I’ve been struggling for months with how to respond to the question everyone keeps asking me: “What do you thing about the surge in Afghanistan?” It’s always worded a bit different. Some ask it seemingly reluctantly, wanting to know but not sure how to ask it. I do love Afghanistan. I long to see more of the country… but cannot. I want so badly to see a chance for improvement. I want to but the final card just dropped. I just read that Abdullah Abdullah is going to drop out of the runoff election with Karzai. Abdullah has been pushing for a power sharing deal and the sacking of the head of the election commission. Karzai has been stonewalling and apparently all bets are now off.
I was listening to an interview with the former deputy head of the UN’s mission in Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith. He was sacked by Ban Ki Moon prior to the primary election for pushing too hard for free and fair elections. His specific complaint was that too many polling places were going to be designated. Now before you scoff and ask why that is a bad thing it’s important to remember that many parts of the country are still outside the direct control of Kabul. Mr. Galbraith’s complaint was that to open polling places that likely would not be manned would allow easy ballot stuffing. If the polling place never opens except on paper it’s too easy to make up imaginary votes and record them. He made these specific complaints before the first election and low and behold what happened? Exactly that! The UN threw out so many votes for Karzai that a second election was warranted.
A few days ago I heard that the “Independent “ Election Commission in Afghanistan was going to open even MORE polling places for the runoff election. I heard that and thought “it’s over”. It’s a bold move to be sure. Even more phantom polling places to record make believe votes. It was clear to me Karzai was going to steal this election at any cost, the greedy bastard. Now the story about Abdullah, I no longer have any hope that we can have a positive impact on the country.
In 1963 we supported a coup d’etat against Diem in South Vietnam. This was a regime change of a government we were “supporting” we all know how that one ended. So now we have an illiterate government, of our own creation, running the country we are fighting in. This can’t possibly end well. More cash, more troops, it won’t matter. You simply can’t bring peace and stability to a country without a central government short of straight up colonization and that is but a short tern solution which also generally ends badly.
I was hopeful that General McCrystal’s strategy of protecting the populace would improve conditions but how can that possibly work when the central government is horribly corrupt? How do you hand off control of a country to someone only interested in raping it?
Does this mean I think the Taliban are a good alternative? Hell no! The Taliban are an evil Pakistani construct, not an Afghan movement. We look to have burned all our bridges though. We have played this misadventure so badly from the get go that we no longer have any options. I hate to say this. I love Afghanistan and want above all else to put on rose colored glasses and pretend we can fix the mess. I simply can’t pretend any longer. This tears me up but I can’t ignore it. We need to extricate our troops and let the Afghans decide their own destiny.
At this point the best we can do is work feverishly to cut all the funding strings to the Taliban and drug lords. This we CAN do. We know who these people are. We know how to disrupt international funding channels. If we were to effectively limit outside influence from Afghanistan, our own included, the country would sort itself out. Will we do that? No. Too bad. You have no idea how angry this all makes me. Here we go again…
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Back in the Saddle
Just two months back from Afghanistan. I live in a privileged beach community on the West Coast. Given I didn’t have anything to do with combat in Afghanistan and actually enjoyed my time there I should have had an easy transition. At least I would have thought so. My first month or so was vacation time. I thought I would accomplish so much. Not so, to my dismay. Last month I spent back at Corporate America. I returned to most of my duties. Things began slowly, boring, bland. I wondered what the hell I was doing there, in my little cubicle. It’s been a strange transition. I’ve been away before but never for so long, especially never so long without a break.
I heard my wife telling her best friend that I was burned out from working more than six months without a day off. It didn’t feel like the cause though. I am glad she has friends to confess to, to confide in.
I had one once. It’s important to have someone other than a spouse to talk to. So here I am, a bit better now. The turning point seems to have been a dream in which I died. I’ve never died in a dream before. The strange thing is that I was falling and knew it would end badly. Rather than taking control of the dream as I usually have I concentrated on relaxing and letting go. At impact I was suddenly somewhere else. Someone was walking toward a fence with me to see the carnage. A person had landed badly, fatally, from some great distance. When I looked I saw it was my body lying there. I was not feeling bad, just curious. There I stood looking at my shattered form on the concrete. I told my friend about the dream but shortly thereafter they vanished. So, here I am somewhat transformed, somewhat back to normal, but lacking a key person in my life. Cest la vie.
Yesterday I climbed mount San Jacinto. It was my first ascent since I began the foray into Central Asia and the bowels of petroleum management. The last peak was San Gorgonio in Sep 08. I love mountains. They help me maintain balance. They make me feel at home. I suppose I’ve always liked abandoned places. Places forgotten. In High School I used to go to the old LA Zoo, long abandoned. It was like ruins in the middle of a
city. Anyway I finally made it back up a mountain for the first time since staring at those wonderful peaks surrounding the Shamali Plain. Climbing early you manage to miss most other people, at least on the ascent. It was comforting to sit at the summit for a short while in relative privacy. I can’t imagine a better vantage point from which to contemplate the world. Taoists have the right idea.
I heard my wife telling her best friend that I was burned out from working more than six months without a day off. It didn’t feel like the cause though. I am glad she has friends to confess to, to confide in.
I had one once. It’s important to have someone other than a spouse to talk to. So here I am, a bit better now. The turning point seems to have been a dream in which I died. I’ve never died in a dream before. The strange thing is that I was falling and knew it would end badly. Rather than taking control of the dream as I usually have I concentrated on relaxing and letting go. At impact I was suddenly somewhere else. Someone was walking toward a fence with me to see the carnage. A person had landed badly, fatally, from some great distance. When I looked I saw it was my body lying there. I was not feeling bad, just curious. There I stood looking at my shattered form on the concrete. I told my friend about the dream but shortly thereafter they vanished. So, here I am somewhat transformed, somewhat back to normal, but lacking a key person in my life. Cest la vie.Yesterday I climbed mount San Jacinto. It was my first ascent since I began the foray into Central Asia and the bowels of petroleum management. The last peak was San Gorgonio in Sep 08. I love mountains. They help me maintain balance. They make me feel at home. I suppose I’ve always liked abandoned places. Places forgotten. In High School I used to go to the old LA Zoo, long abandoned. It was like ruins in the middle of a
city. Anyway I finally made it back up a mountain for the first time since staring at those wonderful peaks surrounding the Shamali Plain. Climbing early you manage to miss most other people, at least on the ascent. It was comforting to sit at the summit for a short while in relative privacy. I can’t imagine a better vantage point from which to contemplate the world. Taoists have the right idea. Friday, October 2, 2009
Out Of The War Zone Into The Fire Zone
I’ve been back in So Cal for six weeks now. I’ve had this ongoing internal debate on weather to retire the blog or keep writing. People keep reading it so I decided I should keep writing it. The LA basin is in for a hell of a fire season. It’s early in the season and already the Station Fire has charred 160,000 acres of local mountains. A new fire is raging as I write this. This new fire is upwind from the canyon I live in and with Santa Anna winds blowing, that can be worrisome. I spent six months in Afghanistan and generally felt safe. If some dumbass shoots at you, bullets can be sent back post haste. If Katushka rockets or mortars are inbound, they generally come in threes or fours, they are short lived attacks and infrequent. Mind you this is from my experience at Bagram not at Helmond, Kandahar, Patika, Ghazni, etc. That said, my community lies anxiously waiting for the end of the Santa Anna’s. We are at the mercy of random arsonists. Cowardly bastards that should be severely punished. Such is life in the alleged bastion of democracy.
There is a major debate in the USA right now about Afghanistan. Should we send in more troops and prove we could have won in Vietnam or do we cut our losses and pull out? I am asked my opinion about this almost daily. My friends and neighbors want to hear the opinion of someone who has seen Afghanistan. I am struggling with the answer. Anyone who has read this blog knows I think highly of the potential of Afghanistan. I think highly of the resourcefulness of the Afghan people. I would love nothing more than to be able to tell people we should send in more troops and that we can win this in under a year. I would love to… but I cannot. I am have this melancholy feeling that we already shot our wad in Central Asia. We had the initiative and going into 2003 we threw it away on the whims of a fascist administration. (As I write this you should know I choose my words carefully) We have really screwed this war up. You can’t invade and then throttle back and pretend all is well. The initial good will of the Afghans, happy to be free of the despotic Taliban Regime, is long gone. The average Afghan wants peace. They want their homes intact, not bombed. They want the mines and ordinance removed, not limbs removed by explosives. We are in a sad state of affairs in Central Asia today.
If the US Army were still led by soldiers who had fought in the hell of Vietnam we might have stood a chance. Insurgencies are ugly. Fighting an enemy who look like civilians is a nasty business full of misidentification and tragedy. I worry that the senior officers raised in the turkey shoot of Desert Storm are completely out of their element now. The lack of effective leadership I witnessed at the field grade officer level leaves me full of unease. I read General McCrystals guidance. It was sound. Unfortunately I don’t have faith that the current Army leadership is capable of understanding and implementing that guidance. If we leave Afghanistan in a quagmire it will not be the Taliban Insurgency that beat us it will have been our own ethnocentrism that kicked our ass.
There is a major debate in the USA right now about Afghanistan. Should we send in more troops and prove we could have won in Vietnam or do we cut our losses and pull out? I am asked my opinion about this almost daily. My friends and neighbors want to hear the opinion of someone who has seen Afghanistan. I am struggling with the answer. Anyone who has read this blog knows I think highly of the potential of Afghanistan. I think highly of the resourcefulness of the Afghan people. I would love nothing more than to be able to tell people we should send in more troops and that we can win this in under a year. I would love to… but I cannot. I am have this melancholy feeling that we already shot our wad in Central Asia. We had the initiative and going into 2003 we threw it away on the whims of a fascist administration. (As I write this you should know I choose my words carefully) We have really screwed this war up. You can’t invade and then throttle back and pretend all is well. The initial good will of the Afghans, happy to be free of the despotic Taliban Regime, is long gone. The average Afghan wants peace. They want their homes intact, not bombed. They want the mines and ordinance removed, not limbs removed by explosives. We are in a sad state of affairs in Central Asia today.
If the US Army were still led by soldiers who had fought in the hell of Vietnam we might have stood a chance. Insurgencies are ugly. Fighting an enemy who look like civilians is a nasty business full of misidentification and tragedy. I worry that the senior officers raised in the turkey shoot of Desert Storm are completely out of their element now. The lack of effective leadership I witnessed at the field grade officer level leaves me full of unease. I read General McCrystals guidance. It was sound. Unfortunately I don’t have faith that the current Army leadership is capable of understanding and implementing that guidance. If we leave Afghanistan in a quagmire it will not be the Taliban Insurgency that beat us it will have been our own ethnocentrism that kicked our ass.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Wall
The Kabul city wall presents an
interesting hike to see a side of Kabul not often visited by outsiders in the past 30 years. I went with an Afghan American friend. Where the wall reaches down to the road between Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain and Antenna Mountain it is too steep to hike, rock climb perhaps but not hike. So to begin the hike we drove up some very steep dirt roads through poorer neighborhoods. We stopped at a small fortification with two cannon that used to fire to signal noon. This spot has an impressive view of Babur’s garden and mausoleum. Babur founded the Mughal Dynasty in the 16th century and loved Kabul. The road ends perhaps half way up the flank of Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza. From there we sent our driver to the other side of the mountain, 
near the city cemetery. We quickly worked past the last few mud brick dwellings. The people who live this far up the mountain have no running water or power. Water is generally brought up by donkey as few of these residents own cars. Mud brick outhouses sit 20 or 30 feet from the dwellings. Looking at these neighborhoods and the steepness of the streets I was glad it was summer and not the snowy winter or very wet spring. This would be a real challenge to navigate in poor weather.
The wall on this steeper side of the mountain is not much more than a jumble of rocks for much of its length. As we worked our way higher up the ridge line the wall is in better condition. During one rest stop three young boys walked past us, ignoring our
presence as if we were part of the landscape. This is a wonderful hike to view Kabul from above. Despite the ever present haze I was able to take a number of good photos of the city. The summit of the mountain has a small fortification built into the wall. My friend told me this dated from the civil war and was not part of the original wall.
The wall itself is an impressive feat of engineering. Built 1,100 years ago the base looks to be dry rock (no mortar). The Afghans to this day build amazing dry rock walls. It’s a skill largely lost in Europe and America. Sections of the wall sti
ll have intact ramparts, these being built of mud brick, plastered over. The best of these sections overlook the city cemetery. The brick, mortar and plaster are of a much higher quality than I’ve seen elsewhere in Afghanistan. These sections have withstood 1,100 years of snow, rain and wind. To the touch they feel like rock, not hardened mud. These sections of the wall still have downward openings for defensive fire.
The view on ridgeline that slopes toward Bala Hissar (the 5th century Fortress) is dominated by the huge city cemetery and marshes. Like far too many cemeteries in Afghanistan it is festooned with flags. These flags, mostly green are placed above the graves of martyrs.
In a country that has seen more than 30 years of continuous fighting there has been no shortage of martyrs.
As we walked past the highest house on the slope a small girl ran out. Perhaps 5 years old she tried to sell us a small piece of beadwork. She was very cute and had light hair and green eyes but her hands were covered with numerous warts. My friend gave her a few Afghani’s and sent her home. She flew the 100 meters or so to the house and immediately her older sister, perhaps 8, ran toward us. She wore a beautiful blue dress and had the same light hair and green eyes. A few more Afghani’s and admonishment not to send any other siblings and we continued
on our way.
When we reached the edge of Bala Hissar it was time to work down through another neighborhood toward the cemetery and our ride. The paths were amazingly steep again. The smell of feces and livestock hung in the air. As we walked down a family with two donkeys was heading up with bags of rice. This is not an easy life.
interesting hike to see a side of Kabul not often visited by outsiders in the past 30 years. I went with an Afghan American friend. Where the wall reaches down to the road between Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain and Antenna Mountain it is too steep to hike, rock climb perhaps but not hike. So to begin the hike we drove up some very steep dirt roads through poorer neighborhoods. We stopped at a small fortification with two cannon that used to fire to signal noon. This spot has an impressive view of Babur’s garden and mausoleum. Babur founded the Mughal Dynasty in the 16th century and loved Kabul. The road ends perhaps half way up the flank of Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza. From there we sent our driver to the other side of the mountain, 
near the city cemetery. We quickly worked past the last few mud brick dwellings. The people who live this far up the mountain have no running water or power. Water is generally brought up by donkey as few of these residents own cars. Mud brick outhouses sit 20 or 30 feet from the dwellings. Looking at these neighborhoods and the steepness of the streets I was glad it was summer and not the snowy winter or very wet spring. This would be a real challenge to navigate in poor weather.The wall on this steeper side of the mountain is not much more than a jumble of rocks for much of its length. As we worked our way higher up the ridge line the wall is in better condition. During one rest stop three young boys walked past us, ignoring our
presence as if we were part of the landscape. This is a wonderful hike to view Kabul from above. Despite the ever present haze I was able to take a number of good photos of the city. The summit of the mountain has a small fortification built into the wall. My friend told me this dated from the civil war and was not part of the original wall.The wall itself is an impressive feat of engineering. Built 1,100 years ago the base looks to be dry rock (no mortar). The Afghans to this day build amazing dry rock walls. It’s a skill largely lost in Europe and America. Sections of the wall sti
ll have intact ramparts, these being built of mud brick, plastered over. The best of these sections overlook the city cemetery. The brick, mortar and plaster are of a much higher quality than I’ve seen elsewhere in Afghanistan. These sections have withstood 1,100 years of snow, rain and wind. To the touch they feel like rock, not hardened mud. These sections of the wall still have downward openings for defensive fire.The view on ridgeline that slopes toward Bala Hissar (the 5th century Fortress) is dominated by the huge city cemetery and marshes. Like far too many cemeteries in Afghanistan it is festooned with flags. These flags, mostly green are placed above the graves of martyrs.
In a country that has seen more than 30 years of continuous fighting there has been no shortage of martyrs.As we walked past the highest house on the slope a small girl ran out. Perhaps 5 years old she tried to sell us a small piece of beadwork. She was very cute and had light hair and green eyes but her hands were covered with numerous warts. My friend gave her a few Afghani’s and sent her home. She flew the 100 meters or so to the house and immediately her older sister, perhaps 8, ran toward us. She wore a beautiful blue dress and had the same light hair and green eyes. A few more Afghani’s and admonishment not to send any other siblings and we continued
on our way.When we reached the edge of Bala Hissar it was time to work down through another neighborhood toward the cemetery and our ride. The paths were amazingly steep again. The smell of feces and livestock hung in the air. As we walked down a family with two donkeys was heading up with bags of rice. This is not an easy life.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Kabul... Malls and Walls, oh my!
Where to begin…I am packed, checked out, weapon is clean, bullets turned in, waiting on a flight to Kuwait to go through Warrior Transition Training. One adventure gives way to another. A few days ago I was in Kabul. I hiked the ancient city wall, ate some very good food, met with contractors, saw the shops on Chicken Road and basically had a fantastic time. Life here has moved so fast I have a difficult time knowing where to start.
I began my last trip to Kabul to introduce my relief to our Strategic Reserves, fuel storage facilities. I’ve seen them so I set my relief on his way and proceeded to go out to lunch with one of our contractors. We ate at Rumi, a traditional Afghan restaurant. The food was amazing. I have loved the food here. Like all the other restaurants here in Kabul the outside is unassuming, just a wall with a tall steel gate. It could be a home or a junk yard. Once you clear the security the place is quite lovely. It has the obligatory garden dining as well as very nice indoor areas decorated with paintings of Whirling Dervishes.
Later that day, when the others had returned form their site visits we went out to eat at the same restaurant for dinner. We had the same food again and I enjoyed it just as much. After dinner we went to a Lebanese place for beer and hookahs and eventually ended up at a French Restaurant for drinks. All of these places have outdoor dining in beautiful gardens. It’s a side of Kabul very few in the military know about, let alone visit.
On Sunday I left the others and hooked up with a different contractor, an Afghan American I had ridden up to Hairaton with several months ago. He has been promising me a hike along the old Kabul City Wall for months. With four days left we finally made it. The wall is something like 1,100 years old. The base is made of stones with the rampart constructed of mud brick and mortar. It is amazing to look at the surviving sections of bud brick, still intact after 1,100 years of rain and snow! Some sections are still plastered, the bricks and plaster feeling like stone. This impressive civic works project follows the ridge line over a mountain that divides moderns Kabul. I felt lucky to have had this opportunity. Few foreigners have been able to take this walk over the past 30 years due to the wars.
Lunch on Sunday was at a small French café near Chicken Road. The food was wonderful, fresh bread and homemade jam, the first decent coffee I’ve had in Afghanistan (I’ve been drinking tea when off Bagram). The compound contains an art gallery and as you enter the garden various carpets and kilims hang from the wall. Chicken Road used to be the hippie area of Kabul in the 60’s and 70’s. Now it is the antique area. I wish I’d have found out about it earlier. If I make it back here as a tourist in a few years it will be a necessary stop.
It’s been wonderful seeing Kabul in this manner. I visited a fantastic book shop with many English tit
les and even walked through a shopping mall. At the mall I had to check my weapon at the door. It was a bit disconcerting to be sure. Drop the mag, hand it over, receive a claim check. When I left I handed over my ticket and received my M9, then had to sign a receipt ledger. The mall was very modern. It has several floors of shops and the upper floors contain a hotel. If dropped off inside this place you would never guess you were in the heart of Kabul, war torn Kabul. This place is not at all what people are seeing on the news. It’s a shame. If these views were more prevalent in the West people might have more faith in the potential of Afghanistan.
I began my last trip to Kabul to introduce my relief to our Strategic Reserves, fuel storage facilities. I’ve seen them so I set my relief on his way and proceeded to go out to lunch with one of our contractors. We ate at Rumi, a traditional Afghan restaurant. The food was amazing. I have loved the food here. Like all the other restaurants here in Kabul the outside is unassuming, just a wall with a tall steel gate. It could be a home or a junk yard. Once you clear the security the place is quite lovely. It has the obligatory garden dining as well as very nice indoor areas decorated with paintings of Whirling Dervishes.
Later that day, when the others had returned form their site visits we went out to eat at the same restaurant for dinner. We had the same food again and I enjoyed it just as much. After dinner we went to a Lebanese place for beer and hookahs and eventually ended up at a French Restaurant for drinks. All of these places have outdoor dining in beautiful gardens. It’s a side of Kabul very few in the military know about, let alone visit.
On Sunday I left the others and hooked up with a different contractor, an Afghan American I had ridden up to Hairaton with several months ago. He has been promising me a hike along the old Kabul City Wall for months. With four days left we finally made it. The wall is something like 1,100 years old. The base is made of stones with the rampart constructed of mud brick and mortar. It is amazing to look at the surviving sections of bud brick, still intact after 1,100 years of rain and snow! Some sections are still plastered, the bricks and plaster feeling like stone. This impressive civic works project follows the ridge line over a mountain that divides moderns Kabul. I felt lucky to have had this opportunity. Few foreigners have been able to take this walk over the past 30 years due to the wars.
Lunch on Sunday was at a small French café near Chicken Road. The food was wonderful, fresh bread and homemade jam, the first decent coffee I’ve had in Afghanistan (I’ve been drinking tea when off Bagram). The compound contains an art gallery and as you enter the garden various carpets and kilims hang from the wall. Chicken Road used to be the hippie area of Kabul in the 60’s and 70’s. Now it is the antique area. I wish I’d have found out about it earlier. If I make it back here as a tourist in a few years it will be a necessary stop.
It’s been wonderful seeing Kabul in this manner. I visited a fantastic book shop with many English tit
les and even walked through a shopping mall. At the mall I had to check my weapon at the door. It was a bit disconcerting to be sure. Drop the mag, hand it over, receive a claim check. When I left I handed over my ticket and received my M9, then had to sign a receipt ledger. The mall was very modern. It has several floors of shops and the upper floors contain a hotel. If dropped off inside this place you would never guess you were in the heart of Kabul, war torn Kabul. This place is not at all what people are seeing on the news. It’s a shame. If these views were more prevalent in the West people might have more faith in the potential of Afghanistan. Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Down to Single Digits
My relief has arrived and we are turning over the position but I still can’t focus on my departure. Life is too busy here. People keep asking me if I’m excited. I tell them I’ll be excited when I step aboard the C17. This isn’t too unusual for me though. I’m the same way going on vacation. It’s a good trait, being able to avoid anticipation and maintaining some detachment.
Not everyone can break free of their environment so easily. A civilian gentleman in our office is in charge of food for all US Forces in
Yesterday I was cashing a check in the finance office. I am generally in a good mood (when I’m not ranting) so I asked the cashier, an Army Specialist, “Are we having fun yet?” He told me “actually, no.” As it turns out he is in the first week of a 12 month tour and hates being at Bagram. I find this odd, and a little disturbing. I don’t understand people who join the military and then become upset at being deployed. If you don’t want to be sent to occasionally unpleasant places work at Wal-Mart, don’t join the armed forces for gods sake!
Then there is the PFC that went missing and was announced as captured by the Taliban. Reports of what happened have been contradictory. The latest is a video statement from PFC Bergdahl where he states he lagged behind on a patrol and was captured. This is possible, it’s also the best story for the Taliban to push, “young soldiers beware you are not safe even with your squad!” Initial reports from the Afghans indicated that he wandered away from his camp drunk, unarmed and without body armor. This story sounds more plausible to me although most people probably don’t want to hear that. It wouldn’t surprise me if a distraught PFC became drunk and wandered off. It would be an act of attempted suicide to be sure, but then suicide is not unusual in the Army today.
Suicide is something the Army is really struggling with right now. It is at record levels. At the same time, being strapped for personnel, the Army has cut entrance requirements and mobilized a large number of personnel from the inactive reserve. In most cases these are soldiers who had an active duty as well as reserve obligation under their enlistment contract. They finished their active stint and decided not to reenlist only to be brought back anyway. In general these are not very happy people.
It’s well past time the Military, and the Army in particular, worked to restore the leadership qualities it has lost over the past few decades. Too many senior officers direct subordinates to “Just get it done”, probably the most cowardly phrase in common use within the military. There is no hint that these officers have any inkling of what is required to get the particular job done and they certainly aren’t interested in providing any assistance in getting the job accomplished. It is a phrase that indicates a complete lack of leadership ability.
So to summarize: we have placed large numbers of poorly motivated soldiers in the hands of “leaders”, some of whom are worthless, to go fight in a foreign land most Americans couldn’t find on a map, even if it were labeled. We still have a chance to do good here but it’s difficult for me think about that right now. I’m too pissed off at seeing a good man reduced to tears by worthless “leaders”.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Short Timer
I’m getting down to the wire here at Bagram. Within two weeks I depart for Kuwait. I miss home but I’m also going to miss Afghanistan. Kuwait, from my perspective, is kind of like purgatory. All us Navy types get shuttled through the “Warrior Transition Program” in Kuwait. We turn in our gear. Turn in our weapons. Listen to lectures and take survey’s all geared toward decompressing before heading back to the land of the big PX (the USA). It still seems odd to me that I’m being sent from beautiful Afghanistan where the temperature has been in the mid 90’s down to Kuwait and temps around 120F. Somehow the Navy feels this is preferable to flying us back to some point in the USA to accomplish these tasks. The only good part is that I’ll be able to turn in most of my gear, including my weapon and body armor before I have to lug them all the way to the USA.
Getting ready to transfer has made life even busier than normal. I’ve had to update all our Standard Operating Procedures work up a transition schedule and will be training my relief in all the various reports and analysis we perform. I’m going to try and work in another trip to Kabul as well. There are several projects we’ve just kicked off that are still in a planning stage so my relief should have an interesting start! Just to keep things really interesting I’m also helping to organize a Fire Safety meeting in the community that I live in back in the states, a short vacation and a long list of chores around the house. Somehow getting back to my civilian job is going to seem like a vacation.
I need to climb a mountain or two when I get home. It’s been frustrating being here in view of such beautiful mountains without access to them. Departing is made somewhat easier by all the airborne dust above the Shamali plain in June and July. The mountains that have teased me for the past six months are frequently barely visible now. Looking at them reminds me of LA back in the 60’s and 70’s. Luckily it doesn’t grab at you lungs the way the LA smog did.
Much as I am certain I’ll miss Afghanistan, I’ll be quite happy saying goodbye to the US Army, the 82’nd Airborne and piss poor contracts awarded to companies that survive off war profiteering. From a taxpayer standpoint this place can be infuriating. Of all the ranting and raving that’s carried on in the USA about entitlement programs wasting money, they don’t hold a candle to the amount of waste carried on in a war zone. To clarify, I a
m not speaking of war itself. War is terribly wasteful but some will defend a given war as vigorously as others defame it. I am speaking of all the needless waste caused by lack of leadership, lack of management acumen, lack of accountability. These are the things that should inflame the tax critics and conservatives. I find it curious that I don’t hear anything at all about this in the US media. Apparently the forces of fiscal accountability are asleep at the switch!
Getting ready to transfer has made life even busier than normal. I’ve had to update all our Standard Operating Procedures work up a transition schedule and will be training my relief in all the various reports and analysis we perform. I’m going to try and work in another trip to Kabul as well. There are several projects we’ve just kicked off that are still in a planning stage so my relief should have an interesting start! Just to keep things really interesting I’m also helping to organize a Fire Safety meeting in the community that I live in back in the states, a short vacation and a long list of chores around the house. Somehow getting back to my civilian job is going to seem like a vacation.
I need to climb a mountain or two when I get home. It’s been frustrating being here in view of such beautiful mountains without access to them. Departing is made somewhat easier by all the airborne dust above the Shamali plain in June and July. The mountains that have teased me for the past six months are frequently barely visible now. Looking at them reminds me of LA back in the 60’s and 70’s. Luckily it doesn’t grab at you lungs the way the LA smog did.
Much as I am certain I’ll miss Afghanistan, I’ll be quite happy saying goodbye to the US Army, the 82’nd Airborne and piss poor contracts awarded to companies that survive off war profiteering. From a taxpayer standpoint this place can be infuriating. Of all the ranting and raving that’s carried on in the USA about entitlement programs wasting money, they don’t hold a candle to the amount of waste carried on in a war zone. To clarify, I a
m not speaking of war itself. War is terribly wasteful but some will defend a given war as vigorously as others defame it. I am speaking of all the needless waste caused by lack of leadership, lack of management acumen, lack of accountability. These are the things that should inflame the tax critics and conservatives. I find it curious that I don’t hear anything at all about this in the US media. Apparently the forces of fiscal accountability are asleep at the switch!
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