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!