Warrior Stories: Airman tells of highs and lows of his Afghanistan experience

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Senior Airman Andrew Blasiman, 100th Communications Squadron, deployed with the Army September 2008 to February 2009 as a special forces deployable node technician. They were based out of Kandahar, Afghanistan, at Firebase Maholic.

The story below tells of his time in Afghanistan and the good friends he made - and lost ...

"We were just stepping off a C-130 at Kandahar airfield in the evening, when 'BOOM', there was a sudden huge explosion as we were rocketed," said Airman Blasiman. "Sirens were going off, and that's when I realized it was real. It was time for your game face, if it wasn't already on."

When he first got word of his deployment, the Alliance, Ohio, native didn't actually know where he was going. His orders were for Qatar, and it was to be decided once he got there, whether he would be heading to Iraq or Afghanistan.

On arrival there, he was sent to a base (near Al Udeid, Qatar) for training, where he met up with Staff Sgt. Greg Shultz, also a 100th CS troop, who was to be his partner on a two-man team for the deployment.

The pair was then told they would be going to FB Maholic. They first went to Bagram to in-process and do training in preparation for Afghanistan, then got on an Illinois National Guard C-130 to Kandahar airfield.

"We had all our gear and weapons when the plane parked on the tarmac," Airman Blasiman said. "It was kind of surreal - I was very nervous and scared.

"It was dark, I couldn't see anything," he added. "I'd just gotten off the plane, I had no idea where the bunkers were."

He said he and his team-mate ran into the building (which was the reception area at Kandahar airfield) and waited for the air raid sirens to stop. It happened to be the same building they were to meet their special forces operators who were going to show them around. After that, they were taken to their room (all the furniture was made of plywood) and shown their bunkbeds where they would be sleeping for the next few days.

Ten days after leaving Heathrow airport in England, Airman Blasiman and Sergeant Shultz arrived by helicopter at FB Maholic, ready to start work.

Their primary responsibilities were to keep the satellites up and running, to ensure the special forces folks had all the communications they needed and make sure everything stayed operational.

"It was nice working with the Army," he said. "We developed a good friendship and a bond with them."

Before he left for his deployment, Airman Blasiman was told to buy civilian clothes for his time out there, because he wouldn't be wearing a uniform. During the deployment, he became almost unrecognizable, as he got to grow a beard.

While in Afghanistan, he and Sergeant Shultz had the chance to train with the Army, which included a lot of instruction on the explosives range.

"I heard explosions all the time after I'd been there a few days," he said. "At times, I didn't know if it was our guys doing training, or if something had come in. Once you've heard the explosion but you're not hit by it, you know there's nothing else you can do about it - it's not like you're going to go anywhere to protect yourself. If it's going to hit, it's going to hit."

The 100th CS troop said he learned how to fire a .50 caliber sniper rifle.

"That was on Christmas Day," he said. "It's certainly not something we have the opportunity to do in our career field,"

The two communications guys were also trained on an AK-47, and got to drive a GMV (armored vehicle with a machine gun).

Five months after the start of his deployment, it was finally time for Airman Blasiman to head home.

After landing once again at Al Udeid, he and Sergeant Shultz had to return to the base to out-process.

While on the way there, they ended up getting in a wreck (one of the two other guys in the vehicle was driving), and ended up stuck on the side of the road for eight hours.

"We were told the police would come to us, but they didn't show up. So we ended up going to the police station instead, and we didn't get back until really late. That was a very long day," he said, remembering the moment.

They finally managed to out-process and get back to Al Udeid, but almost ended up missing the rotator.

"If we'd missed it, we'd have had to wait another week for the next one. We asked if there were any planes that happened to be going to RAF Mildenhall, and luckily for us, there was a KC-135 from Grand Forks (Air Force Base, N.D.) , which was heading out that day and stopping at Mildenhall before heading home."

Airman Blasiman said the crew were awesome, and let them sleep in their bunks. He was very excited to be going home, because his wife was meeting him at the RAF Mildenhall passenger terminal.

"We were told we were finally at Mildenhall, so I waited for the landing gear to come down - but nothing happened," he said. "Then a guy told us we might not land there because the weather conditions were terrible; it was very foggy. They said we had one more chance to land, and if it wasn't successful, we'd have to fly into Ramstein (Air Base, Germany).

"I couldn't believe it - we were practically right over my house, yet we were being told we might have to land in Germany."

Luckily, the Grand Forks pilots were looking out for the RAF Mildenhall troops, and landed safely on the last attempt.

"I don't know how those pilots did it, but incredibly they managed to land - the fog was outrageous. I honestly think they landed for us, just because they knew how much it meant for us to be home."

His wife, Erica, was waiting there for him at the terminal, along with Greg's wife and children. The Airman said it was a great feeling to see them.

Unfortunately, his joy didn't last any longer than three weeks.

"Less than a month after I got back, I was reading in the Stars & Stripes newspaper that some people had been killed in Afghanistan, and it listed a group of four names," he said.

"As I was reading those names, I realized that two of them were names of my (Army) friends, who I'd just been working with. I broke down in tears - I was absolutely crushed, and kept reading (the news) over and over again, just hoping it wasn't them."

The two young men had been killed in an improvised explosive device attack on Kandahar City.

It was one of those things you just don't forget. Staff Sgt. Dan Thompson was from the Wisconsin Army National Guard - he was just 24," he said. Staff Sgt. Schuyler Patch, 23, was in the Illinois Army National Guard.

"We played poker together a lot, as there wasn't much to do there in the evenings."

The 100th CS troop said he cried for a long time over it.

"You just never think you're going to read a name in the paper that you know. I was just talking with them three weeks earlier. Reading that was probably one of the worst days of my life," he said.

Airman Blasiman said he still thinks about his two friends every day.

"Little things remind me of Afghanistan. I'll never forget either of them," he said. "I remember Dan's goofiness - he always laughed and smiled. He had an awesome personality, and would do anything for you.

"We all had card holders when we were playing poker, and he had a tiny plastic cow that he sat on top of his cards. He loved it until he thought it brought him bad luck one time, so he stopped using it," he said, laughing at the happy memory of his friend.

"Patch would also do anything for you. He was also a great guy you could hang out with as well; really down-to-earth, and a good person," the Airman said, obviously feeling emotional as he remembered his friends.

Even though he has the sad memory of his loss, Airman Blasiman said that deployments can also be positive.

"It's a hard thing to do, without a doubt. But I feel a huge sense of accomplishment, and while there, I felt I was making a huge contribution to the mission, and directly contributing to the war effort.

"There's a lot of camaraderie, and you make some of the best friends of your life."

"But everyone is out there for the same reason, and it makes you feel very patriotic. I remember looking up at the American flag and never being more proud of it than at that point in my life," he said. "I was proud that I was able to do something for my country."