Uncle Sam the Coffee King – Alabama boys in Afghanistan

Uncle Sam the Coffee King

by

Shannon Hollon

A few years ago back during the “war” some of us Alabama boys of Navy Cargo Handling Battalion Twelve (12) Maintenance Company were activated during the War on Terror. Three of us on a Seabee maintenance team were attached to US Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron Sixteen(16)& Forty(40). Our support responsibility had a wide range from equipment maintenance and training to camp maintenance and minor construction to hauling cargo. I have seen everything hauled from helicopter engines to toilet paper.

Seabees…Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Jason Quick and Steelworker 1st Class “Uncle”Sam Montgomery(notice his coffee cup)

We hauled the 3 B’s(Beans/Bullets/Bandaids) from Camp Leatherneck to Camp Bastion (airfield) Afghanistan to be flown out to the marine infantryman in the field. When you serve in camp life and you are not busy you start to think of home and family so you create contest to count down the days until your tour is over.

Camp Bastion Coffee count

One thing we Seabees loved was our morning coffee before we started our days work. So we kept a written count of our cups of coffee from Nov. 2010 to May 2011 on the wall next to the coffee pot in our crew shack on our flight line compound at Camp Bastion. I thought I could drink coffee until the final count was made in May of 2011 and our Lead Petty Officer “Uncle” Sam Montgomery drank us all under the table.

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Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) – A novel inspired by the experiences of the Cottingham family who immigrated from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Alabama