Week 3: BAFL Stats

Another week has passed, and as is our practice here at Army 2.0, it's time to crunch some numbers.

Of note this week, I finally managed to read a book that is NOT part of Oprah's Book Club. Pretty amazing, I know. "No Country For Old Men" is of course written by Cormac McCarthy, the same author as OBC selection "The Road". As befits something written by McCarthy and filmed by the Coen Brothers, NCFOM was a thoroughly compelling read. Thanks to Lauren who very thoughtfully ordered the book for me from Amazon.

Also of note, I nearly duplicated my previous week's effort at the gym. In fact, the run number there is a misprint--I actually ran 15 miles this week.

Now, a lot of you are probably asking yourself--why all the talk of workouts and fiction reading? The Army wouldn't train you up, uproot you from your life, and send you all the way to the Forward Edge of Freedom just to read and run and get your swell on, would it?

Of course they wouldn't. But I have been very disciplined in making the best use of the small amount of leisure and free time I've had. That sliver of my day is fixing to diminish here shortly, as I assume some new responsibilities that will likely keep me busier still.

That's a good thing, though. Being busy helps make the time go by faster. Here's hoping I still have time to update the stats, at least. Defending freedom and promoting the rule of law might be important and all, but without BAFL Stats, is any of it really worthwile?

I'll let you chew on that for a bit, and I'll holler at you all soon.

BTW, more guest bloggers coming right around the corner!

Gallery of Folks with SIgns

I've been having a lot of connectivity issues these last few days, so I apologize for the minimal posting. I owe everyone a BAFL update, as well as a weekly roundup, and I intend to get to both post haste.

For now, though, I'm proud to introduce another new feature (in a week of new features)--the Army 2.0 Guest Book.

The guest book is a compendium of photos that I have received while deployed depicting friends and family members holding signs and giving shout outs. And by compendium I mean two. But that's a good thing--I'd love to eventually get pics from each of you, but we don't want them all to flood in at once. For starters, I only have so much bandwidth here at the Forward Edge. Beyond that, I can't cash in all of my good will at the same time, or how would I get through the dog days?

This is a long deployment yet, even three weeks in, and I need to spread out the fun so that we can keep things fresh here at 2.0.

Love to all, and see you soon with the stats.

The Army 2.0 Presents: Guest Blogging Awesomeness

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The long promised moment has arrived, as Jeff becomes our first of four, count 'em, four guest bloggers!

Why guest bloggers, you say? I'm glad you asked.

In my opinion, our little story here at the Army 2.0 can be summarized as follows. Boy meets IRR. IRR falls in love with boy. Boy gets dragged kicking and screaming away from boy's girl off to the IRR's secret lair of love...and in the process, boy meets other boys who were similarly ensnared. Boy all of a sudden doesn't feel quite as bad about everything, eventually gets back together with girl, and all of the various boys and girls go on to fame and fortune as Investment Banking Internet Consultant millionaires.

So ultimately, I don't think that I can tell the story that I'm trying to tell here at Army 2.0 w/o bringing Jeff and Chris back into the fold. Our stories might have diverged for the time being, but the tales are inextricably linked all the same.

And as the girl left behind probably has the biggest say of all in this whole process, look for notes from the homefront to move out of the comments and onto the front page in the not too distant future.

Plus, this way I can post way more content with way less work. Laziness is awesome.

Enough of my blathering...go read Jeff's post!

Update--here are the rest of our exciting guest bloggers for your enjoyment!

Bailey's posts--we learn about why LiveStrong bracelets and wet cat food play a vital role in our nation's Global War on Terror.

Lauren's post--a love letter from my beautiful wife that I probably don't deserve.

Chris's post-- we say goodbye to an old friend in style.

**Photo published upon request of future guest blogger, Mrs. Exnicios.

Sultan Jeff's Stuff to Say #1

Greetings! I'm Andrew's friend, Jeff. I'm writing from beautiful FOB
Salerno...approximately 12 miles from the Pakistan border in the province of Khost (pronounced "Host"). The weather here is beautiful compared to the rest of the country right now. Fortunately for us Khost is in a lower elevation "bowl" surrounded by mountains that keep most of the bad weather out....and the humidity in (can't wait for the summer). So, unlike Andrew, I don't need a bobsled to get to work everyday. Anyway, I thought I'd share a little cultural anecdote I experienced recently in my first blog (I'm a little nervous...so forgive me).

A few days ago I met a really nice guy named Mike. Mike invited me and the rest of the guys I work with to have lunch with a local friend of his, Lucky. A VERY friendly guy. He got his name by being the lone survivor in an IED attack. When he was pulled from his completely destroyed vehicle and found without a scratch on his body....they said, "Man, you're 'lucky'!" His friend, an interpreter, was killed recently by an IED. He's cooked us lunch TWICE (great cook)....and is so generous that he gave my boss and I our very own turbans. I found out later that black means Taliban. So, don't send this picture to the Dept. of Homeland Security....otherwise I may be going straight from here to Gitmo.

I hope everyone is doing well out there. God bless!

A Way Forward in Afghanistan

It's been a slow week around the Army 2.0, as I'm sure many of you have noticed.

There isn't much to report tonight, either...but I thought I would pass along a link to an interesting article.

This analysis of the strategic situation in Afghanistan is lengthy (5000+ words) but comprehensive, and will serve as a good primer for those of you interested in the types of decisions we're facing here in Central Asia.

The article is written by Ali Ahmad Jalali, a professor at the National Defense University. The formating is a little wacky, but all of the numbers that seem like they're sections to an outline are actually citations. The footnotes are at the bottom of the piece.

I also like the article because in this picture Dr. Jalali looks like he could be a boxing promoter if he wasn't so consumed with "development" and "ways forward". I respect men who have options like that.

I love my wife more than anything in the world

I'm also quite fond of Kellie, the bigger, cute looking dog.

I'm not as yet entirely sold on Copper, the smaller one. Cute but rascally, that's Copper. I have to say, though--it did mean a lot to me that he took the time to make a sign and have a picture taken.


Sadly, as I'm sure you all know, the Redskins lost this weekend. It was a sad end to a trying season, and now Coach Gibbs has retired from the team as well. Coach got us to the playoffs in 2 of 3 seasons, which when you get right down to it is pretty amazing. Coach basically got the Skins into the top third of the NFL for the first time since, well, Gibbs was coach the first time around.

All of this aside...I wanted to say again how truly wonderful Lauren is, and how lucky I am to have her in my life. Thank you, baby, for the wonderful picture with the puppies.

Love to all, I'll catch you tomorrow.

Week 2 Roundup and General Awesomeness

It's hard to believe it, but I've managed to leave week 1 in the dust, and ring in the new year in style.

Other than the holiday, Week 2 was largely uneventful from a "stuff happening" standpoint. But "stuff happening" aside, this has undeniably been a helluva week on the blogging front.

This week saw a comment fueled explosion of interactivity here at Army 2.0, as the finer points of a certain photo inspired multiple follow up posts that ranged from virtuoso displays of Microsoft Paint Skills, to an analysis of my wife and mother's fashion sense that many critics are calling downright Freudian.

Just as exciting, we saw an old favorite rocket back to the Top of the Pops (I don't care what the Vietnam Vets say). As will always be the case, we ran the numbers for the week in our BAFL stats. And last but not least, I actually remarked on my role here in Afghanistan. It happened to be in a thoroughly vague, not that helpful way, grant you--but hey, it's a start, right?

That about sums up Week 2, I think, with more than a little awesomeness to go around. Best to all, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Week 2: BAFL Stats

Of note--I managed to avoid any and all fast food after a holiday splurge which was largely owed to Jeff's sudden removal from this base, and the assorted going away meals that ensued--"I love you dude, I don't know what I'm gonna do without you...let's go get some Pizza Hut."


Staying on the money front, you'll see that the Fat Cats over at AAFES only got $6 of my hard
earned paycheck this week, and that was because I needed a haircut. As much as I would like to spend the next 10 months trying to bring back the Berkeley look, bi-weekly haircuts will be a sad fact of life out here. Sigh...


Also of note--I have managed to avoid reading any books that are NOT part of Oprah's Book Club. But in my/her defense, both The Corrections and The Road were pretty great reads. The Road in particular...I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic morality plays, but even still. The awesomeness of that book is difficult to thumb one's nose at.

Dad, Rasslin a Grizzly Bear in a Steel Cage

Turkey and Stuffing: A Stunning Reemergence of Deliciousness

Those of you who've been with Army 2.0 since the early days will recall what an impact Turkey and Stuffing (capital T and capital S) had on my first few days back in the Army.

But after screaming into town like a banshee, Turkey and Stuffing were gone from my life with a whimper...

Sure, their was a Thanksgiving resurgence, but that's a cyclical thing--nothing notable about eating Turkey on the 4th Thursday of November.

Which brings us to the present. I didn't want to say anything after the first time I had Turkey and Stuffing here in Afghanistan. I felt like it was too early to broach the subject after the second and third times T&S were served (and consumed) at my friendly, neighborhood Dining Facility.

But today, after my fourth--count it--FOURTH T&S meal in a mere 2 week period?? Folks, I think it's safe to say that T&S are back, and they are here to stay.

Of course, a lot of the haters out there are going to say that the T&S Surge is a function of the holiday season...that my belly is happily filled w/ sleep inducing proteins and carbs because we're barely past the 12th day of Christmas, and the folks who serve us chow can't quite let go of the holiday spirit just yet.

To all of you out there, I say this: We can and will sustain the T&S surge as long as it takes. Those individuals who hate our Turkey and fear our Stuffing must either submit themselves to the inevitability of Turkeyocracy, or face the punishing consequences of our Stuffing-vengeance.

And know this, dear readers--I will continue to fight such hatred and ignorance here, at the Forward Edge of Freedom, so that you will never--and I mean NEVER--have to fight for your Turkey and Stuffing back home.

That's all I have tonight. Love to all, and look for stats tomorrow, and Weekly Roundup and General Awesomeness on Monday.

Mark Makes a Good Point

Earlier this week, I posted this picture of my parents and my wife. As my father-in-law points out in the comments section, it's a little eerie how similarly my mother and wife are dressed. Hmm...

Happy Saturday, everyone! My internet connection wasn't working last night, which is why there was no Friday content. I'm considering moving the Weekly Roundup and General Awesomeness to Monday morning so that it doesn't get buried w/ the rest of the weekend content, but I'll let you all know.

Also of note--guest columnists, long hinted at and never delivered on, seem to be right around the corner. Oh yes, our writership pool is about to explode. Talk about General Awesomeness...

Work is Going Well

Now, I've had the pleasure of speaking with a number of you over email since I've been here, and a common question has been--"Hey Andrew, I know that your decoration scheme and statistic keeping are good to hook, but how the heck is your actual JOB going there in Afghanistan? And, because I think I must have forgotten--WHAT is your actual job there."

More to follow, but I can say this for now--I'm working in operations for my Civil Affairs unit, and things are generally going well. The nature of the job is such that I need to flush it out a bit more before I'm comfortable sharing (you've heard that before, I know) but I promise that I will, and I'll let you all know.

For the time being, know that I'm doing my part to stem the tide of neo-global islamo-fascism. And in the end--ain't that the most important truth of all?

Love to all, and I'll holler at you tomorrow--it's weekly roundup time, so watch out!

Down the River of Golden Dreams

Nothing much to report tonight. I've been listening to Okkervil River a lot lately, especially this album. Thought I'd share.

Happy New Year Redux!

This is a picture that my parents and wife took on New Year's Eve. I really love it--Lauren looks beautiful, my parents look happy, and even though I already know how much they care...it still means a lot that they put together something silly and cute like this for me. I guess it goes back to the troop greeters in Maine...I consider myself pretty darn cyncial about bumper-sticker-patriotism. But the fact is, knowing that people care about you and what you are doing is enormously important to us out here. More so, I'm sure, to the guys closer to the front lines than I am.

Happy New Year again, folks--I'll see you on 2 January!

Oh, and I almost forgot--anyone who would like to send me pictures of yourself in interesting places holding up signs, that would be pretty cool. I'll post all that I get, put a little gallery together. I think it might be a neat little guest book.

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone is fresh after a night of getting to bed early and avoiding merriment, and I hope that as you read this you are sitting down at home about to enjoy a day of relaxation and football.

I'm about to call it a night for my holiday, but I wanted to leave you with a quick picture. This is the empty, fairly sad looking wall of my hooch...but, you can see that now there are two things on the wall, where before there was only one.

My plan is to use the wall as a sort of calendar, putting up a new decoration for each Federal holiday that I spend over here. The Duke stocking covered Christmas (thanks mom!) and the calendar of photos of me and the wife covers New Year's (thanks wife!). MLK day (nee Lee Jackson King Day to you Virginians out there) is still up in the air, so shoot me a line if you have a good idea for something Duke, Cal, Redskins or Lauren related that also evokes the memory of powerful oration and civil rights leadership.