Merry Christmas!

Hello and happy holidays! I'm so happy to let everyone know that Brad will be back in the US on Christmas Eve! Maybe there is a Santa Claus after all....

Brad will be in Indiana at Camp Atterbury for a few days and may be back in Whitney as early as December 29th! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shiner and I are very excited to have our "Pack Leader" back at home soon! Thank you to all who checked on the blog from time to time...it's been fun to update it with all things concerning Brad!

As we go through the holiday season, please keep our military, our civilians in harms way, and their families in your thoughts and prayers. God bless you all through this most wonderful of seasons!

Merry December!

Well, it's finally December! We made it through the entire year! Brad is doing very well. The advance party arrived last week for his replacements so he has been busy turning over all of the work over to the new guys. For Thanksgiving they had a Thanksgiving meal which Brad told me wasn't the greatest...but at least he did have some turkey and dressing! It is looking like Brad will be back in Whitney sometime in early January-Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow!!!! Hopefully by the next update we will have a better idea of an exact date as the Army loves to change things at the last minute!
We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season! Please continue to keep our men and women in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

Almost December!

Hello!

I just wanted to write a quick note to let everyone know that Brad made it back to Gahzni earlier this month and has been busy getting ready for his replacements to arrive. His replacements should arrive in a couple of weeks. So, we are on the down hill slope!

We hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. As it is the season for giving please consider ordering gifts from Overstock.com this year. This website gives you the opportunity to make donations and purchase products where the proceeds go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project. For more information on this great program go to http://www.overstock.com/woundedwarriorproject

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Please continue to keep our men and women overseas and in harms way in your thoughts and prayers.

November is here!

Hello to all!
I apologize for not keeping the blog updated in the month of October, which turned out to be a very busy month. Brad came home on leave the first part of October! We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family and even took a trip to California. We visited San Francisco, Sanoma, and Lake Tahoe. All were fun and very beautiful places. I will make sure to post some of our pictures on our next post.
Unfortunately, we did recieve bad news while Brad was home. While the agricultural team was on a mission, an IED struck one of the vehicles and two soldiers were killed and two were injured. All four are men that Brad worked closely with while he was over in Afghanistan.
I am happy to report that the injured soldiers are on the road to recovery and are doing much better. Please pray for these men as they recover from their injuries. Also, please pray for the young men's families who experienced an incredible loss.
Brad is making his way back to Afghanistan to complete his mission and he will be home in the early part of January. Please pray for his safety as well as for the safety of all of our men and women who are overseas and in harm's way.

Hi From Shiner!

Hello! My Pack Leader is very busy at work in Afghanistan, so I've decided to take over for him for this update! I have been working hard in my Grandma and Grandpa Chlapek's back yard digging a hole to get to my Pack Leader....I'm getting closer everyday! Each day I go out and dig for about 30 minutes and when I get tired, I take a little nap in my tunnel-it's very hard work and I'm sure my Pack Leader will be very surprised to see me when I get to Afghanistan!

I love my Pack Leader very much....please continue to keep him and all of our men and women in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Shiner

September is Here!

I hope that everyone is having a great September! Below is a new letter from Brad as well as a few pictures of what he has been up to lately:

Howdy,
Greetings again from Afghanistan. Not a whole lot has changed around here since my last update, were just about half a month closer to being done with all of this, and that’s something worth mentioning! I have actually been pretty busy these past few weeks since the elections wrapped up. Those elections sure shook things up over here, as I am sure yall heard about all over the news. But, just as predicted, things are almost back to normal, at least until they announce a winner, and we are back trying to improve the agricultural productivity of this area any way we can.

Weve had about 20 brand new projects that we recently got approved and are trying to get started before the winter hits here in another few months. That has pretty much occupied a colossal amount of my time and brain cells, and of course the government’s fiscal year is coming to a close, so we are under a deadline like every other government agency this time of year. All that does is add to an ever growing stack of paperwork, meetings with local contractors and officials, and briefings that I am a part of. On top of all of this, we still have to go out and visit the farms and government officials we work with on a regular basis. Add all of this up, and you have a Brad Clark, who is genuinely ready to come home for a little break and spend some time with the wife and family.

But don’t let me paint too bad of a picture. We have recently gotten a new shipment of food in the chow hall, which means that we have had Dr. Pepper for the first time in about 3 months for the last couple of weeks…..that’s enough to get this red blooded Texan’s heart pumpin! And I have been keeping up with the American League Wild Card Race ( Which the rangers are gonna blow ) and the preseason football games.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello again and I hope that everything is going really well for everyone back home. I thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and can’t wait to see everyone again in a few short months….

Take Care
Bradley

Brad looking at some range grass up in the mountains of Nawur

Finishing a Range Survey in Jaghori
Brad with a Puppy that Straggled into the Area One Morning

Thank you for your continued support! Please remember to keep our men and women in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

Mid-August Note from Brad!

Here is a great note from Brad! It is most informative and the pictures are great too!

Howdy Folks, 15AUG09

Greetings, here from the other side of the world. Things here are rolling along without too much to complain about. It’s now mid August, which means I am 10 months into this thing, and that much closer to being done and coming home to enjoy a state with already established democratic statutes…..and running water. Not that I would mind drinking bottled water the rest of my life…. (Actually I would, but I hate to sound pessimistic about these things). But seriously, I am doing fine and becoming ever more cognizant of my soon approaching leave date. I have decided that today – I am closer than I have ever been to coming home, which is exactly the truth, and I am looking forward to seeing my sweet little wife and all my family and friends when I get to leave. Of course I will have to come back, but only for a short time to finish out the rest of the year.

It is still hot over here. I always thought that TX had the most variance in temperature and weather. After being here for about 8 months I have seen temperatures go from 15 degrees F to 115 degrees F. “Freezer burn to blow torch” is about how I like to describe it. Good news is that in a few months, well be back to freezer burn!
It’s election season here in the wonderful soon to be democratic state of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (or whatever it is exactly that the very important people in charge of this whole thing want it to be..) That means that my job in agriculture is taking a short break for politics. That’s good news for me, cause I could use a quick break. We should know by the end of the month whether the republicans or democrats won….. (that was an ill attempt at a joke…)
I recently took some more trips up into the mountains for a while to visit some villages and check out some of our projects there. As always I had the opportunity to expand my culinary palate, swim with the local kids in the river, and of course, actually get some work done. I can now add homemade goat’s buttermilk and fresh picked mulberries to my repertoire (I had to look up that last word on spell check).
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and let yall know that I’m still doing okay. We even managed to get a satellite hookup to pick up two channels – both government censored and sponsored, but the good news is that one of them runs ESPN and Sports Center every morning. So, as always, don’t feel too bad for me, as long as the satellite holds out, I can keep up with football season.
There’s always someone, somewhere who wishes they had it as good as I do, so I can be thankful for what I do have, and most importantly, I can thank God for what I have waiting for me at home one of these days…….
Take Care,
Bradley

An example of where we live when we go on long missions, this happened to be inside a local high school.

Enjoying some fresh mulberries and discussing the local wheat harvest with a local.

Me and one of my SGT's and some local law enforcement...I gave this guy the name Miami Vice.

Meeting with a local Governor to talk about his area's agriculture.

Picture of me with a local kid while taking a strol through a local market.

Thanks so much for your support for Brad! Please continue to keep our men and women in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

Visitor to Post

Greetings!




It is finally August and currently Brad is on another adventure. He is somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan consulting with farmers and saving the world "One Tomato Plant at a Time." He always looks forward to his consulting work because it gets him out of the FOB and out and about with the local people. He is doing wonderful and great things while he is in Afghanistan. I know he is looking forward to the day when he can bring his experiences back to his work in Texas.


Recently ADT TX02, as his unit is called (I believe) recieved a visit from Govenor Rick Perry. Here Gov. Perry is pictured with Brad and some of Brad's fellow Aggie graduates.

Please continue to keep our men and women in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

Pictures from the Mountains!

Hello! Brad is still doing well and is currently on his base in Gahzni. Here are some wonderful pictures that Brad took while he was on his last field trip into the mountains-it looks like it was a beautiful place to visit!

A Pensive 1LT Clark...

Man with Donkey....and Mountains too...

Brad with Lake...

Brad with Man and Chicken...

Thanks for your support for Brad! Please continue to keep our military and civilians in harms way in your thoughts and prayers!

A Note from Brad...

Howdy,
Ive been informed it’s again time for an update. So here goes: I am still in Afghanistan.

I could expand on that a little I guess……I had a pretty good Fourth of July yesterday, considering. We actually had the day off and I didn’t do a lick of work. Slept in, read a book, played baseball, watched movies and listened to Willie Nelson with all the guys. All in all, a pretty all American celebration – we even had cheese dip and summer sausage. The only thing that could have made it more like a TX 4th of July would be some ice cold beverages, and of course…..being in TX would be nice. One thing that is nice about being in a combat zone on the 4th of July, is that there is no shortage of fireworks.....We didn’t have any roman candles but parachute and signal flares are plentiful around here!
The last few weeks I have been pretty busy to say the least, which is good – it keeps my mind focused on the job and time flies. I know that Molly is happy when I sit in the office most of the time, but lately we’ve been taking lots of trips up into the mountains working on some projects with a tribe of Afghans called “Hazarans”. They are not the Afghans you read about on CNN. They have resisted the Taliban and are more than ready and willing to work with whoever wants to help them. In this case it is us. They take good care of us when we go to visit. I’ve seen some pretty amazing sights over the last few weeks. Trekking and sleeping on 11,000 ft. mountain passes, playing soccer with the kids, and swimming in mountain streams and hot springs – it really takes it out of you! Don’t get me wrong, we do a lot of actual “work” to, but that’s all pretty boring to talk about.
My culinary pallet has been greatly expanded as well. When were on our long missions, we live and eat off the local economy. Homemade goat milk yogurt, lamb and goat kabob, long grain rice, flat bread, and various parts and pieces of multiple types of animals (don’t ask for specifics, cause I don’t know) are all staples of our diet. No major intestinal problems, for the most part, but everyone get a case of “Mohammed’s Revenge” every now and then.
Other than that, its life as usual around here. Every day is different than the day before, and I spend most of my free time dreaming of what I am going to do with my time when I get home for good…again. When I talk to Molly and everyone back home, sounds like things are going well there. If you see Molly, please tell her that she is the most awesome wife in the whole world, and while you’re there, remind her that one of these days I WILL be home for our anniversary. Yep, that’s right, Molly and I have been the perfect married couple for 4 years, the best of my life…. I don’t like spending 3 of 4 anniversaries in a warzone, but because I’m married to the sweetest girl on earth, there’s not a happier man on earth on 9 JULY every year! Love ya Darlin!
So, I guess I ought to keep it short. I miss everyone back home, and congratulations to Rusty and Mindy on having a baby girl! Hold on Clark family, we’re now in uncharted territory! Anyway, I’m always thinking of yall, can’t wait to get home.
Take Care,

Bradley

How far is home?!?

With some time on their hands, the guys followed a Major's example and made signs to show where they are from and how far they are from home. You can see some of Brad's great handi-work on the Lake Whitney sign!
Brad is doing very well and is enjoying using his consulting skills/farming skills this time around. We hope that all of you are doing well and please remember to keep our men and women who are serving our country in your thoughts and prayers!

Happy June!

Happy June to everyone! Below is a letter from Brad as well as a couple of pictures he sent:

Howdy,

Well, I guess you could say that life is clipping right along lately. We are now in June, and the heat is here, the rain has stopped, and the wind is blowing like crazy. No more snow on the slopes and the rivers are back down since there is no snowmelt. Supposedly it will stay just like this until late September time frame. The winter wheat is headed out and almost finished, with spring wheat right behind it. Plums, apricots, peaches, almonds, and apples are coming on as well, slowly but surely. Everything is a little bit slower around here.

Our various gardens back on the base are doing well and occupying our time. All of our potatoes are showing their faces through the sand, and we have 4 rows of corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, melons, and cantaloupe each, all doing okay. Since our drip irrigation has not been delivered, we have been watering the Afghan way….with flood irrigation, which I will mention is probably the most labor intensive method on the earth, aside from hauling a water bucket everywhere, but at least we can keep things wet….

I am still doing just fine. I feel like I have been here forever, while at the same time I feel like I just got here. Some days are great days, others leave things to be desired, but overall, each day has enough surprises and excitement so that each one is different. I have been spending lots of time working on our farm trying to keep our plants alive on the barren piece of land we have to work with. The rest of my time is spent planning operations or actually doing operations. I recently had a memorable visit to wine country…..by that I mean a small village in Ghazni where most of the grape production occurs. My tour was very “enjoyable”; although I am sure it differs greatly from the tour I would get back at home….especially the wine part. The Afghan’s we work with are pretty excited about things this year since they had more spring rain than they have in the last 15 years. That doesn’t offset the fact that they still live in a warzone, but hey, they are used to that….they’re just glad they got some rain.

Anyway, don’t want to be too long winded, just wanted to say hello, and that I miss everyone back home. No need to worry about me, I am doing well. Anytime I feel a little homesick I just go through the mental list of things I want to build around the house, the lakes and rivers I want to fish, and the great food that people are going to cook for me when I get home!!! Just kidding….but not really, I am excited about all the food people are going to cook for me!
Miss yall, love yall, and hope everything is going well for ya back home.
Bradley

Here is a picture of Brad on the job...

Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read about Brad! Please remember to keep our military men and women and their families in your thoughts and prayers! LYPOY!

Pictures

Hello! I'm happy to report that Brad is still doing very well. This week he has been outside working on the farm on the FOB. He planted potatoes, corn, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, and even peppers. Sounds like he is having fun working outside and playing a little in the dirt! Below are some pictures of Brad's adventures:

In the background, is construction for a new veterinary clinic. Brad is helping to arrange the building/management of the clinic. Here he is pictured with various locals.

Here is Brad with a water buffalo, which I actually thought were fictional-that shows how much Brad still needs to teach me about nature! ;0)

Here is Brad sitting down with one of the locals while he went on a "field trip" to the mountains. What a great picture of Brad!

I'm sure we can all guess what Brad is hoping for....a fishing pole and the chance to do some fishing!!

We hope all is well with you all! Please keep Brad and our military families in your thoughts and prayers!

Welcome!

Welcome to Brad's Update Blog! I'm planning on updating the blog around the 1st and the 15th of each month until Brad comes back to the states.

For the first post, here is a letter Brad wanted to share!


Howdy, 3 MAY 2009

I wanted to write something and let everyone know that I am doing just fine. So far, time has been flying by, and now it’s May and we are almost all the way through spring over here in Afghanistan. If I keep as busy as I have been lately, I’ll be back home in no time.

For this deployment, the Army is paying me for my skills in agricultural advising, which is ironic because that is what I do at home…. While Afghanistan is by no means Bosque County, TX, it does keep my life very interesting and gives me the ability to study and learn from an ancient culture everything agriculture related.

I live on a small base in the Ghazni province which is in the central eastern portion of the country about 150 km from Pakistan. The area is controlled by coalition forces, specifically the Polish, so yet again I am a American soldier attached to a Polish Brigade ( if you didn’t know, I was in the same situation in Iraq). Living here is not too bad.
The food is decent, although it is a rotating menu of pretty much the same food every 7 or 8 days. The internet is hit and miss, but for the most part it works good enough to stay in contact with back home. There is an Indian restaurant run by some local nationals on the base that we eat at once a week…..I was pretty hesitant at first since the most adventurous culinary experience I will typically accept is Mexican food, but it is a nice relief from the chow hall every now and then.

I spend the majority of my time in our AG office where we are constantly having meetings with locals and contractors in order to get the agricultural projects we have completed. Most of our projects are aimed at agricultural infrastructure and education. Building feed mills, training extension agents and progressive farmers, developing farmer associations and co ops, and installing practices which will help to conserve water are pretty much what occupy our time. We have over 40 projects we are handling right now that add up to totals in the millions. I am in charge of scheduling all the AG operations, which in turn dictate what the rest of the unit is doing since everything revolves around the team of 12 AG specialists we have in the unit. We don’t run a mission except for AG purposes, which is great for me. We have lots of demonstration farms throughout the province we are developing, so when I do go out on a “ field trip” as Molly calls it, it is typically to visit a farm and do some work out there.

I want everyone to know how much I miss them, and I am looking forward to seeing them. But in the meantime, I am taking it one day at a time, and trying to make the best of the situation I am in, no sense in wasting a day on this earth, might as well do something productive!


Miss y’all, LYPOY!

Bradley