A Note From Overseas

As many of you know Get Fit NH Bootcamp is proud to have some of our country’s finest train with us. Some of those in the military have just departed for a tour overseas. Michael from the 5 am Epsom class is one of those. He recently wrote to his class, and allowed us to reprint it here. His humor is contagious. His perspective priceless.

Thank-you Mike, for your service to our country!

“Hello All,

Just wanted to let you know that I arrived safe and sound in Kandahar on Oct 1, 2010 hit the ground running and haven’t stopped yet.

We took the scenic route through Shannon Ireland, Bucharest Romania, Kyrgyzstan and on to the rugged moonscape of Afghanistan.
From Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan I got to experience the joy of flight in full “Battle Rattle” (helmet, body armor and weapon) wedged into a seat on a C-17 unable to move anything for two hours. Then when the airfield was in sight we did a combat landing into the airfield (think of jumping from a burning skyscraper, same heat no flames) and an engine running offload into the blazing hot sun. It make the most extreme “Fun Friday” pale in comparison.

I am the oldest guy here and many of my troops want to know what it was like when this place was green. I like to show them the picture I carved in granite and captioned in Hieroglyphics. Their awe is like a living thing.

I’ve started calling this the geezers save the world tour. I hope it catches on the royalties would be nice.

I’m able to keep up with the younger guys here and even won a pushup contest and no one can beat me arm wrestling. I am in good shape and continuing to workout it is kinda quiet however…

My goal for joining “boot camp” was to be able to run when someone said “RUN” but when I got here I found a different scenario when the “big voice” wails we have to hit the floor wait 2 min and get to our positions, Very little running. We do walk everywhere though.

If we find in the future that dust is the key component of either a cure for cancer, time travel or anti-gravity coating then no nation on earth will be able to compete with this one.

I am the Passenger Terminal  Manager here and I work from 0000 hrs to 1200 hrs working to fulfill the traveling GI’s every need (except food, water, comfort, compassion, empathy, sympathy, etc…)

Did I mention I can get them all the dust they need?

I’ve seen the aircraft systems that I’ve worked on, on a lot of aircraft and discussions with aircrews is unanimously positive. It’s very gratifying to be on both sides of this equation.

It is a grand adventure, the locals provide fireworks for us that are breathtaking to behold, they even serenade us 6 times a day from the minaret outside my quarters.

I live in a thing that has been nicknamed a “can”  it is a living space made out of a sea/land container and that has all of the comforts of solitary confinement except that I have a roommate. It has the feel of a walk-in freezer.

The base is a shared command with the Canadians currently in charge (go figure eh!), They are complete tools and are making the best out of being on top for once, makes for some wildly entertaining episodes.

I have taken to singing the national anthems for various international soldiers that are traveling through my terminal. And have been serenaded in turn with our anthem sung in just about every language you can imagine, aboriginal dialect and tagalong from the Philippines.

Did I Mention the dust? The entire country is made out of dust the consistency of drywall sanding residue, grey in color, the whole place looks like the rest of the world has been emptying their vacuum cleaner bags here. There is NO vegetation, yet somehow they manage to grow 90% of the worlds opium. There is plenty of suck here to pass around and I am very glad we got a hold of our government and avoided this mess, it’s much better to have it here.

They even have Navy groups here whoda thunk it, I wonder how they got those big boats here?

If anyone is foolish enough to visit  I will save them a warm bottle of water and we will toast porcelain toilets and privacy, however that sounds like something that could be done at home also.

I miss Laurie, Kate, and you guys, it is good to do this on so many levels and it sharpens the realization of just how good my life really is. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

On a lesser level I also miss water in the toilet, clean sheets, empty hands, sleeves that you can roll up, shirts you can take off, colors other than tan or grey, food you choose, food you cook, food you can eat, an office that is not under the stairs and that I can stand up in, not having to tell travelers that the fragmentation grenades they have in their hand carry bags cannot go through the x-ray machine and no I don’t care if you do it all the time. No we don’t run the dogs through the x-ray even though we do send them as baggage. The list goes on and on.

It is a very weird feeling to take firearms of all types from passengers, send them through the X-ray, seeing the images on the screen and then returning them to the people at the other end.

I even got a “man kiss” (kind of a french two cheek thing) from a Jordanian Army officer who felt I was very helpful to him and his crew, his culture.

I was awarded the call sign of “professor” By a 2 star general as he transited through for those who don’t get it its a good thing.
I was coined by a one star for outstanding accomplishment, again a good thing.

All in all a unique experience. If you are interested I’ll send pictures (as soon as I lose 10 lbs, lost 6 in just the first week)”

Michael (5AM Gang in Epsom)