10/14/2001 Entry: "Things Get More Interesting"

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last entry. Obviously much has happened since then. We have been conducting air strikes for over a week now, and as you can imagine, security has been tightened here as it has been all over the world. There is a very real threat to the soldiers on this deployment. More so than we anticipated 18 months ago when we first knew about our deployment. But, as we have been trained, our guard is constantly up and situational awareness is a priority.

Overall, however, everyone from A Troop is doing well. Unfortunately the Troop is split up. 1st Platoon is up at Camp McGovern (two hours north of Eagle Base), the Headquarters platoon is at Eagle Base, and we (2nd platoon) are down in the south, two hours south of Eagle. 3rd platoon is back in Annapolis keeping the armory safe for our return. We regret being broken apart but, I suppose its all in the name of mission accomplishment.

The guys down here are enjoying themselves. Especially their time on patrol. We alternate regularly between presence patrols and base camp security. We are really starting to like our little camp down here at FOB Connor. Though it does not have all of the luxuries of the main post, we have everthing we need. For the most part there are enough phones around for the soldiers to talk to their loved ones back home quite regularly. Though computer access is not as convenient, with enough patience, we can keep up with our emails.

I have posted a picture of a town called Srebrenica. It is about the second largest town in our area of operations. The picture is taken from an overlook at what used to be a Hunters Lodge. This town was actually a little vacation spot prior to the war. Now, the town is faced with 80% unemployment and poor electric an running water.

I will try to stay in touch better, thats all for now.