A Quick Update

Sorry for the lack of activity on the blog. David is so busy these days that he has not had time to post anything. If you have been watching the news, you probably know that there is a lot going on in his neck of the woods. He does have personal internet access now at his new location - from his laptop in his room. But, he only goes back to his room to sleep for a few hours every once in a while from what I understand! And, he is currently out "running errands" as he puts it. So, we haven't heard from him lately, and I'm not sure when that will end. As you can imagine, I don't like it when he is out running errands! Please say a special prayer for him and his unit right now.

Last week was a very hard and sad week for David. Our unit lost 1LT Nick Dewhirst, who was a member of the "XO Squad" that David proudly wrote about below. Nick was the D Company XO. As Battalion XO, David worked very closely with him for the past year. David described Nick as an outstanding officer and a superb person. He was killed in action when his vehicle was ambushed with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Nick was a mere 25 years old. Please keep his parents, other family, and friends in your prayers. The link on the sidebar will take you to a listing of all fallen heroes from the 101st Airborne Division. There is probably more David would like to say, and I hope he will get the chance to soon.

Another link that might be of interest is http://www.506infantry.org/. It is the web site of the 506th Infantry Association, and it has links to numerous articles about our unit and their deployment to Afghanistan. To get to the articles, click on "506th today" in the sidebar. When you get to that page, click on "2nd Battalion" and then on "articles." It is a great source for news from our guys.

Price, Harper and I have been trying to keep busy. We made a short weekend trip to St. Louis to visit a law school friend of mine and her family. Thank you to the Baloghs for hosting us and showing us a great time! We are currently in the D.C. area visiting family on both sides. More about that when we get home!

The video clip below is just of Harper walking around so that David could see. So, will be boring to most everyone else! And, I took it with my still camera and held the camera up length-wise. Then, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it. So, it is a good thing David will be watching it on a laptop and can just turn it sideways!! It takes a while to upload video here, so I gave up and put the others I had on YouTube . . .

P.S. The date above is misleading as it is now July 28th! I first uploaded the video on the 22nd, but didn't get around to adding any text until today. Don't know how to change the date!

Arrival at Orgun-E

Posting from Dave: David doesn't have personal internet access right now, so he sent this to me via his AKO account. Hopefully, he will be able to get internet service in the near future. I've learned that soldiers can be very resourceful - some of them have purchased satellites and are charging others to hook up to them. David is working on getting one of the soldiers to run internet to his room. But, for now, this will have to do -

After a 30 plus day and 400km journey from Kandahar Airfield in Southern Afghanistan via Bagram Airfield, my Company XOs, Supply Sergeants and I finally arrived at FOB Orgun-E! On our final leg, my logistics party traveled three and a half hours via CH-47 aircraft to Eastern Afghanistan and landed on 6 July at Dennis Airfield. FOB Orgun-E is located in the Paktika province of RC-E and is settled at about 8000 feet elevation. The weather is a relief with almost a 20 degree cooler variant from life at Kandahar. The FOB itself is a transformed Russian airbase from the Afghanistan-Soviet War. Though rustic in nature, the quality of life is very acceptable for this region of the country. We are fitted with a more than acceptable DFAC managed by our internal cooks. There is a small shopping village with stores and a café. The physical fitness center has all the amenities necessary to retain the proper conditioning for our operating environment. And of course a small post office, MWR facility, and radio station. The biggest culture shock, however, is the amount of local national employees that work on the FOB as either laborers, store owners, or interpreters.
As we transition with our counterparts and meet the local leadership, TF White Currahee will enter a very volatile combat environment with high expectations to further promote and provide security, governance, and development among the populous of Paktika.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very independent Independence Day - just went to the playground and hung out around the house. In fact, we have spent the month of June just doing your typical summertime "stuff" - going to the pool, the movies, and playing outside. Here are a few pictures . . .

Price "graduated" from his swimming lessons yesterday. Below is a proud Price with his best picture "smile" and holding his certificate. When I asked him what his favorite part about swim lessons was, he said "the teachers." I think that is because they let him pass even though the hair on the top of his head didn't even get wet when he went under water. Who knew you could technically go under water with the water just barely getting over your eyes for a split second! (We still have lots of work to do at the pool!) We celebrated afterward with ice cream. Price found it easier to just drink his . . .

Harper loves hanging out at the pool, too, but still doesn't like hats!

One night, Price wanted to sleep in one of Daddy's t-shirts. He thought it was hysterical that it was so big on him!

We finally got Addy to lay down for one of the pictures we took today, even though she didn't get anywhere close to the boys . . .

XO Squad

During my tenure as Battalion Executive Officer for TF White Currahee, I've had the honor to work with some of the most passionate and patriotic Soldiers and Officers. My team of Company XO's - affectionately known as the "XO Squad" - resemble what's great about junior leadership in the military. I've watched these outstanding men grow and develop as both Officers and Leaders over the past year as logistic coordinators, operational synch's, and 2IC's. CPT Andrew Kemp (current TF S4) and 1LT Jon Rascher (HHC/2-506 IN), 1LT Dan Huff (A/2-506 IN), 1LT Abe Rush (B/2-506 IN), 1LT Frank Gonzalez (C/2-506 IN), 1LT Nick Dewhirst (D/2-506 IN), and 1LT John Taylor (FSC/2-506 IN) are the bedrock and critical C2 nodes that allow TF 2-506 IN to execute day to day operations. These men could be counted on numerous times to execute independent, decentralized operations in a very complex, challenging, and non-contiguous operational environment...and at the end of the day there were always smiles and sometimes witty humor as the mission and focus changed. It has been my privilege to mentor, develop, and work with such fine examples of American patriots. We continue to stand united as a Band of Brothers within the Currahee legacy.


MAJ Dave Foley
Outgoing XO, 2-506 IN
White Currahee