Three months

Today marks the three months since deployment. Thanks to everyone who has mailed a package to support the soldiers. The show of support from home is astounding, and definitely keeps everyone motivated. Your letters, comments, as well as emails, or even simple prayers and thoughts are also very much appreciated. It is our hope that the blog posting is providing all back home with a window from which to view the little slice of the conflict that the soldiers experience, and hopefully gain insight into and awareness of the successes they experience and the challenges they face.  Recently, LT Pruden wrote:

" The FOB is surrounded by mountains, but the most dominating terrain feature is the mountain in whose shadow the FOB rests. Because of its location and the tactical advantage it would provide, we have long suspected there to be enemy fighting positions and caches there. We did an air assault to an adjacent ridge line in the middle of the night, and waited for daybreak before pushing to the top. The air up there (altitude of the LZ was about 6700 feet) was nice and cool, though it was thinner, a fact I noticed as my heart and breathing rate picked up on the walk. After about an hour of steady walking, we made it to the top (7750 feet).
 
Unfortunately, due to time limitations, we weren't able to stay up there long enough to find any caches. There was plenty of evidence of enemy movement, however, and we made certain to take down the grid locations of various trails and fighting positions for future observation or artillery strikes (on that note, there was a surprising amount of trees up there considering how often that hilltop is targeted by the 155's and 120's).

After we finished at the top, we began the long walk back to Blessing. We took no contact, but it was eventful in many other ways. Suffice it to say that the Afghan Army soldiers talk a big game about being more fit than the U.S. Army, but that claim was disproved yesterday. In any case, everyone was happy to be back at base when we finally arrived at around 2 in the afternoon. The 4500-foot descent spread over about a kilometer and a half was brutal, and everyone's knees, hips, and feet are pretty sore today. I'm extremely proud of all the men in the platoon: they accomplished a physical task that no other platoon in the company was able to accomplish, and they did it under a lot of weight and in extremely hot conditions. Its a testament to the NCO leadership in the platoon as well as individual discipline and preparation. We proved to the enemy and ourselves that we are willing and able to do what it takes to seize the high ground, and we will continue to do so in the year ahead."