Catching Up

My apologies for not posting the last couple of weeks. I am in a difficult position in that my work is largely classified which means no discussing it (I am not even supposed to say the name of the place where I work) and of course no pictures.

I am loving the job. It is using my skills in a whole new way that is very exciting. I am seeing the war from the front rows. I get to see exactly what we are doing and how noble we are as we try to do our best in this war. We are extremely careful with how we use our military and extremely respectful of the culture and religion out here. In fact, this is often very tough for young (still adolescent) soldiers who have trouble seeing the second and third order effects of their behavior. Almost daily I hear a soldier or sailor sullenly complain that we treat the Afghanis better than we treat the soldiers out here. I even hear sentiments that we should just wipe out this whole country and go home. They don't quite understand how to best go about setting up this country for success once we leave. Unfortunately I think they also dehumanize the people here in order to help them cope with what they are going through. It is the whole bad people good people dichotomy. It is easier to deal with the war when it is a bunch of people who need to be wiped off the face of the earth than it is to think of families struggling to make ends meet, innocent children caught up in the mess, men forced under threat of harm to their families to join militias.

I have had the wonderful experience of meeting a few afghani children and getting to know some of the people out here. There is a deep level of respect and hospitality that is ingrained in this people. They are warm, emotional, sentimental and so very welcoming. This country is so harsh and desolate yet they will welcome any stranger in and feed them all the food in the house no matter how poor they might be. I think a lot of insurgents here fight out of that sense of community and brotherhood. The children are just like american children. I saw a 4 year old girl crying and carrying on just like my children do. (I have always had this belief that other cultures like this keep their children much more contained - rest assured Andrea, they are just as rowdy).

Anyway, even if the young, newly-enlisted soldier doesn't understand the big picture, I am proud to say that all of the senior leadership fully understands the reasons and they are dedicated to making sure everyone is treated with dignity.

To digress, this is Ed and Terrence. The two enlisted technicians that work under me. They are hard working, intelligent and motivated. It is a real pleasure to be able to lead without any drama. They get out and do their work and report back to me and I don't have much else to worry about. They are even the source of excellent ideas that are going to have lasting effects out here.



Another picture of the view. I don't remember if I wrote this before but Alexander the Great founded a city in this very valley. This place is so ancient.



Yesterday I was running early in the morning. My half-way point is just past the end of the runway. Right as I was turning around, two F-15 jets took off at full afterburner, no more than 100 feet above my head. It was loud but thrilling to have these jets scream over my head. I felt like I was in Top Gun or something. Unfortunately it was only about 5:30 in the morning and I think everyone who was not up at that time was jolted awake. That is why I started running in the morning - this whole place wakes up very early and it is hard with our plywood walls to get much peace and sleep.