Christmas on Forward Operating Base Apache

Soldiers celebrate holidays in Afghanistan.

By By Lt. Col. James S. Overbye Friday

I would like to share a little about how the soldiers, sailors and airmen deployed here, at Forward Operating Base Apache, celebrated Christmas.

Pictured at the of 2nd Brigade ETTs Christmas Reception on Dec. 25 are, front from left, Capt. Yi, Lt. Col. Overbye, Maj. Wolfe, Master Sgt. Noonan, Capt. George Greanias and, back row, Capt. Hill, Maj. Cornelius, Maj. Melson, Spc. Reily (with hat), CPY Pavao.

First, a little about FOB Apache. FOB Apache is located in Southern Afghanistan, in Zabul province, near the city of Qalat, Afghanistan. Our primary mission here is to serve as mentors or advisors to the 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army. The FOB is small with a population of about 100 personnel.

There were two things that made it possible for us to celebrate and have a great Christmas this year on FOB Apache, the tremendous support we received from the people back home and the celebrations we conducted here on the FOB itself. Regarding the support from back home, through the anysoldier.com program, we received numerous boxes from people back in their States. I was impressed by the amount of support we received from them and the great amount of generosity they demonstrated. Additionally, we received a large number of Christmas cards. These, especially the cards sent from school kids and their classes, were quite entertaining and were especially appreciated.

As far as on the FOB, we did a couple of things to celebrate Christmas this year. Although we don't have a chaplain here at FOB Apache, Christmas Eve we conducted our own special worship service. We have an NCO that is a lay minister, and he put together a wonderful non-denominational Christmas Eve service that included the singing of plenty of Christmas Carols. Silent Night was of course a very big hit.

Following the conclusion of our service, many on the FOB adjourned to our outdoor Gazebo, where we enjoyed some hot chocolate, non-alcoholic beer and some cigars. Three of the guys have guitars, so they did their best to play some music for us and keep us entertained.

Attending the Christmas Reception at FOB Apache are, from left, Lt. Col. James S. Overbye, Emran (Overbye’s interpreter), Maj. Gen. Jamaludieen (2nd Brigade Commander), Master Sgt. Noonan and the 2nd Brigade sergeants major.

Christmas Eve was very still, quiet and dark. Without any lights on the FOB (we are blacked out at night) or from any nearby cities, it was very easy to see many stars. The temperature wasn't too bad, cool, but not what I would call cold. Pretty much by 22:00 hours, the gathering kind of breaks up, and people return to their quarters to sleep.

On Christmas Day, we really didn't have any events in the morning, but at 11:30 hours in the dining facility our KBR cooks prepared an outstanding Christmas Day lunch. It included ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes and many other side dishes. They even had sparkling white grape juice as well as eggnog. The leadership here served the meal to the soldiers, so it was a great opportunity for me to wish everyone on the camp a Merry Christmas as they went through the chow line.

At approximately 18:00 hours that evening we welcomed the leadership of the Afghan National Army Brigade we mentor to FOB Apache for a Christmas Day reception. They had invited us to their Eid dinner, so it is only appropriate that we invite them to our Christmas celebration. Besides, the more we can understand about their customs and traditions and they about ours, the stronger friendships we will build. The closer our personal relationships become, the better we will be at mentoring them and developing together, a highly trained and competent Afghan National Army, that will eventually lead to a free, democratic and peaceful Afghanistan.

At the reception, we served a lot of the food from the lunch early in the day. We sang several carols. The Romanian soldiers stationed here on FOB Apache preformed two carols in their native language, while the U.S. forces here led everyone in signing “Silent Night.” We also had a drawing for some special gifts for the Afghan National Army soldiers that attended, and everyone of them we received a special gift bag just for attending the event. A great time was had by everyone attending including Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Romanian and U.S. personnel.

On Dec. 26, the Romanians on the camp held their own Christmas celebration and invited the U.S. force personnel to it. Their celebration consisted of a short show that included singing of Romanian carols and reciting of traditional Romanian tales. Following the entertainment we went to the Dining Facility where we enjoyed a traditional Romanian meal. The cabbage rolls were especially good. Since most of the meat items served in Romanian meals are pork, they substituted beef and chicken for many of them so our Afghan brothers could enjoy the feast as well.

Lt. Col. James S. Overbye and Lt. Col. Jacob of the Romanian Army at the Christmas Reception at FOB Apache.

All in all it was great Christmas. Naturally, all of us missed home and our families and friends tremendously during the celebrations, but you do derive a great sense of satisfaction from being able to share our customs and traditions with others. For our purpose here is singular and unique, it is to enable the Afghans to fight for their freedom and secure their nation. The stronger bonds and relationships we can develop with them, the better they will be able to do this. Through our efforts will eventually come a lasting peace and the Afghan people will enjoy security and stability. The thought of achieving that for them is worth the sacrifices we are required to make.

Editor note: Jim Overbye, now serving in Afghanistan, headed George Mason University's ROTC program. Overbye leads a team of 14 U.S. mentors embedded with an Afghan army brigade of about 3,000 Afghans. Also among the team of 14 is George Greanias of Springfield. The Connection will print occasional updates from these local soldiers. To contact Overbye, send e- mail to me at mkimm@connectionnewspapers.com and I will forward the messages.