An overdue message!

Hello from Afghanistan!

I do not have a lot of new information to report since I last blogged but there are a few noteworthy pieces to share with you. To begin with the last part of our troop has arrived in FOB Wilson. It is a great feeling to finally have all the members of your team with you. Even if they look as awkward as a new born calf.

The "newbies" walk around our position with an eager drive to work and confirm their commitment to the mission but the unknown weighs upon them and shows through the weary look upon their faces. They crane their necks to look at all which is alien. They jump and exchange glances at the noises that with time will fade into the background. By no means am I mocking my fellow soldiers. I am quick to point out their appearance to them as often as possible in jest. Trust me when I say that I only write this with the knowledge that I too, three weeks ago, shared this exact same posture and appearance. Despite my best efforts to walk around KAF showing my best "war face", with the hopes to hide my own incredulous stares, I surely looked as green as a spring pasture. Thankfully the dust takes the "new" off your boots and the heat on your back initiates everyone within a few short days. All too soon they look like the hardened soldiers they wish to be. 

I do feel that it would do justice to describe my gun troop. They are to be the closest thing to family that I will have for the next six months. My troop is as diverse as Canada is vast. This is not an overstatement by any means with the members holding roots from Newfoundland across to Vancouver Island. With the exception of NB and PEI, every province can claim at least one troop to their own. We speak French, English, and one young man is one hundred percent fluent in sign language.  We come from a variety of back grounds and all bring a unique story to our fold. Our ages range from 19 to 44 with the greatest number of troops being under 25. We have an All Canadian university wrestler, a former competitive gymnast, and a goalie whom played Junior hockey in Ontario. Some read, others play video games, cards are popular, but we all work out. There are Roughrider fans, Maple leaf fans, Canadian's fans, Bluejay fans, Flames fans, and some do not have any interest in sports. Many are married, some are in relationships, and a few are habitually single. This is my team and I am proud to say that it is the most complete team I have ever been apart of. After playing hockey and other school sports my entire life this is saying quite a lot. This camaraderie, based upon so much more than simply trying to collectively win a competition, I do believe you can only find in the Army. 

The second piece of news I wish to talk about is the weather. It has been very similar to that back in Saskatchewan: erratic! Now before anybody misconstrues what I am saying, I do not mean that there were flurries one day and scorching heat the next. What I mean is that the first ten days that I was in the country there was only one mode of weather; heat during the day (30 - 35 degrees) and cool at night ( 15 degrees). Now in the last few week there has been a greater variation of weather and temperatures. Some mornings have been as cool as 7 degrees and some days have only reached a high of 20 degrees. Today was marked by 30 degrees in the morning and then cooling to 20 degrees in the afternoon with clouds scattered across the sky. I must say that clouds must be an oddity in this part of the world considering how rare they appear. Even when by chance they do appear they are mere wisps across the sky and never rolling. Now I admit this may not seem as noteworthy news but when the heat beats upon your back every day and the humidity hovers at an astounding low of 8%, every single bit of change is noticed. I suppose these are all signs of the anticipated rainy season that is approaching. How novel that notion is; in Southwest Saskatchewan we can be assured a cold season but can never rely upon a rainy season! 

Finally I will finish up this post by thanking everyone for the overwhelming support they have shown me and my blog. I got this idea from a friend of mine whom wrote about her tour in the summer of 08. I hung to her every word and felt it would be a good way for those that wish to follow my adventure as I did hers.  It is truly an interesting place and I am fortunate to be able to view it from the unique vantage point of a soldier. 

I wish you all the best. 

Bdr. Fossum

** I wrote this quite some time ago but when the forces suffers casualties we are placed in a communications lock down in order to ensure that the next of kin are the first to find out about the unfortunate event. I will talk about these more in my next post.**