I need to take a moment to add a few comments about the soldiers I am with. I pride myself in telling the stories of the men and women that are deployed, with as little bias as possible. With a degree in History and...

As I put my laundry into one of the machines, I noticed one of the NCO's that hadn't been very visible during the day. As he begin to walk out of the building, I called out to him. Passing through the two crudely crafted plywood doors, I turned the corner...

Eastern Afghanistan -- From the outer walls of this fire base in eastern Afghanistan, you can see the mountains that mark the border with Pakistan. The Taliban rocket this base regularly, and move throughout the area with relative ease. The US soldiers here live with this threat, but are so...

"There are just so many people running around. Doing different things-no kind of unity."
-Syd Barrett, founding member Pink Floyd

I sat down at my computer yesterday to find a piece of paper from the US Army command resting on the keyboard:

Oshay, Afghanistan - As the US Apache helicopter flew over head, two other helicopters, a US Blackhawk and a Dutch Cougar touched down on the gravel landing zone on the edge of the fire base. A vehicle was pulled...

Two years ago his sister was burned when she fell into the open cooking fire inside their mud hut. As he sat talking to the US Army Special Forces Medic, he pleaded for help. One of his sister's hands had been burned to stubs;...

He lay on the ground with bullet wounds near his heart. There was nothing that could be done as his life became defined by minutes. He was Taliban, and moments before he had ambushed an Afghan soldier killing him with...

Video: VMO, part 1
Synopsis:
Village Medical Operations, or VMO's are an essential part of building relationships with local communities and villages here in Afghanistan. VMO's are usually tied into some form of humanitarian assistance, as with this operation in a village outside of Khandahar. All of the...

Christmas morning. A gentle fog has settled in on the base here outside of the village of Terin Kowt. With it comes the dew, covering the gravel floor that stretches from wall to wall, as well as memories of an Oregon morning. As I...

The primary focus of the media coverage of US operations here in Afghanistan continues to focus on the war effort. Though the fight with the Taliban and insurgent forces is an ongoing reality, the US Army's main effort rests with Embedded Training Teams or...

Life in the forward operating bases here in Afghanistan is remote and lacks many of the pleasantries the we take for granted in our lives back in the United States. Power is provided by generators, so long as they don't break down; purified bottled...