2012...where will it lead to?

A great article to start out 2011 with!

2011-01-01T10:22:00.001-06:00

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=246037

Will this be the last year of your life?

Posted: January 01, 2011
1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

As we arrive at the beginning of a New Year, we often make resolutions. Many of them involve either losing weight or getting in better shape. But I hope those are not the only things we are resolving to do.

I read a list of resolutions made by different people who had to become more realistic with the passing of time. For instance, a person who was thinking about his weight gain resolved in 2001 to get his weight down to below 170. In 2002, he said he would watch his calories until his weight was below 200. And in 2003, he resolved to follow a new diet until he got below 220. In 2004, he said he was going to develop a more realistic attitude about weight loss.

Another person who made a resolution about getting in shape resolved to work out five days a week. The second year, he resolved to work out three days a week. By the fourth year, he planned to work out one day a week. And finally, he just resolved to drive past a gym at least once a week.

We may have many, many years ahead and many more opportunities to make resolutions. Then again, we may have only one year ahead. Or part of a year ahead. When our son Christopher went to meet the Lord at age 33, it was so unexpected. But the good news is that he was living for Jesus Christ. He was glorifying God with his life, and he is in heaven now, though obviously he is greatly missed.

Watch the trailer for Greg Laurie's inspiring DVD biopic, "Lost Boy: The Next Chapter"

The Bible says that it is God who determines the length of our days: "A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed" (Job 14:5 NIV). That is why it is useless to worry about the length of our lives. And more tragic than a life not lived for as long as we would like to have seen it lived is a life that has been wasted.

I realize that as God's servant, everything I have is on loan from him: My life. My family. My health. My career. My ministry. My possessions. My future. It all belongs to God. So the idea is not finding out how God can bless my dreams and ambitions and goals. Instead, my objective is to find his goal and his purposes and then align myself with them.

Some people want God along for the ride as their celestial big buddy. But God does not want to be our copilot. He doesn't even want us in the cockpit.

The fringe benefits of being a Christian are appealing, such as the promise of heaven and the fact that God has a plan for our lives and promises to provide for and protect us. These things are great. But what about being a servant and doing God's will? The more we know of God and his plan and purposes, the more willing we will be to do what he wants us to do. The potter who is molding us is also a father who adores us.

Jesus told a story about servants who were given a task to fulfill. At the end of the story, Jesus said, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty'" (Luke 17:10). True servants of Jesus want to do what God wants them to do. We are just doing our duty as servants of the Lord. Yet sometimes we can lose sight of this.

The apostle Paul warned that in the race of life, we can very easily get off track or have someone cut in on us: He wrote to the churches of Galatia, "You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" (Galatians 5:7 NKJV) Sometimes poor choices in friends and companions will cause us to get off track. They tend to drag us away from our commitment rather than encourage us in it. At the very least, they can slow us down. And at the worst, they can sidetrack us. We all know people who can drag us in the wrong direction. So think about who your companions and your friends are, because they can cut in on you in the race of life.

How did you do over the past year as a runner in this race? How well did you run? Did you make progress? Or did you go backward? Did anyone cut in on you? Did you lose your focus – lose sight of your priorities? Did you get off track?

(Column continues below)

As I get older, I think more about finishing the race. It is great to start off with a burst of energy, but what about crossing the finish line? Sadly, a few of the believers I knew when I first became a Christian have made a mess of their lives through wrong choices and getting sidetracked. They are not finishing well.

Then I think of others who started out with not that much promise, but they are doing very well today. So my goal is not only to start well, but to finish well. Because if you are running a race and have maintained first place throughout all the laps, but walk off the track during the final one, you will be disqualified. And all of that running will have come to nothing.

Jonathan Edwards said that he resolved never to do anything that he would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of his life. Maybe there was something you were doing yesterday that you really would have been ashamed of if it were the last hour of your life. Or maybe you are planning to do something today or tomorrow or next week that you know would not be the right thing for you to be doing if it were the last hour of your life. If that is the case, then I suggest that you change your plans. I suggest that you get your life in a place where you don't have to be ashamed of what you are doing – a place where you will be ready, no matter how or when God calls you into His presence.

It is not enough to simply start out well. You need to finish well, too. So run your race well.

Quaid Enjoying the Life of a King

2010-12-25T08:40:00.000-06:00

2011 it is going to be great!

2010-12-25T08:33:00.001-06:00

I will be posting regularly in 2011!

Belleville Sprint Triathlon

2009-09-20T17:27:00.004-05:00

Well I did it! Today I completed my first sprint triathlon!

I titled this post "I am a triathlete!". In fairness I must say that I use that term lightly. This was my first event and hopefully won't be my last. I am already planning on two in 2010.

So why in the world did I want to do a triathlon? First of all let's consider why I shouldn't have done a triathlon. First I am deathly afraid of water and secondly I hate running almost as much as I hate mayonaise and that is a lot. So why do I want to do an event that is made up of 2/3rds of things I hate or fear? Good question. My distaste for running keeps me from pursuing 10K, half marathon and Marathon events. The fact that triathlons have swimming it intrigued me to conquer my fear of water.

Last December as I planned my goals for the year I decided to kick up my physical fitness efforts since the Air Force had been hinting at new fitness standards. I wanted to be ahead of the power curve and not get caught with a poor fitness evaluation.

Combine that with the fact that I will turn 40 in January and for the last few years I have wanted to do a triathlon, there you have it.

So this spring I came across a book that had about 50 stories of other peoples first triathlons. This gave me the fever even more so I took my first step and purchased a used Scwinn bike to train and race on. I also started looking for 5K races to run in.

So I had the biking and running equipment. I only needed one other thing, learn how to swim. In June I went to the base pool during lap swimming and jumped in the pool and swam one full lap and almost drowned literally. So I went online and started looking for swimming instructors. I discovered a swimming system called Total Immersion (http://www.totalimmersion.net/) I found a swimming instructor in St Louis and had my first lesson. I had a second lesson two weeks later and have been swimming laps for the last few months 3-4 times a week.

So that brings me to today. It was beautiful weather. Rainy and overcast all morning. I hit the road at 6:15 heading out to the site of the Triathlon. This event would be a 400 meter lake swim, 12 mile bike ride and a 5K run. To practice for the lake swim I swam a few times in the lake behind our house since they were very similar. I felt confident in my swimming ability and did not think my fear of water would be a factor. It turned out to be true but the swim was very interesting to say the least.

I arrived at the location and set up my transition area where I would change between each event. 15 minutes before the start time they went over the rules for the day. Before I knew we were at 1 minute out and I wasn't feeling nervous. The horn sounded and we jumped into the water and took off. I swam fine for the first fifty yards and then I don't know what happened but I started hyperventilating. I must have been breathing 90 respirations a minute and I couldn't slow myself down. I would try to swim my stoke nice and easy but holding your head under the water while breathing so rapidly isn't a good combination. I spent the next 28 minutes trying to swim the 400 meters with a back stroke zig zapping the whole way. I am sure I covered over 600 meters today. Believe it or not I actually was thinking to myself that I couldn't wait until the run portion, thoughts I would later question myself on.

Eventually my self inflcited version of waterboarding came to an end and I was off to my bike. I got all my gear on and was off...in last place. more to come

THRIVE 5K Run

2009-05-31T08:40:00.003-05:00

Well yesterady was a great day.

Jason my baby brother, I am sure he hates it when I say that, came up from Clraksville Tn. to do a 5K Run with me. We weren't the fastedst but we ran the entire 5K!!!

We raised around $200 for the THRIVE crisis pregnancy centers in St Louis doing this.

http://www.thrivestlouis.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=97

Here is dad who did the walk with Carrie after the race stocking up on goodies!

Here is one of St Louis' talk radio hosts (my favorite) at the race, not only did he stop for the picture but he started up a conversation to boot...maybe that is why he has his own talk show!

http://www.971talk.com/morningshow/index.aspx

Well, Carrie and I are planning our next 5K which is in a few weeks for the Eagle Scouts and it will be in Lebanon Il. Wish us luck.

I got out on the bike this morning and did 8 miles...no pictures...anyways progressing along slowly for my Spritn Tri in August!

PT Test Finished

2009-02-11T15:31:00.001-06:00

Being in the Air Force we get tested each year on our physical fitness. With my theme for 2009 being Finishing Strong a lot of my goals are centered around physical fitness. I just took mine today and look to continue to improve on it next year. I completed my 1.5 mile run in 13:30, not extremely fast but I had to give a 90% effort to get this time. I did 50 Pushups…probably could have done 10 more and 49 Crunches and that was my absolute maximum. Next year I want to do my run in 12:00 and be able to complete 60 pushups and crunches. This is the reason I will be completing a Sprint Triathlon in August 09. Hopefully I will complete the 3 mile run in under 30 min…we will see how my MAHR training works out.

Next week Caleb and I will start P90X and hopefully that will help me shed another 15lbs.

Pictures of Quaid

2009-02-09T21:55:00.000-06:00

Photo's of our new home.

2009-02-09T21:53:00.000-06:00

2009 Finishing Strong!

2009-02-08T17:35:00.005-06:00

It is hard to believe that we are already 40 days into 2009. Last year was a blur.

So here it is February 2009 and I am ready to start blogging again.

""Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few."

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment so for those of you that read my blog thanks!

My theme for 2009 is finishing strong. I picked this for many reasons. The biggest being that I turn 40 in Jan 2010. That's right the big 40. I haven't talked with many people who have hit this mark but I am sure they were just like me and wanted to reach milestones at the 40 year mark. I have set some goals for myself and will post my progress on my blog here. So first my goals.

Goal #1 Complete a Sprint Triathlon before I turn 40

Goal #2 Memorize the book of James form the New testament

Goal #3 Run 3 miles at an 8 min/mile pace (with my heart rate at 141)

Goal #4 Complete P90x with Caleb

Goal #5 Weigh 190#

Goal #6 Complete a 9 day Fast

I will add others as they come up...but first let me explain why I picked these

#1 I have wanted to do this for a long time, why I am not quite certain. I have never swam mulitple laps in a swimming pool much less in open water. But what is driving me to do this is the Air Forces big push on physical fitness. Over the last 4 years I have been able to pass the PT test but it was always tough and I was way too close to "not passing" for me. I will test this week for 2009 and expect to pass again with great effort. My goal by being able to complete Sprint level triathlon's is to increase my fitness to a new level that will allow me to easily excel at the AF Fitness test.

#2 I have always been good with memeory and many years ago had this as a New Years resolution but I never followed through with it. So I am going to in 2009.

#3 As part of #1 and being able to excel at the AF Fitness test this goal will allow me to get two birds with one stone. While getting psyched up for a Sprint Triathlon I came across the following webiste http://www.markallenonline.com/heartrate.asp . I am going to use this method of heart rate training with my running. To give you an idea of where I am at, this morning I ran a mile at an 8:30 min pace and my heart rate was 175bpm...now you see what I mean by "with great difficulty". Currently my MAHR (Maximum Aerobic HEart Rate) is 141 and I can run a 5MPH pace and keep my HR in my MAHR range + or - 5 bpm. I am sure this goal will require all 12 months but I will give you a monthly update.

#4 Caleb is 15 and a Freshman at O fallon Township Highschool. He was on the school's wrestling team until he damage a nerve in his back and was placed on a 6 month pass from contact sports. Caleb has been doing great and both of us wanted to do P90X so by making it a goal it will give us something to shoot for and will also allow us quite a bit of Father-Son quality time. And help me get more fit for goals #1 & #3.

#5 Everybody, well 98% of us are not happy with our current body weight. I am so unhappy that I am not going to share it with you right now. After I finish p90X I will share my starting stats.

#6 Earlier this year Carrie and I did a 21 day Daniel's fast and enjoyed the experience both physically and spiritualy. I want to complete a 9 day fast. More details to come as I get closer to the fast date.

So there they are, a few of my personal goals for 2009.

Another area that I want to push on my blog is politics. I am a staunch fiscal and moral conservative. So it should be no surprise that I am not excited with our current political leadership. My goal in this area is voice my concerns, opinions and sometimes disgust with what happens in DC.

Stay tuned more to come.

Tabor 2008 Christmas Letter

2009-02-08T17:29:00.003-06:00

Wow, 2008 flew by and with it came change…
January ~ Ron returned home safely to Biloxi, MS from Afghanistan. Talk about a sweet family reunion! Ron’s, mom –
who had a hard time even walking – ran when she saw him arrive at the airport. If you haven’t
seen the blog Ron kept while deployed, check it out at www.taborrw.blogspot.com.
February ~ Carrie turned 40!
March ~ After living in Biloxi, MS for 10 years, we decided to submit a Base of Preference (BOP) for Scott Air Force
Base, IL, very near Carrie’s home and where Ron was stationed when we met. We found out quickly the BOP
was approved and took advantage of a planned trip home to do some house hunting. While in IL, we received
a call from Ron’s family in Clarksville, TN, telling us his mom had been admitted to the hospital. Just
over a week later, Linda Tabor went home to be with Jesus on March 27, 2008, with her family by her side.
July ~ Carrie finished her time as Executive Director of the Women’s Resource Center in Gulfport, and we closed on
our new home at 222 Evergreen Drive, O’Fallon, IL 62269 on the 31st. Carrie and Caleb remained in
O’Fallon while Ron went back to Biloxi to pack and ship our household goods and complete his time at
Keesler AFB.
August ~ Caleb started his Freshman year at O’Fallon Township High School, and Colin started his Senior year at
Temple Christian Academy in Gulfport, MS. We agreed to allow Colin to stay in Biloxi with our good friends,
Joan and Howard Bodouin, to complete his last year of high school. Colin dual-enrolled at MGCCC and
started his first college class, as well.
September ~ We closed on our house in Biloxi! Ron finished his time at Keesler, joined Carrie and Caleb in IL (yeah!) and
began acclimating to his new position as Radiology Superintendant at Scott AFB.
We traveled to Wisconsin to pick-up an addition to the family—an 8 week old German Shepherd
puppy— named Quaid. He’s quite handsome.
October ~ Colin turned 18, Caleb 15. We returned to Biloxi for Colin’s b-day, Ron’s final Radsym conference, and the
Women’s Resource Center’s annual fundraising banquet, while Grandma and Grandpa Elders took care of
Caleb and Quaid. Ron then traveled to MI to pick up Nazif (his interpreter from Afghanistan), Nazif’s wife,
Mary, and their three daughters. While in Afghanistan, Ron helped Nazif complete his paperwork to come to
the States. This family lived with us for three weeks, during which time we worked with the girls to learn their
letters, numbers, and some helpful, everyday English words like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” They
loved watching Mary Poppins. We enjoyed authentic Afghan food and lots of Chai…also, lots of hugs, kisses
and smiles from Sarah (10 yrs), Mandy (9 yrs) and Felicia (3 yrs)…their American names.
November ~ Nazif and his family traveled via Amtrak to Newark, NJ to live with/near a family member.
We hosted Thanksgiving for Carrie’s family in our home. It was very special to
have so many family members together for Thanksgiving. We also hosted an
early Thanksgiving dinner for the Radiology Department – they are a tight-knit
group, which is good to see.
December ~ Caleb had his first wrestling match and won! He pinned his opponent in less than a minute. Then we found
out he damaged a nerve in his shoulder during wrestling practice and is unable to wrestle for 6 months. Well,
he went out undefeated. Caleb is looking forward to wrestling next year. Colin will be home for Christmas. He
and his girlfriend, Katie Brook, will celebrate their one year anniversary of dating.
~After being gone for 16 years, we love being able to spend lots of time with family. The cold weather isn’t
even that bad (although we haven’t seen anything too extreme as yet). The fall colors were beautiful, in particular
the trees across the lake with their fall colors reflecting on the water.
~We have connected with a wonderful group of people at First Baptist Church O’Fallon. Caleb really likes being
part of their youth group. Carrie is playing volleyball in the church league.
This year has been a testament to the Lord’s goodness, faithfulness, protection, comfort, peace and joy.
Celebrating the incredible gift of Jesus and wishing you a joy-filled, blessed Christmas,
Ron, Carrie, Colin and Caleb Tabor
Colin
Ron in MI w/Mary, Sarah, Mandy and Felicia
Caleb & Nazif
Ron and Carrie

A tribute to Mom!

2008-04-09T12:04:00.002-05:00

Mom’s Tribute,

It has been a while since I have posted to the blog and after reading this you will understand.

One of highlights of each day for me when I was in Afghanistan was to get an email from my Mom. She didn’t write much but she would always have little pictures with Hugs and Kisses and tell me how much she loved me. Her health was bad and she spent a few weeks in the hospital last fall while I was deployed. I would tell her to hang in there and she would tell me that she was hanging in there to see here son when he got back from Afghanistan.

Sure enough when I arrived in Gulfport as I walked out of the gate there was Mom with a little American Flag on a stick. She saw me and ran over to me. For Mom that was incredible because she could barely walk. But for her son she gladly forgot about the pain.

Mom and Dad were able to spend the next four weeks in Biloxi with us. As it was getting time for her and Dad to head back up to Tennessee it seemed to me like Mom was treating this as her last time in Mississippi. I would see that and tell Mom that she was going to have lots more trips to Biloxi and get to see the beach.

Well I was wrong. Mom passed away on March 27th. Here is a link to here Obituary if it still works.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080401/OBITUARIES/804010321/1023/NEWS17

I recently found out that I had an assignment to Scott AFB. Everyone was excited about this. It would put us close to Carrie’s Parent and allow us to be only 4 hours away from Mom and Dad in Tennessee. When the kids went on Spring Break we went up to the St Louis area to do see Carrie’s family and scout around for homes. When we were looking we wanted to find something that would make it easy for Mom and Dad to come stay with us when they wanted and didn’t have a lot of steps so Mom could get around easily. Our plan was to swing through Tennessee on our way home to Biloxi.

Around the middle of the week I got a call from my sister telling me they admitted mom into the hospital and needed to get her ammonia levels down. Mom’s liver was bad and this was becoming a routine visit for her. When I got there on Friday it looked like Mom was going to pull through. I stayed the night Friday night with her and once around 4 AM she opened her eyes when she heard my voice and gave me the smile I was so accustomed to seeing. It only lasted about 5 seconds but it made the nights stay worthwhile.

Later that morning my older sister Amy took over at the hospital. Only a few hours after I had left she called telling me to get to the hospital with Jason ( my youngest brother) as fast as I could because they were going to have to put mom on a ventilator.

We weren’t able to get there before they did and so we never really had a chance to talk with her after that with her being able to talk back.

Over the next five days Mom’s health went from bad to worse.

However I am not writing this to tell you about Mom’s passing but about the 59 years that she inspired me and a host of others.

You see while Mom was in the ICU unit she had over 80 visitors. I am not talking about ones who stopped in for a few minutes but family and friends that stayed there for hours waiting for the next ICU visitation time. To many that doesn’t say much but to me it speaks volumes. Mom loved deeply anyone that would let her love them. She was always there to help out when she saw a need and these were the friends that became family.

Mom was special. Her last 8 years were difficult because of all the physical challenges she had due to her deteriorating health. Although it slowed her down it never stopped her. She would travel to see us in Biloxi and it would take weeks for her to recover. No one ever saw that. Mom always poured out unconditional love for me. I think much of my success is due to Mom being my biggest cheerleader. She believed that I could do anything and that belief allowed me to try great things and succeed.

Many times I remember walking in on Mom and she would be on her knees praying for our family and friends that had needs. She kept this up through the years and when she was unable to get around she still was a prayer warrior for us.

Today is a special day because it is Mom and Dad’s 43rd Anniversary. Dad I know that there is nothing about today that will be easy. I am so glad that you and Mom showed us how to have a marriage that works through the decades.

So to everyone out there that has read my blog while I was gone I wanted to brag on Mom a little. She is in heaven now without any pain. For all those who support the troops mom was the same. She loved a soldier all her life in Dad, she loved another soldier that spent that last part of 2007 in Afghanistan and she has loved so many other soldiers that are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice. For this reason we had the following poem read at Mom’s Funeral Service.

MOTHERHOOD
The bravest battle that ever was fought!

Shall I tell you where and when?

On the maps of the world you will find it not;

'Twas fought by the mothers of men.

Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,

With a sword or noble pen;

Nay, not with eloquent words or thought

From mouth of wonderful men!

But deep in a walled-up woman's heart --

Of a woman that would not yield,

But bravely, silently bore her part --

Lo, there is the battlefield!

No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,

No banner to gleam and wave;

But oh! those battles, they last so long --

From baby hood to the grave.

Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,

She fights in her walled-up town --

Fights on and on in her endless wars,

Then silent, unseen, goes down.

Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,

And soldiers to shout and praise!

I tell you the kingliest victories fought

Were fought in those silent ways.

O spotless woman in a world of shame,

With splendid and silent scorn,

Go back to God as white as you came

--The Kingliest warrior born! --

Joaquin Miller (1839-1913)

Stella's 1st Double Stuff Oreo

2008-02-01T18:53:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of Stella Kismon having her first double stuff Oreo
with me!

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8:30 PM

Journey Home

2008-01-28T17:37:00.001-06:00

Thoughts on Leaving Afghanistan,,

Well the last 10 days have been something else. Mostly it was a lot of
waiting.

Out journey started with trying to get out of FOB Lightning in Gardez. To
do this we were lucky enough to get a Helicopter scheduled. The helicopter
showed up but could not land since the weather had turned bad. This meant
we got to stay another night. The weather front that had moved in was going
to be there for a few days. So the decision was made to get out by convoy.
Our convoy consisted of over 20 humvees and the biggest problem was getting
through the KG Pass.

When we got to Camp Phoenix we had a roller coaster of expectations. First
we were told we would leave the next day and at the last minute the Flight
was cancelled. Well our day came to leave Afghanistan for good and we loaded
on a C17 and flew to Manas. What a greeting we received at Manas. It was
cold. Freezing actually, the warmest day was 13 degrees. I cannot remember
ever being that cold in my life. I think Kyrzygstan when translated into
English means actually Siberia. Well we killed time at Manas waiting for
the day that has been marked on everyone's calendar for 9 months.

This is what made things so hard. Everyone wants to be on the next plane to
the states! So we spent another 5 days just killing time. The hardest part
was to let the time pass because our minds were racing thinking about
getting home. On the 22nd we had our briefing for leaving the 23rd. When I
went to get my ticket I was told that I was actually leaving today (the
22nd). I needed to get my bags and be back at the terminal ASAP. My
initial reaction was ecstacy as I went and got my bag. Then sadness hit me
as I realized I would be going home without my friends and brothers from
BHUT 311. I get back to the terminal and get my follow on tickets, then I
am told that I am actually on the 23rd flight and they had made a mistake.
So I asked them if they could make another mistake because my bags were out
on the truck to get loaded onto the plane. That didn't happen and we went
digging for my bags.

We all endure through the night and make it through the morning and get
loaded on a 737 for our trip home. We were scheduled to stop in Romania and
Ireland then BWI. Bad news. When we get to Romania they tell us a
hydraulic part is broken and needs to be flown in. So they put us up in a
hotel not knowing if it would be 1, 2 or more days. The following morning
we were told that we would be leaving that night at 11pm. So we had a day
to kill. Thank goodness the hotel had wireless internet so most were able
to contact families and friends.

Here I am now on the plane after having taken off from Keflavik, Iceland on
our way to Portsmith NH, then on to BWI and hopefully home.

What a surprise we got in New Hampshire. We stopped at what used to be Pease AFB for a Crew Change and when we got off the plane at 3am there were over a hundred folks from the local VFW chapter there to give us a heroes welcome. It was great...most of these men and women were not given a heroes welcome when they came back from Vietnam but they wanted to make sure that didn't happen to us. So to all the men and women who came out at such an ungodly hour THANKS!!!!!!!!!

The trip back was no different than the entire time over and that was a lot
of waiting.

I was very blessed to have family and friends that made sure I knew that I
was remembered. For those I am most thankful! I have lots of good and bad
memories. I saw stuff that most Americans never will. I hope I can forget
the bad things and treasure the good.

Arriving at home! After 10 days of trveling and most of the time being late
my last leg of the trip I arrived home early. I was due to get into Gulfport
at 2pm and the plane landed at 1:30 pm...you know what that means. I got to
surprise my family!

As I was coming out of the terminal I ran into my Mom and some great friends
as they were just getting there. Then as I was going down the escalator I
saw Carrie fly by in our car. I had sent her a text when we landed and she
became "Speed Racer".

It was wonderful to be with my family again. The rest of the weekend was a
blur but very productive. On Saturday my oldest son Colin got his new car a
97 Plymouth Breeze. I fixed the TIVO and Family computer and we went to
Outback for Dinner on Saturday!

My view from my hotel in Romania.

A view from our "Miami International" chartered flight standing on the Tarmac in Keflavik, Icelend.

Colin's NEW CAR

Picture going over the pass

2008-01-16T00:56:00.000-06:00

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9:14 AM

So Long FOB Lightning

2008-01-12T06:44:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of my time over here that meant a lot to me.

It is time to saddle up and ride out of town!

2008-01-12T06:15:00.000-06:00

What a birthday gift. The weather has cleared up and I found out today that I am on the early train out of here.

At this point I will be in a communications blackout and may or may not be
able to keep in touch.

For those following the blog I will update our Exit as soon as I can but
that may be a week or two.

This is the most dangerous part for us. Two reasons. First being that we
are leaving the fortified FOB and traveling cross country. Second is
because we are all going home and may lose our focus and our edge thinking
about what waits on us in the states. So keep us in your prayers for the
next two weeks.

For Carrie, Mom, Amy and Kenny. I am not sure when I can get on SKYPE again
so if you do not hear from me don't worry. It may be a few days.

So until I can get on the net again....So long!

Emailing: Imported Photos 00102, Imported Photos 00108, Imported Photos 00103

2008-01-10T21:12:00.001-06:00

It is cold here -5 degrees! We are leaving just in time....maybe!

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9:14 AM

Last Team Meeting

2008-01-10T21:09:00.001-06:00

Well we had our last team meeting which means we are getting really close to
going home. Everyone is anxious and fighting impatience waiting to get to
leave for home.

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9:14 AM

A white Christmas just a little too late!

2008-01-08T05:02:00.000-06:00

Some Afghans going to work

If you click on the picture you can see someone coming down the Path in shorts.

It looks like they just came out after a shower.

This is a view of the hospital on our walk over to work.

There are so many Christmas songs that are popping into my head right now
that would have been so much more appropriate had they occurred about three
weeks ago.

Now we are in a situation where this weather could ruin our plans for going
home as quickly as possible.

It has snowed about 8 inches in the last 3 days and we have more in the
forecast. It is so bad right now that both of the mountain passes that give
us access to the outside world are closed.

Hopefully the snow will stop and the clouds will go away so they can chopper
us to freedom!

I will keep you posted.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

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9:14 AM

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T08:31:00.001-06:00

2008 is finally here. If you have not noticed I have not been inspired to write much later.

The good news is that I will be home sometime this month. The bad news is that I still have to wait for a few more weeks. This has definitely been the hardest stage. I can see the end in sight and that makes it tough to concentrate on the day to day tasks.

So for everyone that follows this blog Happy New Year! I wish all of you the best 2008 possible.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Blue Christmas...well not exactly!

2007-12-25T08:52:00.000-06:00

This has been my first Christmas being away from the family. I can't say I was looking forward to it.

But today has turned out great considering the situation.

It started off with a phone call home and getting to watch the family open up gifts through the internet and a webcam. Then I got to get some more shut eye. After I woke up I read some for a few hours and then it was off to lunch.

The leadership here tries to make a big deal out of the holiday dinners and did a good job. We had everything you could expect.

Then the biggest surprise came when they opened the post office for a few hours and I had about 15 boxes. It was great to realize that we are not forgotten on Christmas. So to Jan, Marie, Dan, Patty, Mom & Dad Elders, Carrie thanks for the boxes and the perfect timing on the delivery.

So for me it was not a blue Christmas. I am with my deployed family of BHUT 311. It has been fun to hear each of them get to talk with their family at home. Especially SSgt Paule who has children that are under 6 years old.

I hope everyone's Christmas was special too. And don't forget what this time is all about and that is celebrating Jesus the saviour of the world's birth.

The picture is of the Christmas tree my mom sent me set up in the Radiology department.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Merry Christmas from Afghanistan

2007-12-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

Well here it is December 23rd and it does not feel remotely like Christmas.

The weather is getting colder and the snow comes and goes. We have Christmas
carols going and decorations up but the Christmas Spirit is lacking. This
year December 24th & 25th will be two days that get us closer to leaving for
home!

I did want to include a picture of our team taken out by the FOB Christmas
Tree.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Ron

AWANA Group in Edwardsville Il

2007-12-19T05:25:00.000-06:00

        I am a little late getting these posted. But about three weeks ago I received a care package from Terri in Granite City and her Church's AWANA group had sent me some cards. I am not posting all the cards as I got so many but I did want to show off a few of them. They sent me some Fudge and lots of smiles so I hope all the kids get to see this post. Oh yeah the kids in the pictures are having a Pajama Night. It looks like the leaders got into the spirit too!

THANKS to all the T&T boys and girls at Calvary Baptist Church in Edwardsville Il.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

            Jeremiah Denton

                   Vietnam POW

How to make Redneck Christmas Tree

2007-12-17T06:28:00.000-06:00

I have never done this personally, but if I don't find the ornaments next
year I may be trying it out.

Here is how to make a Red Neck Christmas Tree.

While we are in the spirit post your favorite You Might Be a Redneck Jokes on the comments section.

Mine is : If people routinely stop by your house on Saturdays thinking you are having a yard sale...you might be a redneck!

Video's on youtube

2007-12-13T09:46:00.000-06:00

Here are some video's I have been able to upload to youtube.

Do I Make you Proud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIDg72hkkF4

Some Gave All

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzVXJfbMnVY

If Everyone Cared

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsP-G_lL_C0

Going Home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43sT-1Iqaas

With Every Little Kiss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjEG1eFshYc

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

FW: I got elfed

2007-12-12T11:35:00.001-06:00

I could not resist.

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself and the guys inmy hut . Check it out by clicking the link below.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1330786557

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

White Christmas....I think!

2007-12-11T19:53:00.000-06:00

Well here at Camp Lightning we will be having a White Christmas..I think!

You just never know what the weather is going to do but here recently it has been snowing.

We have been able to have snowball fights with the ANA soldiers which was fun. I guess I didn't dress properly because I am coming down with a cold now.

The day count is getting lower and in about a month our team will begin staging out of here. It will take between 5-10 days from that point for us to get on a plane back to the states. So even though everyone is homesick for Christmas our thoughts are focused on going home in January 2008.

I am including a few pictures of our Camp with the Camp Christmas Tree. Enjoy!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

A Great Man Moves On!

2007-12-09T05:02:00.001-06:00

I found out that a great friend, an awesome father and a dedicated Christian passed away on November 29, 2007.

Jay Zilch had an infectious happy spirit. He was always smiling and ready to help someone out, whether they needed it or not.

I met Jay in 1990 when he was stationed at Ft Campbell and I worked at Bank Of America on Ft Campbell with his wife Susan. My fondest memory of Jay was when my 1986 Buick Regal broke down on me at work and Susan called Jay to see if he would come look at my car. He did. It was freezing cold out and he spent 30 minutes on the ground until he fixed the problem. Jay simply had the desire to help everyone. I never saw him and he didn't smile and shake my hand with the hardest handshake around. Whenever I would be back in Clarksville I would always look forward to the times that I would get to see Jay.

I cannot imagine the heartache that this loss has caused. He was in Monterey Mexico working to take care of his family. Susan you have the prayers of many thousands of people Jay affected. I have no idea how you will be able to make it though each day but know that there are many of us hurting right along side you even if we are in Afghanistan. Richard, I know how proud your Dad is of your military service keep doing great things for him and your country! Your family needs you now more than ever. Stephanie and Amanda ( my unofficial Nieces), it is impossible to make sense of a tragedy like this. Know that your dad is looking down from heaven encouraging each of you to finish the race that God has planned for you just as your Dad finished his.

Here is a link to his obituary in the Kentucky New Era.

http://www.kentuckynewera.com/articles/2007/12/07/obituaries/doc4755a30e098e2629361277.txt

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Afghanistan the forgotten war!

2007-12-04T04:54:00.000-06:00

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59011

This is not my work but a copy and pasted article from the link above but I could not agree with it more!

By Matt Sanchez
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

There was no confusion about the reasons for the invasion of Afghanistan. In 2001, the international community backed the United States military by sending both armed forces and financial aid. Even France boasted of "European unity in international security."

In most people's minds, Afghanistan is the opposite of Iraq. It's the "good" war, the "just" war, the authorized war – the forgotten war.

Unlike Iraq, the coalition presence in Afghanistan is notable. There are many armies here from many different places

The Japanese have donated funds for hospitals in the remotest regions of the country. The spirit of goodwill for the Afghans crosses all levels. Korean missionaries have sent what they feel is spiritual aid. Here, in Operation Enduring Freedom, there is international aid and a robust alliance. Military bases have a row of flags in front of them boasting of the united effort to stabilize the country. Yet this ragtag republic, once a kingdom and many times a conquest, garners less attention than its sister conflict in Iraq.

A land of extremes, Afghanistan looks deceptively like Denver, Colo., despite the occasional camel or the Mohave Desert, if it weren't for the open fields of marijuana and poppies. The craggy landscape is vast and mountainous up north, smooth and flat down south.

(Story continues below)

This is the "good war," we're told. But just as in the story of the prodigal son where the obedient son who stayed behind to do everything right felt forgotten, Afghanistan is often overlooked in favor of the wayward wandering of its sibling conflict.

Standing in the areas where al-Qaida operated, and looking at the barren landscape, it is striking how far removed the dusty sheep trails of Gardez, Afghanistan, are from the emerald Sheep Meadow in Central Park in New York City. No plumes of morning steam escaping from manholes, here there is only the dust on rocky improvised roads, and the metal Midtown skyscrapers are replaced by ore-filled mountains. Two places with nothing in common, and yet it is difficult to comprehend how the attacks leading to the shattering of the modern Twin Towers were planned in such a low-tech environment. The world is small indeed.

From the C-17 aircraft, life in the Afghan landscape looks like so many beige dominoes tossed between the countless valleys.

Portuguese soldiers on Forward Operation base Qalat. Every nation has a different colored uniform

This country has known many visitors: Alexander the Great, the Mongols, Marco Polo, Genghis Khan, Persians, Turks, British, Soviets. Now, the United States is accompanied by several collaborating nations fighting under different banners – the International Security Assistance Force, Centcom, NATO and the "ghosts" operating in and out of national boundaries. The conflict in Afghanistan is both local and international, with as many rules and missions as there are interpretations of desert camouflage.

Unlike the luckless chaos of Iraqi violence, experts speak of Afghan flair-ups in terms of "seasons," as if this ancient nation were a living organism with a rhythm for malady and mayhem. Clashes in the north follow events in the south, both in a pattern mimicking the age-old trade of the famous Silk Routes through which the rulers of Rome had tacit awareness of the Mandarins of China.

The landscape of Afghanistan has housed wanderers and warriors for centuries

A flight over country shows none of the urban sprawl of Iraq, the Afghan terrain being a natural fortress. Vast deserts could challenge the march of any army in the south, and jutting mountain peaks keep small communities isolated from their neighbors just over an impenetrable hilltop.

A picture of boys wearing sandals, robes and herding sheep at the snap of a long stick would fit right into any era before the birth of Christ.

The men are coiffed in thick turbans dignified of a Technicolored '50s Hollywood adventure film. In their faces are the etchings of centuries past and the borders of race that do not fit so easily into census categories. On farms, little girls run barefoot through open fields, their sparkling traditional dresses visible even from the heights of a Chinook helicopter, as their mothers squat near the walls of the calats, managing the extra fabric of their burqas in their open hands or closed fists.

Ask an Iraqi what needs to change and he'll speak of sewage, electricity and jobs. Ask an Afghan his heart's desires and he'll mention roads, a bridge and to be left alone. These people in their mud-made compounds want less than creature comforts. Their ancestors have always fought, and despite the sense of "old" permeating the society, there is a young bravado, the daredevil carelessness of a teenager who doesn't fear death because it's too far away.

The people of Afghanistan come from different backgrounds: Hazaras in the west, Tajiks in the northeast, Daris scattered in the former centers of power and Pashtuns along the border with Pakistan.

Because of the vast distances in Afghanistan, helicopters are the preferred means of travel. Unlike Iraq, Taliban fighters will challenge a plane with small arms fire that ranges from bullets to sophisticated missiles.

The Taliban, or "the students of religion," were the most successful at maintaining stability after the overthrow of a Soviet-backed regime and the consequent civil war. Fighting continued outside the cities, but in places like Khandahar, public executions were an advertisement of the new sharia rule religious leaders were determined to impose. Men packed into stadiums to witness the execution of a murderer or the whipping of an insolent. They made little noise and took care not to clap, since that too was against the rules.

Al-Qaida, or "the Arabs" as many locals called them, were allowed safe harbor in the Afghanistan of the Taliban, and some of the bases currently housing coalition forces were once training camps for Osama's religious warriors.

Crossroads of the world, the people of Afghanistan do not fit into comfortable categories of race and ethnicity

The military is much more relaxed here. The Marines themselves sometimes wear the bright, green, happy woodland "cammies" that would be entirely out of place in the Al Anbar province. Afghanistan is a "war by committee" following the polyglot commands of a multicultural military.

To say America forgot Afghanistan is only a half-truth. From Austria to New Zealand, the voting populations that have sent troops have lost the sense of urgency to keep up the fight. Like a popular television series that has seen better ratings, American audiences know the conflict exists, even if they prefer to change the channel to something more entertaining. Yet, although the land of the Afghans is so far from the people of America it might as well be an imaginary place, this war is very real.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Going Home

2007-12-01T05:56:00.001-06:00

Here is a video I did in anticipation of leaving at the beginning of next year!

It is beginning to Look a lot like Chistmas!

2007-12-01T05:20:00.000-06:00

It is beginning to ook a lot like Chistmas.

Well it looks like the time has come for snow. Here are some pictures just after it started snowing.

It is also looking like Christmas because I got three boxes of goodies. The Radiology Department from Keesler sent me a boxload of Christmas candies, decorations and cards. My family also sent some Christmas goodies too and I received a box of Quilts from the Fun Bunch in Tampa.

FOB Vice Commander

I'm with Chuck!

2007-11-29T10:28:00.000-06:00

This morning I woke up to hear some of the Republican Presidential Candidates debate. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a CONSERVATIVE! I was hoping that Fred Thompson would be our next president. After watching the debate this morning and reading some recent articles I have changed my mind.

Instead I am pulling for Mike Huckabee...I have attached a link from Chuck Norris' recent commentary on www.Worldnetdaily.com check the article out if nothing else you will be entertained.

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58255

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Send me pictures of your Christmas trees!

2007-11-25T08:52:00.001-06:00

I won't get to see too many Christmas trees this year so if you think about it send me a picture of your Christmas tree.

I will post it on my website for a day and you may become famous.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR IN 2007...FAMILY!!!!

2007-11-21T22:53:00.000-06:00

As I sit here on Thanksgiving morning I wanted to write about what I am thankful for. Many of you have heard me belly ache about all the things that I would miss by going on this deployment. So today I want to put a positive spin on being stuck in Afghnaistan for a holiday. Because right now it is pretty depressing.

The one thing that I am thankful for more than anything this year is "Family".

First of all my Wife. I have been blessed with such a beautiful woman both inside and out. I used to drive around as a teenager and we would pull up to a car or truck with a very attractive lady sitting next to an ugly guy that could only be their husband. We used to wonder how in the world did he land her. Then one day I realized that the yonger guys still did that when they would pull up to us at a traffic light, only now I am the ugly guy with the gorgeous wife. Carrie Thanks for so many wonderful years.

My sons. Colin I am so proud of you and your football team winning the State Championship for your division. I know they could not have done it without you. I am also thankful that you are considering going to HAC. Caleb, I am thankful that you have such a humorous spirit. You try to bring a smile to everyone's face andare always there to entertain us. I missed having you keep me awake as we drove from Biloxi to St Louis with your endless questions this year.

My Parents.

My Dad, he spent 2 tours in Vietnam and as I was leaving for Afghanistan I know he would have gladly done this tour too. Thanks for your service to our country dad. Thanks also for being patient with me through the years and all the times you have helped me out of a bind. Thanks for supporting me in all my efforts, even when they were some pretty poor decisions on my part.

Mom, my biggest cheerleader. Always believing in me and that I could do anything I set my mind to. Thanks for kicking me out of the car when I was 16 and putting in applications for jobs. Thanks for always being there for me and for all the long talks while I sat on the end of your bed. Thanks for all the prayers for me over the years.

Carrie's Parents

Mom & Dad too! Thanks for the use of your car while I was at Ft Riley, for all the gummis, excedrin and jerky! Thanks for having such a wonderful daughter! The Character she has is very obvious to see that it came from each of you. Thanks for all the long trips to Biloxi for so many Thanksgivings. I would gladly have made the trip to St Louis this year.

Amy & Billy, My big sister and her husband, Thanks sis for being there and taking some whippings along the way for me. I am thankful for you and Billy being able to take care of mom and dad while I galavant around the country in the military and now the world. Thanks Billy for taking care of my sister and making her happy all these years.

Jason & Tristina, My little brother and his new bride. J, thanks for looking up to me. Although I don't know why after some of the stunts I pulled on you. Thanks for being a true Dolphins fan even in an 0-10 year. Tristina thanks for joining the family, we are a litlle crazy but as my oldest son likes to say. WHen you mess with one Tabor you mess with them all! and now you are a Tabor and get that same protection.

Danah & Derrick. My niece and her husband. Thanks Danah for making me a great, "Great Uncle" and for choosing to name him Ronnie Ray. Well, at least thanks for making me a Great Uncle, no pressure on the other. Thanks for all the pokes in the ribs over the years. I can still feel the pain even as I write this. Derrick thanks for taking care of Danah and thanks for your service in Iraq.

Kenny & Margie, thanks for everything. You both have been awesome in your support since I have deployed. The things you have done are way too numerous to mention. Thanks for reminding me everyday that I am not forgotten.

Phyllis and her family! Phyllis I hope your birthday was great and once again thanks for the awesome family you have and for making me a part of it.

Andrew and Stacie, thanks for being there for Carrie while I have been gone. It was a great relief to know that you would be able to stay at the house while I was gone. I can' wait to see you guys when I get back.

RADSYM FAMILY

Carolyn Teal, Lynnette Biglane, Venton Horrice. I don't go to sleep at night without being thankful for the memory foam mattress you sent. Thanks for the great seminars we have had over the years and hopefully a few more. Thanks for all the x-ray stuff and hygiene kits.

Military Family

Steve Triggs thanks for all the Sports Illustrated mags, and the gift cards for Carrie and the boys. Scott Sherwood, thanks for the Sporting News Mags and keeping in touch. Macdill was so many years ago but with both you and Steve it seems like yesterday. Rickie Ragan thanks for the chairs Rickie. We have already worn out 2 of them. Chief North, thanks for the heads up on the Zembrod. I could not have done it without your support and writing skills! Patrick Gillespie, a fellow Army Tenessean that has become a great friend while deployed.

B-Hut 311. Capt Brosdahl, Capt Payette, MSgt Finch and SSgt Paule. It has been a great deployment living in the same 20 x 30 foot cell, I mean hut with you guys. You have been there through the good the bad and the ugly. Hopefully we wont have to huddle in a bunker again before we get out of here! I am thankful that I have you as family while here in Afghanistan at Camp Lightning.

The "Fun Bunch" in Tampa. Thanks for the quilts and honoring us at your Quilt-a-Thon. All the hours you have invested just to say thanks for our service did not go unnoticed.

I am truly thankful for everyone that has been a part of my life. Life is all about relationships. Without them we would beome very bitter and lonely people. So if you read this and get a chance post a comment and tell the world what you are thankful for this year!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Happy Birthday Aunt Phyllis

2007-11-21T07:01:00.001-06:00

Today is a Special Day for a very special lady. Aunt Phyllis turns 70 today.
It is special not just because she is turning 70 but bbecause she and her
brothers and sisters and children have made me feel like I am part of their
family. She is my Aunt from Carrie's side of the family. Her Son Kenny has
become like a brother to me over the years. Her Sister Judy is my
Mother-In-Law and if you have read my blog while I was at Ft Riley you know
that I am a very lucky son-in-law. All of her brothers and sisters and
children have had a part in sending me Care Packages. The picture with the
US Flag, Air Force Flag and "We Support Our Troops" flags. Is from her
Sister Aunt Nene's front yard.

Aunt Phyllis is a very special lady and has a very special family. I look
forward to getting back to the states to see her and the rest of her family
to say Thanks for all the support they have given me.

I hope today is a great day for you Phyllis you deserve it!

Ron

The True Hero's on Veteran's Day 2007

2007-11-12T03:10:00.000-06:00

Many give those of us deployed credit for being the hero's but we seeit a little differently.

Here are the true Hero's.

Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their life.

Those who have lost limbs, been burned, suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Veterans Day 2007

2007-11-12T02:29:00.000-06:00

As I shared with you before at the Quilt-A-Thon there were kids there pitching in too.

When I received the initial Care Package, I found a bunch of letters written from some of these young Americans.

I wanted to share these with everyone on Veterans Day this year.

So many times we see this Holiday as just another Government Service Day off with a few token mentions on TV and at sporting events.

We know that our Veterans (WWI, WWII, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm I, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom) are not forgotten, and their sacrifices have not gone unnoticed. So if you see a Veteran in the next week be sure to shake their hand and say "Thanks for everything they gave!". Share the importance of appreciating our Veternas with your children and grand children. I have had the pleasure of getting that handshake and "Thanks" and know how much it means. I have seen young Airmen go into the Biloxi VA Hospital and shake the hands of an 80 year old veteran and say "Thanks" and was brought to tears as I saw the Veteran begin to cry. I can only imagine the memories that came back to him while he was serving and here many years later another military member from another generation shows his appreciation.

It meant a lot for me to receive these letters knowing that these young Americans could have done a thousand other things with their time and chose to send a leter of appreciation to a soldier they do not even know.

So guys thanks for remembering us! And Jake keep a close ey on your mail box because you have something on the way!

THE TROOPS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!

2007-11-08T22:44:00.000-06:00

Towards the end of September I got an email from Latanya Henry from Tampa
Florida. She said that she had been looking for information on the Gardez
area where her husband had just found out that he would be deploying to.

I know you have heard a thousand times "It is a small world", well our world
just got a lot smaller. It turns out that Latanya's husband is a
Radiologist at MacDill AFB and would be on the team that was due to replace
our team in January 2008. Talk about coincidences.

Latanya and Linwood were experiencing the same roller coaster Carrie and I
went through. He had just been notified of a 15 month deployment and he had
to leave in 2 weeks. The roller coaster did not stop there his status
changed from day to day. So one day they go to bed thinking they only have
13 days together left and wake up and it is called off. This is not
unusual. Those who have not experienced a military deployment cannot
appreciate the mental stress that a family goes through before the Military
member ever leaves. The story ends that Linwood's initial deployment was
cancelled.

Latanya and Linwood

I asumed at that point I probably would not hear from either again. Boy was
I wrong. A few weeks ago I received another email where Latanya mentioned a
"Quilt-A-Thon" that she was a part of in Tampa Fl. This was their 3rd year
and were going to be honoring those of us here at Camp Lightning.

I was humbled that by starting this blog to keep my friends and family
informed, that it would play a part in a "Quilt-A-thon" to honor our FOB.

The pictures you see below are from this event.

I will also include a link to all the pictures below.

This is Nettie, she is 80 years old and wanted to support the Troops! Thanks Nettie!

This is Michael who braved all the girls and did his part to contribute.

This is Gregor the owner of Bernina Pfaff sewing center helping out quilting one of the quilts. Like mother Teresa said "we can't all do great things,but we can ALL do small things with great love"

I believe Krystina is in the blue and to her right is Katie and to her left is Tatiana (Latanya's daughter)...these girls gave up their Saturday to help make quilts and letters for us. I will show some of the letters on tomorrows post.

Interesting Day

2007-11-07T09:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was very interesting. We saw the patients that you see in the post below.

Then when I got home I received two care packages. One from Kenny and Margie and another from the group in Florida that I will be telling you about tomorrow.

Kenny and Margie hooked me up yet once again. They sent some nice wool sheets which are very fitting since the temps will be in the 20's next week. They also sent me 2 sweatshirts, a bunch of Christmas movies. We watched the first one last night "Christmas Vacation" while having three of our TERPS over for Chain. It was our first time trying to make Chai ourselves and well was pretty interesting too. One thing that we have plenty of over here is a shortage of electrical outlets. This leads to daisy chaining. I think we had been pushing the laws of electricity before the Chai gathering. Then we not thinking about the consequences plug the water heating element into the already overloaded circuit. It started heating the water up just fine, then it began to smoke a little and gave off some sparks. My heart sank as I saw all our internet servers lights go out. We scrambled around for a while trying to find a less overloaded outlet, because we had to get the water hot to make the Chai. At the same time I am trying to make sure all the network equipment was working correctly. After about 20 minutes of suspense everything came back online and we did not burn the Hut down. At the end of the night the interpretors suggested we do this in their hut the next time.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Ouch!!! That has got to hurt!

2007-11-07T06:54:00.000-06:00

This ANA soldiers arm was broken when he was hit by an AK-47 round

This patient came in with a fracture of his humerus that was 4 months old

Here is a lateral position of the patient above

This guy had his right leg blown off from the knee down and here is the damage to his left leg.

This guy had the same thing as the one above, right leg amputated from the knee down and left leg shattered.

WRC Annual Fundraising Banquet...guest speaker Alan Keyes

2007-11-06T12:08:00.000-06:00

On Thursday The Women's Resource Center of the Gulf Coast will be having
their annual fund raising banquet.

I wanted to talk about it because my wife is the Executive Director there
and I am so proud of her and the work that the Center accomplishes.

If you are close to the Biloxi Area and would like to hear Alan Keyes speak
please give Carrie a call or send her an email. wrcenter@bellsouth.net
This is a fundraising event, so you will get to hear Alan Keyes who I think
is one of the best speakers in America when it comes to conservative topics
and you will also get to hear about the awesome impact the WRC has had on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They are expecting close to 500 in attendance
which is incredible when you consider that last year they only had 360. The
speaker last year was Cal Thomas and the event raised close to $90K. I
think that their annual budget is more than that and it would be incredible
if they were able to raise over $100K this year!

By the way Alan Keyes announced a few weeks ago that he is running for
President. What an opportunity for you if you are available.

Now about Carrie. Where do I start? I don't think there is a more perfect
person out there. She is the perfect wife, perfect mother and her passion
is the WRC. While she is paid for 30hours a week she regularly puts in 60
hours. When we were back in Tampa from 1992-1997 she had told me that she
felt that her calling was to work with Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Many years
passed by and the opportunity never presented itself until around 2001 when
the WRC was founded and Carrie started working with this ministry. There is
an incredible need out there for the mothers who eperience unplanned
pregnancies. It has grown over the years and this past month was the busiest
month they have had to date. This has been a very difficult year for Carrie
as I have been gone since April and there has been much that has happened at
the ministry itself. But as Carrie knows this is God's ministry and somehow
He keeps allowing it to grow and taking them over the next mountain.

Here are some links to check out

http://www.renewamerica.us/

https://www.egivingsystems.org/support/24498/

http://www.wrcenter.info/

Well I will get off my soap box now.

Carrie, I want you and everyone else to know how proud I am of you for
everything. How you have dealt with this deployment, your grace when going
through the fire and how you keep me energized each day here in Afghanistan.

I love you babe!

What a few days continued!

2007-11-06T11:47:00.000-06:00

I know I started a post about "What a day!" but the truth is it has been quite a few days.

I want to do all the events justice so I will need to do iti in 3 different posts.

First I want to talk about the Women's resource Center's Annual Banquet which is in Biloxi on Thursday.

Second I want to talk about today and the Packages I received as well as the Chai Party we had in our hut...almost burning it down.

Finally I want to talk about a group in Tampa Florida that held a Quilt-A-Thon on behalf of the men and women here at Camp Lightning.

So bear with me over the next 2 days and I hope you enjoy all the great things that I get to share.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

What a day!

2007-11-06T10:53:00.000-06:00

These two little guys entertained me most of the day Sunday. Their dad was being seen at the Hospital and they were hanging out outside Radiology in the hallway. For the first hour they played shy but eventually they loosened up and spent a few hours looking at my pictures on my computer and talking about the other brother.

This ANA soldier was walking around with an AK47 made out of beads.

After I took his picture he insisted on taking mine.

Then I went to the Medical Equipment repair office for Chai (Tea)

Here is SSgt Paule enjoying a nice cup of Chai. The Afghans are incredible hosts. The guy whose office we were in spent the entire time preparing everything and waiting on everyone. This is normal for them. They are always putting other people first.

This little guy came in for an xray. He had a broken arm. The Afghans are very tough. They seldom let you know they are in pain. Over teh next few days I will be showing you some pretty incredible pictures and some of the patients and their condition. None of them ever complained and they had some horrendous fractures.

IF

2007-10-31T08:13:00.001-05:00

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too.

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise;

If you can dream and not make dreams your master.

If you can think and not make thoughts your aim.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster.

And treat those two impostors just the same.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken

And stoop and build'em up with worn out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart, and nerve, and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

except the will which says to them "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foe nor loving friend can hurt you,

If all men count with you ... but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth, and everything that's in it.

And which is more ... You'll be a Man, my son!

Carrie sent this poem she received from a friend. I thought it was very good and wanted to share it with everyone else.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Afghani for a day!

2007-10-31T01:52:00.000-05:00

Well today is Halloween and since we are embedded mentors some on our team
wanted to wear the traditional Afghan clothes.

Here is a picture of me with my interpretor. And another with 4 of us that
dressed in Man Jammies ( Man Pajama's).

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Another Great Day in Afghanistan!

2007-10-28T04:20:00.000-05:00

Today has been a great day.

You may ask why?, well that is easy.

It was a full moon last night and we didn't get attacked.

Also the University of Tennessee beat the University of South Carolina in college football. It was a nail biter from the 3rd quarter on. I have to be honest with you I had lost faith. I woke up and the score was 21-0 with Tennessee winning. So I got online and was chatting with my Mom and Carrie. Then the score was 21-7....a little while later 21-14 then all of a sudden it was 21-21 2 minutes left in the game and South Carolina has the ball in Tennessee territory. They had a chip shot for the go ahead field goal to go up 24-21. That is when I gave up on the Vols, wrote this game off as another disappointment. Told my Mom and Carrie good night and then I headed off to breakfast. While eating breakfast another Tn fan came in and said the game was tied up and going into overtime. So I finished and ran back to my room. Got online and my mom and Carrie told me that it was overtime with Tennessee up 27-24. South Carolina then missed their field goal attempt and we won. What makes it sweeter is the fact that there are two National Guard units here on Camp Lightning. One is from the Tennessee National Guard and another from the South Carolina National Guard. So this was rivalry week here too. It is sad that either team had to lose. The guys from South Carolina are our Security Forces here and I have come to know most of them and to a man ( and woman) they are all awesome. It is great to serve side by side with them here in Afghanistan. It is also great to serve with the guys and gals from Tennessee. All the orange makes me feel at home. Any who that is how my great day started.

Went to work for a little while and then to Chapel for services. After Chapel me and Gillespie (Tn National Guard) headed over to the Bazaar. Today they had Kabobs and Pat and I decided to partake. We laid down on the carpet vendors hand made carpets and his sons served us kabobs and Chai. Chai is Tea and I had made it a point to avoid while here in AFghanistan. I couldn't resist today because that was all they had and the spicy kabobs make you thirsty. Well I am glad I tried because the Chai was awesome. Then I got to try on some Afghan clothes. We call them Man-Pajammas or Man-Jammys for short.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

SSgt Neil Paule is our wiring specialist. He has climbed every building on Camp Lightning in our rollout of the Internet here. He also has the 3 cutist little kids you will ever see.

This is the flag pole at Camp Lightning and you can see the HUGE inflatible Big Orange T proudly displayed announcing to all that Tennessee was victorious.

This baby was brought into the hospital today, I wonder how this would go over in America? I have heard of teachers going to jail for doing this to 1st graders.

Sometimes THANK YOU just isn't enough!

2007-10-14T05:13:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take this posting to say Thank You to a special couple that has
been making my life here in Afghanistan so much more bearable.

They are Kenny and Margie. They are my cousins through Carrie's side of the
family but have treated me like a brother.

If there is anything I need Kenny is always wanting to take care of that for
me. I have received over 10 boxes of goodies, books, CD's, more goodies from
them. On top of that Margie has used her skills to make so many things for
us over here. She made 20 neck coolers out of the same material as our Army
Combat Uniforms. She has made 5 banners for the Chapel here on Camp
Lightning. They have kept me supplied with Cola Gummi's and this last care
package was the best of all. She sent me a Tennessee Volunteer Blanket with
my Name and Camp Lightning sewn into the fabric. As if that was not enough
she also made some hanging closets for me and a hanging organizer that can
hold just about anything. I have enclosed some pictures.

This short little Thank You can never truly say what a blessing they have
been to me. I get a phone call from Kenny every night before he goes to bed
and whithout talking to him my day does not start off correctly.

So for all of Carrie's relatives out there thanks again and Aunt Phylis
thanks for having such a great son in Kenny.

I love you guys and can't wait to get back. Kenny has promised me all the
Meatball Sandwhiches I can eat!

Ron

Why Afghanistan will succeed!

2007-10-11T18:28:00.000-05:00

I was walking with my interpretor out the main gate when I passed this
little guy by. As I was about 10 feet away I heard a little voice speaking
in English to me. Hello, How are you?, What is your name?, Thank You, Good
bye. I turn around and this little man runs up to me and shakes my hand
then runs back to his Father. I felt in my pockets for some candy but had
none on me. AS I went a few more steps I wanted to do something for this
impressive little kid. So I went back on the base and picked out some candy
and a teddy bear for him. I gave his dad some sunflower seeds as well. As I
tried to speak with his father I realized that his dad spoke no English.
All the while this little guy is spoting off english word one afer another.
The Father was a taxi driver and even though he knew no English of his own
he knew it was important for his son to learn.

I believe that this is the reason the Afghans will be successful in winning
their counry back. There are a million of these little guys and girls here
in country. If we keep taking it to the enemy so that they can grow up and
get educated Afghanistan will one day stand on its own merit!

Wow 99 days left..we are in the double digits now

2007-10-10T20:13:00.001-05:00

As we pass from the triple digit numbers to the double digit numbers I wanted to take a few minutes and reflect on everything that has happened.

As many of you following my blog know I got deployed to Ft Riley in May of this year for combat skills training. My experience there was fun but I am definitely glad that chapter is behind me now. Getting over here to Gardez seemed like it took a month when in reality it only took two weeks. Now we have been here for 80 days. That is longer than the time I spent at Ft Riley.

So what is the good, the bad and the ugly.

Good:

Afghanistan Nights being able to see every star and the milky way clearly, this will be the most missed part of Afghanistan.
Being assigned to Camp Lightning. I have no doubt that I have been blessed to be here in Gardez. The leadership here is doing it right for the folks staying on this FOB.
MED STORM we started with 17 and are down to 15 but it is a strong team and the guys in my hut are the best. Each member brings something different to the table and when you put us all together we are an incredible team.
Working with the Afghans. This is very rewarding to see a group of people trying to make their country great again.
Care packages: This single thing has shown me how much I am appreciated and loved. Thanks to everyone.
My interpreter Nazif. I look forward to going to work everyday when I know he will be there. He has an excitement for life that I wish all Afghans shared.
Weekly bizarre...to get my Wal-Mart fix
Getting to carry a gun 24/7..there is no crime on the base...I wonder why.
Climbing the mountain. What is scary is that there is one more in November and I have this tiny desire to go again..but I won't...I promise!

The BAD

Magnani's suicide: That event alone has fractured our team in a way that may never be truly healed.
Working with the Afghans. It is rewarding but can also be super frustrating as they repeat the same mistakes 16 year old teens do in America
Having to run into the bunkers when mortars and rockets are fired at our camp.
Missing both my Niece's and my brother's wedding.
Missing both of my son's birthdays Caleb turned 14 yesterday and Colin turns 17 on Friday

The UGLY

Not being there for Carrie as she is undergoing a very ugly and difficult attack.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Haircuts in Afghanistan

2007-10-08T21:00:00.000-05:00

There in the background is the mountain we climbed right behind the electrical pole on the left is the peak..if you follow all the way to the right (ridgeline) then go tot he picture below

and now keep going all the way to the right and you will see the starting point

Here we are in a bunker waiting for the all clear signal...some people come prepared for a long wait

Here is my barber...he is 15...no schooling...his older brother used to run it and handed it off to him.

New ADDRESS

2007-10-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Here is my new mailing address. I will still get mail at the previous address but this one shuld take a few days to a week off the delivery time.

RONNIE TABOR

ARSIC-E

Gardez, FOB Lightning

APO, AE 09354

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

When the hard way is the only way!

2007-10-05T02:13:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you can let your emotions get the best of you.

As many of you know a month ago one of my teammates committed suicide. A
week before doing that he had gone on a patrol that does a mountain climb.
In the immediate aftermath of his suicide a few of us decided to go on the next mountain
climb and sign the Med Storm Rock next to his name.

Then low and behold a few days ago they announced the next climb. I had
already talked myself out of it for many good reasons. First and foremost
it is a 10,000 ft mountain, secondly we are on a patrol wearing all our body
armor and finally it was Friday which is normally a day off and I could
sleep in. I had a little voice inside telling Ron this isn't a good idea and
so I voiced that with my hut mates. Emotions won out again. We got up this
morning at 4am and joined the mountain climb patrol.

I realized in the first 500 yard climb that I had made a major mistake. I
couldn't hear myself think because I was breathing so hard. This process
went on forever. Each time we would get to the top of one ridge there would
be another, and another and you get the point. Ridge after ridge we
climbed. At first it was my lungs that hurt the worst and after about the
8th ridge my legs started getting week. I was reminded of some words to a
Patch the Pirate song. "Never stare up the stairs, just step up the steps,
Little by Little Inch by Inch" I literally climbed this mountan one step at a time.
Now I grew up around West Virginia and have seen some mountains. But I have
to say that those were hills compared to this beast. At one point I was so
deprived of Oxygen that I thought to myself that it would be much easier to
take two steps to the right and fall off then keep going. But I did keep
going and eventually as the pictures prove I made it.

YIPPEE!

What goes up must come down.

After about 30 minutes we started our descent, straight down the mountain.
I don't think my foot landed on sure footing one time. Scary trip down.
After about 30 minutes my legs started shaking and it became even harder.
My lungs were ok going down but my legs took a beating. I turned my left
ankle three times and don't know how I managed not to fall or break my ankle
it was so severe.

Well I am back at Camp Lightning never to go up that mountain again!

Lessons learned:

For every mountain top experience there is a long struggle to get there.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

When you think you can't go on, just take one more step.

As tough as getting tothe mountain top is it is almost as tough getting down.

Enjoy these pictures they cost a lot to get.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Here I am at the peek holding a flag I had flown over Camp Lightning on 9-11-2007.

I will be sending it to Mom and Dad shortly, this is why we do what we are doing for our Country. There is no one at Camp Lightning that wants to have to pay the ultimate price, but everyone is willing to do it! Remember the Men and Women serving!

Me and Sgt Gillespie from the Tn National Guard

Me on the mountaintop...I think I hear Rocky Top in the background.

This is a shot loking up at the peak as we are on our way down.

Here is the Med Storm Stone on the peak. MSgt Magnani is the name in the middle with "Clubber" after it. Click the picture to make it bigger.

There is mine...after I got down I felt like Roadkill!

This is one ridge, the first one!

Here we were about 1/5th of the way up. See all the ridges

We have Satellite..which means internet access in our huts.

2007-09-28T19:59:00.001-05:00

THANK YOU!!!!!

We finally have internet access in our Bhuts here at Camp Lightning.

This was made possible by many of you out there, the friends and supporters of the men and women fighting for our freedom overseas.

For the last 2 months we have been in the process of trying to get Internet Access in our living quarters. I have to admit that the Network folks assigned to Camp Lightning for the last 12 months did nothing to help out on this project. You see they had wired their huts for internet and to help the rest of us would have been a lot of work. ( Please note that these comments are my opinion only, based on facts, and do not represent the DOD or US Army in any way).

Well American ingenuity and determination found a way. First our leadership supported this effort 100%. Without their support this could not have happened. I know I know you are asking yourself why didn't they make the Network folks take care of this. It is simple, we have 3 military branches represented here. Army , Air Force and Navy. The Camp is run by the Army and the Network was run by the Navy personnel. The Army has been gracious to the Navy and Air Force folks and given each much latitude. That is why I do not believe they forced this to be handled through the network. There are a lot of GREAT!!! Navy personnel on this Camp. It just so happens that none of them worked in the Network department for the last 12 months. Alright enough of the ugly side.

4 months ago a contractor was brought in to provide internet much as we have just done. Thy charged everyone a $200 deposit, collected that and never came back. When we first got here there was another contract that would have cost over $48K to the Camp. Each individual would have to pay $100 a month for a 128Kbps connection. The contractor busted a few suspenses and I siezed the opportunity to discuss a Vsat option with the Camp Leadership. I showed them how I could reduce the cost to as little as $30 per person. They supported it 100% from the get go. Then many of you my friends pitched in and helped us purchase the equipment. Here on the camp we pay $4000 every 3 months for the access. It is not blazing fast, but it is in our Bhuts. Before we were restricted from using our video feeds to see our family, today we are not. I had 5 different people approach me yesterday saying thanks because they got to see their kids for the first time since leaving the states. That thanks goes to each one of you that helped out.

Another big thanks goes out to the volunteers that helped make this happen on site. We have worked non-stop at our regular deployment job and getting all the cables run and switches and modems setup and here recently setting all the users computers up for access. These are guys who had no network experience but have done an awesome job. Each one has jumped in anywhere they could and as a result we have over 3500 feet of Cat 5 cable ran, 4 switches and 18 routers setup. With 100 users signed up. Job well done!

Here are a few pictures of the setup process.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Our version of Wal-Mart

2007-09-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

Each week there is Bizaar outside the gate of Camp Lightning.

This is as close to Wal-Mart as we get. What is funny is that a lot of the
items are the same ones in Flea Markets all over America each week.

The only thing not having a Wal-Mart over here has done for me is save me
money and a lot of it.

Oh yeah we got our first rain since I landed in Afghanistan. There was a
huge Thunder and Lightning storm last night and the smell of rain was great
in the morning.

More PICS

2007-09-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

One thing that does not go unnoticed by me is that it is very expensive to send stuff over here. I imagine that I have received over $1000 just in shipping , so maybe the postal rates won't go up this year!

Here is my new wood door...very nice.

This came in a Care Package from Carrie's family. (Don & Judy, Aunt Phyliss, June, Doug and Don, Uncle Sonny & Vickie, Aunt Nene & Mike).

That's right a brand new color printer for with extra paper, and ink. Thanks!!

Now we can print pictures of the Afghans and give it to them. If you notice most pictures in the middle east you will see Billboards of the leaders, if you go into offices you will see pictures of the leaders. It is a big deal for an Afghan to have his picture in color. It makes them important.

24 bags of Terrayki beef jerky from Carries Mom & Dad!

Oh yea! Delicious. Thanks I also got a box of Excedrin...and I do mean a box full.

Another picture of my bed, Carrie noticed that her picture was missing on the last one. It had fallen behind the bed and I was too lazy to pull everything out so I used the new printer to make a new one.

Here is the printer in action...sometimes we take the little luxuries for granted..not over here!

Here is myself and some kids outside the compound, we just gave them some candy and took advantage of the photo op.

Almost Home Sweet Home

2007-09-15T09:35:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of my new room. I say new because I completely renovated it.

The room is about 6' by 10".

I used to have a bunk bed and a huge metal wall locker. Over the last few days I have taken the locker and bunkbeds out. I made a wooden bed out of scrap lumber. So basically my bed is 3/4 plywood with a Memory Foam mattress top. It isn't that bad at all, the memory foam has been AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

They just installed wooden doors versus the blanket that served as a door before. I will upload pictures of those later.

Here is my battle rattle, basically body armour, hemet, gloves and M4 for a quick grab when running out the door.

There is my new wooden bed made from scraps by yours truly.

Here is the floor space these moves opened up for me.

Here is my closets with uniforms and such.

Banners for our Chapel from Margie!

2007-09-13T05:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks Margie for making the banners! They make a big difference in the
Chapel.

Thoughts on September 11th from Afghanistan

2007-09-11T04:53:00.000-05:00

Thoughts on September 11th from Afghanistan

As many of you know it has been quite a few weeks here at Camp Lightning.

The mission ended today so I can share that we have been taking it to the Taliban in this area for the last month. Score hundreds of Taliban dead Americans 7.

Today has provided a lot of retrospect of 9-11-2001. I remember where I was when I heard the announcement on the radio in my Car and then as I saw the images on every TV screen I passed. It was the events of that day that brought me here to Afghanistan. General Jonathan George shared a message with us today at lunch. A few weeks after 9-11 in the 7th Game of the World Series Gen John Jumper AF Chief of Staff was in attendance as a guest of the owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks. A few people saw a young lady with two young children approach him. The owner of the Diamonbacks told Gen Jumper that this young lady had lost her husband in Tower 2. Gen Jumper did not know what to do when the lady grabbed him in a big hug and whispered something in his ear. Gen George shared with us if you had been standing behind Gen Jumper as he was you would have heard the young lady tell Gen Jumper, "Give it to the enemy". Well here we are today still giving it to the enemy 6 years later.

I along with all the men and women here at Camp Lightning are proud to giving it to the enemy. It was awesome to watch a few convoys roll back into lightning after chasing the Taliban around for the last 4 weeks. And it was mostly chasing because the Taliban rarely chose to fight the best Army in the world.

So for all the families and friends who have lost loved ones either on 9-11 or the battles that have been fought since we are going to continue to keep giving it to the enemy.

I hope this will allow you to think back on what 9-11 means to you today!

Thanks for everyone out there that have supported the troops! Knowing that you are out there praying for us makes our job so much easier. I will leave you with this quote by whom I do not know!

It's the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the freedom of the press.

It's the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the freedom of speech.

It's the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

THANKS EVERYONE

2007-09-09T09:17:00.000-05:00

I failed to mention in my earlier post, but one thing my friend had said to me last Sunday was that he was jealous becaus of all the packages I receive from family and friends. It is great knowing that there are so many of you out there that care for everyone of us deployers.

Thanks for the cards, the kind words, the candy, chairs, tapes, books, money, soap, shampoo, magazines, radiology stuff, memory foam mattress and most of all your love and support. You all make it easy for me to get up every day and do what it takes to keep each and everyone of you safe. I hope what I am doing this year will keep our children from having to do it 10 years from now.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

The Horrible side of Suicide.

2007-09-09T04:36:00.001-05:00

On Monday night we got to experience the fun of a mortar and rocket attack on our camp just a few hours after the all clear signal was given we experienced the horrror of one of our own taking his life by suicide. I am not going to eulogize and tell what a great guys he was, or all the cool things I know about him. There are many of those things to share. Instead I want to share the ugly side that those who commit suicide never think about. That is the pain they cause those friends and family close to them when they choose the cowards way out of personal problems.

First was the person just a few feet from him when he ended his life on this earth. This lady was involved with him in a relationship and was trying to break it off. I think he did it in front of her because he wanted her to hurt just like he was hurting. Now she will go through life with the knowledge that someone killed themselves because of her actions. She will have to live with the fact that her actions have divided a very tight team.

Then there are those on his team that came across his body, had to move him, pronounce him dead, read scripture over his corpse and pray with the team. To see his lifeless body with blood pouring out his head knowing there was nothing that could be done. To have people torment themselves wondering what they could have done differently. What could they have done to keep him from this senseless act. All his problems here on this earth are gone. But he has left a lot of friends with more problems. For me it is hard enough being away from my family and friends. Throw in the senseless suicide of a friend and having to run into bunkers at 11pm beacuse of mortar fire and rockets makes things much worse.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

More Boxes and more pictures!

2007-09-02T07:05:00.000-05:00

Well another week has gone by! I am down to day 138 but who is counting.

A lot has happened over the past week. We have lost another 4 American soldiers the worst of it all. When we lose someone there is a communication blackout for at least 24 hours while the families are notified. The sad part is that while the blackout is on we all miss communicating with our friends. When it is lifted it is with mixed emotions for us. We are excited to be able tocommunicate again, but we are saddened because we know that came at the expense of a family being notified of their Son's death. Sorry to start this off so gloomy but that is our reality over here.

Got some more packages and thought I would tell the world about how great my
friends and family are.

This is a picture of Hygiene packs prepared by the Keesler Radiology department. If you want to get in on the fun here is what they are doing. They have prepared 1 Gallon size ziplock bags with a bar of soap, some body powder, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant. There are currently an undisclosed number of Afghan National Army soldiers working in the ANA Hospital that I am a embedded mentor in. To say it bluntly the hygiene here stinks. It is not that they are a dirty people, but that they do not have the hygiene items needed. I know in America we would be insulted to get one of these bags because someone is sending us a message. In Afghanistan they think that I am their best friend if I send give them one of these. So if you have been sitting on the sidelines and want to help make a difference over here put a few of these packs together and send them to the address on the right of this screen. Get some folks from your church, workplace or school involved with you. I will take lost of pics when we hand these out.

Here are some Radiology teaching materials that I will be using over the next 6 months to make the Radiology services here in Afghanistan on par with what we get in America.

If you saw my post about getting some candy from my dad to hand out, in an earlier post well here is my first victim. This little girl was excited to get this lollipop from the American.

Afghans don't need chairs...they just squat in the halls and as you can see there are no chairs in sight. Some days there will be 40 people lined up in the hallway squating waiting to be called.

No Afghan wants you to walk past them with a camera wihout taking a picture. This kid is crippled from Poilio as a child.

Here was my first meal off site with my interpretor. It was Goat kabobs! Yum yum!

The hard part was picking which one we wanted to eat, out back in the yard. Just kidding!

SSgt Paule about to enjoy his goat.

Specialist jacobs chowing down too!

More boxes today...this shipment included some chairs, a projector and screen, the hygiene kits, a care package from the Conway Family and a care package from Carrie..the gummi's are already gone...send more!

Here is our card table with a covering of felt sent by Kenny and Margie, THANKS guys...yeah no more splinters while palying cards.

Here is one of the chairs sent by Rickie Ragan a good friend from Louisiana. Thanks Rickie.

Now don't go getting teary eyed on me..yes that is a 29" TV we purchased from another soldier here about to head back home. I got up at 4:30 am to watch the Tennessee Vols get whooped! I should have slept in. The shelving was built out of scraps by my Battle Buddy MSgt Finch. He has some major OCD issues but as always the product was awesome especially since we had to make it from scraps and nails salvaged from other projects.

King for a day!

2007-08-28T00:30:00.000-05:00

There is a mailman behind those boxes

Box from the House of Victory

Here is my new memory foam mattress covering. It Rocks!

King for a Day!

When it rains it pours. Today I stopped by the post office and asked if the
mail came yesterday and did I have anything.

The guy assigned to the Post Office looked at me kind of funny and said "Do
you have a truck?" I had 9 boxes and 2 envelopes.

It was like Christmas in August. Thank you all so much for supporting us
troops out here getting it done.

I had 2 boxes from my cousin Kenny and Margie, 3 boxes from my Dad, 2 boxes
from the Folks at RADSYM ( Carol, Venton and Lynnette), 1 box from Stephen
Triggs, and 1 box from the House of Victory in Illinois. I also got a letter
with a Sporting News from Scott Sherwood and the sweetest card from my Aunt
Phyllis. You name it I got it! From Candy and snack foods, to soap and
shampoos, Lysol wipes and felt for a card table to Army camouflage patterned
neck coolers for everyone on my team handmade by Margie. Dolphin's
paraphernalia along with rook, rummy and 4 decks of playing cards. Also a
memory foam insert for my bunk, I am going to miss feeling those springs
tonight, every last one of them.

Thank you all so very much!Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Memorial Service for Fallen Soldier

2007-08-16T06:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from todays Memorial Service.

tibia bullet wound, chest with shrapnel, tibia bullet AP post operation, tibia bullet post operation

2007-08-15T01:52:00.000-05:00

These are some pictures of x-rays taken yesterday.

Yesterday was a bad day all around. We lost 2 ANA soldiers and 1 Coalition
Soldier to a convoy ambush.

The highs and lows are incredible. You could feel the morale change when the mail made it here Sunday and then yesterday we had the wind taken out of sails responding to a mass casualty event and losing a total of three.

This keeps are head on straight becuase it is easy to get complacent until te bullets start flying.

I also x-rayed 2 young guys ( 18 & 19) from the 82ABN that had been in a fire fight. This week.

Until next time...

Here is an xray showing the damage to the tibia after being shot by an AK-47

Here is a Chest xray with shrapnel ...this guy was very lucky all he got out of this was a broken rib and some xtra lead. The rib deflected the shrapnel/bullet from going through his lung just like they were designed to do.

Lateral chest with shrapnel

PACKAGES

2007-08-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

Well it has been a while but I finally got some mail today.

It wasn't because people weren't sending anything but rather because we are
having issues with the bad guys and that slows down the mail runs.

Well thankfully I did get some. My awesome wife sent me a card and a package
with all kinds of goodies.

Scott Sherwood an old Air Force buddy of mine from MacDill has been sending
me the Sporting News since I was at Ft Riley and I am just now getting the
first one here at Lightning. Thanks Scott...I hope the Browns have a great
year for you!

Stephen "Stevie Clause" Triggs another old Air Force buddy sent me a stack
of Sports Illustrated magazines. Thanks Stepen I am glad I didn't have to
wait for Dec 25th to get this delivery.

Well that was it for today.

So if you want to get famous and have your name posted on the World Wide Web
from the other side of the world just send me something.

To give you an idea of how fast (or slow) it takes a package to arrive here
most of these were sent around the 28th-30th of July. Since we are an
outlying base the mail sometimes sits at the hub site for a week...depending
on conditions.

Have agreat Air Force day cause I am!

Ronnie

FW: Some PICS for your viewing pleasure

2007-08-11T10:20:00.000-05:00

Me outside my new Home Sweet Home

Winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan National Army.

These guys love to have their pictures taken...they just hate to smile.

We are here so these guys will have a future.

I bought these three movies for $5 total. The necklaces are for Carrie

a view inside my room..if you see this Ms Teal I have less room than your office now.

Where I keep all the goodies you guys send

Nice hardwood flooring..throughout the entire B Hut

My sign in case anyone wants to know who they are stealing from

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

FW: X-ray Lessons Learned in Afghanistan

2007-08-07T09:54:00.000-05:00

Here is an email I sent to the Radiology Department at Keesler AFB.

Hey guys. As many of you know I spent from May through the end of July up at Ft Riley Kansas doing a Combat Skills Training course. The last week of August I left Kansas for Afghanistan. After a week and a half of traveling and waiting I finally arrived for my mission. I am part of a medical team that is embedded with the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Gardez. My job is to help train the x-ray techs that they have and make them more proficient and hopefully more productive.

I thought I would share one of my experiences that I have encountered in the first week.

In the Air Force we spend 1 year getting our training in Radiology. In the ANA they go to Pakistan for a few months and get hands on training only. The first x-ray I observed them perform was a PA Chest. The tech did not use any detents and opened the colimator so that the light covered the entire bucky and was on the wall as well. He did not Center the X-ray and was not worried about his distance. The equipment here is state of the art. They have a GE Proteus X-Ray room and a AGFA SOLO CR. Their portable unit is a digital portable unit made by Siemens. So equipment is not an issue. After doing the PA and they saw that the x-ray was OK they sent the patient away. I asked why they did not do a lateral and they said the Dr did not ask for a lateral. I came to learn that they only do one view for all x-ray procedures. A kid came in with an ankle injury. They did and AP and sent him on his way.

My job is to train them and make them the best x-ray techs possible in the short time I am here. My first goal was to cover the fundamentals. I started by going over exposure factors today. I asked them what technique they would use for a KUB on a regular size patient, they pointed to a technique that was on the wall. I then asked them to give me a techinque for a KUB on a very large patient, they pointed to the exact same technique. They have only one technique for every x-ray. It does not matter if it is a Ap or Lateral they are all the same. It does not matter the size of the patient, their technique chart is a one size fits all, that is all they know. And when they take the x-ray they never look at anatomy. They take one x-ray and send the patient away. Their philosphy is if the Doctor wants another xray he will bring the patient back down and tell them what xray he wants.

I definitely have my work cut out for me. A lesson to take away from this is "Don't take for granted what you have learned as an X-ray tech in the Air Force". Two reasons, first you have received the best Radiology training out of all the military branches. Secondly you may be in my shoes a year from now teaching someone who speaks a foreign language radiology skills.

HOOAH From Afghanistan!

MSgt Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Life on Lightning

2007-08-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

A view of one of the surrounding mountatins

Here is a picture of the moon through the clouds

Another view of the surrounding areas

Old Glory

Inside of our tent...Home Sweet Home

Here we set up a table from a crate and a few chairs

What a nice sunset

Capt Payette

I got carrie the blue one to match her eyes....just kidding

Formation recognizing those about to return to the states and the great job they performed

MWR putting on a BBQ for us (Civillian contractors)

Here is the FOB board telling of upcoming events.

Hey folks,

Thought I would share a few more pictures with you.

I have been asked why I only talk about life on the FOB and not the actual war stuff.

Here it is short and sweet. I do not want to cover any operational info. We have men and women going outside the wires everyday, including myself. We are very close to the Taliban and members that we share this FOB with engage them on a daily basis. To keep them secure we don't discuss it. When I get back and see you in person I can share some of the operations experience. I hope I can still keep this blog exciting.

Here are some photos above I will try to get captions below each.

I have received many emails from you my friends demonstrating your support for all of us out here. I want to say thanks from the bottom of my heart. I try to keep things lighthearted and find the funny in things but I want to say it is tough. When we leave the base we will come back covered head to toe with dust it gets into everything inluding our equipment. It takes a very long time and hard work to clean thing s and keep them in working condition. I passed by another trooper in the restroom who had just come back and he and his weapons were saturated with dust. You could see the weariness in his body but he still had 2 hours of cleaning up just to get to bed and do it all again tomorrow. Today after work trying to catch a nap 4 of us just tossed and turned in our tent with 104 degrees F. I got up after 20 minutes soaked with sweat. I think everyone on this FOB goes through those miserable times each and everyday. I don't hear any complaining though. Sure we want to go back to our families but there is no belly aching here when we have to eat the sour apples. Most just focus on something else until the miserable part ends.

I am hoping to have a Miliary slide show together you can download in the next few weeks.

Until the next time.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Life in Afghanistan

2007-08-03T04:17:00.000-05:00

This is currently where I call home. There are anywhere between 11-15 in the tent at any one time. I expect within 10 days to be moved into a more permanent BHUT.

Here is what a BHUT looks like. It sleeps six if you are lucky and 8-10 if you are not. I am feeling lucky.

Here we had an extra bunk so we removed the top and set the mattresses up like a couch. We are living the life now. Playing Spades and Uno till our hearts our content. That is my battle buddy Rob Finch on the Couch and the guy with ADD is Neil Paule our Medic, I think he may have gotten into the medicine. Capt Payatte is the Cool looking fellow on the right sitting in front of the unseen fan.

Here is my bunk. I voted it most disorganized of the day. And the aforementioned fan.

And here is the guy you have come to know and love…ME! Doing what else but drafting a juicy love note to Carrie.

Tonight we get Crab Legs and Tomorrow night Lobster tails. I can’t wait to try them. Our schedule literally revolves around the next meal. Tomorrow and Sunday the Bazaar comes to camp so maybe there will be something exciting there for me to share.

Thanks for all the emails that have been sent and the Comments on the blog. There are still a lot of secret admirerers that are accessing the web page but not sending any correspondence. Don’t be shy. I have 18 free hours a day to read and respond to your mail.

Till tomorrow.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

First Day on the job and almost saved the world!

2007-08-02T02:32:00.001-05:00

We started working at the ANA hospial today. And with 30 minutes I had a 40 day old equipment problem solved. It sure is a good thing I came, huh? In the states we expect a response for equipment that is down in 4 hours in Afghanistan they are happy if they get it in 4 weeks.

In case you are not feeling sorry for me yet look at the temperature on the thermostat. That is inside our tent that we will love in for the next two weeks.

The other pictures are Me with Raheema and Sammy, as well as the x-ray equipment.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Relativity

2007-07-30T03:56:00.001-05:00

Since getting notified of this deployment I have graded each location by three factors. 1) Bathroom/ Shower facilities 2) Sleeping Conditions 3) Weather. In that order.

So lets go over each location I have been at and comment on each area respectively. I will grade each on a HOOAH Scale. 1 HOOAH Being normal deployed expectations and 5 HOOAHS being “I must be Living Right” Conditions. For the really Horrible expeience I am using Un Uhhs!

Location Bathroom/ Shower Sleeping Conditions Weather

Ft Riley 5 HOOAHS! 3 HOOAHS 5 HOOAHS

Manas 2 Un Uhhs! 1 HOOAH 5 HOOAHS

Bagram 1 HOOAH 1 HOOAH 1 HOOAH

Phoenix 3 HOOAHS 3 Un Uhhs!! 1 HOOAH

Lightning 5 HOOAHS! 3 HOOAHs 5 HOOAHS

Now for comments on the 5 HOOAHS and UN Uhhs! Ft Riley received 5 HOOAHS for Weather and Bathrooms because the weather could have been awful but was a pleasant delight. The Bathroom facilities were great and I could not complain if I wanted to!

Manas received 5 HOOAHS for weather. The picture of the mountains said it all. It received Un Uhhs for Bathrooms because they were the “the worst” we have encountered to date. I would not wish them on my enemies ( well a few come to mind that I would not mind) to have to use. It is not just the smell, they weren’t clean and if you found a commode that was somewhat empty of materials it was like riding a unicycle because the toilets are made of plastic and as far as I could tell were not secured to anything. So you had to have the balance of a high wire artist when wiping. Overall Manas was great they have lots of MWR stuff going on, wifi and a great view. But in my hierarchy Bathrooms rule!

Bagram, I probably can't grade this one fairly but the grades are what they are.

Camp Phoenix was a big disappointment. The Un uhhs for sleeping were the result of being packed into tents with the AC ducts having more dust in them than on the floor. It was bad and that is why I got on the first convoy out of Phoenix. A big Hooah For that!

Camp Lightning. This is where I am going with my relativity diatribe. If we had left Ft Riley or even Keesler and came straight to Camp Lightning I may have graded all three areas at Lightning with a single Hooah! But with our experiences at Riley, Manas, Bagram and Phoenix, Lightning has become a sweet place to land for 6 months. Don’t get me wrong. Lightning is an austere location by the very definition of the word. It has been attacked by rockets/mortars on a monthly basis. We are only a few miles from active Taliban strongholds. We have Americas finest fighters operating in the area being the tip of the spear. Lightning is no walk in the park. But when you see other locations that in my scale of what is a nice and not so nice place to be, Lightning becomes a thing of beauty. And everything is relative to how bad it could be versus how good the AF usually has it.

Pictures to come later.

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Home Sweet Home...well almost!

2007-07-30T03:45:00.000-05:00

Finally here!

Well we made it safely to Gardez. Hopefully the picture will upload with this message.

I can't say that the convoy trip was uneventful. One of our HUMVEES ( the one I was in) broke down due to overheating. When that happens you can't just run to the next service station and add water. We emptied every water bottle we had to get the vehicle operating again but that was only a temporary fix since we had to go over a 10,000 ft mountain. We ended up getting towed by another HUMVEE up the mountain. Guess what happens when you tow a humvee up a mountain..yep that's right the one towing overheats! We did finally make it over and pretty much coasted down the other side. It was interesting when we stopped. We setup a security perimeer and no vehicles were allowed to get within 300 yards of the convoy. Well an Afghan National Police truck decided to drive up and find out what was going on. When he was a hundred meters out he decided to stop. ANP vehicles are not marked like police cars in America it was simply a pickup with ANP inside. Anyhow, when they got within 100 meters 4 Security personnel along with the machine gun mounted on the last vehicle everyone brought their wepons to the ready with the truck being the intended target. The ANP truck skidded to a stop. I recognized the uniforms as ANP and one of the Army troops went to speak with the ANP. No one else decided to test the Convoys security and waited patienty for us to get on our way.

We will be living in a tent for 2-4 weeks while our rooms are being built. I will be adding a blog about relativity soon in relation to the conditions I found myself in.

Talk with you soon!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Moving out

2007-07-27T18:13:00.001-05:00

Pat Tillman USO Center

That was our transportation

Well I have made it safely to Bagram Air Base yesterday and will be moving forward today. Travel was very good. If you have never landed in a C17 in a combat zone you don't know what you are missing.

It was exciting to say the least. After getting off the plane and inprocessed we hit the chow hall and pretty much went to bed after that. We were at at 0200 this morning. Not because we had to but because a couple of Marines decided that as they were heading out they would be as loud as possible. Gotta love em! The few the proud and this morning the Stupid! I 'm just kidding. I love the Marines. Someones gotta bust the doors down!

Anyways I am at the Pat Tillman USO center. They gave me a free 300 minute phone card. God Bless the USO they also have FREE wireless internet. SO next time you get a chance support them!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Not so fast!

2007-07-26T11:05:00.000-05:00

Well we almost left. We spent all day packing and were 10 minutes from loading the bags on the plane when we got the stand down order.

So I get to continue to master the sit and wait mode.

So basically we can get pulled at anytime when there is room on a plane that is heading our direction.

Talk with you soon!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Moving Out Soon

2007-07-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

Here is my beautiful home.

This is a view of 1/4th of the bay.
It sleeps over 160 guys right now

I will be leaving my frist leg stopover very soon...so there may be a few days to a week before you see any updates.

No worries just new locations and Internet connections may not be available.

I am going to upload some pictures of my sleeping arrangements

Home for a few days

2007-07-23T23:04:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from my temporary home. Still on first leg.

Thank goodness for the internet Cafe that is how I am updating this.

A little slice of home in the form of a Pizza Hut on a trailer...the pizza is good as any frozen pizza I have ever had

First Leg Complete

2007-07-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

Loading Bags Ft Riley Out Processing

Being Bussed to Plane America's Finest

Lay Over in Germany

Well the first leg of my journey is complete. Right now we are in a holding pattern until a forward flight can be arranged this delay could be 2 days or 2 weeks. The good thing is that my 179 days started July 23.

Right now we are all struggling with jet lag. My goal is to go to bed around 11pm local time with the help of some sleeping pills and hopefully get 7-10 hours of rest in. If that happens I should be on my way to adjusting.

I just had a huge blessing. Before leaving Carrie and I purchased Headsets with microphones and downloaded a software called SKYPE (http://www.skype.com/) it allows us to talk for free with each other over teh computer. I shared this with my family and just got off of a Video Call with my Sister, Mom and Dad! If you download the program and enter my email address it will allow me to talk with you as well.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

So Long for a few days!

2007-07-20T21:40:00.001-05:00

The big day is here. That's right its time to fly out.

My training is complete at Ft Riley. We are spending the night in Blue Rapids Kansas with Mr. & Mrs. Petr. Some very dear friends to Carrie through the years.
They have opened up their home to us and it is so much nicer than the confines of a hotel.

I want to say thanks for all the e-mails, prayers, magazines, cars, cards, phone calls that you all have given me over the last 3 months. I also want to say...keep them coming. I cannot put into words the incredible effect of getting a card, letter or Magazine in the mail has on a person's morale (specifically this person).

The Lord has been gracious to me once again. The weather at Ft Riley has been moderate our entire time here. Today we got to feel the heat and humidity I have come to love in Mississippi. the housing here was great and if I ever complain about it ( except for the foul odors only 36 men living in the same room can generate) slap me. Even though the hours were long and though I complained a lot. My time here has been a success. I am an almost lean mean fighting machine. (Check out the photo showing my belt/waist as it shrunk over the weeks...I marked my belt every other week). The only reason that I say almost is the DFAC's fed us incredibly well. I was consuming between 5000 - 7000 calories a day and still lost weight and inches off my belt. Phase II of my "Afghanistan Body Makeover" starts tomorrow. Joy Joy fun fun...send some jerky and cashews!

The Army staff was great to us. Professionals at what they do and I appreciate the hard work that goes into the Army and all those who serve. When they deploy it is for 15 months at a time. There is strong and then there is "Army Strong"...HOOAH to all the men and women in the Army!

When I return I would love to have everyone that reads this blog over. I already have tons of stories and am confident that the next six months will give me a few more.

I am not putting the location I will be at on this site for security reasons, but you can contact Carrie ( taborrw1@cableone..net) and she will send you a weather link to my location so you can keep track.

Sorry for the cryptic message but I have so much on my mind, I am trying to get my carry on luggage down to the bare essentials but also keeping anything needed for a contingency. I will be traveling for 24 hours straight.

Take care everyone!

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Living quarters

2007-07-18T22:16:00.000-05:00

Here is what my living conditions will look like...this is a picture taken this week from the Forward Operating Base (FOB) that I will be spending the next 6 months at.

Last Week with Family

2007-07-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

I have been very fortunate to get to spend my last week here in Kansas with my family.

Here is a Picture with Carrie and I from today.

Notice the Army uniform...this is what I will be wearing in theater. The uniform is much more comfortable than the Air Force's version and I am proud to wear the Flag!

Thanks to everyone who replied to the contact information request!

New Blog Format

2007-07-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

Here is my new address for anyone interested in sending anything. I am sure that when I get over there I will have a list pretty quick.

I will post on this site everytime I receive a package with the date and contents so you know that wha you are sending is making it to me.

Thanks!

Ronnie Tabor

218th BCT/203rd RSAC -E

Camp Phoenix/Gardez

APO AE 09320

Ronnie Tabor

taborrw@gmail.com

"It is an honor to serve"

Jeremiah Denton

Vietnam POW

Getting Ready to head Out

2007-07-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

Well the time is fast approaching my turn to fly out. My training at Ft Riley and Camp Funston definitely had its ups and downs.

I am now trying to refine what I will be taking. I am trying to limit the bags I have to Carry while at the same time making sure I have everything I need.

Mostly downs right now as we have about 6 days of white space ( Army jargon for no training scheduled) Everyone would rather take leave and go home but the powers that be don't seem to understand how important that is to us so we spend maybe an hour or two a day everyday so far this week to justify why we are still here.

The upside is I will get to spend the next few days with my family before the trip.

Thanks everyone for their support. Thanks to Patsi for the Beef Jerky, Scott Sherwood for the Spoting News Magazines and Steve Triggs for the Sports Illustrated. Thanks to Carrie's Mom & Dad for the use of their car while at Ft Riley. It has kept me sane. Thanks to the folks at RADSYM for the kind words and cards.

Please keep all the men and women in your prayers who are over there everyday putting up with the headache so America doesn't have to do this on our turf.

Ron