Movin' About The Battlefield

Last weekend I had to travel from Kabul to Bagram and around the AO.  Normally, I'm stuck on C-130s or C-17s where I'm not able to move around and look out windows.  This trip, I rode a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.  I haven't ridden one of these since I was in the Army in Grafenowehr, and we crashed into a stand of trees while attempting to lift an old amphibious Duck vehicle into the artillery impact area.  Needless to say, I wasn't too excited about this trip.  If nothing else, I really didn't want to leave "home" in Kabul to sleep on a cot in a B-Hut with fifteen of my closest friends (half of whom snored).

I boarded the CH-47 at Camp Phoenix and we flew around in the typical milk run the Army flies every day.  Our crew chief, pictured below, manned the .50 cal during the flight, but we generally don't get fired upon during these trips because the routes are changed every so often.

Afghanistan's terrain changes significantly by region.  Kabul is up in the northwest area of the country where we are surrounded by mountains, still mostly snow-capped from Winter's snowfall.  Down in Kandahar, it's a dusty and hot plain with lots of poppy fields.  And lots of action.  It's best for me to stay up north where troubles are mostly relegated to the occasional bomb or IED.