Mission cancelled...or is it?

Well, as you can tell from the headline, the army is still the army. The mission was cancelled, or it might still happen. It was cancelled when the pilots of the helicopters said they couldn't find a safe place to land and drop us off. (Of course, Spc. Presnell thinks that the pilots didn't want to miss an episode of the Office in their comfy rooms back on some base) Too bad, because we were really looking forward to the "air assault" helicopter insertion. I mean, how many people can say they air assaulted into an objective in the mountains of Afghanistan? They might still do it though, as they have someone trying to find an alternate landing zone that would allow us to get off the helicopter safely. We'll have to hope. I should mention that I now have a second team mate. He is a really good guy from the Navy. He was stationed at Hawaii and when they asked for volunteers to go to wartorn Afghanistan he jumped at the chance. He is loving every minute of it, and keeps a very positive attitude, even when carrying the heaviest bag. We both loved the mission we were out on, while Spc. Presnell hated it. He wasn't physically ready for the walk, and the weight, altitude and lack of physical preparation really did him in. He also lost his NVG's (night vision goggles) and that took several hours to find, and everyone was quite upset with him for losing them. From there he just didn't enjoy himself. (that and the fact that we ran out of water) The current rumor is that if this mission gets cancelled we will be heading back to FOB Tillman for a few days to "rest and refit". (These are technical military terms, and the definitions are complex, but the short answer is that it means we get to take a break and do some laundry). From there I think we will head out to the SPERA COP and replace Mr. Baird's half of our team. They will return to Tillman for a few days to rest and refit, then they will come out here to Zerok. Personally, I would rather stay here, but that's just me (we have internet access here). We'll see what happens. For those who follow golf, I was happy to see that Tiger won on the 91st hole of the U.S. Open. Man I wish I could have watched it with a cold Mountain Dew and Melanie, Tommy, Dasha and Justin cheering him on. The things we sacrifice! I'm sure I could go on forever, but I had better get back to work. We have been quite busy for the past few days, and are continuing to have success in our job. The battalion commander of this area was with us the last few days, and he was very appreciative of the work that my team was doing. It is always good to know that you're appreciated and to get positive feed back on the results. It is getting pretty late here, and I only have a few minutes left. Thanks to those people who sent packages! (I know that some of them are still on the way) Someone stole (they were in a communal area and the person thought they were up for grabs) my chocolate twizzlers that Mom sent, but I had eaten half the bag first, at least. Other than that life is very good.