We Flew the Coop

The two Schwartz chicks flew the coop tonight. We packed our organic (additive, trans fat and hydrogenated oil free) snacks, apples and super cool glow bracelets to our lovely neighbor's house. If I were being 100% honest I would mentioned that I was just too lazy to clean and the idea of visiting was much more appealing... In any event, we had a fun filled evening.

I wasn't going to subject Sophia to the trauma of having photos taken of her as a child in some ridiculous Halloween costume that her goofball mother purchased to make the rest of the world laugh....so I stuffed her into this chicken costume. (No danger to permanent damage, right??)

After one run in with a group of hooligans that refused to obey the "Lights on=Welcoming Trick-or-Treaters" law we packed up our goodies and headed out. We planned on a peaceful evening. I would sit on the floor sipping some sort of cider concoction, our Sophia Chicken would flap her wings and wobble around on her new found crawling legs, and we'd offer our slightly healthy Halloween snacks to creatively dressed children.....

Man were we wrong...

There was a terrible accident on the block! While hiking up the street to the neighbor's we were passed by speeding emergency vehicles (VERY unsafe, considering the narrow road!!). We hurried to see the tragedy causing this "Gaper Delay" on Leonards Lane only to find .....
Onlookers were horrified...


We are still a little shaken up. Who would have even imagined using the ol' Cubby as a weapon?!? It's hard to shake the terrible images from our heads as there are still straw all over the yard.

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeennn!

9 Months Down!!

Dear Family & Friends,

Time is marching rapidly on. We officially hit our nine-month mark in country today and have started the last 90 days of our deployment. It was also a year ago tomorrow that we departed for Fort Riley. While we were often frustrated during our time there, I don't think that we will mind being there so much when we go back there in January: our stay will only be for five days and we will be quickly coming home!

With Halloween now just a few days away, it is not surprising that we all received gift boxes from "Mama Tato" filled with holiday goodies. Thanks to the Maritato family! I also received a hamper full of school supplies and other goodies from Tess Mitchell's church that I intent to deliver to "our" orphanage school (see below) within the next week or so.

We continue supporting the ANA brigade's transition out of the eastern zone. More and more of the team are now back here in Darulaman, and the rest will be returning soon. Our unit's rotation puts us in one of the hottest parts of the country (Jalalabad area) over the summer, and then back in the mountains (above 6,000 ft) over the winter.

We are still cycling people through leave. Our Robert Gerrity just got back from leave where he was promoted to Sergeant (E5) in a ceremony at the armory in Scranton that was attended by his parents. Congratulations, buck sergeant! I will be the last person from our team going on leave, hopefully arriving home on Thanksgiving Day.

While we continue to wrap things up in the east, we are helping a new French team of advisers prepare to take over another one of the kandaks from one of our USMC teams. This team is also from their Mountain Infantry Brigade, but this one is largely made up of soldiers from the French Foreign Legion battalion in the brigade. Because we have to provide the French team with a small US liaison team, over the next month some of our guys now working in the 5th Kandak will be moving into new roles to create the liaison teams.

Attached is a newsletter published by our higher headquarters, the 201st Corps. There are several articles about our brigade, including the cover story about the newly renovated "orphanage" school, the arrival of the French replacement team for our 1st Kandak, and the work our Marine team is doing in Naray.

Best Regards,

GEORGE M. SCHWARTZ
LTC, AR
Team Leader/Senior Mentor
1st Brigade, 201st Corps (ANA ETT)

Family and Friends Update

Family & Friends,

Just a quick note this week. Things are moving rapidly around here in the East as we do final preparations for our movement back to Darulaman, and we are working closely with our replacements now. The weather here in the east has been nice, but at Darulaman the days have been in the 70's and the nights cool.

The volatility of this geographic region was clearly evident after the bombings against former Pakistan Prime Minister Bhutto last night. Although it was a terrible event, the reaction in Afghanistan so far has been interested, but muted. The Afghans seem to have a love-hate relationship with their neighbor. They are very interested in the upcoming second round of the Peace Jirga that will take place in Pakistan because one of the main anti-coalition leaders will participate.

Our next group of French advisors is arriving and we will be busy for the next month getting them integrated.

The 24th marks our one year anniversary on active duty. You may recall that we mustered at Scranton and had some briefings. Although there are moments when time seems to crawl along, in some ways now, it has seemed to fly by.

Best Regards,

GEORGE M. SCHWARTZ
LTC, AR
Team Leader/Senior Mentor
1st Brigade, 201st Corps (ANA ETT)

THIS is Why We Have No Clothes in the Closets

Birthing a Birth Fund

I've been on a mission lately. Another mom that used Rising Moon Midwifery and I have been named Co-Directors of the Birth Fund.

After having Sophia and experiencing the beauty that is an all natural birth in the comfort and peace of our own home I set out on a mission to spread the word. First I started a training program to become a doula (professional labor assistant) and a natural childbirth educator. I figured that one way to educate is to...well, educate. The second endevour was a suggestion to one of the midwives that we start a Birth Fund to assist families that wouldn't otherwise be able to afford to have a homebirth. (*Note* Insurance doesn't cover homebirths in PA...despite it only costing a portion of what a hospital birth costs...and almost nothing compared to what a c-section costs.)

So, my co-director, Amy, and I planned out fundraising ideas for the next year. The first was a consignment sale. The picture of her husband, Ed, was taken while we spent the week pricing and organizing donations. I would label the sale a success. As a matter of fact, it was so successful that Amy has decided that we should have another one this weekend at her house in Kennett Square where she lives. (If you drive down there look for all the wet signs plastered to the poles...it rained...).

Next up on the calender is a screening of The Business of Being Born. We're hosting a screening in Philadelphia on 10 November. (Get your tickets one the Birth Fund website). I had a chance to see it in New Jersey at a conference and I am really excited to be able to offer it to a wider audience in Philadelphia.

So, that's what's going on in my world. Soph is growing like a weed and I'm studying, planning, organizing, and delegating (sure, delegating...). Here is a video about BOLD another event that we're doing next year. It is 10 minutes in lenght...and well worth every minute.

Family and Friends Update_Oct 5

Dear Family & Friends,

Tonight I am up at Camp Faez with the guys from the 5th Kandak team. Everyone seems to be doing well, and we enjoyed a delicious "Jung-oulash" stew together under the patio.

The start of our redeployment from the Eastern Zone back to Darulaman is only weeks away. Preparations continue daily and our relief -- ANA and ETT -- are wrapping up a reconnaissance in our area right now.

There is some bad news about one of our friends and comrades, 1LT Victor Yartz. He has been evacuated to Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany due to a non-combat related medical issue which will probably not allow him to complete his tour with the team. "Yartzie" (yes, I think everyone on the team has a nickname) is our S6 -- Communications Officer -- which is very specialized and simply invaluable for what we do. More importantly, he has been a valued member of the team due to his hard work, great attitude and sharp wit -- some of the more memorable funny lines from this mission can be attributed to Yartzie.

When we found out that he was being evacuated a couple days ago, many of the guys sent him notes wishing him well, and he has been getting back with us throughout the day today. He sounds well and the prognosis is good because his condition was discovered soon enough. We wish Yartzie and Valerie the best on the road to a speedy recovery!

This coming week we will continue to prepare for the hand-over and start planning for the "recovery" period that comes after the return of the units to Darulaman. Ramadan ends this coming weekend, and Friday through Sunday are the Eid holidays -- the post-fasting period celebration. This Tuesday is also the "Night of Power" when Muslims look to the night sky to gain strength for the coming year's struggles.

Best Regards,

GEORGE M. SCHWARTZ
LTC, AR
Team Leader/Senior Mentor
1st Brigade, 201st Corps (ANA ETT)

Family and Friends Update_30 Sept

Dear Family & Friends,

The season is definitely changing. Back in Darulaman, the nights get cool -- into the upper 40'sF -- and in the east, the mountain peaks received a dusting of snow one night this week.

Our brigade's counter-insurgency operations continue even as we begin the preparations to move the unit back to Darulaman starting in mid-October after the end of Ramadan. Once back, the brigade will go into a "recovery" period that will include leave for the ANA soldiers. We will also be finishing up our own leaves at the end of November because leave is not permitted during the last 60 days in country. Back in the state currently are LTC Whitney, SSG Kramer and SPC "Tato."

As you know, we passed our eighth month milestone this past week. Although we have not corresponded with them yet, we have already been notified about our replacememts, who recently arrived at Fort Riley for training. We expect them to arrive shortly before Christmas and to be operational in mid-January.

We will be leaving a much different brigade than the one we took over. Most of the brigade will be mentored by French advisors by that time, and our replacements will be augmenting them. The next group of French arrive at the end of October, and we are preparing for their arrival now.

As you no doubt saw on the news, there was a terrible suicide bombing in Kabul yesterday that killed around 30, mostly ANA. Fortunately, no one from our unit was involved in the blast, but our counterparts are obviously saddened by the number of casualties, and many of the officers knew people who were on the bus.

I am very happy to announce that donations totalling $1,533.33 to The Jakub Argonish Trust and $3,066.66 to The Ball Children Trust were made this past week. These are the combided totals of donations collected from service members here who worked with MSG Ball and SGT Argonish, as well as an additional $1,000 collected by the FRG.

This coming week, the main event for me will be rooting on the fighting Phils to get into the playoffs instead of the Mets!

Best Regards,

GEORGE M. SCHWARTZ
LTC, AR
Team Leader/Senior Mentor
1st Brigade, 201st Corps (ANA ETT)