Early Morning Phone Call

Seth called this morning to report back in from his recent trip. They've been to the Syrian border and back to pick up a disabled vehicle and empty fuel trucks. Seth reports that parts of this trip reminded him of being in Afghanistan with the empty, rugged, and trackless travel. He said parts of the trip reminded him of movie scenes of endless dessert with miles of dunes. They spent the first night in a Forward Operating Base then traveled the next day to a Marine outpost on the border. After picking up the vehicle they returned to the same FOB for another night before returning to Al Asad. Seth was a driver on this trip. He thinks he won't be going back outside the wire until the end of this week. Eli will be leaving Tuesday for a mission. When I asked Eli the other day if he and Seth would ever go out together, he reported that the Commander's sentiment was not to send them out on the same mission. Eli wants to go out with his platoon, the guys he trained with in Mississippi and he has the Platoon Leaders support. Eli feels that he will get to go out with Seth as long as they don't travel in the same vehicle.