Brother-in-law left for Afghanistan this morning

[El Jefe]

Thanks for the pics Ruckus! I dont know exactly where he is because he cant tell us but you might be able to tell from the pics/story of this newsletter





The last month or so he is flying every other day and he goes from 8pm until about 6am then works till 10 then gets some sleep. I just went out to Georgia to see my sister and her fam and for a couple weeks and she talks to Bill just about every day. Supposedly Apache pilots are treated like Rockstars out there. We went on Skype a couple times and did a video chat which was really cool. Hes in good spirit since were sending him packages full of stuff every month



But he does have another reason to be in good spirit. Check out the monthly newsletter where he and his copilot were mentioned. He is CW2 Thomas











Heres the original pics that are down for some reason....







From Georgia:

[ChuckD]

Yes the are Rockstars. I remember being out on a mission and we were stopped due to an IED. We had Apaches flying above, on the radio you hear "Did I just see that" "If your talking about what I think your talking about yes" "Hey boys on the ground watch this" at that point a palm grove got hammered. The had spotted the placers of the IED and they were trying to detinate it by phone and set off motor rounds towards us. So yes eyes in the skys rocks.

[El Jefe]

He was next door to the building that the rocket hit. He called my sister and said he was ok.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...urgents-attack

Suicide bombers carrying rockets and grenades attacked one of the biggest Nato military bases in Afghanistan today, killing an American contractor and wounding nine US troops.

About a dozen militants, many wearing suicide vests packed with explosives, were killed, the Pentagon said.

The fighting came the day after a suicide bomber attacked a military convoy in Kabul, killing 12 Afghan civilians and six foreign service personnel.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) would not identify the American contractor until next of kin had been told.

The attacks may mark the start of a Taliban spring offensive against high-profile foreign targets.

The early-morning assault on Bagram airbase, led by about 30 Taliban insurgents, continued for hours with sporadic rocket and small arms fire. One rocket landed inside the base, causing minor damage, but no insurgents managed to get inside, Isaf said.

"We're always prepared to deal with attacks on our base," said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Counts.

Also received this pic from him last week, I guess this was an accident, not sure on the story but this was not from this recent attack:

[JoshuaEIB]

tell him to keep looking out for my former brothers in arms!!! (Infantry 11B)

[El Jefe]

He is currently completing his last flight as I type this. Flies out tomorrow morning and should be home by the 5th. Hes bringing with him his lucky Ace of spades card which has kept track of his tally(people/building/cars destroyed) the entire year he was there. I saw a picture of it 4 months ago and he barely had any room left on it.

[OUR P51]

Glad he is OK and Congrats on his coming home!

Please tell him and everyone who is was or will be in harms way a huge "Thank You for your Service!" for keeping us safe by their hard work.

We are only free because of the brave.