Hello everyone,

I hope this finds those on the East Coast with power and without water in their basements. What a year you are having with weather. It has been a long time since my last email and I apologize for the delay. February ended at a full sprint making way for March to roll in more like a lamb than a lion. Here is a little recap.

A few members of the B-team were tasked to support one of the A-teams missions which was a wonderful change of pace. It is always nice to step away from the logistics aspect and step back into the suit of armor as the warriors we are trained to be. We were assigned as drivers for an extensive clearing operation in an enemy held village. The village was cut off from all aspects of coalition/government influence. Roads into town were mined and barricaded, elaborate early warning network in place and had the ability to call for reinforcements within 15 minutes. The Afghani Commandos were fantastic in their conduct of the operation. It was an eye opening experience for me, having always been a gunner or dismount in Iraq. I had driven with night vision goggles in years and to do it on a combat operation was a exciting. I managed to navigate the narrow roads without incident. As we rolled into town in the middle of the night the Taliban let us know we weren't welcome as their welcoming party opened up. Our gunners quickly gained fire superiority and we were off to the races. Once things settled down a bit I was tasked with playing traffic cop. There was only one road into/out of town so all the vehicles needed to be turned around for exfil. It was quite the circus trying to coach the commandos through 10 point turns and the like. I also gained a new appreciation for the Air Force on that operation. There is nothing like a F-15 screaming across the sky at 200 feet dropping flares to keep the enemy which was surrounding us at bay. All in all a very nice change of pace.

A few days later, the B-team was back in action helping to support a VMOP (Village Medical Outreach Program) with another ODA. We escorted a large contingent of US female medical providers down to the location and provided security while they did their work. The actual medical portion ran for 8 hours, but all things added up (set up, take down, recovery) was about 14 hours. In those 8 hours the medical team treated over 300 women and children and issued out medicine and humanitarian aid. The madness of war was again manifest that night. Just as we were sitting down to a celebratory dinner the entire atmosphere changed in a split second when we learned another ODA was in a serious firefight and had US casualties. Much like a fire house when the alarm sounds, plates were tossed and we sprang into action. Trucks were moved into position, bullets, food, water, medical supplies, radios, batteries loaded in excess. We changed from aid giver to warrior once again. In less than an hour we were rolling to our brothers aid with 17 SF soldiers in 4 heavily laden gun trucks with a couple dozen ANA troops. Hours later we rolled into the aftermath of a well orchastrated Taliban ambush. We moved into blocking positions to provide security for the clean up and aid in the evacuation of personnel. Once again the ever present fighter jet kept the enemy at bay, that and a few hundred ANA and ANP troops. 2 of our brothers have returned to duty, the other 2 have been evacuated to the United States for further medical care. That night was another brutal reminder to not under estimate our foes and to stay up on your game. I also saw the complexities of warfare in the 21st century. With the invent of force tracking software, UAV's, and satellite communication micro-managing is an ever present reality. I can't imagine what it must have been like in WWII or even Vietnam, to be given a mission and sent out to accomplish it. Succeed or fail, you weren't being pestered from above as to the status of your fuel, or the whereabouts of certain items.

Those are the exciting highlights of the last month or so. Intermixed in there were a few resupply convoys. So many in fact that we have dubbed ourselves, AOB-1310 Long Haul Truckers. On that note, a slight change in my mailing address. It should read as follows now:

Christopher Petrillo
IC MARMAL
FB MES (AOB-1310)
APO-AE 09354

It took over a month for some mail and packages to make it here, but I appreciate each and every one of them. I've received mail from school children and cub scouts, family and friends. I will try to send out personallized thank you's soon. Please know your support on the home front is greatly appreciated not only by myself but the guys I share the care packages with as well. I would also like to thank you again for whatever part or role you've played in my life. Skills I've learned along the way be it from Scouts, the playing field, boat yards, church or else where have all enabled me to deal with the day to day events while deployed. Can't thank you enough.

The first photo is of a little Afghan boy outside his family's store. I manage to capture that photo while hanging off the back of our gun truck on one of our logistic runs. Definately one of my favorite thus far. The second photo is of me trying to be a National Geographic photographer. The third photo is of two Afghani shepard boys. They wouldn't smile for me. I danced, I joked, I made faces and that's what they gave me. Finally is a shot of the mountains looming over our camp walls during one of our snow storms. I love having the mountains in the distance.

Hope this finds everyone well and safe from mother nature. Sorry it is so long, lots to cram into an update. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

- Chris

P.S.- Currently taking delivery of 3'x5' Nylon American flags for display over our camp. Will return with certificate. Thanks.