The day started at 0400 when I linked up with 3^rd Platoon, Bear Troop, 8^th Squadron, 1^st Cavalry Regiment for an all day mission.

"Early enough for you," said SFC Brian Schrank, the noncommissioned officer who would lead the mission.

I replied that I was no stranger to the early rise; I usually run my workouts well before sunrise.

Our four Strykers and one Afghan Border Patrol (ABP) truck pulled out of FOB Blackhawk and headed north down Route 4, the major (although it is only two lanes) thoroughfare between Spin Boldak and Kandahar.

We drove for over an hour; the sky was just beginning to lighten.  When we reached the northern limit of the squadron's AO (area of operations) on the highway, we pulled over and stopped.

The four ABP officers who would do most of the day's work needed to eat breakfast.

By the time they finished up, it was light.  We set to work.

The Strykers pulled off the road; two on each side.  They moved slowly as we looked for any wires the nearer we got to culverts.  Once we decided there were no wires in the area, the ABP officers would get out of their vehicle and search the culverts for IEDs, or improvised explosive devices.

We continued to inch our way down both sides of the highway until about mid-morning.

We then began to stop at small shops on the shoulder of the highway and talk to the shop owners.

"How has business been?" asked Schrank of a 10-year old boy who claimed he was the owner of a small business that sold soft drinks and snack food.

Many of these businesses were comprised of Conex trailers that have been converted into a rough store.  At the front of the box are the goods for sale; in the back there may be a chair or two.  In some of the "stores," there is a small living space.

Life here is as hard as the steel from which the Conex is made.

The boy said that business was good.  When asked about whether or not the Taliban had been around, the lad said no.

At every store we visited, Schrank made sure to leave behind posters telling the owner and his customers who and where to call on suspected Taliban activity. He also gave out newspapers much like one would receive the Ranger Newspaper.

"These sure aren't Wal Marts," commented SSgt. Brian Wozny as we walked back to our Stryker after talking to another storeowner.

At one roadside store, I was once again struck by the colorful and sometimes mismatched clothes the children wore.  Moreover, many of them are bare footed, and those who do wear shoes do so without socks.

Bearing in mind that the temperature at night is dropping into the lower 20s and that these people live in unheated mud huts or Conex boxes, I found myself marveling at their hardiness.

I also reminded myself that their life expectancy is much shorter than ours, and this way of living is a prime reason.

As the day wore on, we pushed on with the mission.  Schrank checked out a spot for a future OP (observation point) and then set up a TCP (traffic control point) on the side of the highway.

As we remained in our Strykers, the ABP began to stop cars on the highway in order to search the vehicle and the driver.

What they were looking for were the materials used to make IEDs.  For the better part of three hours they worked, and from what I observed they were doing a pretty good job of going through the vehicles.

By the time the ABP finished up, it was beginning to get dark.  As usual, as the sun sank in the west the temperature sank even faster.  It would be a clear and cold night.

As we made our way back to FOB Blackhawk, a traffic jam developed.  Never in my imagination did I think this would happen.  After all, we are not talking about I-5 by the Tacoma Dome at 4:30 p.m. on a weekday here.

But sure enough, a number of large, colorful trucks had slowed down to the point that traffic in both lanes was blocked.  It took about 15 minutes for the jam to resolve itself, but it did amaze me that it had happened.

It had been another 12 plus hour mission when we got back to the motor pool.  This was a typical day for these soldiers.

And tomorrow, they would get up and do it all again.