Roughing it part of tour

So Derrick is not part of the Illinois National Guard, but this is where he and 2 other Marines have made their home for the past 8 months. The place that will be home through the summer. I knew his conditions were meager to say the least, but this gives such insight into how some of our men are living while others bitch over their XBox 360 getting the "red ring of death" or their steak not being cooked to perfection. This really puts things into perspective.
After reading this article I decided to thank the reporter. He made a trek so many of Derrick's own command won't make, he has earned my respect. I thanked him with no thought of getting a response but the following morning this is the message I received: "I met him, and he's a terrific guy. Tell him to stay patient! His job is really demanding, and his students are very taxing."
I don't know that I can express in words what getting that message, those specific words meant to me.

Here is the article I am referring to:

REPORTING FROM DUMLAM, AFGHANISTAN
Roughing it part of tour
Illinois troops stationed at an isolated outpost far from civilization, James Janega writes

Tribune staff report
July 8, 2009

The outpost is a three-hour drive to the nearest reinforcements, a half-hour walk to an observation post the soldiers call "Little Round Top" and smack in the middle of four valleys used by Taliban insurgents and smugglers of black-market timber, drugs and weapons.

For the Illinois National Guard detachments from Headquarters and Charlie Companies of the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry, this is home, and they like it here. But there are drawbacks.

They have no way to wash clothes, meaning soldiers' green camouflage trousers are tinged with yellow, not to mention ripped at the pockets and seams. Without running water, there are no flush toilets. (Hand-washing is done with Purell.) They got a kitchen only two months ago, meaning they could stop eating Pop-Tarts and barbecuing goats.

"I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere," said Spc. William Pippen, 23, of Chicago's Chatham neighborhood, gazing out at the scrub-covered beige mountains and snow-capped 10,000-foot peaks behind them. "We are in the middle of nowhere."

But the troops here actually prefer it to the larger bases in Afghanistan run by the Air Force.

"They have streetlights, for God's sake," said Spc. David Gray, 20, of the city's West Side. "Some of those bases, it's like you're in Ameristan."

That is not the case for the soldiers from Chicago, Kankakee and Joliet here at Combat Outpost Najil, halfway up Afghanistan's Ali Shang Valley.

It is rustic even by infantry standards, and it is strategically placed to inject a government presence into the area (Afghan soldiers also live on base), while simultaneously getting in the way of insurgent travel and moneymaking activities.

For that reason, the base is frequently mortared and rocketed.

"It limits the enemy's freedom of movement. If they're going to traffic in lumber, narcotics or weapons, they've got to do it in front of us," said Capt. Luke Gosnell, 26, of Warsaw, Ill., Charlie Company's commander. "The mere presence of us here deters a lot of that."

Maps of the rugged territory ripple with closely spaced contour lines, offering countless alternative routes between the nearby Pakistani border, the capital Kabul and Afghanistan's restive south. And Gosnell allows that despite his troops' presence here, the Taliban feels secure enough to have established an entire shadow government.

Nevertheless, the U.S. soldiers say their presence has accomplished some unexpected things, such as winning friends among some of the locals, including former guerrilla fighters.

The Chicago-area troops say they're proud of what they've done, and speak warmly of COP Najil -- to a point.

"After a while, you get tired of staring at the same mountains," Pippen said.