Afghanistan

In August, A returned home from serving over seas in Afghanistan! After spending nearly 5 months in the scorching Helmand province, our family couldn't be happier to  have him home early. Here's a little photo recap of A's Middle East adventure. Leaving from March Air Force Base, here's his group embarking on their 16-hour flight over the North Pole.

They landed at the military transient center in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, a friendly country north of Afghanistan.

The cozy quarters.

A and Ben, a fellow Marine bandsmen.

After a few days of prep and acclimating to the new time zone (nearly half a day ahead from California!), they took a 2-hour trip on a C17 to Camp Leatherneck, base to over 10,000 military member from all branches and several countries.

Getting his gear and weapons at Leatherneck.

 

It's a huge base!

From there, A and his buddy caught a helicopter to Camp Dwyer where they individually augmented a unit already out there.

With the obligatory deployment mustache, of course.

Group shot of his BOS-I unit at Dwyer.

Marines never stop working out.

Nothing like riding on a bus with smelly Marines and Afghani locals.

 

A monstrous sand storm heading toward the base. Better take cover!

And then there was an accidental fire on base. A was tasked with collecting evidence for the investigation.

Keeping a good attitude despite the stressful 12-hour work days.

And after long yet busy summer, we were so happy when A returned home to us! Z couldn't believe she finally got her Daddy back.

Thank you for your service and sacrifice! We love you!