Update from Mike Jackson

Greetings from Afghanistan!

According to my sources, I have about four months to go! Trust me when I tell you that I am ready to get home. My four year old son said, "Dad, you're gone a really long time and I am mad at you." That's what I needed to hear. It is hard on a family. Thank goodness for the internet. I don't know how those in previous wars did it.

The weather has changed from cold, to warm and windy. If the past two days are any indication of weather to come, which people are telling us it is, we are in for some harsh conditions. The wind is starting to blow a constant 20 miles per hour. This is the beginning of the 120 days of wind. At the peak, they say it will get up to 45 to 55 miles per hour. This will make landings challenging. The mechanics have about two dozen spare tires for our aircraft. They said we will be lucky if that is all we go thru over the next four months. Sounds interesting.

The temperature at Bagram is peaking out in the mid 80's, but all the other locations, around Afghanistan, are in the mid to upper 90's. It is getting hot.

In my last update, I mentioned the construction of the wooden huts that we are living in. I thought that was bad until I saw a couple of the electric poles. Some of the electrical wiring looks like the fishing line on my open-face reel, on my fishing rod, when I let my 9 year old cast it. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, it looks like spaghetti in a bowl. The lines are everywhere. There is no way an electrician knows what lines are going where and what kind of loads those thin lines are pulling. I think the boxes on some of the huts are glowing, from all the heat.

The snow is melting pretty quickly. There are still some areas in Afghanistan that have snow, but almost everyday, you can see more and more rock. Parts of the area are beginning to look like the moons surface. In the northern part of Afghanistan, we see a lot of poppy fields. I wonder what they do with that?

Our missions are keeping us very busy. I think I have flown about 120 combat hours, so far. I would like to provide you with details, but security prohibits me from doing so. I can say that I have seen the enemy. My heart misses a beat every now and then, but most of the time, when something happens, it is almost too late. You have to trust your equipment and your training.

As for our presence in Afghanistan, I want everyone to know that the locals are not upset with us. They are really tired of war. First it was the Russians, now it is the Taliban. The locals wish that the Taliban would go away. They do not want to be ruled by the Taliban, because they will force all the locals to work for nothing and give them the bare minimums to live on. The U.S. and other nations are training Afghan soldiers everyday. Afghan soldiers are being paid about $70 a month, which for them, is real good money. The U.S. supplied them with the same boots that we wear. You would have thought we gave them a new house. They were very excited about the boots.

I like seeing other nations around here. It tells me, for the most part, the rest of the world supports the war on terrorism. In talking to some of the Germans, British, Polish and Koreans, they have all told me that they are here to do what is right. I am really glad that they have that type of attitude. I thought many of them would be against being here.

As I close, I appreciate all the words of support and your understanding in this difficult situation. With this being my first and probably last deployment, I consider myself very fortunate. Many of these soldiers are on their second and third deployment. I don't know how they can do it.

Sincerely,

Mike Jackson, VP
Crow Friedman Group, LLC
2090 Columbiana Road, Suite 3200
Birmingham, AL 35216
O. (205) 979-7389
F. (205) 979-6873
mike@crowfriedman.com