Afghanistan: My Last Tour

A one day trip turned into a four day adventure at Bagram Air Field (BAF) for Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple and his team. Their mission was to exchange five older Humvees for six refurbished mine-resistant vehicles or MRAPs.

The Tampa airman talks with WUSF’s Bobbie O’Brien about that mission and the big news of the week – the cancelation of Afghanistan’s run-off election.

The streets of Kabul, Afghanistan were filled with angry demonstrators and Afghan National Police Sunday. Getting caught up in it all was Tampa airman Rex Temple whom WUSF has been following in our series My Last Tour. He spoke with WUSF yesterday just hours after the encounter.

A bout with the flu didn't keep Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple from his daily missions in Afghanistan. Yet, it did leave him yearning for some of his father's dandelion wine. The MacDill Air Force Base airman talks about the past week as anxiety builds waiting for the Afghan election results.

Weapons re-training and visiting a Kabul orphanage are two distinctly different missions. Yet, Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple spent the week fulfilling both assignments in Afghanistan.

WUSF is following the Tampa airman during his year-long deployment. Reporter Bobbie O'Brien talks with Temple about his visit to the orphanage for 250 youngsters living in the Afghanistan capital city.

The United Nations recognized International Day of Peace Monday. A school in Clearwater got in on the act as students heard the story of a Tampa airman Rex Temple and his effort to distribute school supplies in Afghanistan.

In June, Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple introduced WUSF listeners and his blog readers to a school in eastern Afghanistan. It is in triple sessions because there are too many students. This week, the Tampa airman and some of his teammates started their own school supply drive to help the school.

The Afghanistan election is only days away. And tension is growing for the people and the troops according to Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple. The Tampa airman is checking in with WUSF during his year-long deployment.

Candidates aren't the only ones working to get a message out prior to the election in Afghanistan. Temple says the Taliban is busy spreading threats.

Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple of Tampa writes a blog about his experiences in Afghanistan. This past week, it meant taking photographs of two farewells: one joyous, one somber. He talks with WUSF about the challenges of both documenting and participating in military life.

There was a special farewell ceremony at SMSgt. Temple's base in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday.

Afghanistan's presidential election is just a month away - August 20th. But preparations for that big day are well under way, according to Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple.

WUSF is following Temple during his year-long deployment in Afghanistan. The airman recently talked with WUSF's Bobbie O'Brien about gearing up for the national election.

WUSF listeners have been hearing some of the untold and under-reported stories of the Afghanistan War from Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple.

This week, the Tampa airman looks at the role of women at the combat outposts. Gunners, drivers, convoy leaders, women are performing important military tasks in the Afghanistan War.

There's a school in Afghanistan that is running triple sessions because there is such demand for learning and a shortage of teachers. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple takes us along on a humanitarian mission that delivered school supplies, soccer balls and candy for the kids.

Air Force SMSgt. Rex Temple reflects in a recent blog post on a memorial service for four fallen soldiers in Afghanistan, Maj. Rocco M. Barnes, Maj. Kevin M. Jenrette, SSgt. John C. Beale and Spec. Jeffrey W. Jordan.

A blown radiator, a flat tire and traversing a single-lane, dirt road through mountain passes are just a few of the "challenges" faced this week by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple.

For the next 12 months, WUSF is following the deployment of USAF Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple in Afghanistan.

The airman left from the Bay Area just over a week ago and he's keeping in touch with us as best he can through the Internet when he has access.

Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple left Tampa Tuesday for a year's deployment to Afghanistan. Early Friday afternoon Florida time, the airman checked in with WUSF during a layover at a US military base in Kyrgystan. He had enough time to explore the local library, play a game of "combat volleyball" and grab a shower.