Here’s the scenario:
A C-17 holds 158 passengers. There are over 500 people waiting for flights to Bagram. This place averages two flights a day. One flight from last night was canceled.
I believe this is an ACT question in which the answer is: Not getting out of Kuwait anytime soon.
Getting here was relatively straight forward but anything but painless. The jumbo jet the government commandeers for cost-effective military transport is probably the oldest, most cramped in any modern fleet. It’s like flying in that old, broken down jet from Transformers 2. …

A curiosity of living in a mountainous valley I had not experienced was living within a cloud. From our outpost I can see thick mist roll across distant peaks, slowly fogging them from our view. Slowly the days dim without you fully realizing the weather is coming, not that the day is leaving. Soon the uppermost peaks are shrouded in thick white cloud and mist begins to fall lightly on your sleeves. Finally the sun sets to impenetrable darkness while the clouds continue to fall lower and lower. You think …

Well I’ve been much busier than I bargained for, so here’s the first 2011 update:
We had a few (possibly too many) guys on R&R the last month, so I’ve been filling in for nearly five different jobs. It wasn’t terrible, just that taking the ball while running was a lot like drinking from the fire hose.
The only real update in the past few weeks, however, is that it has finally gotten cold enough to show some snow. I realized I hadn’t really updated any photos since, like, October. I’ve gotten …

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Matt Spartz couldn’t attend his grandfather’s funeral in person, but Lombard soldier serving in Afghanistan found a way to pay his respects
By 1st Lt. Matt Spartz
Editor’s note: Army Lt. Matt Spartz, a lifelong Lombard resident, was deployed to Afghanistan in May with the 101st Airborne Division. A 2008 journalism graduate of University of Illinois, he is submitting occasional reports for the Daily Herald.
When I was a boy, I loved watching my grandpa, John Spartz, lead his VFW post during the Memorial Day parade in …