Greetings from Afghanistan! Been really busy. We are building massive tents and it consumes the majority of the day. (I don't know why Im building tents either...I just build them) When I am not doing this, I am at the gym or resting. Something I wanted to share...the toilets here are wacky. The hole is in the front. So naturally, you could do a reverse cowgirl or really think this one through. Its NOT as easy as to sit down, do your business, and let gravity take care of the rest. No no no. My first attempt was close to tragic. I should receive a purple heart for my effort. I sit down and start. All is good. Until, it has no more room to go vertical. So I raise up. On my tip toes, pants down, and clearly at a gravitational disadvantage. So I lean forward. A little more now, so natures finest doesn't hit me.(this is due to the slope of the shoot) Now I am definatley falling forward. No door to break my fall either. A thin flimsy shower curtain slows me down. Smooth. Thank the powers that be, I was finished and no-one was there to witness this event. Now I flush. Nothing happens. My contribution just stares back at me in defiance. I flush again. Nothing. I add toilet tissue. Still nothing happens. So I leave it. Yup, Im that guy. (sorry no sticks in Afghanistan close by) Apparently. there is a secret to this magical toilet system that I have not yet mastered. I prefer the reverse cowgirl to avoid the aforementioned drama. Looks cool too when someone throws said flimsy shower curtain open, and is instantly mortified and wonders; 'wtf are you doing in there?' So enough on my toilet habits...I just found out WE WILL NOT HAVE BREAKFAST SERVED ANYWHERE IN THIS EFFED UP COUNTRY AFTER MAY FIRST!!! Who thinks this crap up? Im sure its someone (who makes way more that I do a year, over a bagel, cream cheese and a coffee) decided they could save millions by cutting off our damned food at least once a day. Way to think this one through. I always thought "nothing but the best" for our soldiers. I guess not. Whats next? Rationing bullets? No more mail for soldiers? Take away our education benefits? (bahahaha on the last one..thanks again) Im kinda pissed about this. Moving along...Back home everyone wants to know do I see any action? Well, we get rocket/mortar attacks about once a week. And I fell during a rest room visit. Does this count? Its waaaay different from my last deployment. Instead of going out the safety of the base every day Im kinda stuck here. I get bored easily, so I go to the gym. (so does 500 other people at the same time) other than that its really kinda slow. Well, I may just go to the gym. Lol. Peace. 

Rockers! Yo! Finally here in beautiful Afghanistan. I thought this place was arid, but it has rained a lot in the short time I've been here. Currently living out of a bag and moving around constantly. Very Army. Lol. We (our group) are in great spirits even though we move around a lot. Getting to see a lot of Afghanistan. Which is kind of cool. Meeting a bunch of really great Americans waiting to come home, all have a little piece of the puzzle of the operations going on over here. Im really impressed at the quality of food we have here compared to the last deployment. Some of the food is really exceptional. The gyms here have great equipment. Fitness is a BIG part of what we do, and its refreshing having top notch equipment to keep us in the best shape ever. I got to say at 40, I struggle from time to time, but its part of the job. So I get to work a little extra hard, which is fine by me. I like the challenge. I wish I had some really exciting news to share with you about combat, or anything cool, but everything is kind of chilled out right now. (we did spend some time in a bunker recently...) I do know it is all subject to change at a moments notice. We remain on a heightened alert wherever we go. If you slack off for a minute you will get owned. Our group pushes each other to be on top of our game. We all feed off each other to do better with each day that passes. Like I said in a previous post, we are not a special operations team, or anything out of the ordinary, but we can hold our own. Soon enough we will get settled into a rhythm and if time permits I will write more often. For now: all is quiet. And I am ok with that. Peace. 31 OUT!

Greetings from the Rock and Roll soldier! For those of you that don't know me, I am a former Double Q DJ that went by the name "Tripod Troy".  I am getting deployed to Afghanistan (again). We have trained for the last two years for this mission and we are ready. By the time you read this we will be leaving the United States. The deployment may last any where from 9 months up to 18 months. Our soldiers are from all over the state, and we are a diverse bunch. Most of us will be in a construction type role. (Sorry, we all can't be Special Forces and do the "cool" dangerous missions) never the less, we have a job to do that helps others out in the grand scheme of things. I am a Staff Sargent. I have 10 soldiers that I work with. We are your brothers, sister, cousins, Uncles, Aunts, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, co-workers, and friends. We went to your church, we went to the malls, ate at restaurants, listened to the radio. We are just like you, except we serve the people of the United States in a uniform in the Kentucky Army National Guard. From time to time I will check in and let you know how we are doing and you can share our journey. We love what we do, or we wouldn't do it. We miss our families, and can't wait to get started so we can get back home. So, think about us from time to time. We are thousands of miles from home and we miss you all ready. Well, I'm signing off, and I will "swing" by from time to time.

Hope you have a great day,

Tripod Troy - aka: The Rock and Roll soldier signing off.