Getting Things Done, March 28, 2010

I kicked but this week. I’m made some decisions and made things happen. The highest priority cargo is moving first. That is the goal. It is an easy goal, but it is amazing to me that some people still need to be told what to do. The war fighter needs their shit, and I ain’t waiting around for the boss to come back from a meeting so I can brief him and then ask him what to do, when I already know what to do. People actually do this! I got called a “shim”, too. The implication is that I have balls. I’ll take it as a compliment.

What we do requires massive coordination, which means that we have a lot of meetings. We have a chronic problem with people falling asleep in meetings. At first, I couldn’t believe it—why would the boss tolerate it. Then, I caught him falling asleep in a meeting. Early on, I swore to myself that I will not fall asleep in a meeting, and I haven’t. However, yesterday, I fell asleep on the toilet. Just for a second...It woke me up when my head bobbed. This means I’ll have to muster up some compassion for the meeting sleepers. By the way, did I tell you that we have square toilets?

We all have nicknames around here. I have two. The boys in my shop call me Piss and Vinegar. A couple of them are the mad at the world type, and they think they can take some of my cheeriness away. Misery loves company, so they are trying to bring me down with them. Boy, do they have another think coming. I keep them cracking up so they forget how miserable they are. My girl friends (who work in a different area) call me Speedy.

Guy Clifton did a great article on me in the paper. He has me running six miles a day…I could only wish! I am averaging 3 miles a day, and a long run on Sundays…today was a glorious 7 miler. I would love to run more, but since I can’t, I’m working on speed. Friday, I ran a 9 minute pace for three miles…that is really good for me. My running buddies at Reno Running and Fitness sent me a BIG-ASS awesome care package…five boxes in all. Now I have an abundance of sample size bathroom products, so of course, I’ll share. I am going to make up little care packages for the Afghani workers to take home to their families.

Guy also had me in the Army National Guard…I am actually in the Air National Guard. I am working side by side with all branches of the Military, Active Duty, Guard and Reserve. Field the Force, Sustain the Force, and Protect the Force. That is what we do here at Unites States Forces-Afghanistan. It doesn't matter what uniform you wear. It truely is one team, one fight.

My Room

Care Package from Reno Running and Fitness

My Favorite Guard

One Click at a Time, March 21, 2010

My work is starting to settle in a bit. We work until we are done, but it might be more accurate to say that we work until we give up for the day. I work in a room that is about 20 ft by 20 ft, and we have 13 people in it. Each of us has a least two computer systems (some three) at our stations. There are no storage areas, no drawers, no nothing…just a place to sit and click and type. We bug the crap out of each other, we get in each other’s way, we laugh, we fight, then we make up, but we always help each other out. This scene is played out in countless rooms, in countless tents and buildings, in a countless number of bases. In short, we are…killing the Taliban one click at a time…

I have learned another valuable lesson from running. Although I had to change my goal, I did not change my work ethic. I’ve been running 3-5 laps around the compound (2-3.5 miles), and I have found that my speed has increased--I am down to a 9:30 pace. I had time to run 9 glorious laps around the compound today…6.1 miles. At almost 6000 ft, I still pulled off a 1:02 time and it was a leisurely run. This was the same as my best time back home, during my last 10K race (with Jen!). The moral of the story is to be flexible with your goals, but not with your work ethic.

I got another quick jaunt around town in an up armored vehicle and full battle rattle, as required. On the one hand, this is the right thing to do, because there is risk. On the other hand, it is the wrong thing to do because to be successful here, we must win over the population and you can’t do that by alienating yourself from them. Winning them over is key to them turning over the Taliban or to withdrawing their support of the Taliban. They can’t do either of those things until they are certain of our success, or their will be consequences—the Taliban will get them back in spades. I swear the Afghanis are wondering if we are bad guys or good guys, and if we are going to leave them without the knowledge, skills and training to provide for their own security. That is what keeps the Afghanis up at night.

The people are curious, especially of women, but they are also scared. Once you smile and wave, their eyes light up. We were quite the spectacle…female driver, female in the front set and a couple of guys in the back seat! It was awesome.

I got a room! I’ve got a good roommate.  Oh, happy spring! The weather is beautiful.

The Pursuit of Meaning, March 14, 2010

Sarah and Tiffany…Bagram Passenger Terminal.  27 Feb 2010

What I am doing right now must be important…after all, I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

To support our nation’s war fighters in a noble cause is why we all came here, but it has to be more than that to be able to keep doing the things we are doing. In this environment, it seems you must personalize your reason for being here--if you do, you will succeed and make a difference. If you don’t, you become bitter and mad at the world. In the short time that I’ve been deployed to the United States Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), in the heart of Kabul, and I’ve seen both kinds already.

I’m attaching a picture of two women that I met at the Bagram Passenger Terminal. The older one’s name is Sarah, and she immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan in 1980, right after the Russian invasion. She was 24, with 4 children under 4 and she got the courage to leave…without her husband. She had not been back since, but now she is an interpreter for the US and was on her way to her birth place near Kandahar. She said it is time for her to give back to her country, by helping the Coalition make this a better place, and restore it what she knew prior to 1980. The younger woman, Tiffany, is 21 and said she left for basic training the day after high school graduation. She is ready to get out, so she can settle down and raise children, and she talked of all of the adventures that she has had in the military. The three of us talked about many things, but especially the plight of women in Afghanistan. The women here had full rights, just like we Americans do, but they have had them taken away by the Taliban. I couldn’t imagine a world where Tiffany couldn’t travel the world, and then choose to stay home, or where Sarah couldn’t use her time, energy and talent to make the world a better place. These two women epitomize all that it means to be free.

It happened in Afghanistan. It can happen anywhere. It can happen to us. Just the thought of it makes me mad. Not mad for my own sake, but for my niece’s sake, who are young and have such exciting lives ahead of them. It makes me want to do something. So, here I am…I am doing something.

The Taliban, Al Qaeda, et al. have declared war on the Infidel, and we are the Infidel. They will not stop until the Infidel is dead, and the world is just like they are. Do I think they will succeed? No, but I’m not going to just stand there and let it happen, either. I’ll do my part…this is what brings meaning to my deployment for me.

Victor Frenkl, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, wrote a book called Man’s Search for Meaning. He states that every individual must pursue meaning, rather than success or happiness. He says that if you find or are actively searching for meaning (your reason or purpose for being), you can do anything. You can even survive a concentration camp--he postulates that no one should have survived. (This is how I know that USFOR-A won’t do me in).

Frenkl also smartly postulates that happiness and success are by products of living the right kind of life. This, too is proved at USFOR-A. We are working our tails off, but we are having fun. I got a chance to go to a nearby base for some training. Attached are some photos…oh, the things I’ve done and the people I’ve met!

Our Ride

Highly Defensible!

Awesome Engineering!  We saw this all over the place.

The King lived here in the 1920s, until he was deposed because he was too progressive…he didn’t cover up his wife. Don’t know what happened to it after that, but the Russians used it as HQ throughout their occupation. Then, the Taliban destroyed it in civil war.

The Queen's House

That is the Afghan Flag in the background.

At the top of the hill is the Russian Officers club.  I ran up to it in the morning, then we got a tour later in the day.

My Morning Run!

What I leaned today...I am a Counter insurgent.

An Afghan National Army (ANA) Base.

Already Friends for Life

Wants to be friends for life!  The Afghans are very friendly.

At the top of the Russian Officer's Club...this place feels like home.

USFOR-A, March 7, 2010

I just finished my first week at United States Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), in the heart of Kabul. We are in a small, walled off and very secure compound. I’m in the Joint Logistics Movement Control Center (JLMMC, or J4M) helping to ensure the USFOR-A movement priorities are met. The good news is that we get two half days off here, the bad news is the work hours are 7:30a to 10:00p-ish. I’m in a tent, with 10 or so of my now closest friends. I’m on a waiting list for a 10 X 20 pod, where I’ll only have one or two close friends. The quarters situation actually doesn’t matter…all I need is a place to lie down, and I’m out like a light.

I’ve already got a really great assignment—In my spare time (snicker) I am working with the logistics experts of our partner nations to develop a movement priority system for all of the coalition movements, not just US movements (holy crap, here we go again…back in the deep end of the pool…did you hear the splash?). Although the draft version of coalition movement priorities were diametrically opposed to the US actual priorities, we came to the conclusion that we are saying the same thing, just in a different way. After a few days worth of dialog back and forth, we and the coalition members that we are working with have realized that we are united toward the common goal of supporting the war fighter, and the rest is semantics.

The US is by far the largest force, and has the most expertise in all aspects of conducting operations and sustaining them. We’ve also got the most economic and political power behind us. In turn, we also have the lion’s share of the problems, and this is making it easy for our partners to pick on us. We are walking a fine line between being seen as mentors for the coalition and being seen as the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

To finalize my traveling adventures…I got a ride on an AN-124, the largest aircraft in the world:

  

I Left Kuwait on Friday night, spent Saturday at Bagram Air Base (what a hell hole) and Saturday night in a tent at the Kabul International Airport. My ride picked me up in an up-armored vehicle for a very interesting ride to the compound.  Here is me and my battle buddy on that ride: 

I am running on a treadmill or around the compound. The perimeter of the compound is .6 miles. Either way, this spells doom for my running goal of 20 miles per week. As with every aspect of this deployment, it looks like I am going to have to adjust my expectation. I am going to shoot for 10-12 miles per week instead. I started a P-90X program with a few folks here as well.

If any of you are inclined, I could use some travel size toiletries, such as shampoo, cream rinse, soap, toothpaste and the like. I don’t care what kind. Some healthy snacks would also be appreciated. Here is my address:

JoAnn Meacham
USFOR-A/J4
NKC
APO AE, 09356

I ran into another Nevada National Guard member in the female bathroom at Kabul Airport!  This is me and LTC Cori Powers:

  

Thanks for all your support and Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Bill.