etc. you can still send it to:

Volunteer Community Relations
Attn: CPT Erin McGrew
US NSE /HQ ISAF
APO AE 09356

Thank you again!

A New Year

Well, Christmas and New Years have come and gone and I am still here in Kabul. We had our first snow today, a wet and heavy snow. It looked nice until all the mud underneath was kicked up and it all turned brown and melted into mud. I am sure that it will be all brown ice in the morning. It does look kind of nice falling though. I made it as far as Bagram Air Field this week, but our flights to Ghazni and the Polish FOB fell through and we ended up coming home on Tuesday without getting anywhere else. Oh well, thats the way it goes sometimes. I now have only three weeks left in Kabul and am really looking forward to getting back to the real world! Everyone made it home O.K from the holidays and Shorty was much relieved to find the Ducks (House and Duck Key) were still hanging around. As far as football goes, Utah finished a perfect 13-0 and showed that BCS means nothing. Denver however, well we just won't talk about being able to closeout the division for four weeks in a row and failing each week. I am kind of mad at Pat Bowlen for letting Shanahan go, I think it was a big mistake.

Thanks to everyone for all the cards and packages and I will write again soon.