Afghanistan: My Last Tour

Tampa airman Rex Temple can already see snow in the mountains near his Afghan base. But, as the winter settles in – the senior master sergeant has found that the cold-weather gear supplied to Afghan soldiers has become a hot seller at the local bazaars.

WUSF’s Bobbie O’Brien talks with Temple about the gear lining some officers’ pockets instead of keeping soldiers warm.

An Afghan soldier is killed in an ambush. The brother of that soldier suspects something sinister. That brother - also an Afghan soldier - is being mentored by Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple. The Tampa airman talks about the personal connection with his Afghan counterpart in this week's installment of WUSF's series "My Last Tour."

Almost two months have passed and the ballot re-count is still under way in Afghanistan. The delay in election results and the dismissal of a top UN official overseeing the process have Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple concerned.

The Tampa airman is on a year-long deployment in Afghanistan and checking in about once a week with WUSF.

It's been almost two weeks since Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple checked in from Afghanistan. That's because he was busy moving. The Tampa airman was relocated to a new, Forward Operating Base.

The Soviet Union waged a 10-year war in Afghanistan leaving behind skeletal remains of burned out tanks and graffiti on palace walls. In our latest conversation with Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple, he describes his journey through those shadowy Soviet remnants of war.

Unlike other regions of Afghanistan, Election Day was mostly uneventful for Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple and his teammates stationed in the east. Yet as the votes are counted, the Tampa airman worries how the reported "culture of corruption" will affect the outcome.

For a second week, Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple shares news of a loss of men from his Afghanistan base. And this time, it got very personal for Temple. The Tampa airman is keeping a blog during his a year-long deployment and checking in every week with WUSF.

A day off - even while bivouacked in war-torn Afghanistan - is a chance to unwind for Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple.

His reading material comes mostly from the internet. During his down-time, Temple is studying up on COIN - an acronym for counter insurgency strategy. But he also kicks-off his combat boots - so to speak.

WUSF's ongoing project - Afghanistan My Last Tour with Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple - focuses this week on a "who-done-it" mystery. Who or what sickened hundreds of Afghan soldiers? It could be simple food contamination, yet the Taliban is claiming credit.

A car with two children and an elderly man goes off a cliff in Afghanistan. The accident, at what is fondly called J-Bad Pass, turned a U.S. military resupply mission into an impromptu medical evacuation documented by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple.

Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple checked in after returning recently from a six-day mission. As one might expect, the telephones were overloaded because it was Father's Day. But, he managed to share a little bit about what he's been up to.

When Temple left on the medical mission, he was armed not only with a weapon but with a camera to document the military's work.

It's been a deadly week in Afghanistan. Logistics prevented WUSF's weekly check-in with Air Force SMSgt. Rex Temple who deployed there May 5th.

But, his boss, Col. Larry Martin, Commander of MacDill Air Force Base's 6th Air Mobility Wing, talks with reporter Bobbie O'Brien about Temple's blog and the military's take on "social media."

We are following the exploits of Rex Temple of Tampa. He's an Air Force Senior Master Sergeant on a one-year deployment in Afghanistan. He just got there about a week ago.

He is keeping a blog and checking in with WUSF. He caught up with Bobbie O'Brien while at his Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan, the exact location kept secret for security reasons.

Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple is now settled at his permanent home, or billet, in Afghanistan.

It's a location we have agreed to not identify, but the airman gives us a sense of his surroundings. He reached us by telephone early Friday.