Pretty Red and White Rocks

On a more scenic topic I have decided how I’ll decorate the garden when I return. I’m getting quite fond of little white rocks and red/white rocks. The solid red rocks are another story. It’s a funny thing here. You look out into the fields off the base and see lots of painted rocks. These are all about baseball size. The three color combos they’re painted is important stuff. I’m quite surprised we didn’t get any briefing on these before we arrived. They are the kind of garden decoration you really want to understand before you first see them. What you want to do is stay on the white side of these markers. The red side denotes un-cleared minefields. So you look out and see paths cleared and marked by red/white stones. In other places red stoned dot fields. Not a good place to hang out. I prefer to keep my limbs attached, thank you. No fences separate these fields from areas used for farming or goad herding. I don’t know how many kids accidentally chase livestock into these fields, but I do know it happens. One of the fields near the base has a few scattered craters and the hulk of a Russian armored vehicle decorating it.

Now, as odd as it is to gaze out at these low-tech life savers the really odd sight are the steep mountainsides covered in large white spots. It’s the same system applied to places difficult to imagine as normally passable to other than mountain goats. Apparently the Russians were worried of the Mujahideen scrambling down cliffs to attack convoys on narrow mountain highways. To be fair it I sure they were simply trying to avoid the fate of Elphinstone’s army. He was the British general who lost 16,000 retreating from Kabul to India in 1842. Only one man survived the ordeal. Not the most glorious page in Brit military history!

Now, land mines share some key benefits with that other favorite fixture of modern battlefields, cluster bombs. They are both fantastically effective against the enemy. As an added bonus they are both fantasticality effective against kids, livestock and the occasional adult once the battle has moved on to another town. These really are barbaric implements. So far as I know we haven’t used either in Afghanistan. The mines are Russian made souvenirs. I don’t know if cluster bombs have been used here. Anyone with a thread of morals will support the ban of these disgusting trinkets of war. Mines still show up in European fields on occasion, leftovers from the 40’s. As for the cluster bombs, I vividly remember a movement to ban them when I was a kid and we used them in Vietnam. Anyone who defends the use of either is a sick SOB who should be made to clean them up from the fields of the world.

If anyone is interested in knowing more here are some good sights…

http://www.icbl.org/
http://www.landmines.org/
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/
http://www.clusterconvention.org/

Jet Fuel Makes the World Go Round

The fuel business in Afghanistan is different. When the US first began bringing fuel in the shortages/theft was endemic. It was eventually discovered that truck drivers in Afghanistan normally are not paid by the load. They take payment by keeping some of the goods transported. That didn’t fly too well with Uncle’s auditors so we ensured the companies hiring the drivers began paying them by the load.

That was several years ago. Fuel theft is still an issue. It’s too valuable and too easy to sell. That and the locals who transport our goods are dirt poor. There is high reward and reasonable risk. Not that this is confined to locals. Our own contractors have been involved from time to time. Here, and other theaters as well. But, I digress. I’m looking into several discrepancies and trying to piece the puzzle together. I’m dealing with large international companies, local companies, defense contractors and the military. It’s a curious business. At the moment I’m focused on creating better audit trails and transaction transparency. This should be interesting. I have some feel for the people I’m dealing with but I’m still FNWGY. It’s a bit like being thrown into a James Bond story albeit without much dramatic action, just much confusion over who is trustworthy and who isn’t. Good thing I like puzzles!

At the moment there are complaints by the drivers against one of our military contractors. The first I heard of it was from the COO of one of our suppliers. Not a good start. At first it looked like pointless grumbling. I am looking to tighten audit trails as a way to prove or disprove these complaints and hopefully improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain. Interestingly enough an offhanded complaint by me in a conversation with another officer led to the confirmation of one of the driver complaints. It turns out that they are being prevented from leaving the base if they have too great a shortage upon delivery. Bad deal for everyone. They are already being penalized by the companies that hire them. Holding them here is unethical, pointless and damages our ability to get our job done! It’s a typically American short sighted solution that damages us in the long run.

I don’t like that some drivers steal fuel. But, I accept that it is the norm. It’s been cultural here. Cultural changes do not take place in a few years. They generally take a generation or more. We can continue to ferret out their schemes or we can react in a knee jerk fashion that harms the entire business relationship… drivers, carriers, suppliers. I can’t say this surprises me. The turn over here is appalling. Granted I am only here on 6 month orders, but at least we are staggered out so that the entire office does not swap at the same time. This is not true for the Army. They reinvent the wheel every year. So much for efficiency or sound business practices.

I’d better stop here and start a new entry. Going into the inefficiency, waste, short sightedness, of the modern, heavily contracted-out military machine will lead me into a book, not a blog entry. Certainly not something most want to read. It’s too heartbreaking and infuriating. Hey, think of it this way… it’s your tax dollars at work!!!

A Rant... of sorts

Funny day. Dreary and rainy but busy as hell. It seemed like the first chance I had to check the clock it was already 4:00 PM. Over lunch I met with several reps from one of our suppliers. The logistics issues here are somewhat different than back in the states but not dramatically so. Lucky for me, it’ll shorten a normally steep learning curve. One of the reps I met with was Afghan. He moved to the US at age 13, completed school in south OC, Laguna Nigel, Dana Point. He is now one of the Country Managers for his company and back in Afghanistan. It’s his opinion that one of the major factors in the decline of the country was the brain drain that happened when everyone with sufficient capital fled the Russian invasion. It created a power vacuum that allowed the shrewd but not necessarily bright to move into key positions. I’m sure his case has some merit but at the same time he was obviously somewhat privileged. So…accurate argument or anger over the loss of what once was? I can’t say. I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve been here longer and hopefully had more dealings with the local populace.

Such promise here, but so many issues to deal with. While there was never a fantastic infrastructure the country was once rich in agriculture and the world’s top almond producer. For centuries it was the only sizeable source of Lapis Lazuli. It has been at the crossroads of West Asia, East Asia and South Asia for millennia. A key link in the silk road and spice trade. I’m told it was a wonderful place to visit before the late 70’s. When the kingdom crumbled it allowed the chaos that brought in the Russians.

After more than 30 years of decay the infrastructure is shot. Families that once owned orchards no longer remember how to farm. That kind of knowledge is lost over a couple of generations. The isolation of villages has allowed thought to stagnate and backward ideas to gain influence. The best analogy I can offer up is the dark ages in Europe. As the Roman Empire fell apart, trade declined, knowledge was lost as people became isolated in their small kingdoms. Things moved backward. That’s what has happened here. When populations are isolated the free flow of ideas atrophies. Without new ideas creativity implodes. It’s all bad. Isolation is a bad gig.

Funny, I’m sitting here writing, the rain has turned to snow, the internet is out. Jets aren’t flying, due to the weather I suppose. I was planning to talk more about my work day but am distracted. This whole concept of civilizations decaying and cultural collisions fascinates me. When I was in Kuwait one of the contractors training us in convoy ops had some interesting stories. He had been a marine and had served here in Afghanistan. He told us of the night raids the US Special Forces are fond of conducting here. They will sneak in at night to pick up bad guys. They invariably secure a large section of the neighborhood for their own safety. He told us of breaking in doors and forcing families to lie on the floor during the operation. It occurred to him that that the fathers must have felt completely gutted of any power. In this culture that is a very bad thing. He also relayed the tale of a young NCO who was asked by the bad guy they came to pick up (via interpreter) to please wait until they were outside to handcuff him, to please not disgrace him in front of his family. The NCO spat out an expletive, forced him to the ground and cuffed his hands behind his back. These are the actions that win small battles but loose wars. During the 60’s the talk was of winning hearts and minds. In many cases we do that. We’re good at helping orphanages. When allowed we interact fairly well with local populace. Unfortunately we also really screw up on far too many occasions. Our military can’t be entirely faulted. We still train to kill bad guys and hold ground. If we were fighting WWI, WWII, Korea or the Russians that training would be quite applicable. In non-Christian countries with vastly different cultures and low-intensity conflicts this training is terribly insufficient. We should be training in cultural awareness, Islam, Pashto and Dari. I don’t mean the usual bullshit few hours that are given. If we want to be effective, our troops in leadership positions need the equivalent of AA degrees in these cultures. Anything less and they won’t be prepared to make correct decisions.

I’ll relate just one more story. I read a news article a month or so ago about the way the US enters villages on raids. These generally happen at night. They are targeted at specific individuals or houses. Unfortunately Afghans, because of their isolation, have very close knit neighborhoods/villages. When someone starts shooting at your neighbor in the middle of the night you help your neighbor out and shoot back at the intruder as well. It’s worth remembering that we aren’t the only armed group in the country. Feuds and warlord struggles are still taking place. So, the crux of it is this, the US reports fighting dozens of insurgents. The Afghan press in turn reports 1 or 2 insurgents killed and a dozen local lads slain. We generally get our man but were loosing the war in the process. The article was reporting on the Afghan army’s request to have troops imbedded with us Special Forces to mitigate these situations. I don’t know what the outcome will be.

I am not totally pessimistic about the Afghan chances. I am an optimistic pessimist. The Taliban is attacking more now but the fight still appears to be somewhat low intensity. It is all small unit ambushes and IED’s. It doesn’t appear that the Taliban are all that numerous. That said, my observations over the years are that 80% of the general population go with the flow. 10% line the hard left 10% the hard right. Or you could say 10% are hard charging, motivated and concerned and 10% are criminally minded. The labels don’t matter much. The point is that a small but motivated group can swing the momentum of the masses. Our challenge is to help the few highly motivated individuals that want Afghanistan to become a partner in the modern world, not a backward, reclusive, haven for heroin production and fringe element terrorists.

Urban Planning Gone Horribly Wrong

Ships are noisy places. Fan rooms hum or roar depending on your proximity. Transformers make a terrible, high pitch, screeching, buzz. If you are on a big deck (Aircraft Carrier, LHA, LHD, etc.) you put up with jets and helicopters taking off just feet above your head. Flight deck crews drag chains across the deck when chocking and chaining aircraft. Mt basic point here is that when assigned to a ship, noise is constant. You can not avoid it. The only time things get truly quiet is when you go: hot, dark and quiet. This is bad because it means the electrical load dropped, lights are off, ventilation shuts down, etc. Nice for lack of noise but very, very bad for all else.

So, why am I talking about ships while living in a 4th world, land locked country? This base has some significant similarities to shipboard living. True the real estate is a larger footprint, but there are more similarities than differences. The noise is the first big clue. Living next to an airport isn’t doesn’t provide a fair comparison. Big civilian jets are meek, quite creatures compared to military fighters. And, let’s not forget, commercial airports don’t generally fly aircraft between 11:00 PM and 05:00 AM. Here, F15s can be screaming into the night sky at any hour.

One advantage of ships is that they are purpose built. There is great conservation of space. Generally thought goes into the placement of compartments and functions. Can’t say that for here. The base is a mixture of a few old, Russian buildings and countless temporary structures. Temporary ranges from tents and B-Huts (plywood buildings about 20 by 40 ft) to the seeming favorite, ocean shipping containers welded together. That’s what I live in, a 20 ft sea container. In my last job I counted TEU’s now one’s my home! Not too horrible when they finish. Thank god they don’t have lightening storms here!

The character of this place is that of a B movie sci-fi set. Structures don’t seem to be placed with much thought. One side of the place is very crowded while the other is mostly open ground storage and fuel farms separated by the odd minefield or pile of old broken Russian truck skeletons. The main road around base is mostly paved. Most others are gravel. With the snow and shush on the ground you have to be careful not to get stuck. But hey, at least it’s not dusty at the moment! I haven’t decided which condition best suits this weird set: Cold, snow, frozen mud, white and dark brown or shades of khaki with a constant brown haze and dusty film covering it all. Funny, you would think the snow and rain would clean up the haze. Instead the haze shifts from dirty brown to foggy white. I’m guessing it’s the evaporation. Don’t know, just a guess.

Settling In

What a wonderful day out. It snowed all day yesterday. Not too much accumulated though. The flakes were large and wet, dropping slush for the most part. Last night the temp dropped and this morning it is sunny and white. The scenery is beautiful! I look at the fields (mine fields perhaps but fields nonetheless) and they look so perfect. The mountains want to be climbed and skied. I love this place! I want off post. I want to look around and explore! Funny thing is, I guess I am one of the few people that feel that way. I was driving most of the office to work today and it became obvious that most of them hate this place. It's really a shame. It's really a very American attitude. I suppose I am the odd one here… although it doesn't feel odd to me!

Yesterday in the slush and gloom two of our fuel trucks slid off the roads on base. One we were able to free. The other truck could not be moved. The front and driven tires were in a ditch filled with freezing water and mud. We are trying to get the supplier to trans-load the fuel to another truck. That should lighten it enough to pull out of the ditch. The sad part is the status of the driver. When drivers come on base to deliver fuel they are escorted. They sleep in their trucks the few days they are stuck on base. The driver in this case had to spend the night in his truck, in the ditch, at the fuel farm. They are usually in a parking lot and can at least congregate. We feed them 2 MRE's a day. This poor guy was shivering as we looked over the situation. Here we were in the snow and he's wearing sandals, a sweater, no heavy jacket. I felt sorry for the guy.

Here we are seven years into this mess and we still don't have proper infrastructure or procedures in place. Too many turnovers, people are assigned for only six months to a year. It kills continuity. We constantly reinvent the wheel. Sometimes I feel like the entire effort is doomed to collapse under the weight of our own stupidity! It's such a shame. A few days ago there was an attack on several government ministries in Kabul. Eight kids (20 to 25 years old) attacked with AK47's, pistols, grenades and explosive vests (suicide vests). They killed at least 20 and wounded many more. This was a criminal act apparently sponsored from Pakistan. We report and treat these things as acts of way. You cannot counter small groups with an imperial war machine! You need to employ law enforcement and intelligence. We should be performing a full court press to upgrade the countries infrastructure and then commerce. Bring back the almond trade, lapis lazuli mining, etc. By allowing Afghans to earn a living and feed their families the extremist Islamic movement will implode. That cancerous movement uses the same motivations as the right wing movement in America. Keep people frightened and feeling imperiled and you can get them to agree to terrible things. In Afghanistan they kill civilians in the name of Allah. In America they dismantle democracy in the name of security. Both are crimes against humanity. Is one worse than the other? I can't say.

Mountain Living

Made it to Afghanistan!!! The “tactical landing” was no big thing after all. They made it sound like a rollercoaster landing. But, hey, when you’re packed like a sardine wrapped in body armor into the center row of seats on a C17 you don’t feel a thing. Well almost nothing. Sitting without being able to shift your weight for three and a half hours does make you feel as if your ass is completely broken, never to heal again. All in all not a ride I would look forward to. To put it another way, in the military we don’t travel coach, we travel steerage!

I arrived Saturday and was pretty wiped out by the late afternoon. Oh I forgot to mention. We fly in the wee hours without any sleep the night before. It’s just the Military’s attempt to add ambience to the experience. Thanks Uncle Sam!

When I walked out from the plane the first thing that caught my attention were the mountains. They are stunning! I can’t wait until the security here improves so that I can come back and climb them!!! Bagram sits in a bowl at about 5,000 feet surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Dust the consistency of talc covers everything and creates a haze during the day. Mornings are still clear though.

The base is an odd place. It is very industrial, very temporary and poorly slapped together. It has the character of urban planning gone horribly wrong. I work on one side of the runway, reasonably close to dining facilities and the post exchange (shops). I live on the other side. Just outside the base are ruins of Afghan mud compounds. I am guessing they were destroyed during the Soviet occupation as well as the fighting that followed. Small red inverted triangle’s are on most fence lines both on and off base to alert us to mine fields. They are clearing them very slowly. I doubt they will finish before we depart this place, whenever that happens. I’ll post some photo’s on my facebook page when I have the chance.

It's just like the beach....

I just returned from more close combat shooting and convoy training out in the sands of Kuwait. It's a lot like Zuma beach... without the water. I imaging this landscape is about the same from here to the Sinai. Need any inexpensive camel grazing grounds? I'm pretty sure I can hook you up!

Generally fun, and useful, training provided in a pretty stark environment. We fired lots of rounds, standing, walking, running. We learned the latest stuff about IED's and practiced convoy operations. Fun stuff all!

Kuwait is not very senic, to be sure. I am pretty amazed at the lack of flora that supports so many camels. They really are impressive creatures. The entire landscape consists of sand laced with rocks, sand mounds, sand berms, litter, slosely cropped stalks from weeds of some sort and left over brass from men playing army in the sand. Oh, did I mention the sand?

Today we wait for a flight. It rained early this morning. I thought it would keep the dust down but no luck. It's been pretty windy so the sand is everywhere. Good news is this "white space" will be over soon. Am I aprehensive about the location change... Nope. Couldn't be happier. I am bored here in Kuwait!!! Boredom is bad.

The Sand Box

It's interesting typing on a keyboard without letters. I should be used to this... it's endimic in 3rd world net cafes. All that aside, here I sit. I am surrounded by a vast expance of dirt/sand. It's way too flat to suite my tastes but then I didn't choose the spot. The overriding color scheme is khaki brown. I was going to say dirt brown but khaki being a specific color of dirt suites it better. So there we are. Nearly everything is khaki. The green tents are now khaki. The cement blocks, if left long enough, will become khaki as well. At least the temp is reasonable. It's rather like Hawaii in the off-season. I'll be here for a few lazy days before moving on. I can't wait to see what comes next.

For now, it's a few meetings, training, good food and lots of white space... It's a good place to experience purgetory.