U.S. Army Spc. Lee Goddard, Company E, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, left, a truck driver from Dysart, Iowa, serves ham to U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Anderegg, an infantryman from Garber, Iowa, with Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Dec. 25 at Combat Outpost Najil. Photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson

Remote. Small. Austere.

These are all adjectives one could use to describe Combat Outpost Najil here in eastern Afghanistan. COP Najil is home to less than 200 soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, part of the Iowa National Guard’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Red Bulls Division, as well as other service members.

The COP is nestled along the base of a mountain, and there is no flat ground; everywhere the service members walk is on a grade. Living conditions are tough, as water for showering and laundry is limited, and the bathrooms are tubes in the ground. There’s no post exchange to be found here; the soldiers are just happy to have power.

Despite their tough surroundings, Company A came together to celebrate Christmas and share in some holiday cheer Dec. 24.

“You’re out here hanging out with a bunch of people you never thought you would,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Kenneth Cain, a squad leader with 2nd Platoon from Dubuque, Iowa. “After a deployment like this, getting shot at together, getting blown up, all that stuff, you dang near consider them family.”

Cain, 24, said he does have family here. His younger brother, Kurt, also is an infantryman, is at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam, about 25 miles away.

“We’ve seen each other five or six times now,” Cain said. “We make it a point to get a picture every place we’re together. Mom likes that.”

Cain said on Christmas morning, which is Christmas Eve in the United States due to the nine-and-a-half hour time difference, he got to see his children open some of their Christmas presents.

“They all had their little matching pajamas on so it was kind of cute,” Cain said. “It’s a little different, a little difficult with the kids. Santa Claus hasn’t come yet, so they opened some presents from their grandparents, aunts and uncles. I got them a little blow up deer target with some foam arrows and stuff – it’s kind of cool.”

This is the second Christmas being deployed for Cain, who also spent a Christmas in Kosovo.

“I’d describe this Christmas as interesting, but definitely worthwhile,” Cain said. “We all came here to do a job, all on our own free will, nobody got drafted. I extended for this deployment and we’re doing it so people back home can enjoy Christmas and the free life.”

U.S. Army Sgt. Seth VanSteenwyck, native of Sigourney, Iowa, and a forward observer with Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, eats Christmas dinner Dec. 25 at Combat Outpost Najil. Photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson

The service members took a day off from patrolling the mountainous area around COP Najil to enjoy the holiday. One person who did not have time off, however, was U.S. Army Sgt. Scott Stover, Company E, 1st Bn., 133rd Inf. Regt., the lone cook on COP Najil. He was still responsible for feeding several hungry platoons of soldiers, which was nothing new for him. This time, however, he was cooking two lavish holiday dinners.

“It’s tiring,” Stover admitted. “You get to the point where you can pretty much do it without any sleep.”

Stover, who hails from Strawberry Point, Iowa, and his assistant, U.S. Army Spc. Lee Goddard, Company E, 1st Bn., 133rd Inf. Regt., a truck driver from Dysart, Iowa, prepared two feasts. For lunch, they prepared a dinner of ham and turkey with all the fixings.

Even though Goddard usually works as a truck driver, Stover said he’s learned to cook pretty well.

“I told him when he gets home he’ll be able to cook his own meals, no more of that easy mac stuff,” Stover joked.

Meanwhile, members of 1st Platoon convoyed to FOB Mehtar Lam, an hour and a half drive south, to pick up mail which was piling up.

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment stack boxes of holiday mail and care packages to divide out amongst the company Dec. 24 at Combat Outpost Najil. Photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan MatsonSmall RSS Icon

When the convoy returned, the rest of the soldiers from Company A were lining the entrance roadway, waiting for their eight pallets of holiday presents and care packages. They swarmed the trucks like bees on a honeycomb.

That night, Stover had prepared yet another special holiday meal. The soldiers were treated to lobster tail, shrimp, crab legs and vegetables for their Christmas Eve dinner.

Yes, they were in a rough and tumble, dangerous place in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, away from family for the holidays. But the company was doing OK – they had become their own extended family.

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Story by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson

Cpl. Cresswell Stanaway looks over packages at the Camp Leatherneck postal operation center, Dec. 21. The postal Marines have worked extensive hours during the past few weeks to process and distribute the influx of holiday mail arriving here to get to the service members before Christmas. Photo by Pfc. Mark A. Garcia

Spending the holidays away from family is a routine occurrence for many service members, but during the holiday season, receiving a package from a loved one is a welcomed distraction.

The postal operations center here is working overtime to distribute every package to the service members in time for Christmas.

The postal operation center has had to reorganize their Marines so they get as many people to sort the mail during daylight hours. Also, numerous volunteers have volunteered to help sort mail.

Cpl. Cresswell Stanaway, who is in charge of overseeing the distribution of mail throughout Helmand province from Camp Leatherneck, says that she and her Marines have to work as a team. During the holidays Stanaway, from Houston, says that the influx of mail slows the distribution process down, but with additional help from other Marines sorting the mail, the mail is being sent to its destination in a timely manner.

Gunnery Sgt. Thurman McNeill, postal operations chief, says that he has to run a skeleton crew at night so that more Marines can be available to help process the mail so service members receive their packages before Christmas.

With the help of the postal Marines and volunteers, the postal operations center can process between 45-50 pallets per day, which can add up to thousands of packages being sorted and distributed daily.

Stanaway said that to sort the influx of packages arriving here there is a system in place that once the mail arrives it can be sorted and sent to its destination. During the holidays there are at least three flights each day to get the mail out to service members. Often, service members are waiting on a package, but operational duties require them to leave before it arrives. The postal operations center has this in mind too.

McNeill, from Hollywood, Fla., says that if a Marine is waiting on a package from home and he or his Marines sees it, they will deliver it by hand. He says the postal operations center does this during the Christmas season so that the Marines can get their packages, especially those that come in at the last minute.

Even though the Marines are working exhausting hours preparing and distributing the mail, they say that the happiness that they see on the Marines’ faces is worth the effort.

McNeill said that during the holidays, “When a Marine does receive mail out here I know it does put a smile on their face, because they’re getting mail from back in the states.”

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Story by Sgt. Shawn Coolman