Jan 22 2012
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Monday Update

All Business, All The Time

A while back, a group of us were checking into a hotel, for training in Tifton, Ga. When the receptionist saw our military ID cards she said, “I heard that you guys are not allowed to smile in your ID card photos.” Uh…I guess thats true…I heard it in Dear John or something, but to set the record straight, we are most definitely allowed to smile in our ID card pictures.

However, as I told the receptionist, we tell our friends, family, and especially girlfriends these kind of exaggerations so that we seem more hardcore. Don’t get me wrong, the army is ‘all business, all the time’ and every single day overseas is just like Black Hawk Down, but it dosen’t hurt to add to the ‘tough-guy’ stereotype. For example have you ever heard, ‘The military does more before 9AM before most people do all day’.  Thats funny, because today when I got out of bed at 8:17 I was hard pressed to accomplish a whole days worth of work in the next 43 minutes.

Anyways, we are continuing to train on a variety of skills including chemical warfare, urban operations, marksmanship, and how to take down a terror cell armed only with paintballs and goats [see pictures below] But amidst the typical shoot/move/communicate types of soldier tasks we have  also learned a few unconventional lessons as well:

  • We may have to work past 1830
  • Its really not the best idea to cut your own hair *
  • A battle hardened soldier can turn into a fullblown diva if not fed on-time.**
  • If you are right handed its best to sneeze into the crook of your left arm, or vice-versa if you are left handed [No bull, this was explained to us in formation complete with demonstration, and sound effects] ***
  • Finally, and most importantly, If you look through a scope and clearly see your target, there may still be a sandbag in front of the barrel of your gun! This happened…

* Holman, this could mean anybody…

** Neal I am talking about Langston, Langston I am taking about Neal

*** If this blog ceases to exist, its because said sneeze instructor [who has a LOT of rank] killed me

Jan 16 2012
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Monday Update

I have a dream

I have a dream that one day Afghanistan will be free. That my good friends pictured here will be free from oppression and tyranny, free from ethnic strife, free from religious fanaticism that teaches that man must serve and worship God through violence towards other men. I have a dream that a nation weary of war will find rest. In the words of the prophet Isaiah and the ‘tagline’ of this blog…I dream that the Afghan people “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” I have a dream that the Georgia Agribusiness Development Team II can be a small piece of that puzzle.

– Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 ~ April 4, 1968) –

But dreamtime is over at zero-five-thirty you jack-wagon, training continues. Our time here has been of blur of early mornings (who knew 5:30 came twice a day), training, working out, and days spent at the gear store devising the imminent squander our first paychecks. I may and or may not have a new rule created because of something that I did involving horseplay and hand grenades…but more to follow on that later. NOTE: ‘Joe’ is the name given to any and all enlisted soldiers, and our collective genius. Por Ejemplo: “Leave it to Joe to get a HMMWV stuck in the mud less than five minutes after being specifically told not get the HMMWV stuck in the mud”   Below is a short wordcloud of what “Joe” has been talking about these past few weeks.

In other news 355 of you viewed my blog last week after the first post of the deployment [This had nothing to do with the fact that I posted it to Facebook at 4 PM the afternoon of Georgia Tech's first day of school] and since my blog has been put out to the family readiness group more than 500 of you have viewed brenthitchcock.com this week. Its your readership and support that I depend on to make this blog a worthwhile effort, and to get all of us through the deployment…Thanks

Jan 09 2012
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Flat Stanley, Monday Update

So it begins…

This past week the 265th Agribusiness Development Team II  reported to Ft. Stewart to begin preparations for the upcoming deployment. We will be training in various locations in the US until we deploy sometime in March. The first morning kicked off with a 2 mile run at 0530 in the morning, suddenly I regret the 2nd and 3rd holiday desserts and a few late night trips to WaHo during the break.

For this next year I will be doing weekly blog posts on Monday, a series of humorous posts; the first being “Soldiers: Mythbusted” [more to follow on that], and Flat Stanley photos for several of the elementary schools that I correspond with. During this time, I would love for you to subscribe, comment, and share the blog so that I can interact with my community of friends and family.

Many of you guys who enjoyed the blog last deployment have informed me that we need more pictures… more pictures it is then. For graduation I received the “Bat Camera” to match my “Bat Phone”, so I am excited to put it to good use. On the cover of my camera it says Adventure Proof, and I have to laugh as I think, ‘we’ll see about that’. Anyway, here is the first round of pictures from a ruck march earlier this week.

Its going to be a good year, and I am excited to write about it! Remember to + Follow so you won’t miss out on the ‘adventure proof’ shenanigans.

Dec 25 2011
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Greetings, Religion

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all from brenthitchcock.com

Enjoy one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time:

“O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel…”

Dec 19 2011
1 Comment
Afghanistan, Linguistics

Nasta’liq (نستعلیق)

Nasta’liq (نستعلیق): one of the primary styles of Calligraphy used for writing Farsi/Dari. In Persian culture Nasta’liq is considered an art form, and is considered to be one of the most eye-catching representations of Persian culture.

This year at Tech, I took a Persian 101 class, which was a great time to practice and improve on my Farsi language skills. For the conclusion of our semester, I wrote a thank you letter to our professor, Dr. Mesbah, from the class. [See Below].  As I am preparing to return to Afghanistan, these types of cultural/linguistic arts will aide me in building relationships with the Afghans that I will be working with.

Translation

Dr. Mesbah, Thank You Very Much For Your Efforts This Semester. We  {Your Class} Enjoyed Your Class. We Learned Many Different Things. Thanks For All Your Troubles (Farsi Class Fall 2011)

* The border is a traditional Tazhib border printed to cardstock

** For those interested, more examples of Nasta’liq can be found here

Nov 28 2011
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Afghanistan, Agriculture, Video

Guardsmen deployed to Afghanistan on special mission

A team of Georgia National Guardsmen will soon deploy to Afghanistan on a special mission to revitalize the country’s agriculture industry.

Video Here: Guardsmen deployed to Afghanistan on special mission.

Nov 14 2011
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Admin

Furbishment

Its a new day here at brenthitchcock.wordpress.com!  I am getting ready to head back to Afghanistan, and I am STOKED to be writing the blog again. I have some exciting things in store for this next year, and already have several guys onboard to contribute humorous stories to the blog. Also, the blog will be migrating to brenthitchock.com! In the meantime, the site will be under construction, so bear with me as I connect the internet up in the correct series of tubes.

In keeping with Things I Am No Longer Allowed To Do:

  • We now have to have formations 4 times a day at drill because, I allegedly may and or may not have taken a nap on an air mattress in the shower
  • Sgt Taylor and Sgt Hitchcock are not to talk to the press at any point during Agriculture Training this week (this includes photobombs)
Feb 05 2010
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Uncategorized

The Taliban

Recently I had a conversation with an Afghan doctor, Dr. Amman*, who works in a hospital helping Coalition** forces. He told me a story that clarified the evil that we are fighting against. I won’t conclude this by throwing in my two cents on the war, but this is something to think about:

Dr. Amman said that in his village near the Pakistan border there was no reliable source to get fresh milk unless you owned a milk giving animal (goat or cow). He had steady income from his work in the Coalition hospital, and he wanted to be able to provide milk for his newborn baby and his young son. Amman decided to walk through the mountains into Pakistan to buy a goat from the local herders. A friend told Dr. Amman that he would guide him to where he knew herders were grazing the flocks. Several hours into the trip the friend suddenly left Dr. Amman, who was immediately captured by the Taliban. Because Dr. Amman worked to help the Coalition forces, he was sold out by the ‘friend’ for a cash payout from the Taliban.

The Taliban members took Dr. Amman to their hideout where they began to torture him and ask why he was supporting coalition forces. They made him stand bent over and beat his face and back with ‘billy club’ type sticks as they questioned him(As he was telling me this story, he was unable to stand or sit up straight because of his back problems). Throughout the torture Dr. Amman told the truth that he did work at the Coalition hospital. After the torture the Taliban asked him if he would like to carry out a suicide attack against the Americans, he said no, on account of having a newborn and a young boy. Eventually after convincing the Taliban that he was a devout Muslim, they released him. Dr. Amman and his family fled their village and now reside in vicinity of Kabul where he continues to support NATO/Coalition hospitals.

*Name changed to protect his safety
** Coalition Forces – The combined US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, also known as ISAF

Jan 28 2010
2 Comments
Uncategorized

So Its Been a Minute,

But I’m back…so let me fill you in on what you missed:

I was able to trick the Army into letting me take leave, and I got to be home for a few days with family and friends. Due to the nature of my leave I wasn’t able to publish that information on my blog or facebook. For those who I got to see, I would like to say that I would have loved to spend more time with you. For those who I didn’t get to see I would like to say, it was on purpose. JK

Update on my friend who wanted a Peno for Krims, she wrote on my wall asking:

“hey Brent i will write you more letters. wlll you find me a peno. love logan”

Also see, below an excerpt from her recent spelling test.


Example: All I got for Krims was this lousy Peno, but Santa brought lots of stuff for my shitter.

I am now the proud owner of a 1999 White Ford Explorer. Winters had gotten tough on the Motorcycle (still keeping Ole’ Red however), and I think I damaged the nerves in my hands from riding in the cold, so I decided to upgrade to something with doors, and a roof. Thanks to my dad for helping me find a good deal

I jumped back into the swing of things training the Afghan soldiers. I was concerned that I would be rusty speaking Farsi, but if anything I have improved. It was good to take a break and absorb all the words that I have learned.

That’s all for now, but I AM BACK! And I have several exciting stories coming soon.

Dec 25 2009
6 Comments
Uncategorized

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from those of us here at brenthitchcock.wordpress!  On behalf of our staff and families we would like to wish you and yours a Holly Jolly. Christ was God, and man, and came to fix what was irreparably broken. Never forget it, never deny it, and most of all never gloss it over with phrases like “x-mas, Happy Holidays, or Holly Jolly”

Here in Afghanistan we get a lot of letters from people/groups back home wishing us a Merry Christmas. Being the sensitive dudes that we are, we usually sit down and read them out loud and then we all have a good cry. Or something like that…Anyway in the Christmas spirit I have decided to share two letters from kids that have made the ‘greatest hits’ of things received from home.

Click for a larger image

Merry Christmas…

Brent

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