Yesterday, the Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence hosted Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security and Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John T. Morton to discuss "Combating Export Violations to Iran: The Role of ICE Homeland Security Investigations." This event was part of the Institute's ongoing lecture series with senior U.S. counterterrorism officials.

Mr. Morton's prepared remarks are available here. An audio link is available here.

It is hard to explain to someone that has never been here, so I will try to use an analogy that many can probably relate to. Have you ever had a bad experience with a food or drink? I mean a really bad one. For many, Tequila has a lasting negative affect on people. Many people I know or have met have a “Tequila” story where they probably got really drunk on tequila at least once and from that got really, really sick. And ever since that moment every time they smell Tequila it brings back a flood of memories, usually very bad ones. Sometimes it even illicits a physical response.

Well that is kind of what it’s like. The smells here are numerous and many unlike one like a liquor or food. Here it is the smell of the dust, the burning trash, the diesel exhaust, a local national that hasn’t bathed, the chow hall food, and many others.

I have been walking or driving through the base and having one of those scents hit me and I find myself instantly taken back to a time 4 years ago. I mean not scary like I forget where I am kind of flashback, but just instantly reminded with the images and thoughts of a time past. Actually I spend a lot of time in traffic here (more of that in a later blog post) and while listening to Radio AFN Afghanistan on 94.1 I think back to a lot of times, good and bad. I remember guys on my team and certain missions; I remember my terps, and even my ANA.

There is a lot about Bagram that has changed since I was here last, but the smells have remained the same. When I was here before I used to like to get up early, grab a cup of coffee and go outside when the sun was coming up. I did this a lot when I was in Orgun-E. The air always smelled cleaner then, and it always seemed less dusty. This morning I got up at 4:30 AM and walked outside to the sounds of jet fighters taking off. I didn’t have a cup of coffee, but the air seemed clean, the afterburner flames were awesome looking coming out of the back of the jets and the sun was just starting to lighten the sky.

I am not normally a morning person because I am usually up late at night, but the mornings here are worth getting up for, if you are in the right place. When I was in Sharana, I didn’t get up early a lot because really there was no reason to there. The air never smelled clean and since we were surrounded by HESCOs, you never really got to see the sun rise.

I notice that many of the soldiers and marines walking around in Kuwait seem to have “that look”. It is hard to describe, but it seems to be a cross between weariness and determination. Going to the latrine, walking to the PX or sitting the chow hall, you see it everywhere. You can see that a vast majority of the people here have a lot of time in a combat zone. I mean more than one tour. They have the look like this is #2, 3, or possibly 4 or more.
The young pups who may be heading over the first time have that eager “I can’t wait to get there” look. They have more of an excited with anticipation look. 

I could be wrong and this “look” could have been there for a while and maybe I just never noticed it when I was in uniform. Maybe I see it differently now that I am out of uniform. Maybe it is nothing new at all. But it sure seems that way to me. However I seemed to have noticed it enough that I wanted to write about it. It just seemed to stick out to me. 

If you know what I am talking about or can relate or have an opinion on it, please leave a comment. I will do my best to reply when needed. 

I thought it would take a couple of days to get used to the weather here, but it seems it only took 24 hours. Last night when I was walking around I thought the heat was intense. I was sweating like a pig. 

I went to bed about the time that the sun came up and slept until noon. I needed to get some decent chow plus I had to pick up my SAPI plates for my body armor and check on flights. When I awoke I looked at the thermostat for the AC to my the tent, which happens to be near my bunk and thought someone had turned it up since it was showing 83 degree. I went to turn it down and saw it was set to 71 degrees. So I figured it was failing and I would need to move, but then I went outside and quickly realized why it was 83 degree. 

I think it was about 115-120 outside and very humid. The heat was so intense it almost took your breath  mostly because of the humidity. Luckily I also have a decent tan built up from my recent vacation otherwise I think I would have burned up in the 30-40 minutes I spent walking around outside today. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible and pretty much had a bottle of water in my hand whenever I could. There is no shortage of bottled water here, the trick is finding the cold ones in the coolers. 

So as the sun fell tonight (since I am still here after getting bumped off my first flight) I went outside and felt very comfortable. I was pretty surprised at how good it felt outside. The temp is pretty much the same, but after walking around today when it felt like God himself was chasing me with a hair dryer on high, this evening feels good. I might even go have a coffee at the Grean Bean after this. 

Well my time on the internet is winding down with just a few minutes left. I hope this is my last blog post from Kuwait and that my next one will be from Afghanistan. I am all ready for there, I even picked up a new reflective belt last night at the PX so that I am totally equipped for the land of the FOBBITS. 

Until Next Time…