It's official. I've been gifted an all-expenses paid summer, fall, and winter vacation to the desert lands of Afghanistan, courtesy of the US Air Force. They may even throw in some combat pay and free gear. Who's the winner now!
I will be assigned to the 577th EPBS, Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron, stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan, about 30 mi north of Kabul. Our primary mission is to provide engineering and light construction support to the Army and Marine outposts in our region. There will be about 100 people in my squadron, and we'll be gone for a 179 day deployment.
We'll be first heading at the end of July to Ft Bliss for Arrrrrmy training. Combat Skills Training (CST), which will train our squadron how to defend ourselves and hold our own while outside the wire. It's a thirty day course and we'll learn everything from convoy basics, close quarter combat, weapons training, medevac procedures, and cultural awareness and interaction training. We're considered JET airmen, which means its a Joint Expeditionary Tasking where we'll be embedded with the Army for part of the time, so we have to learn how to play like them. A little different from your typical Air Force deployment, but we'll likely learn and see alot more than your average airmen. Plus we get the opportunity to have a direct impact on the quality of life of our Army and Marine counterparts who are out there living in austere conditions, fighting the fight on a daily basis. Cool mission.
More to come later. Right now I'm in deployment "spin up" mode, trying to train and convince myself that I will be able to fully prepare myself to be an effective Air Force engineer down range in a few months. All while attempting to comprehend but not fully absorb the upcoming void of being apart from my husband, family, friends. Let the games begin!
