ADT Iftaar

Now that the last day of Ramazan is upon us, TX ADT-5 chose to have an Iftaar dinner with our own staff, Soldiers, and interpreters.  Now, we all know that TX ADT-5 is full of highly motivated, highly trained Soldiers.  To put it lightly, we are lucky to be matched with interpreters that are up to the task of being embedded within our ADT-5 team.

The evening consisted of a typical Afghan meal from the local bazaar brought to us by our interpreters, talk, laughter, and spades!  That's right, folks, our interpreters are some mean spades players!

While we can't publish pictures of our interpreters for their own protection, we do have some pretty awesome pictures of the evening.

LT Frost enjoys a lamb kabob.

ADT team sharing an Iftaar meal.



SPC Elkins tries a hot Afghan pepper.



SFC Artis recovers after eating a hot Afghan pepper.



Ramazan

As the month draws to a close, along with our first month in Afghanistan, we have been learning about the Islamic holiday of Ramadan (known in Afghanistan as Ramazan.)  The members of TX ADT-5 have participated in shuras (meetings), Iftaar (breaking of fast) dinners, and spent time with our interpreters to learn just what this really means to the people we came here to serve.

Ramazan is believed to be a time where God (Allah) is more likely to listen to prayers, and is practiced to both honor God and teach patience, humility, and spirituality.

Though, just like Christmas, each family celebrates a bit differently, there are definitely some recurring themes.  Family, friends, food, meditation, prayer, and giving back are common to each person asked.  How they choose to honor each of these varies, such as giving directly to the needy versus giving to an organization who will do so.

See some of our pictures below to see how ADT-5 learned about Ramazan!

MAJ Carney enjoys some Afghan flat bread, naan, with one of our Polish counterparts.

LTC Gaudsmith speaks with a district sub-governer.



Our SecFor soldiers make sure everyone is safe inside.



LTC Gaudsmith learns how to wear a turbin.

Fun at FOB Ghazni

Part of deployments are taking the few minutes you can to have a bit of fun. Early on we were told in the absence of leadership to take charge. Seems that one of our sections in TX ADT-5 took that the wrong way...or maybe not.  Having some fun with the other sections just makes for a good time and a bunch of smiles.

So, the question is, who "got" Headquarters?  Was it Ag Team?  Or SecFor?  You guess!

RIP/TOA Ceremony

The past few weeks have been hectic, with little time (or Internet access) to update our blog.  While there are some things that will later be published from our training before we left for Afghanistan, I wanted to let everyone know that we finally made it!

Now that we're here and getting settled, ADT-4 is preparing to go home to their families.  This process is called relief-in-place/transfer of authority.  This involves ADT-5 learning all they can from their ADT-4 counterparts in order to ensure immediate success in taking over the mission of the TX ADT's. 

We have been working hard, trying to learn from the extensive knowledge of our counterparts.  While there are going to be some things we miss, ADT-4 has made sure to do whatever they can to set us up for success.  This has included late nights, multiple missions, and presentations with what we need to know.  A BIG thank you to our ADT-4 brothers and sisters!

On the morning of 14 August 2011, ADT-4 officially handed the reins of the TX ADT mission over to ADT-5.  We conducted our TOA ceremony, with ADT-4 commander Lt. Col. Stephens casing their guidon while Lt. Col. Gaudsmith uncased ours, representing the official transfer of responsibility from one commander and team to another. 

The ceremony was attended by Ghazni Provincial Governer Musa Khan Akberzada and a number of his Secretaries, Polish Army Brig. Gen. Slawomir Wojciechowski, a number of Soldiers from the American, Polish and Afghan National Armies, USDA and USAID representatives, and the United States Department of State.

ADT-4 did an outstanding job while deployed to Ghazni Province; we are excited to continue the tradition of excellence of the TX ADT's!



ADT-4 stands in formation, ready to case their guidon.  This signals that they are no longer responsible for the TX ADT mission.



Ghazni Director of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (DAIL) Sultan Hussein makes a speech, thanking ADT-4 for their work during the past year.



The ADT-V guidon is officially uncased, representing the responsibility of the TX ADT mission has officially passed to TX ADT-5.