Update from Mike Jackson

Greetings from Afghanistan!

In two more days, we will be approximately two months away from coming home. I never thought I would be so ready to get back to a wife with a mile long "honey do list", three kids, all under the age of nine and clients that almost always seem to find unfavorable contracts and want to work on some of the highest exposure projects in the southeast.

Our 120 days of infamous winds are here. So far they are not as bad as I really expected. I don't want to make light of it, they can be, at times, down right miserable. The mornings are pretty nice and calm. Unlike Alabama in the summertime, we don't have the humidity, so it is fairly pleasant. Around 11am, the winds will pick up and the heat becomes a factor. From 3pm till around 10pm, the winds will blow around 20 to 30 mph. It would be somewhat tolerable but the dust and grit gets in your hair, your eyes and your mouth. We have goggles, but it's not constant enough to wear the goggles all the time. So you just deal with it.

Bagram Air Base is still the best location to be. Our temperatures are, at a minimum, ten degrees cooler than all the other locations. Right now, we are in the mid to high 90's. Kabul, Herat and Kandahar are all in the 100 to 107 degree range. I don't know what I did to deserve the better weather. Unfortunately, we will be in the 105 to 115 degree range by the next update letter. It still beat Kuwait (just south of Iraq). They are 115 degrees right now.

The past two weeks have been pretty ugly over here. Anytime we lost one of ours, we have what is called a "Fallen Comrade Ceremony". Since part of our mission is to transport distinguished guest to the ceremony, we can, at time, be very busy. Unfortunately, we have had more ceremonies in the past few weeks than I really want to talk about. Some of my friends, had real close friends that were in the CH-47 Chinook helicopter that went down near Kandahar. The two pilots were living just a few huts from where I live. It really hits close to home when you see their personal belongings being packed up to ship to their families.

I would love to report to you that we are winning the war, but unfortunately, I am not privy to say if we are or aren't. You can't always believe what you read in the papers, but most of you already know that. I really enjoy talking to the locals. They are usually very friendly if you speak t them first. I guess we are intimidating to them. I guess I would be intimidated if someone had a loaded weapon and could use it at almost anytime. In our dining facility, I have three locals that I have become acquainted with. I guess I chose to do that because I really want to know what they think about us and us being here. It appears they appreciate us being on there soil and they really hate the Taliban.

Our market has finally opened back up again. The market is held in a designated location, close to our main gate. It is similar to what us southern folk call a "Flea Market". The local nationals come in, after being checked for weapons and explosives, and set up tents and sheds. They fill their shops up with rugs, jewelry, coins, old rifles, pottery, brass and silver ornaments and just about anything else that they think will sell. It is the highlight of the week, but going to it is like walking down the midway at a fair. The locals will come out into the street begging you to come into their shop. They are very persistent. When you look at one of the items, they ask you how much. For some reason they don't understand that sometimes you are just looking. I think the hand made rugs are the best deal around, but I have picked up a few other items just to have something to remember this experience.

The last thing I will tell you about is my experience with the dogs. I ran into a guy that is a dog trainer. Since my yellow lab is not the best dog in the world I wanted to get some tips. In talking with him, he told me that I should come out to the training site where he trains his dogs. It turns out that he trains mine dogs. What are mine dogs? Dogs that can smell mines (those things that will blow up if you step on them). Russia buried a ton of mines over here during their war with Afghanistan. We, the U.S., are trying to clear some of the areas, so we can build better housing and other buildings. It was amazing watching those dogs in action. They are trained to smell for the explosives. When they smell it, the dog walks around the mine and faces toward the trainer. The dog can detect a mine up to six feet below the surface. It was amazing watching the dogs in action. Once an area has been "cleared" by two dogs, the area is considered safe for a human to walk on that soil.

In closing, thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and support. We really appreciate it and want to thank you. Please have a safe and enjoyable summer.

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