American FOB in Afghanistan

Photo of FOB in Afghanistan sent by one of our care package recipients.

Troops in Afghanistan enjoying care packages

Here's a great photo we just received of some of our soldiers in Afghanistan enjoying our care packages. Among the donations shipped in our care packages were wipes, Syntha-6 Peanut-Butter Chocolate Meal Replacement Bars by BSN (Bio-Engineered Supplements and Nutrition, Inc.), Girl Scout cookies, and assorted snacks, toiletries, and other appreciated items. Click on photo to enlarge.

"Attached is a pic of the guys with some of the goodies
that you shipped. Thank you again."

Soldiers Life in Afghanistan - Part 2

Here is Part 2 of a soldier's detailed account of life in Afghanistan. It's a tough life for our troops. Hopefully, our care packages help a bit, even if just for a few moments. Portions of the original message have been edited out.

Hello Everyone, It is about mid June here in Afghanistan and it is getting hot!  It’s 100-110 every day which is pretty awesome.  It still isn’t as hot here as it was in Kuwait or Iraq, but it is still icky ... Even though it’s hot out here I’m still pretty much pale as a ghost because I wear long sleeves and pants every day and by the time I do get in shorts and a t-shirt it’s dark outside.

... All the guys on their first deployment don’t seem to really care how long they stay here, but all the guys on their second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth deployment are loving the fact that this is a short 7 month-ish deployment.  There are guys here that have spent 48 month of the past 6 years deployed.  I have to hand it to them, they are still out here doing it.

Things are going well here for me here still.  I cannot complain too much as far as deployments go.  Given my current position I don’t get shot at or regularly come in danger too much.  The young 18-21 year old kids out in the thick of it are the ones who are really in danger and the ones whom I support.

In the past couple weeks we have identified and killed 5 bad guys before they could do harm to the Paratroopers on the ground.  These guys were all bad for various reasons:  IED emplacers, IED activators, or guys that we have identified with weapons who are maneuvering on and shooting our forces.  Doesn’t really matter to me as long as they are guilty, I’ll try to take them off the battlefield any way possible. ... 

Troops training on heavy weapons

I know it may seem that I talk light of the situation, taking another life, but the enemy holds no such consideration towards us or the people here in Afghanistan.  Another two Troopers today lost limbs to the enemy from IED blasts.  The first today was a double amputee below the knee and the second was a Triple amputee.  Although I’m not sure if he is still alive as it has just happened an hour ago.  Make no mistake, the war is still on in Afghanistan, and the sons of daughters of America are still fighting and dying here.

Soldiers sharing care packages with Afghan children

Some of the soldiers who have received our care packages are sharing our donated goods with local kids in Afghanistan. Soldiers often request items specifically for the children. We are told the inflatable blue chairs were a big hit. Notice our Airborne Angel Cadets of Texas banner in the background. And, yes, they had a Texas Fiesta party complete with chips, picante sauce, sombrero and pinata for the children.

Soldiers Life in Afghanistan - Part 1

Below are excerpts (Part 1) from an incredible recount of military life in Afghanistan from one of our brave soldiers. Care packages may only be a small contribution to lift their spirits, but he does note that care packages are a 'welcomed comfort' to the troops.

Afghanistan Update APRIL 2012 - ... Things are going well for me here and can’t complain too much (you know, other than being in Afghanistan).

Fighting season is upon us here in Kandahar Province.  I’m sure some of you have read about the last ‘offensive push’ here in Afghanistan.  I can assure you that we are apart of it and Air Assaults into known enemy territory is a weekly occurrence across my Brigade.  We are either in the planning stages of one, or executing it ...  So when the execution of our major operations do begin I sit in our operations center and help the Paratroopers on the ground get the support they need through coordination of fixed wing aircraft, attack helicopters, or additional ground support.  We often watch the action on the ground through a series of camera towers or unmanned aerial aircraft, or sometimes even fighter aircraft that stream live video into our operations center.  It helps us battle track our men and ‘service’ the bad guys.

We also work tons of governance and economic projects on the days we aren’t fighting the enemy.  Some of these types of things include building schools for children, improving canal systems to improve farmers’ ability to irrigate their crops (lots of poppy too), or setting up ‘Shuras’ (like a city council) that represents the voice of the local people.  ... Another thing we do is help train and mentor the ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) which is made up of regular army, national and local police who provide security.  This security ideally allows time for the governance of Afghanistan to take root and function without an unreasonable amount of fear of retaliation.  All this is in an attempt to build the framework for a self sustaining Afghanistan.

Afghan Army, with the Afghan National Flag and it’s country behind it.

... Fortunately my Battalion has not had anyone severely wounded or killed.  Our last major company push into an enemy held town, literally a couple miles down the street from us, a kid from our unit won the IED Lottery.  He is a Combat Engineer, an Army Sapper, who was clearing a footpath for our Troopers with a minesweeper when he stepped on a Pakistani made land mine.  Only the detonator went off and bruised his leg and hip.  It failed to set off the mine’s main charge, which was lucky for him, and even luckier it didn’t detonate the 50 pounds of home made high explosives the mine was sitting on.  If you don’t think the men here are brave, think again, this kid was return to duty the next day and back out doing the same thing.

Unfortunately the Brigade has lost another 3 men since my last email.  One was killed when handling munitions in a supply yard.  It is still unknown what exploded, but whatever blew killed 1 and wounded another 7.  Another Trooper stepped on a very large IED and was killed instantly.  The last Trooper, a kid by the name of _______, was a Private that was in my Troop as when I was Commander.  I remember the day I shook his hand when he arrived to Fort Bragg.  He was a 22 year old kid, skinny bean pole, so we gave him a M249 squad automatic weapon (SAW) and trained him to be one hell of a Paratrooper.  (He) was a friendly kid, with a quite demeanor, but always had a smile ... Unfortunately during one of the very many air assaults we do he was killed by enemy small arms fire.  His wife is due any day now.

The wounded have stacked up across the Brigade, more than I can remember now.  Amputees so far average around 1 a week, plus many more who receive shrapnel or gunshot wounds from IED, RPGs, small arms, mortars and anything that goes boom. 

Memorial Service in Afghanistan for fellow soldier

Convoy being prepped for patrol

June 2012 Packing Party Recap

Last weekend our Airborne Angel Cadets of Texas volunteers packed and mailed 226 boxes to four adopted platoons in Afghanistan. Total postage for this weekend was about $3,800, bringing our yearly postage costs to about $30,000. As our current cash on hand allows for only about three more big shipments, we would certainly appreciate any donations for our shipping costs.

Below are some photos of our June, 2012 packing party room where our care packages for soldiers were sorted and packed. Other volunteers (not in the photos) were in separate areas taping boxes, printing shipping labels, and prepping boxes for delivery to the post office. Thanks to all who donated time, products, and funds to support our troops overseas! Click to enlarge photos.

June 2012 emails from soldiers in Afghanistan

Here are two messages from soldiers in Afghanistan that received some of our recent care packages. Many thanks to all who donated to help our soldiers overseas. Your donations are making a difference with our troops!

64 BOXES!!!!  That's great!!!  The table cloths, shower curtains, curtains, string, everything helped so much.  The billetting office and I took them around the tents to see who needed them and they went QUICK!  That's great that there is 4th of July decor in the the boxes!  My unit actually gets to put on our deployment patch on the 4th of July, so I will definitely make a party out of it and sent you pictures!!!  Once again, you and your crew are truly amazing, and your helping us deployed soldiers soooooooo much!
Brianna

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Hey Nancy,
We received more packages today! This is awesome! We received numbers 1,3,6,7,10 and 14. Wow, these things are packed with great stuff. I really appreciate you and your team for the great packages. Thank you so much. We are so blessed to have you on our team!
Kevin

Dallas Morning News article on Airborne Angel Cadets

Here's a June 8, 2012 Dallas Morning News article on the volunteers of Airborne Angel Cadets of Texas sending care packages to soldiers overseas. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Care package response from Chaplain in Afghanistan

A military chaplain in Afghanistan, one of our contacts that re-distributes our care package goods, recently sent us a nice message below (click on image to enlarge). We have been shipping care packages to this Chaplain and his soldiers for awhile, and appreciate their service to our great country.

Letters from troops receiving our care packages