We had an orange alert last night, not sure why (means you have to have your flak vest and kevlar on or near you at all times). The did have a rocket attack on our compound that injured one of our contractors a couple of days before I arrived, but there was no serious damage. The rocket ended up being a dud. About half of the time the warheads never expload. My contract is for a year, but I may stay for two depending on how the first year goes (want to pay off my house). Replacement parts and supplies are always in high demand since it takes so long for stuff to arrive once it's ordered. I can say that 12hr. days working in the hot sun do take a lot out of you. I'm normally a night owl and I'm in bed every night by 10pm here. The sand is like baby powder, I haven't seen a single tree, and they have most areas covered in golf ball or larger gravel to keep the dust down. Wearing boots are a must to support your ankles and to keep the sharp gravel from digging into your insoles. Everything is covered in dust even indoors. The living conditions aren't bad (for me). I have my own CHU (containerized housing unit) at the moment, but that is going to change here shortly when they send me out to one of the smaller FOBs (forward operations base). There I will staying in a partitioned tent until they get more CHUs built. Tents, buildings, and CHUs are air conditioned. They say the attrition rate is almost 60% for folks going home on their first R&R (rest & relaxation). They just never come back. Overall, it's nothing unbearable IMHO (even the smell of the open sewage treatment pits) and the pay is good, but I am working hard for every penny of it. While I'm here the wife is in the process of moving us down to Texas (Austin). Once I get back to the states I'll definately have to make it a point to get to one of the battles on the east coast. I think I can justify that to the wife after spending my time here. :)
Derek T065 SV016 KV-2 in progress On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 7:52 AM, Mark_123522 <[email protected]>wrote: > Derek: > You made it over there! > Hope you are being carefull. > I was hoping to run into you at one of these tank battles, but that > will have to wait till you get back - I wanna shoot at your PVC > tank!. > How long is your deployment? > Do you find that you have everything (tools, replacement parts, and > stuff) you need? > > Mark > > On May 1, 10:03 pm, Derek Engelhaupt <[email protected]> wrote: > > Darn corporate filters....they blocked Photobucket here in Kandahar. > > > > Derek > > T065 > > SV016 > > KV-2 in progress > > > > On Sun, May 2, 2010 at 6:50 AM, Mark_123522 < > [email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > All: > > > > > Check out the pictures of my Turret rotation setup. > > > 24 volt gear motor. > > > Home made pulleys. > > > Home made motor mount. > > > I have a variable speed controler to run the motor. > > > > > The drive belt is 3/8 inch, round polyeurothane - you can heat weld it > > > to custom lengths. > > > I had to add the two rollers because the belt tension caused the > > > turntable bearing to bind up. > > > Now, It runs smooth and steady. > > > > >http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z65/mm123521/HPIM0880.jpg > > >http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z65/mm123521/HPIM0881.jpg > > >http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z65/mm123521/HPIM0882.jpg > > > > > Mark > > > > > -- > > > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > > > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > > > To unsubscribe, send email to > [email protected] > > > Visit the group athttp://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat > > > > -- > > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > > Visit the group athttp://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat- Hide > quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > -- > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat > -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
