Overdue Photo

Okay, so I promised my mom I'd upload a picture I took of me when I had all my gear on during the night I was assigned to tower duty.

Well here it is!

Now let me give you a run down of what all I'm wearing. On top of my head attached to my helmet are the night vision goggles they gave me. They make the world very green, but it lets me see at night just like it was day. A strange, green day, but still I can see so that's all that matters. They also do some other neat stuff I can't talk about, good thing they gave me extra batteries.

I have my mandatory eye protection on, because I can't get away with not wearing them try as I might. Then, obviously, I have my body armor on. It's what all that other stuff is attached to. That "other stuff" is my magazine rack, which sits over my stomach, it's the vertical rectangle looking things. I have six magazines of ammo plus one more in my weapon for a total of seven. Then, to the side of the magazine rack I have a smoke grenade pouch which the penguin is riding around in. I have my first aid pouch, its the pouch with the tiny bit of red showing on the clasp.

I have my weapon, pretty self explanatory. Also you'll notice that my cargo pocket seems a little bulky. Well, gotta have snacks up in a tower, right? I took the picture at the end of my shift, which explains the daylight and the smile.

Here are two other pictures I took when I managed to get outside the wire.

This was on the way to the range, when we were stuck in a traffic gridlock in the nearby town. I was looking over the side of the road into a low area where locals had built up their housing. A group was standing out there looking at us (looking at me) so I took a picture.


The next one is at the firing range. A crowd of Afghani children and teenagers gathered when they had heard we were out there. They come to collect the brass from the ammunition that we shoot. I'm pretty sure they sell it for the value of the metal to someone somewhere. Our security element had to keep them at a distance while we were shooting, otherwise they would have run up between the trucks while we were shooting to grab the brass.

Yes, I know its out of focus.

About the "Then and Now" - I look very strange with hair.

Lauren - Nice hat :)