A few things.....

First, a picture of some of their vehicles.....picture title, "Mission Preparation." When they arnt on a mission, they are getting ready for the next. Zac said the base is so huge, that they take a bus from their sleeping quarters, to the motor pool (where they work).........





And secondly, another update:

Good Evening Nightfighter Family,

Thanks for all the nice comments about the updates I am glad everyone is enjoying them, we will keep them coming. The weather has been crazy here causing a lot of delays with our missions (sand storms), but we are back and running, trying to play catch up. I am sure many of you have heard we had an explosive land right in the middle of our housing area a few mornings ago. NONE OF OUR SOLDIERS WERE HURT! Many of our soldiers were among the first on the scene. Our housing is surrounded pretty well by barriers which greatly reduces the risk during such an event. Our soldiers remained calm throughout the ordeal and very quickly had accountability formations to ensure everyone was okay.

Everyone is continuing to improve their working and living conditions, making it feel more like "home". There are some Indiana Flags flying over motorpools (which is nice) and of course the Jolly Roger Flag hanging in our headquarters. We have started two contests for the soldiers: one is to design a Task Force Nightfighter Coin for the end of the deployment and the other is to design a Task Force Nightfighter PT Shirt. The winner of each competition will be given a 4 day pass to Qatar. Qatar is a small country not too far from here where soldiers go for short R&R trips. They set up excursions for the soldiers.

I have come up with one complaint since I have been here and it is pretty serious... The mess hall is out of chocolate cheesecake, and has been for over a week. I don't ask for much but chocolate cheesecake and pralines and cream ice cream have become a staple in my diet (and amazingly I am still losing weight). In all seriousness we have really nothing to complain about here, except missing our families. The living conditions are very nice (other than a few explosions). We are still working to create a more predictable schedule for everyone, so we can ensure everyone is getting enough rest between missions. The majority of the soldiers still have very little down time, they are usually on mission, preparing for a mission or sleeping.

This Sunday Toby Keith is going to be here doing a concert, hopefully we will get a few of our soldiers over there (the ones that are not out on missions).

Well I am going to go check on the nightly missions in the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) and catch up on paperwork. I will provide another update in a few days.

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LTC Jerry Hadley

I would love it if Zac won one of the contests, and got a mini vacation.....he isnt the most creative person when it comes to this kind of stuff, but his wife isnt too bad.....HMMM......=)

And the concert would be awesome too!!!

Zac said he is getting so much stuff! So much more than last time. So the letters coming!!! I know he loves getting letters from back home. He misses it so much.

Last night I was a loose canon. It was the first time I cried that hard since Sery died. I was mad. I was screaming, sobbing and praying. I kind of scared myself. I want Zac home. I want him home NOW. And I want our Sery back. I hate this. I put up such a front for everyone. I am scared for people to see how I am actually handling it, so I build a wall. And then there are times that it crumbles down and I lose it. That is what happened last night. I miss Zac, I miss Sery and I want them both back in my arms.