Afghanistan as of week 3

Hey everyone,

I appreciate all the letters and care packages I have been getting.....keep it up :)....they help keep me connected with home and keep my spirits lifted high!

My days are LONG to say the least.....we work 14 hours a day most days. Some days are only 12 and then there is the occasional 17-18 hour day. Talk about tired and worn out....I am already. How I keep going everyday....I have no clue. We work 14 days and get one day off....so pretty much you get one day off for every 2 weeks that you work.....I want my weekends back!!!! Oh and there is no 9-5 shift :(.

Ok....enough with the complaining....things are going ok....except for the fact that I wake up every morning at about 5am (day shift is from 730am-730pm) to the guy in the room next to me having phone sex using Skype with his wife. Its graphic, sickening, and annoying....I dont wanna hear that kinda crap. I know you might think its funny....and it is....except for when its you stuck in the situation.

I miss home, my family and my family of friends! I cant wait till I get to come back home.

Oh....I've been asked to update the care package list.....so I guess I better do that:

Snickers

Baby Ruths

Skittles

TOOTSIE ROLLS (My sister sent me a little baggie of them, they were gone in like 5 minutes)

Vanilla Air Fresheners

100 Watt Lightbulbs

Dvd's

Sermons on CD

Itunes Gift Cards

Care Package Items

Ok, so many of you have asked me to create a list of things that i need over here.....well the truth is its a very long list....so I will start by telling you what you can't send. Some of these are probably no brainers but I just want to make sure I cover all of the bases.

Things that you CANT send:

Alcohol

Knives/Guns/Weapons

Extra Ammo (why you would have it....i dunno)

Anything in a pressurized can

That's pretty much it!!!

Now for things that you can send:

Candy (must be individually wrapped)

---Favorite Candies are: Skittles, Riesens, Rolos, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses with Almonds, Sweedish Fish, Baby Ruth's, Snickers, Strawberry Twizzlers.

Pistachios, Almonds, Cashews, Pecans

Itunes gift cards

Old Spice Body Wash (Game Day scent is my favorite but I also like Pure Sport or theMountain scent)

Drink Mixes (the individual serving packs)

Propel

AA Batteries

Power Strips

Short Extension Cords

100W Light bulbs

Toothbrushes

Blankets

Cookies

Cheese Its

Goldfish

Sermons on Cd

Dried Fruit

Beef Jerky

Deer Jerky (If anyone can get some.....that would be AWESOME!!!)

Clear caulk that comes in a tube......it doesnt require a caulk gun

That's all that I can think of at the moment.....hopefully that list will get you started.

To be honest with you, Care Packages are great and everything and dont get me wrong, they are very much appreciated, but the most valuable thing that you can send is lettters, pictures, prayers and love!!!! Believe me, those four things mean more to me than any of the stuff on the list.

Ok, so today is October 23rd and we have been here for a little over a week....it gets pretty cold at night but its still pretty warm during the day. Apparently there was an earthquake near by but I slept right through it...lol....oops! I gotta go to work now but for everyone else, you are probably already in bed snoozin away. :)

So far (Day 6) in Afghanistan

Hey everyone,

Where do I begin, I am so tired I cant even think straight. Afghanistan is 8.5 hours ahead of Eastern time in the U.S. I get up every morning around 0400 and get online around 0430. Because at that time it is evening time back in the states and I can talk with anyone and everyone. I am on Skype every morning. Skype is a free service that lets me talk to you like if i was on the telephone or I can video chat with you. All that is required is for someone to get a webcam (used only for video chat), and a microphone. All you have to do is go to Skype.com and download the free software and then add me on your contact list and send me a message. My skype name is "robert.hicks.1985". I leave to got do pt around 0530 or 0600. Then the duty day starts and I am busy busy busy until we get released in the evening. I'm online usually at night here too but at that time its around 11am or 12ish Eastern time and most people are at work or school. I go to bed every night around 830 or 9pm.....lol.....i feel so old.....my parents go to bed at that time :(

To describe the environment here. Everything is dusty. So dusty its hard to breathe. Not to mention that we are around 6000 feet about sea level. Georgia is at the most 1500-2000 feet above sea level and that is in the mountains of North Georgia. So it makes it harder to breathe anyway. Everything is dusty around here.......there is no grass, its either rock or sand, which takes some getting used to. Every U.S. soldier carries a fully loaded weapon everywhere they go, even the latrine (bathroom) and shower and that is a very different thing. Imagine how you would feel about walking up and down the street or even to your mailbox if everyone carried a fully loaded weapon with them all the time. Its not the most comforting thing in the world but at the same time, it is comforting because you have something to defend yourself with, no matter what situation may arise.

The enemy, is uneducated for the most part but at the same time they are very smart. Back in history they have been fighting ever since they became a nation and they have kicked the British's butt a few times along with the Russians. They are a smart enemy and that isnt very comforting.

We are only into day 6 here so, we are still settling in and still waiting to get the remainder of our personal stuff that is in big metal containers called conex's.

If you want my mailing address please email me and I will give it to you. I cant put it on here for security reasons. My email address is robert.hicks.1985@gmail.com or you can facebook me. I am going to try to keep up with writing everyone back as best I can. Important note about mailing things. Postage for mailing stuff over here is the SAME as it would be if you were sending me mail in Atlanta. You do not have to pay international postage on anything including care packages. In fact, if you want to or are planning to send a care package, you dont have to, but the U.S postal service has boxes specifically for APO addresses. You can go and get one, I'm pretty sure the boxes are free but i could be wrong. You can also use your own box if you would rather do that.

*I will be posting a list of things that you can pick and choose from to put into care packages.* Please know that all mail takes around 2 weeks for it to get to me from the time you send it.

I love and miss you all so very much. Your prayers are very much appreciated and they do NOT go unnoticed. I can promise you that. I am so blessed, even in the environment that I am in.

Speaking of blessings.....You should be so thankful that you are an American. Chow isnt bad but its not great.....im already sick and tired of using porta johns, showers.....if you get hot water, you are lucky. You have actual paved roads and your own place to stay. My room (if you wanna call it that) is the size of a twin mattress if you were to take a twin size mattress and turn it around in a circle, you would have a hard time doing it in my little hootch. Hootch is another word for room.

As soon as I get the rest of my personal stuff I will start taking pictures......my camera still hasnt gotten here :(.

There are mountains in every direction around us. We call this place a bowl, the mountains being the sides of the bowl.

I love and miss you all!!!!

Address for Afghanistan

I"m not allowed to put my address on the internet for security reasons. If you want it, email me, facebook me, get it from my mom and dad, or friends!

Care Package Items:

Candy (must be individually wrapped)

Pistachios, Almonds, Cashews

Itunes Gift cards

Old Spice Bodywash (Game Day or Pure Sport Scent

Tylenol Rapid Release

QTips (travel size packages)

Small bags of Potato Chips (Regular or Cheddar)

Small Bags of Cheese Its

Small Bags of Cookies

Little Debbies Nutty Buddys and Oatmeal Pies

Propel Drinks

Goldfish

Chips Ahoy (Regular)

AA Batteries

Spearamint Gum

Dried Fruit

Sermons on CD

Anything else that I think of later I will add in another post......See yall in a year... Love ya lots!!!!

Address Change

Hey yall......ok....integration into the Army Chapter 1 for you people that dont know.....CHANGE IS CONSTANT in the military....the problem is.....lots of time you have to figure it out on your own instead of them telling you.

My mailing address has changed....here is the correct one:

Spc Robert Hicks

B Co 169th AVN HVY

6609 NW Ft. Sill Blvd.

Ft. Sill, OK 73503

If you have already sent me something....I will probably still get it....but I need to know that you have sent something so I can be on the lookout for it...So please let me know. You can send me a text or call me at 706-525-8877 or you can message me on facebook.

Again I love you all and miss you tons.

Mailing Address at Fort Sill

Hey yall....this is very important!!! DO NOT SEND ANYTHING AFTER OCTOBER 1ST!!! If you do there is a chance that I will not receive whatever you send.

My address is:
Robert Hicks
Co. B 1-169 AVN
2025 Adams Rd.
Fort Sill, OK 73503

While I'm at at Fort Sill, you dont need to send me care packages or anything....letters do just fine....plus to me, they are the most important thing to receive anyways!! :)

However, if you want to send care packages, here is some things to put in them.

* Individually rapped Beef Jerkey (Jack Links is my favorite brand and I like original or peppered) however none of that really matters as I"m not too picky!
*Itunes gift cards
*Calling Cards
*CD's
*CD's of Church Services
*Cookies
*Gummi bears and Skittles
*Air Fresheners

Love yall and miss yall SO VERY MUCH!

Summary of my trip to Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA 2009

Ok, So if you read my last blog entry you are probably thinking that this is going to be another down on life post.....well its not.

My trip to FTIG (Ft. Indiantown Gap), PA couldnt have been more helpful to me in this journey we call life. I have definitely learned some valuable lessons that are life long lessons. While my trip up here did have some large potholes in the road, I made it through and I have definitely learned some things on the way.....OH....and I got to meet some really great people too....I will tell you about them in a minute!

Lesson No.1: Digging into the word daily is extremely important!----Now if you know me at all, you know that I HATE to read!!! Its just not me....I have a hard enough time sitting still, much less sitting still and having my face in a book. I had a friend from Kennesaw, Mr. Marc Amason, challenge me to read a chapter of Proverbs a day.......while I cant say that I have been perfect at doing it EVERY day....I have been doin good for the most part and I play catch up every now and then. Thanks Marc! It has been such a wonderful blessing because it starts off my day on the right foot....and Proverbs is a book about wisdom....which is something that I could always use more of.

Lesson No.2: We have to choose our battles. This is easier said than done.....but we as Christians have to do it, we as people have to do it, and I as a Soldier have to do it......sometimes more than I like. If you have read my last post.......well you can just see how frustrated and upset I was about the whole thing.....well I chose to fight that battle....which for me and my rank, was a dangerous battle to fight.....HOWEVER, God works in mysterious ways and I eventually went to the Chaplain about all these problems and he encouraged me in my fight again evil. He said, "We as Christians are suppose to love our enemies but we dont have to love what they do."....he also told me that we as Christians cannot be doormats for people who just dont care how they act. He said that he was very impressed that I was willing to stand up to someone higher ranking that me and tell them that they were wrong in the way that they were acting........but the hard part in this for me was using tact in the way I did that!!!!

Lesson No.3: "Southern Hospitality" is no longer just a southern thing. The people of Annville, PA, specifically the congregation of Annville United Methodist Church opened their arms, their hearts, and their doors to me and welcomed me as if I was family and I cant say THANK YOU enough. They have been such a blessing in my life and in my trip to Pennsylvania. The Taylor family, Diane, Tim, and Timmy, for those of you that dont know, Tim is an E-8 which is quite a bit higher rank than I am, who is in the PA National Guard and is stationed at FTIG. He and his family welcomed me into their home and into their lives, and at least twice a week had me over for dinner and gave me a home cooked meal. I cannot say thank you enough to them. The Lynch family, Pastor John, his wife, Mandy, and Sammy (a golden retriever) welcomed me into the church and also treated me like I was family. Thank you so much! And also, the congregation of Annville United Methodist Church, thank you for loving and serving the Lord in the way that you do.....yall will always have a special place in my heart!

Well I have to go now....I get to play around in a 15 million dollar flight simulator today....YAY....and then tomorrow I leave for KY to visit mom and dad for a couple days and then back home to GEORGIA!!!!! I cant wait to see everyone.

Trip to PA for CH-47 school at EAATS, PA

This place SUCKS!!! Actually its not the place....its the people im with!!! I was here back in 2006 and had no problems......and now....3 years later...im here with two other guys from my unit....who I'm getting ready to deploy with for 12 months.....and there are problems......BIG PROBLEMS....

I can't understand or stand people that dont care about anyone but themselves...and I have two people that are that way!!! How can you not care about anyone but yourself....I dont get it!!! I know there are a lot of people out there that are this way....but I still dont understand how.

I have never met guys that are more perverse or disrespectful towards women in my entire life...there is more to a woman than her private parts and just because she doesnt want to sleep with you or she doesnt pay you any attention does not make her a cunt, slut, whore, bitch, or anything else that I have heard woman called by these two.

I am living in hell up here in PA....it has got to be the toughest spiritual battle I have ever had to face in my life....I am up here away from my church, away from my friends, away from anything and anyone I know and the people I am with up here do nothing but make walking the right path harder.

If I am having this hard of a time up here with only two members of my unit, I hate to think about what life is going to be like half way around the world with my whole unit....I hope my unit isnt all like these two.

Please pray for me, and thank you for all the prayers that you have already sent my way.....it really means alot. However, things are still tough!!!

The way the Lord speaks to me

Alrigth yall......if ya know me at all you know that I dont read....i watch movies, listen to music, and i grow through listening to other Christians. It doesnt always have to be big Christians like Tony Nolan or Johnny Hunt. I love going to Prime and hearing Dave Edwards explain the word to me in the way that he does, I also LOVE going to Echo and listening to Rob McDowell share the message the way that he does and apply it to thing in life that I and others struggle with..... but even then....I also grow through haveing friends that come to me for spiritual advice and friends that give me spiritual advice. One of those friends is Marc Amason, Marc is a former employer of mine and during my employment with him, he became a wonderful mentor to me. He has challenged me to read 1 chapter in Proverbs every day.....so today, April 1st, I am going to start that.......but tonight (March 31st), I am also watching 3 of my most spiritual movies. Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof. I just want to share with everyone what sticks out to me in these movies and in Proverbs 1.

So hear it is:

Flywheel is a movie about honesty.....but it is so much more than that....it really speaks of how your life can be changed when you surrender and allow God to take total control over it.......this task in life is never easy and I know that as for me, I alot of times have trouble with allowing God to have totaly control over my life......if you havent seen this movie I encourage you to rent it and watch it and share it with others that you know and love. At the end of the movie though there are two very important scriptures that I want to share with you.

1. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come." 2nd Corinthians 5:17

2. "for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

Facing the Giants, is a great movie about Coach Grant Taylor, a football coach at Shiloh Christian School, in Georgia. He is faced with many "giants" in his life, he hasnt had a winning season in 6 years, he finds out he is the reason him and his wife cant have the children that they want, and the only thing that his car does faithfully is break down. But in all of this Coach Taylor stays strong in his faith and he shares his faith with his football team which results in a revival among the highschoolers at the school. His new football team sets a new team philosophy, "If we win we will praise Him, and if we lose we will praise Him."

Some of my favorite quotes come from this movie:

1: In this movie Coach Grant Taylor receives a word from the Lord from the mouth of Mr. Bridges, "Revelation 3 says, we serve a God who opens doors that no one can shut and shuts doors that no one can open. He says, Behold, I have place before you an open door that no one can shut. I know you have a little strength, yet you have kept my word and not denied my name."

2: In God's word, He says 365 times "do not fear," and you know if he says it that many times he must mean it." -Mark Richt

3: "You tell me what is impossible with God.......Nothing is impossible with God.

Fireproof is a movie about a marriage that is failing because both people involved in the marriage are living for themselves. There is no honor or respect between the couple. In this, the devil throws in all sorts of problems. The couple decides that they are going to get a divorce, because that is the "easy way" to solve the problems in their marriage. However, during this period of time between the point when they decide to get divorced and they meet with their lawyers, the husband gives his life to Christ and the Lord starts working in him to rid him of the sin that is destroying the marriage. The Lord also uses other people to influence him to start treating his wife better. Because of this, the wife is shown the Love she deserves and see the difference in her husband. The husband ultimately leads his wife to accept Christ in her life and she starts to Respect him more and it saves their marriage.


IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ANY ONE OF THESE MOVIES, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO WATCH THEM AND SHARE THEM WITH OTHERS!


It is now 0135 on April 1st and I'm going to read my Proverb for today and let you know what sticks out to me.

"My son, if sinners entice you, do not give into them" Proverbs 1:10

"For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
--Proverbs 1:32-33



My prayer in posting this is that at least one person who reads this will get something from it.

I leave for PA for 2 months in 10 days and I will keep posting on the blog while I'm up there for training.

Visit to Henderson, KY in March 09

So, I got to go to up to Kentucky to see my parents this past weekend. It was a blast....even thought it was REALLY REALLY short. My sister and my two nephews, my parents, my aunt and uncle (who I hadnt seen in over a year) and my grandparents on my mother's side. It was nice getting to see everyone, it just wasnt long enough.

Just an update on my mood so that everyone knows, I am more encouraged and not so worried as I was in my last post. Two really good friends reminded me that the Lord will never let go of me and that he will never leave me. In knowing that, I know that God has a plan for me and I can do all things through Him.

Thank you all for all of your prayers....they are very much appreciated.

Pictures of Me from the Past

My Sister beautiful sister Anita and my two wonderful nephews Conner and Zach! I love them so much!

March 2009

Hey guys,

So I have never blogged before or anything like it but this is a way for me to keep yall informed as to everything thats going on while im gone....as well as before I go...since we are in March and I dont deploy till August. I'm going to try to keep this updated as much as I possible can and yall can view it anytime yall want. Its going to start off really slow.....im going to only post about once a month or so till I actually deploy because until then I know that I will have cell phone service and I can talk and text just as easily.

I have to admit, for the past 6 months or so, I've known that a deployment was coming and I have been excited about it. I have been eager to deploy because of the growth and the life lessons that I will gain as a result. Also, its a completely new place and its an adventure.

I found out a ton of information when I went down to Savannah for my national guard drill for the month of March. Ever since then all my excitement and whatever positive feelings I had have been overshadowed by feeling of fear.....fear of the unknown mostly. Unknown enemy, unkown living conditions, unknown quality of life, unknown environment and culture, as well as not knowing how this is going to affect my spiritual walk. I can tell you, the military is not the easiest situation for a Christian to be in and continue to follow Christ. A lot of time I find myself slipping in my Christian walk even if I just go down for national guard drill for one weekend. Let alone an entire year where everything is surrounded by violence, sex, porn, cussing, alcohol, you name it.

This is definitely a big time step out of my comfort zone and into a full fledge faith walk with God.

I want to ask you to pray for me, it doesnt have to be everyday, although that would be nice, but just whenever it presses on your heart. I need prayer in this more than ever before in my life.

Again more posts will follow this is just a trial post since I've never done blogging before.

To be continued....