Feeling Patriotic?

Sometimes I’m not as strong as I wish. I really didn’t choose this path. As a matter of fact I chose a much shorter stint here in far away land. The original plan Uncle had for me involved 15 months teaching Iraqi’s how to perform Army supply tasks. Hell of a gig for a Naval Officer. This job was shorter. As a side benefit it actually falls in line with my career path, what a concept! But, as I was saying, I don’t always hold up as well as I would like to. I guess the real enemy, for me anyway, is boredom. The song by NIN “Every Day is Exactly the Same” comes to mind.

I’m not fond of depression. I do my best to avoid it, but still, sometimes it’s a bitch to fight off. Here I am 80 days of straight work without a day off. Then again my last real day off, not in uniform, living on a cot or bunk bed in a barracks was about 104 days ago. It begins to grind on you after a while. I need to find something to break the monotony, perhaps another short trip, something. Ah what the hell, only 100 or so days still to go.

My work shouldn’t be boring, at least in theory. I like to say we have the crisis de jour. There is rarely two days in a row without something out of the ordinary requiring special attention. But when it’s the crisis de jour, even different sweat-ex’s begin to seem the same. My own personal weakness in this situation is the need for input. I need to be learning or teaching all the time to avoid boredom. Boredom is my kryptonite. Bad stuff to be sure.

Things become more complicated when communication becomes garbled. It’s not easy trying to be a father and husband from far away land. Even with daily calls, it’s still a call. E-mail lacks emotion or becomes misunderstood. Just another complicating factor is this career path.

The weird thing is even though I am writing this in such a public forum I am not looking for sympathy. I am not looking for people to treat me differently when I return to “normal” life. Doing this is cathartic for me to some degree. I guess what I hope for is people to recognize the sacrifice paid by people in this line of work and by their families. To be sure, I am not being shot at or blown up. The danger level for my job is about the same as my daily commute in LA. Even so, being in the military is a sacrifice. I know many more military with broken marriages than civilians. Our families suffer as much as we do, perhaps more so because life goes on in the “normal” world. They don’t look different. Their schedules don’t change much. Outward appearances are largely the same. But, they are without a spouse, a father, a mother. Their life is altered profoundly but not visibly so it’s easy to forget.

This is a hell of a way to earn a retirement. I suppose the key is to support your military in deeds and civil actions rather than platitudes. It’s OK to protest wars. In fact it’s a great idea. If you really want to help military members, vote. Let your congressman know you support veterans programs and programs for military families. The latest high tech fighters aren’t helping us here. Programs for kids with PTSD and permanent headaches from IED explosions are what help. The most important thing you can do though, the real key to it all, is to only support wars you would willingly attend yourself or would send your children to. That should be your guide. I mean that in all seriousness. It requires a dispassionate analysis of your real feelings. It requires you be deeply honest with yourself. I watched the fiasco unfold in Iraq. I saw the large number of people who supported the invasion. I have my doubts that many would have willingly sent off their kids if that were the basis to show support.

I was not convinced we needed to invade Afghanistan. To be sure we needed o take action. To be sure we had a legal right to take action. That said, had we avoided Iraq, Afghanistan would likely be a much better place now. This tour would have been much different.

So, do me a favor, if you supported the Iraqi fiasco bend over backwards to help returning soldiers harmed in the line of work. Bend over backward to help their families. You owe them that. If you were at any of the war protests or actively lobbied against and voted against the mess you already did a great deal. Dissent helps keep politicians honest, thank you.

People’s Attitudes and Stereotypes… and Hope

Back when I decided to become a drilling reservist, in 2002 the US was prepping and posturing to make war on Iraq. At the same time patriotism was rampant to an unhealthy degree. All those flags flown on cars by people who had never given anything more to their country than tax money, really bothered me. I thought the flags were over the top and I had spent over 12 years on active duty. Anyway, here I was back in the Navy and watching my country’s liberties erode before my eyes. The constitution I took an oath to defend was being subverted by my bosses. It caused a serious crisis of conscious for me. I was somewhat outspoken on drill weekends. This ensured some lively debates. Most in the military prefer to believe their bosses know something more. People wanted to believe the USSR was evil, wanted to believe Iraq posed a threat, just wanted to believe they weren’t being asked to do something that would be amoral in hindsight. I remember telling my fellow officers that I felt In understood what it must have been like to be a German in the 1930’s. That really pissed people off. It’s important to remember that the military is staffed by a cross section of society. They want to believe in what they are doing. They should be able to believe in what they are doing. It’s unfortunate that the last administration was so hell bent on abusing the military’s trust.

The military tends to be a little to the right politically. Part of this is their wish to believe in the petty wars their bosses toss them into. Part of this is a bit more sinister. The seven years I lived in Japan the base radio station only carried one radio political talk show… guess who? Rush Limbaugh. So much for balance.

I’ve come to realize this left bent is more on the surface than deep held feelings though. I used to have some pretty inflammatory left wing bumper stickers on my truck. I was always prepared for someone to go off on me when I was on base. It never happened though. The only comments I ever received were positive. Not many times, mind you, but all positive.

Now that I’m over in Afghanistan more of the people I’ve dealt with in the military are willing to question the right wing BS that brought us into these wars. A bigger complaint is the mismanagement they see. Here we are seven years into Afghanistan and basic infrastructure is still absent. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the Taliban are emboldened. But I digress. What seems to be bothering the people, who are increasingly stepping away from the right, is the utter waste of tax dollars. (If you really want to listen to some horror stories talk to someone who works for the Inspector General) To use a common Naval term… this place is a soup sandwich. It’s the turn of attitude though, subtle as it yet is, that brings me hope. This turn away from blind, unquestioning subservience to questioning the status quo, points to our salvation. Remember that the people I work with are a general cross section of society – a bit more to the right but still a cross section.
This is momentum that needs to be built upon. Now, I’m not saying we need to fall in lock-step with what we are told is the left. What we need to build upon is the trend toward questioning our leaders decisions NO MATTER WHO OUR LEADERS HAPPEN TO BE! Only be exercising our freedoms can we keep them. So, lets all fall in line with the tradition set by Socrates and question authority!

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Afghani kids are like kids everywhere else. Their chores differ though. The kids near the base sheppard sheep, goats and cows. We see them outside the wire every day on our way along the perimeter road. They are out now because the grass is growing and the animals have food. The other day as we drove along three small boys ran toward the fence and threw rocks toward the road. They weren’t even close to hitting our car and I found my reaction interesting. I watched them and thought, wow boys are the same everywhere! They must have been 10 or 11 years old at most. It’s about the same thing I did at that age.

We receive lots of snacks and candy in care packages all the time. All manner of stuff shows up. More than normal recently as Easter was approaching. My friend had thrown some packs of gum to the kids over the wire before. With the new candy he decided we needed to share the wealth. Now on a pretty regular basis we drive by the wire and toss over whole bags of hard candy, chocolate Easter eggs, Peeps, etc. We joke that throwing them Easter treats will turn them into Christians! The kids look like Olympic sprinters racing for the loot. They do share, which is good. Just so no one thinks we are completely twisted and before you ask, yes we are careful NOT to throw the candy into the minefields! It’s really not a laughing matter (then again all life really is a laughing matter!). There are still numerous mine fields both on and off the base. The locals live right next to them. A local company is clearing a large field next to the base for a commercial project. It’s nearly done and now the locals can graze their livestock there as well. I wish we had more interaction, but there’s always the razor wire between us.

We were at a facility off base the other day and one of our business partners mentioned to his boss that the windshield on their truck had a hole in it. The guy who brought it up is ex-military, as many of the contractors are. Apparently they were driving between Kabul and Bagram and had pulled over for a convoy going the opposite way. One of the MRAP Gunners threw a rock at the truck and missed. Then another MRAP gunner was more accurate. This guy was good natured about it, I would have been furious. He told me that when he was here doing patrols (with the Army) he had to keep his guys from throwing half full Gatorade bottles at kids to watch them fight over them. These things piss me off. Here we are, way too long in this mess because we screwed away the initiative years ago. Here we are in a country where cultural awareness and make or break the effort. Here we are and our soldiers are acting like 10 year old boys. It’s high time we grew up if we expect this to end well!!!

Oh, before I forget, when we drive the perimeter road past the local kids, no more rocks are being thrown our way, but we do get waved at a lot now.

Wild Wild West Style Logistics

The Challenge of Logistics in the Wild Wild West

I received an e-mail late last night about an attack in Pakistan. Apparently a truck yard outside Peshawar was attacked and a number of fuel trucks set ablaze. This is a yard used for the fuel we are tracking for Afghanistan. It’s a fair bet we lost a day’s supply of Pakistani jet fuel. This is the most challenging war we have fought since Korea for logistics challenges. In the past months Pakistan has become a significant concern. We are not in Pakistan in force. We rely on the Pakistani military for in-country security. Bad guys figured out they can more easily attack our supply chain over there rather than risk a large scale attack in Afghanistan. I suppose it’s positive on the one hand because it shows the Bad Guys are less inclined to attack here.

Pakistan’s stability is a concern. They have a very long running war with India over Kashmir. They have never held political control of the tribal areas. Most Americans don’t understand the relationship Pakistan has with these areas. The tribal regions are referred to as semi autonomous because they exist much like Indian Reservations do in America. They fall under Pakistan for foreign policy but not for internal governance. Add to these issues the presence of a growing Taliban in country and things get very dicey. The amusing thing (black humor here) is that the Taliban was allegedly created with the help and guidance of the ISI, Pakistani intelligence. Funny how these things come home to roost.

It’s good to see overtures being made to Iran. If they begin allowing supplies to cross their territory it accomplished two key things. First, it opens dialog with Iran. We need dialog with them. You can’t resolve differences if you don’t talk! Second, it takes a great deal of logistics pressure off Pakistan. If Pakistan becomes one of three logistics routes the Bad Guys have much less impact when they hit us. It also allows us to be much more stringent with Pakistan. To be fair Pakistan still views India as their #1 threat. We’d make significant progress is we tried to diffuse that long standing issue.

Other than that there is always the question of when the Salang pass will be taken down for maintenance. This is the only feasible route from the north into the Kabul plain. For the past several years the Afghans have told us they are shutting down the tunnel for maintenance. At this point everyone treats it like the boy who cried wolf. I worry that when they do shut it down no one will be prepared.

Funny thing, wars in Afghanistan. They have always hinged on logistics. You would have thought we’d have thought this through better and pushed to improve the roads, bridges and passes before now. What the hell, we’ve only been here 7 ½ years. So much for superior US ingenuity and planning! It’s high time we cut the crap and made some improvements to the infrastructure here. It helps us, it helps the Afghans, it will shorten our time here! It’s well past time to start doing it right!

The Schizophrenia of This Life

It’s funny writing these journal entries. I like writing about the land I currently live in. At the same time, I’m here doing a job, seven days a week eleven plus hours a day, I work for the war effort. I was not in favor of invading Afghanistan. I thought our aims could be achieved with less effort. But, we did invade. The Afghans were generally happy to be done with the Taliban Regime. They looked on the change with promise. Now, seven and a half years into it their patience is threadbare. I’m here supporting a military effort that after seven and a half years finally getting serious. It’s a crap shoot at this point. If you’ve read many of my entries you’ll know my hopes and prayers are with the Afghan people. I think we still have a chance to make good at this. It’s one reason I’m here. It’s how I can support this effort with a clear conscience. War is a bad thing. It’s not why I joined the Navy so many years ago. I joined because I needed a job! Seriously though I have always believed having a strong military was meant to prevent wars. People who start wars are evil people. People who start “preemptive” wars are evil people and liars.

Well, I see I’ve become a bit sidetracked. As I was saying, I like writing about Afghanistan. At the same time I am compelled to write about my job and my observations of the military effort. There is much promise here. There have also been many mistakes. It’s important that people recognize everything that is going on. Don’t fall for simplistic reports or opinions. This is not a simple place. This is not a simple war. These are not a simple people.

This war needs to end. As I said, wars are evil by their very nature. BUT… we need to end this correctly. The Afghans deserve peace. They deserve the responsibility for their own future. What we need to do is give them is a fair shot at achieving peace. If we can provide some infrastructure improvements, build on successful models like Balkh (a peaceful province by the Afghan’s own hand), and help with economic and educational programs that aren’t overly intrusive to the governance of the country, this may yet end well. I hope it does. No people deserve 30+ years of war!

There I go, sidetracked again. As I write, I find myself pulled between writing about the country, the war, my job pushing jet fuel and the schizophrenia of being separated from my family and town. This is an odd life. To be sure, I am not as isolated now as I was on a ship 23 years ago. I am able to call home as often as I want. The internet allows me to keep in touch with friends and check up on news. I can even keep track of my kid’s homework grades on the school website. But I am still 7,700 miles away. I can’t touch my family. I can’t attend neighborhood meetings. I might as well be in outer space. This is the life 30,000 or so foreign military live in Afghanistan. I’ve no idea how many foreign contractors there are or personnel working for NGO’s. It’s a key point. When the public agree to go to war, this is the life they inflict on their military. I’ve got it easy here. I’m not being shot at. I don’t travel in convoys that hit IED’s. I have a desk job.

A quick rant: Never trust anyone that tells you a war is going to be quick and glorious. Both the Kaiser and Hitler told the Germans that. Rumsfield , Bush & Co. told Americans that. If someone is too egger to start a war, let them lead the charge on the ground and make damn sure they have their children along side them. You’ll find out instantly how serious they are about the glories of conflict.

Well I’m not too sure what I’ll write next… but it will be about Afghans, and war, and pushing jet fuel and missing my family. As one of me best friends pointed out… I’m writing a travelogue for a war.

The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

Travel in Afghanistan is an interesting proposition. If you happen to be Afghan it’s no big deal. Pack as many people in a car as you can and off you go. Not very different from any other 3rd world country I’ve visited. If you are in the military, a DOD civilian or a military contractor, things are different. These groups travel by convoy, Mil-Air, Jingle-Air or Rotary Wing.

Convoy travel involved climbing into an up-armored Humvee or MRAP and commanding the road with M2’s, M240’s, M249’s and Mk19’s (all crew served weapons mounted in turrets). If you are real lucky perhaps you’ll ride in an up-armored SUV. Everyone has seen these before. They are the same in the states when big wigs travel about. Over here the only real difference is that in addition to Suburbans there are up-armored Toyota Land Cruisers and Nissan Patrols. More comfy than the Humvees and MRAPS and they travel quite a bit faster.

MIL-Air includes jets and large turbo props, C17’s, C130’s and the like. These are good because they are not very dependant on the weather. They can also carry more passengers along with cargo. I flew with mail, panels of used Humvee armor and 155mm artillery rounds on one hop. These aircraft have no windows to speak of though and you’ll likely be sitting in a jump seat. In the C130’s it’s a bit disconcerting to look up and see a row of parachutes hanging just in front of you. This is very utilitarian travel. The inside of these aircraft look like a set from Aliens. Everything is grey, exposed wires and hydraulic lines run the length of the fuselage, not the most attractive ride.

Jingle-Air is contracted air. Blackwater is the operator. These are mostly small turbo props that most resemble Chevy Vans with wings. They carry up to 8 passengers and some cargo. These are an interesting ride. They have windows and fly rather low so there’s a good view. They frequently drop off schedule because of weather though.

I can't speak for the rotary wing yet... I have yet to ride in a helicopter. I'm told the back seat in a CH47 is a great ride if you are in the last one. That one will have the ramp open for a tail gunner.... fantastic views!

You can try to get “space blocked” on these to move about the country of simply fly space A. Given the number of cancellations I just wing it with space A. This entails spending a great deal of time in makeshift passenger terminals, nights on cots in tents and very fluid schedules. Most of the personnel in theater only experience these modes of travel. It’s a shame because you never get a reasonable understanding of the country moving about like that.

Unlike my brethren, I have had the opportunity to travel like a civilian. Moving about in a normal Toyota Land Cruiser, in civilian clothes gives a very different perspective. No need for body armor. There is significant freedom in moving about as the low value target. Who wants to waste an expensive IED on some stupid civilian? The contractors we work with for fuel and cargo deliveries travel like this. It’s not odd, or particularly dangerous.

My mom sent me a magazine recently. It seemed a bit out of character because it was a very local periodical from my home town. It’s a very left wing rag, not that I have any issue with that. One of the articles in it was written about Afghanistan by a Brit who was a one time prisoner of the Taliban Militia. She published the article in Dec 08. In it she claimed that 72% of the country and 4 of the 5 highways leading to Kabul were controlled by the Taliban. I found this astonishing because I’ve driven over 3 of them in the past month. No worries. No bad guys controlling the roads, just lots of Afghans, traveling, selling fish, selling sugar cane. She made mention of 20+ fuel trucks littering the road from Jalalabad. To be fair there was an attack at the Torkam border in Nov or Dec and a number of fuel trucks did burn. That was one attack, in one place. I am bothered that the facts have been so badly misrepresented. I expect severe spin from the right. I suppose it ignorance on my part to expect that the left would do any different. So, where can anyone get objective news from Afghanistan? Beats me, I wish I knew. In the mean time I’ll just continue to jot down my observations and thoughts here in cyber space.

Businessman Generals... NOT!!!

WARNING… what follows is a small rant on the state of US military command structure.  Read on if you must.

I’m sitting here with a headache, again.  I don’t know why but every Sunday I wake with my head fuzzy and hurting.  It seems odd, it’s my only late day so I get a chance to sleep.  There must be something tied tothe psychology of having free time at Bagram.  About the only thing to do on post that is different is to wander the bazaar on Fridays.  Truth be told, even it starts looking the same after a trip or three.  This is the strangest place I’ve ever been stationed.  

No one is in charge here.  Back in the Navy I grew up in every base you visited had someone in charge.  If something was wrong with the base there was the “one belly button” to reach out and touch.  There was no question of who controlled base projects, base security, base services.  These CO’s took pride in their bases.  There was always a base theater, base gym, a park with softball diamonds, tennis courts.  It didn’t matter where you were on the planet.  If you got dropped on a US military base, you knew it.  Then along came the Executive Management Certificate programs at schools like Wharton.  Now senior officers believed they knew how tooperate t military like a business.  Forget the fact that none of these bozos had ever worked for a real business in a management position.  They now had the paper that trumped all real world experience!  God help us. 

 Soon the “Enterprise” concept of organization came into favor.  This was an attempt to create a matrix organizational structure.  This structure works well n many businesses.  It is too bad though that the military is not one of those businesses.  There have been many brilliant military philosophers throughout the ages beginning with Sun Tzu.  None have advocated a decentralized and conflicting command structure.  Now, to be fair, a matrix organizational structure should not conflict with itself.  Hence the main issue.  What we now have is a series of stove pipe structures without a central authority to tie them together.  This brings me back to Bagram, urban planning gone horribly awry.  It’s not so much a base as a series of smaller bases cobbled together within one fence line.  The “one belly button” no longer exists.  In its place we have chaos pretending to be order.  There’s no telling when this stupid trend will correct itself.  Not likely in my career.  It facilitates a shell game with taxpayers money and allows senior officers to pretend they work for a productive business. 

 

The US Military, in the effort to become lean and mean and good stewards of the public’s funds has become a bloated and chaotic dysfunctional entity!  We are well be able to fight on a battle field but couldn’t manage our way out of a wet paper bag!

 It seems odd to me that I can be so critical of this military disorganization and yet so hopeful for the Afghan people.  I see their ability to press on, despite all odds.  I see their amazing history.  I see their fierce independence.  I see hope. 

 I hope with them.