Military members sometimes have crazy traditions when they are deployed. It may be a ritual done each time they leave the wire or a lucky talisman they bring with them to help keep them safe. My friend had a little guy she took with her everywhere. He was often tucked between her uniform and body armor. We would sometimes ask, “Did you bring Hank?” And out he would come from his hidden compartment. I thought it would be fun to show some of the adventures Hank took while he was in Afghanistan.
The adventures of Hank.
This is where it all begins. This is my co-worker and of course, Hank is in the middle. We did not go on very many missions together so this was probably one of our first times outside the wire. 🙂 Taken in the back of an MRAP
Our bags and ammo were carefully inspected by Hank! All seemed to go well when he was around.
He also made sure the bed was in order. And made some new friends.
He was never one to miss a meal. This was taken at one of the Dining Facilities at Bagram Air Field (BAF). Probably the secret one on the flight line that a certain Army friend took some of his special Air Force friends to for Sunday brunch.
 
He was an integral part of tending the garden we built in front of our office. All our hard work produced one small little pumpkin, a good number of flowers, and a lot of fun. Oh yeah, and remember the skull we found while digging out dirt from the HESCO bastion (included link to what I’m talking about, since I couldn’t find what the acronym stands for) to help build our gardens. Another time perhaps for that story.
He helped us with safety. I’m guessing the picture of the stop sign was taken at BAF on Disney. The main street on BAF that stretched at least 2 miles with a chow hall on one end and the contracting office at the other. I walked it countless times. I’m not sure where it got its name, maybe it was so you could say you were taking a stroll down Disney and feel like it was somewhere cooler than Afghanistan. Or maybe because it was the place to be when you were at BAF. I know the drinking fountains were located at BAF. In what was known as the Pink Palace. A huge Pink building located where else? But in the middle of Disney.
It looks like Hank is headed back to the United States while in Afghanistan we were not allowed to drink, but when we were in transition (Manas Air Base) we were allowed two drinks a day. It looks like Hank reached his quota. 🙂
It looks like you found ways to brighten an otherwise very intense period of your life. I love the garden.
We did. The garden was created on a particularly rough day, but he flowers and plants that we created made the memories of that day good ones instead of focusing on the bad.
What a fun pictorial story! I once traveled around Europe for a few days with a large loaf of French bread. We were going to take photos of it everywhere we went, but we got really hungry one day on a train….
Love this story. Those pictures would have been awesome. My friend told me about a little r2d2 that travels with them on road trips. It seems like this is more than a deployment tradition.
That is fantastic! What a fun tradition and I’m sure something that was very comforting to your friend too. I have to admit that I’m super curious about the picture of him with the drinking fountain. I noticed the sign says the water is “non-potable disinfected” and “not for drinking.” So what would you use it for, especially given that it’s a water fountain?
Stopping by from the 31 Days Survivors group…
Valerie
I’m not sure if the plumbing wasn’t correct or if there just wasn’t a way to connect the pipes to potable water. Either way the water wasn’t fit to drink so they were useless drinking fountains, but that is the way it goes when you are in Afghanistan. The only water you drink comes in bottles. There are pallets of water everywhere to ensure you don’t run out. 🙂 Good catch, I meant to talk about that in the write up and must have forgotten.
Lucky charms. I’m giving my boys each a rabbit’s foot for Valentine’s Day this year. Maybe I should look for a Hank instead!
They are called ugly dolls and they make so many different ones in different sizes. They are cute, even though they are “ugly”
These pics made me smile. 🙂
I’m glad you liked them. I had a similar reaction while creating the post.