Chris (left) and Darin Gaub Gaub Brothers Fly MSU Flag Over Afghanistan by Jean Arthur, MSU Communications Services Two Montana brothers, two MSU degrees and one MSU flag met in Afghanistan in August. Brothers Chris, '94 Arch, and Darin Gaub, '98 PSci, are deployed with Operation Enduring Freedom. Chris in Bagram and Darin in Kandahar arranged to meet at the Bagram Airbase near Kabul where Chris is an Air Force captain and an engineer. Darin is an Army captain, helicopter pilot and an intelligence officer with an aviation battalion. "My brother Darin flew here, about 300 air miles, in a Chinook helicopter," says Chris. "We posed for the photos with an MSU Bobcat flag. The sight of two brothers, both captains, surprised people. We received a lot of double takes when people read our name tapes." In the middle of the Shomali Plain, south of the Panjshir Valley and among the Hindu Kush mountain range, the brothers embraced their Montana heritage. As Chris says, "I am proud to be doing my part to protect the freedoms that we enjoy, yet there's still no place I'd rather enjoy those freedoms than in Bozeman." Afghanistan presents persistent danger, from malaria and minefields to enemy fire, including a rocket that impacted the base about 1,200 feet from Chris' tent. "Any time we go 'outside the wire,' (off the base) we keep our weapons locked and loaded and wear body armor and helmets," says Chris. Duties for the Gaub brothers include piloting an UH-60 Blackhawk for Darin, and engineering military construction projects for Chris. He notes that his most valued tools are the problem-solving skills he learned in MSU's architecture program. "I can't point to a specific MSU experience that prepared me for this job in this location other than my precommissioning work with Army ROTC," says Darin. "I can say that my degree in political science has helped me to better understand the process to rebuild this country's infrastructure. The Afghanis have been at war here for so long that they don't even know how to administer a civil government without killing the opposition. As an intelligence officer, I track this sort of stuff and report to the aviation task force." Just when one might feel homesick, they find Montana neighbors: a chaplain's parents live in Bozeman; soldiers have relatives in Butte and Belgrade; the brothers' parents, Le, '72 AgEd, and Sheila Gaub reside in Bozeman. They do miss their families. Chris' wife Heidi, '92 ElEd, is at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany with their daughter Sarina. Darin's wife Sonda, '92 ElEd, is at Fort Drum, N.Y., with daughter Dennara and son Declan. While the view around Kandahar looks nothing like Darin's Montana home, Chris' surroundings resemble the mountain valleys near Bozeman, yet are surrounded by 20,000-foot, snow-burdened peaks. "September has cooled down to about 100 degrees," says Darin. "When I first arrived, temperatures were 120 degrees." The region is hot no matter the temperature, the brothers agree. "Doing my part to rid the world of a great evil is something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life," says Darin. "The knowledge that the operations we are conducting are worthy of our country's every effort makes it even better." Darin adds that if any MSU alumni wish to have their own flag flown over headquarters, mail it to him with return postage, and he will fly the flag and return it with a certificate. Contact Darin Gaub, TF KNIGHTHAWK, APO AE 09355.