1. Nothing is ever definite in the Army until it's over and done with....meaning he could go out on patrol tomorrow!
2. While I'm happy with him fighting boredom in the tower, he might begin to long for the excitement of patrol.
Here's an article about the Boredom of Bagram from the August 23 issue of the Roanoke, Virginia newspaper:
The soldiers stood in the watchtower and looked over the desert.
And looked.
And looked.
"Well, that's about it. That's what we do. Nothing much happens," said Spc. Adam Watson, 20, a Virginia Tech student from Blacksburg. "About the most exciting thing that's happened so far was when a goat stepped on a land mine."
More than a month after being stationed at this large U.S. military base - one of the most secure sites in this war-torn nation - a group of Southwest Virginia soldiers is finding that its toughest opponent in the war on terrorism is boredom.
"It's really monotonous," said Cpl. Michael Hughes, 28, a Liberty University student and former Marine from Lynchburg. Islamic extremists "would be crazy to try anything here, so there's just not much to do."
The Virginia Army National Guard's Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, which includes more than 200 soldiers from Southwest Virginia, has been assigned duties in two places in Afghanistan.
Most of the battalion is "down range" in a southeast province where Virginia's citizen soldiers are patrolling against extremists trying to disrupt upcoming elections and reconstruction.
But the battalion's Company B, along with Company C's 3rd Platoon from Southwest Virginia, stayed at Bagram, where they're responsible for the base's perimeter security.
That means long shifts standing in the watchtowers encircling the base and being on call to respond to suspicious activity outside the base.
Insurgents occasionally fire rockets and rifles at Bagram, and land mines are still being cleared from the base, but this large military facility and the nearby capital of Kabul are considered among the safest areas in the nation.
Life on the base is so uneventful the soldiers even sleep through the occasional badly fired rocket, small earthquakes and other mild interruptions in the tedium.
The 3rd Platoon's soldiers are still upset about being split from their brethren in Company C.
And they're further annoyed about having the unglamorous task of around-the-clock base security rather than patrolling for extremists like the Bedford boys and other soldiers of Company C.
Many 3rd Platoon soldiers said they would gladly trade the plentiful amenities at Bagram - including hot running water, telephones, Internet access, air-conditioned barracks, well-stocked post exchanges, better food and more - for the Spartan conditions of Company C's Camp Tiger and a chance to patrol for the enemy.
Staff Sgt. Dwight Hodges, 34, of Rocky Mount and Staff Sgt. Timothy Bradley, 33, of Roanoke said they hope they and their 3rd Platoon soldiers will at least be allowed to patrol more outside the base.
Meanwhile, the 3rd Platoon continues to man the watchtowers, which are two-story reinforced aluminum sheds.
On the "light side," which overlooks some abandoned villages and former Soviet barracks, the soldiers at least have something to look at - occasional villagers walking by, a passing truck, a few grazing cows and goats.
On the "dark side," which overlooks desert, there's nothing but sand and more sand.
On a recent day in a "light side" tower, Watson and Spc. Bill Kuhlman, a Virginia Tech student from New Jersey, kept an eye on two Afghan boys hanging around outside the fence below the tower.
The boys might have been the ones who broke a tower window the day before with a rock from their slingshots.
To keep troublesome Afghans away from the base's perimeters, the soldiers sometimes have to fire their police-type paintball gun.
But the boys were more interested in using their limited, often profane English - which they picked up from Marines and soldiers previously stationed here - to try to sell bootleg pornography, alcohol, cigarettes and knives.
"Do you smoke Jack Daniel's?" yelled one boy.
At another tower, Hughes and Spc. Bradley Hockman, 21, a Virginia Tech student from West Virginia, looked out the windows.
The sun was setting.
Dust blew on the wind.
Two boys played marbles in the dirt, trash and razor wire below.
A few cows grazed in the ruins of a village.
"That's the highlight of our day - cows walking by," Hughes said. "But it's better than the dark side. Then it's a mouse walking by."
He plopped down in a big wooden chair covered in graffiti, including "Afghanistan Blows" and "I can't wait to go home!"
Hockman sighed.
"It's going to be a long year," he said.
They say that the biggest enemy at Bagram is boredom. We had a letter from the company commander that asked all family members to encourage their soldiers, reminding them that they are doing something of importance. I wrote to Seth today and share a part of that letter:
. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of people thinking about you and missing you. You should draw strength from that. Always remember how proud we are of you……I know that there will be some tough times – times when you may be tempted to get discouraged and think that you’re just wasting time in a foreign country doing things of little consequence…..nothing could be further from the truth. You have a very small view of something that is very large. When we see small pieces of things we tend to underestimate their importance. You are blessed to be part of something that is vitally important….a free and democratic Afghanistan. As you work in that small part – in that small way – remember, it’s larger than you know. Stay positive about your job and be positive that this is time well spent. These experiences will shape you – it is up to you whether they shape you for the good or for the bad……I’m betting that you’re the kind of person to make this be good! I am proud of you!
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