Snowcaps, plywood huts, and outhouses

Being surrounded by glistening, snowy 25,000-foot peaks for a few months may sound relaxing. Add in sleeping in tents or wooden huts and trudging through snow just to use the bathroom, and a vacation to Afghanistan's critical Bagram Air Field may lose its appeal.

Still, members of the 79th Fighter Squadron, which has about 200 airmen stationed at Bagram, are not complaining. South Carolina's The State newspaper does a nice job of painting a picture of daily life for troops in Afghanistan, as it checks in on the men and women who deployed from Shaw Air Force base, near Sumter, in October.

Most of the airmen are living in huts, with only partitions to give them some personal space. Yet as the airmen explain, many ground troops have much more difficult living situations, holed up at tiny bases on sides of mountains. Another difference is that pilots get a chance to escape, flying above the snowcaps to perform important four to six-hour missions, mostly at night.

"You get used to it pretty quick," said Capt. Dave Snodgrass, of Fort Worth, Texas.

The pilots' primary job is to provide close-air support for U.S. and coalition troops on the ground. Sometimes, that job calls for dropping a bomb on enemy positions or just flying overhead, making enough noise to scare off attackers.

The pilots also use the planes' electronic gear to look for bombs that might be planted along a convoy route.

Flying goes on day and night, and the Shaw airmen have pulled a variety of missions.

"Each time, it's different and that's what keeps it interesting," said Capt. David Finkel, of Los Angeles, who earned college money flying radio station reporters over freeways and towing ad banners along California beaches.

Finkel has an important message for those of us on the homefront at the end of Chuck Crumo's article.

"Keep us in your thoughts. That's good enough for me knowing people back home are thinking about us."