Walkabout, June 28, 2010

I’m on a walk about in Afghanistan, and I have two traveling companions.  I call them my entourage.  Both are new and this is their orientation.  After 4 months in country, I am old.  I am trying to pass all my knowledge to them, to others.  The purpose of this walkabout is to speak to folks that use the airlift system and teach tips and tricks.  It isn’t an easy system to use, but if you know how to use it, it works.  Problem is, folks are too busy to learn how to use it, and are very frustrated trying to use it.  It isn’t remotely as convenient as using commercial air.  You don’t get a confirmation number, you don’t get a guarantee.  That shouldn’t be a big deal…it is what it is.  We are in a war for Christ’s sake…if something more important comes up, then you get dumped.  It isn’t like airlines where that’s all they do is passengers, and passengers are their business.  War is our business.  Why to travelers in a war zone expect to be treated like they do at home?

Nevertheless, I am on the side of technology, and letting technology work for you.  It seems the Air Force is behind in this area.  Not just the Air Force, the military.  The system for moving cargo is a data base, which is maintained at Scott Air Force Base.  Of course it works there, they have unlimited bandwidth, relatively speaking.  It doesn’t work so well here, yet it is the “system of record” for generating airlift.  So users have to contend with it, and I get to take the blows for this crappy system because I am the forward Liaison officer.

As I visit other bases, I see that each one has their pluses and their minuses.  Rocket attacks.  Thats a minus.  But that same base has a donut shop, a TGI Fridays and an ice cream store, all on a wooden boardwalk.  Off the boardwalk, there are basketball courts, softball courts and field hockey courts.  They actually have leagues, and you can sit on the boardwalk and watch the games.  Another base has an excellent USO lounge, named after Pat Tillman, and excellent gym facilities (too bad there are 30,000 people trying to use them).  We were put up in Distinguished Visitor quarters at this base because we are “higher headquarters”.  I had my own room, with a big ass tv, computer and internet…it was hard to leave!

We were honored and humbled by a patriot ceremony on the flight line.  That is where you hold a formation to honor our fallen heroes as their casket is being carried to the airplane to go home.  It was two 23 year old Marines this time.  I lost it when they played taps, but I stayed at attention.  Some bases have these ceremonies every day, and yes; they do this for every single one.

This trip has made me grateful for my own home base, which is tiny, and relatively dust free.  Pluses are that we have hard billets, and good food.  The minus is that we are so small that we’re on top of each other, and surrounded by T walls, so there is no view.  I now have a third roommate.  We have two bunk beds in the room, but only two lockers.  Since my first roomie has been their longer, I gave her the choice to have our new roomie sleep on her top bunk OR give up her wall locker.  I’m glad that she chose to give up her wall locker, but now I have a roomie in my top bunk.  Our lockers are side by side, so we have to coordinate schedules so we aren’t bumping butts in the morning getting ready.  We are hearing that they are going to four to a room soon, so we’ll probably be sharing lockers next.  Hopefully, that won’t happen before I leave…I’m inside of 30 days to go back to Kuwait.  I’ll be there for a couple of weeks, then home (I won’t know the details until late July).

My husband and I celebrate our 21^st anniversary on July 1!  This is the first I’ve missed, and hopefully the last.

Here are some photos of my walkabout.

I ran into Colonel Cori Powers, Nevada Army Guard, again.  She was a Lt. Colonel last time I saw her, when I first got here.

I love the wide open spaces here, and the views of the mountains.

My Entourage!

 The Boardwalk

I have been amused by the signs in restrooms here.  You’ll see all of the same signs as you see at home (be a sweetie, wipe the seatie, etc), but this one really caught my eye.  It was in the female restroom at one of the ammo storage points.  I am getting an immersion in how the Army works while I am here, and am learning that I really, really dig ammo folks.

Giggles, June 20, 2010

The connectivity here, no matter where you go, is intermittent at best.  That includes internet and phones.  Interestingly, the USO tent has free AT&T telephones that you can call back to the states, just like you were in the states, and these phones work wonderfully.  Maybe the military should call in AT&T?

I had the honor of visiting a school to deliver the school supplies you sent! It was a boys and girls school and we gave the gifts to the girls. We had 500 goodie bags, each filled with pens, pencils, markers crayons paper, scissors, glue, a toy and some hygiene items. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough. There are still supplies left and we will keep doing these deliveries until there is enough. 

It was an amazing trip, and I am still in awe.  We went to a pro-coalition village on the outskirts of Kabul.  The village has 20,000 people in it.  We met the mayor and our security detail was from the Afghan National Army (ANA).  The senior ANA was the guy in charge of training the ANA.   He had three stars, and he spoke very good English.   He and the mayor had a wonderful time flirting with us western girls. 

Through the interpreter, the mayor told us that the most important thing for this village is their mosque.  It is crumbled and they have a dream to rebuild it, and are hoping the Americans will help.  The Chaplain, who manages all the outreach programs, is trying to make that happen.  I asked if they would take money for the school and the interpreter said no, but they would take money for the mosque.  He explained that the single thing that will win the hearts and minds of the afghan people is to build mosques, not schools.  They will build their own schools. 

The school teachers were all female, and mostly Afghans.  We were instructed to not share any pictures of them on public websites, because their lives are in danger.  The Taliban will kill them if they find out.  The village that we were in is pretty secure—they have their own perimeter and security, and they don’t like the Taliban--but that doesn’t mean the Taliban won’t try to intimidate them.  We hear that in the south especially, the teachers are so scared that they don’t teach.

The school was an all boys school that was opened to girls a few years ago.  There must have been 1000+ kids, boys and girls, of all ages.  We were delivering to the younger girls class rooms, which were separated and gated, from the older girls classrooms.  The boys classrooms were across the compound.  The older girls and the boys looked on as we delivered bag after bag (500 of them) to the little girls.  They were excited, but I think sad, too.  The little girls were between the ages of about 6 to 10 or 11.  They were mostly well behaved.  I think the teachers rule with an iron fist….we saw one teacher beating them with a stick because they were rushing forward to get a bag.  They didn’t talk at all, just stared, and wanted to touch and get their pictures taken.  They like to shake hands.   They were smiling from ear to ear, until they saw the camera.  They want their picture taken, and love to see their picture on the screen, but they don’t seem to want to smile for the camera.

After we delivered the bags, we took a walk in the village to a day care.  We got to sit and play with the kids, aged 2 or 3 to about 6.  We took lots of pictures, and the ANA general was really cutting up with us—laughing and joking and playing really.  It was just us, the kids, the day care teachers and director (all female).  The kids were giggly and in awe.   Then we went to where the babies are…yep, I held a baby.  This little kid was adorable…it was looking at me and smiling and giggling.  It think it was about 8 or 9 months old.

Then we went to a room with the ANA guards, the General, the Director and us, and the Director told us the story of the day care, through an interpreter.  There are about 100 kids every day, with three teachers.  Most of them have parents that work…yes, their mothers work.  They are in day care from about 8 am to 5 pm.  It all sounded just like home.  She said she needs more teachers, better facilities, money, etc.  It was a plea for help, but the interpreter told us that any support should go to the mosque…I don’t think she realized that he was saying that.  She fed us tea and some cake kind of like angel food cake.  She was really wonderful and very proud of her day care, and was very excited for our visit.  One of the ANA soldiers sat next to one of the girls in our group—a blond, which is very unusual around here--and asked her to be his wife.  We all laughed.  Then I turned to the General, who was sitting next to me, and said something like “will you be my second husband”.  He cracked up and then we were all giggling.   

After that, we went to the crumbled mosque.  There were only walls, no ceiling, and no floor.  The interpreter told us that the females in the group could not go in, and that we were going to take a group photo from the outside, then the men would go in.  Then, we got to the entrance and the mayor invited us in!  We took a group photo inside.  I stood next to the mayor, and another military woman stood on the other side of him.  The mayor was very taken with being surrounded by us, so we started goofing off with him.  We put our arms around him and pretended to kiss him, and he was pretending to be embarrassed (he did turn red) and was giggling like a little boy.  He enjoyed himself immensely.  I do have photos of this, but alas, I cannot share.  His life would be in danger.

I am really taken with this country.  Its beauty is very much like Nevada and the people are really amazing.  I can’t imagine living the hardships that they do.  I can’t imagine having a foreign military come walking through my neighborhood, and bringing gifts of things that I only dreamed existed.  I can’t imagine thinking that if I accept this gift, I am a target, yet I still summon up the courage to accept it.  The General, the mayor, the director and teachers of this village do imagine a better life, and found the courage to try to make it happen.  Thank God they can imagine it, because their children are counting on them. 

Our interpreter pointed out that the average life span of Afghans is 45 years.  This means that 80% of the population doesn’t know what it was like here in the 60s and early 70s, and so can’t imagine anything different.  All they have known is war, poverty and despair.  The director and the teachers aren’t old enough to remember.  The Mayor is probably old enough to remember.  The ANA General is probably old enough to remember.  This village is their vision, and people in this village are starting to believe that something greater is possible.  I’ve got goose bumps just writing this.  This is counter insurgency operations succeeding.  We must stay the course to make sure that their vision is carried out, and not our vision for their country.  Their vision starts with a mosque, we must see that through.  (Of course, we can still send school supplies!).

During our visit, in the most private moments, we reduced the mayor and the general to giggles. I think we gave them a break from their hard life. To me, that is a stunning and wonderful thought, and it makes me giggle.

Update #20 Pictures: