Afghanistan Diary: North Texans Who Serve Our Country

CBS 11 anchor Keith Garvin and photojournalist Edgar Solis are traveling to Afghanistan to see the U.S. war effort firsthand. In February they will bring back a series of stories about our troops there. While they are traveling, Keith is writing this blog for CBSDFW.COM.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD (CBSDFW.COM) –  It's a snow day at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan but when you're in a war zone you never get the day off.

Despite five inches of snow since late last night, activity has slowed down but has not come to a halt. Meetings, planning, and counterinsurgency operations continue. In fact, soldiers say even though insurgents don't like to fight in the winter, they are happy to send the message that the U.S. has the ability to seek them out, engage, and defeat them regardless of weather conditions.

Edgar and I have been very busy as well. Today we interviewed two more North Texas soldiers serving in the 1st Cavalry Division. One is a Fort Worth native. The other is from McKinney.

Master Sergeant Brian Eckley was raised in Fort Worth. He helps direct EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) teams that find and detonate roadside bombs, and then use forensic evidence to track down the insurgents who make them. He has been deployed to Afghanistan four times and to Iraq once.

How does he deal with the stress of a war zone? He's a triathlete and trains up to 3 hours several times a week for his next competition in November. In February we'll tell you what North Texas event he's missing most this time of year.

Specialist Brian Mauck graduated from McKinney Senior High in 2003. After attending college for two years on an athletic scholarship he felt compelled to leave school to serve his country. Specialist Mauck recently returned to North Texas for two weeks of rest and recuperation.

He went on a cruise with his twin brother and on Christmas Day got to attend the Cowboys game. His highlight on game day was meeting Troy Aikman in an elevator and getting to take a photo with the former quarterback.

The highlight of my day was attending church at the Enduring Faith Chapel at Bagram Airfield. Edgar and I initially went to shoot a story on the choir and the church service. We got some really good elements and were done shooting about halfway through the service, but I decided to stay to worship to the end.

A great finish to my work day in Afghanistan. In a few more hours it's time to watch some playoff football! First game kicks off around 1:30 A.M. local time!