Kicking off the Op...

Reaching back now to tell the tale of one's experiences through a big ol' operation will take some time, so here's one installment, dating back to the first half of April, before leaving the JAF.

Your journey begins at the airfields of eastern Afghanistan's forward bases, where helicopters fuel up and go through exhaustive maintenance...

And lucky Marines, soldiers and Afghans get to practice such things as lining up for imaginary helicopters, over and over again...

Op prep may entail leaders answering questions on camera for future TV use, if someone is willing to work the often-painful logistics of bringing coverage to a place like this. That's Pierre the cameraman and Greg the reporter, interviewing the boss...

Pierre Z-ski, the only Franco-Polish gypsy from Dublin I've ever met, leaves the lads of Alpha Company an Irish blessing after on their flag after interviewing a few during gear inspections.

Finally, on the helo and on the way...to another staging area, at least. Still I was excited to get an aerial view of another new region for me, especially when the alternative is many hours in a humvee...

Lush river valleys provided the backdrop on this transit, as the air got a little cooler and the mountains greener toward another "bad" (A-bad, as in Asadabad).

Some quick time with the Marines for the news crew before the night air assault would go. Unfortunately, the camera wasn't handy when I volunteered to be stuck with an IV in some final first aid prep, because the laughs of "We got a bleeder!" went up when my active blood flow put on a show. It made me proud to start off an op with blood already all over my cammies, at least...