New Mailing Address

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Moving In and Starting to Work

Now that things have been finalized, I can share what I have known for about a week. Read on...

This has been one busy day. After the normal early morning ritual that I have been enjoying here, classes ended shortly after noon. The U.S. contingent commander was at the training facility because the senior State Dept representative in Afghanistan was there to speak to us. After she was finished speaking, the big boss(es) asked if I was packed and ready to go. The remainder of the class had just been told that the assignments had been delayed for another day and to cool their heals for 24 hours. The boss was asking me because I am now working for him/them. I have moved into my new living accommodations/work place. It is in downtown Kabul. For obvious security reasons, I cannot disclose any of the details of where I am living. However, to put your minds at ease regarding security and safety, I am living with every senior member of the contingent in Afghanistan. We are guarded by the very finest.

The location is very nice and feels almost home-like. It is nice to walk outside, or open a window, and hear the sounds of a city not unlike any other city around the world: children playing, horns honking, people talking. The more I travel, the more I know for certain that people everywhere are more alike than dissimilar.

When I get a minute in the next days, I will take some photos of the city from the rooftop of my house. The city is really quite stunning from here.

Training in Kabul

Range day in Kabul. Photo by Keith Schenkel/IPLO.

Yesterday, I got to visit a former Soviet army post and do some firearms training. Driving into the post, we passed hundreds of acres of old Soviet armor sitting derelict in valleys surrounding the former compound. When we arrived at the 'range,' we were met with a big dose of reality; a group of young Afghans came out of their very humble dwellings (mud and stone huts, many without roofs) from across the valley to greet us. They were there to watch us, but more importantly they were waiting to pick up the leftover brass from the firing range to make a little money. These are hardy people.

The shooting itself was interesting too. We shot in a snow field that was melting. Translation: it was dang cold and wet and muddy. I have never shot on a range with running water through the lanes. In the photo above, you can barely see the target holders sitting in the snow in the background. The mountain peak was our backstop. On the convoy home we got to have some practical application what we have been practicing; several of the vehicles in our convoy got stuck in some mud (there are very few paved roads in Kabul) and we got to set up security while they were freed. The local got a kick out of watching us and there were no incidents to speak of.

Final assignments are handed out later today. People are excited and a bit anxious to learn where they will spend the next 12 months of their lives.

Isn't Technology Grand?

I just finished my first video conversation with Annie and Margaret from Kabul. Annie was able to show me her new princess dress, along with old favorites like her Dora backpack and her 'pony.' The power of technology erasing the miles.

Map Data Request

For my GIS readers: I am looking for a DEM of Afghanistan (and the surrounding area, if available)--either 10M or 30M is fine. If you have any related data, I would take it too, but the DEM is the top priority. Thanks.

Green Beans and Fish

This may come as a shock to some (most) of you... Last night for dinner, we were served the best green beans I have ever had (sorry, Mom). They were delicious. What were they paired with, you ask? Something that I had never heard of and probably would never have thought of: battered and fried fish served in (yes, I said in) oatmeal. Huh? While I may be a willing to live the way of the locals, I stuck with the leftovers from a previous meal on this one.

Fish in oatmeal; who would have thought?

Map of Afghanistan

I realized that I hadn't posted a map of my new home. Here is a link to a pretty good PDF file that shows the provinces and major cities. This should help with my future posts and also the daily news.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/Afghanistanfinal,0.pdf

The Growing Running Club

Seems running is contagious. My first day of running here, I was all by myself with lots of on-lookers. Yesterday I was joined by four more men that thought that a little mud would not kill them. I'll make cross country runners of some of these guys yet.

Early in the morning yesterday, the weather was clear enough to see some of the surrounding mountains. This really is a beautiful place. I can't wait to get out and see more of it. My time will come.

Running

I attempted my first run in Kabul yesterday. Let's just say that had it been a race, you would have needed a calendar to time me. The combination of higher elevation than my body is used to, the terrible air quality of yesterday (cold day with lots of fires burning combined with thermal inversion in our valley), and the snow/ice/mud made for a tough run. But, as hard as it was to keep my body going forward, it felt so good to be able to get out and exercise. Given the current security situation in Kabul, my run involved running little loops and circles through the inside of our compound. The Afghan students looked at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind. Exercise for the sake of exercise is simply not a luxury they can afford.

Three days remain until the assignments are handed out and this team that has spent so many days together will be disbanded and dispersed around the country. We are all anxious to get to our assignments and begin work.

Sunday in Afghanistan

In-processing continues here in Kabul. We have four more days of training before we begin to disperse around the country. Contrary to what my Southern teammates might say, the weather here has been very comfortable. When it drops below freezing at night, the mud is easier to walk over rather than through. By lunch it gets a little messy, but you just pick a trail through the shallowest goo.

From what I can see of the valley where Kabul sits, it reminds me very much of the Kittitas Valley--just a lot higher (Kabul is ~5,800 feet above sea level). The valley is surrounded by rugged hills topped by snow. I feel quite comfortable here.

There is going to be a 'vanilla' church service this afternoon. That should be an interesting experience: Christian service in a classroom on a military post in a Muslim country.

Home, Sweet Home

24 hours on the ground.

My tour of the training facility was in the dark last night, so I had no idea of what I was looking at most of the time. It was nice to take a little stroll after lunch today to look at my temporary home. It consists of a hodge-podge of buildings that are leftover from pre-Soviet times and Soviet-era buildings. The international community is cordial and there is considerable interaction with both military and civilian personnel from many other countries. My flight in yesterday followed a UN plane that I later saw being unloaded on an airstrip near Kabul.

Today we had some security briefings, were issued our weapons (the airlines frown upon us traveling with firearms), and the remainder of our tactical gear. Our little living quarters are getting a little tight with the extra gear.

I am anxious for my body to acclimate to the elevation; Kabul is about 5,800 feet. I have had a pretty good headache since arriving, but that might also be because of the three nights in a row with less than two hours of sleep. The snoring at night from this group of men sounds like a pen full of rabid dogs. My, oh my.

Kabul

Greetings from Afghanistan! After two days of trying to get a flight out of Dubai, we made it into snowy Kabul late this afternoon. IT resources are extremely limited, so there won’t be lots of communication until I arrive at my final assignment. I am scheduled to receive my assignment on the 31st, but that may be later than planned because of the delay getting out of Dubai.

For operational and security reasons, I won’t be discussing exactly what I am doing or where I am living. For those of you that don’t have a military background, this might be a little hard to swallow. It’s just part of the job.

Dubai Photos

View from my hotel toward the Dubai Creek--an inlet of the Persian Gulf.

Night view from my hotel.

Inside of my hotel. There are three 'lobbys' like this, one on top of another throughout the hotel.

View from my hotel. Persian Gulf in the distance. This was the clearest of the days I was in Dubai. They suffer from terrible air quality.

False Start

Well, we didn't make to Kabul this morning. The team awoke very early, loaded baggage onto the trucks, loaded ourselves into the buses, went to the airport, and waited. And waited. And waited. The airline we are flying into Kabul decided that the weather was too bad (lots of snow) at the Kabul airport, so the flight was cancelled. However, they just simply went home without telling any of their customers. After waiting a few extra hours, we finally found someone on the phone that could tell us to try again tomorrow.

Another day in Dubai. It could be a LOT worse.

Map of UAE

Graphic courtesy of Wikipedia.

Live from Dubai, UAE

Dubai! I had read up a bit on the city before I arrived here, but not prepared for what I discovered. Perched on the coast of a desert area is one of the fastest growing ‘hip’ destinations of the rich and famous. Construction is everywhere; cranes atop high rises for as far as you can see. At night, the city reminds me of Las Vegas: lots of flashing lights and neon advertisements. Just when you allow yourself to drift off and think that you have left the Middle East, the call to prayer blares across the city and you are minded that you are still in a Muslim country. The dress of the people is also interesting. While there are quite a few people that wear the more conservative Muslim dress, there is a strong Western influence here. There are also quite a few Europeans and East Asians that call UAE home. I have found the people here to be quite beautiful to match their city. A few of us took a taxi to a mall (and not just your average mall; six themed malls joined together) for a look around today. It was about twenty miles from where we are staying. The highway was completely new construction adorned with freshly painted fences and flowers all along the shoulders and median. It was really a nice drive—and fast too! These taxis don’t hold back much traffic when they drive. I looked down at one point to see that the cabbie was driving a little over 60km/h over the posted ‘speed limit.’ I have learned that the locals use some sort of quad-driving technique: one foot on the gas, one foot on the brake, one hand holding a cell phone, and one hand on the horn.

We leave for Kabul at 0400 Wednesday morning. While the team has been enjoying seeing the sights, sounds, and smells of Dubai, we are anxious to get on with why we are here. Next posting from Afghanistan.

Mail

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Dubai

The team has arrived safely in Dubai. I got into my hotel room a little after midnight Monday morning (local time) after beginning the travel day on Saturday morning. Both flights were uneventful and the six hour lay-over in Frankfurt, while long, was as comfortable as could be. I have an appointment in a few hours, so this is it for now. More later...

Certified and Ready to Roll

Photo courtesy of Kroll/The Crucible

It's done! Now, it's time to get to work. The bags are packed. The coaches are scheduled for the trip to the airport. The tickets are purchased (Lufthansa to Dubai via Frankfurt). I am anxious to get to the theater and start working.


Above is a photo of my training squad. We are a group of 44 men and 1 woman from throughout the U.S. that have all taken a year out of their lives to give something back to the people of both our country and Afghanistan.

Conclusion of Training

Today was the grand finale of the training at The Crucible. Our time here concluded with four hours of sparring/hand-to-hand combat and four hours of convoy ops with simulated missions and hostile contact. Nice to have all of the training finished.

We have a few administrative tasks to finish tomorrow morning before graduation. The evening will be filled with final packing, shipping home 'extra' stuff, and I'm sure a celebration or two. We leave for Dubai on Saturday en route to Kabul. This will be the last post until I am in the Middle East.

Bullets and Maps

Today was a combination of two of my favorite things: shooting and maps/orienteering. The morning was the final qualification with our rifles. It included team movement, move and shoot drills, transition/weapon failure drills, and the actual qualification course. After another gourmet lunch of Subway, the afternoon was a crash course in map reading/interpretation. (Nancy- all the hours of helping you teach the Maps class came in handy.) followed by an introduction to orienteering. Tomorrow morning will be a full orienteering event. It has been a hoot of a week.

My dirty laundry bag now weighs more than me--it's off to the laundry mat.

Bang, Bang

Today was filled with hours and hours of range time. This wasn't the standard "Ready, shoot" range day; we were shooting on the move, forward, backward, lateral--just like you would in real life. After so many years of ridiculously "safe" range time with law enforcement groups, it felt good to be back with a group that realizes that the real bad guys don't stand perfectly still and nor do we. We shot the rifle (M-4) and handgun (M-9) we will be carrying along with the AK-47 that we will certainly be seeing. It was a glorious day.

Noodles and golf balls

Yesterday involved 'team building' exercises. You know those goofy retreats that your company sends you to where you get to close your eyes, let yourself fall, and trust that your team will catch you before you hit the ground. My personal favorite was moving a golf ball along some swim noodles across a field, through some mud, and into a five-gallon buckets. Add rain and cold wind and you have a true party favorite. The bad part is that there are lots of sick people this morning--I guess these Southern guys are not used to this kind of weather.

Today will be filled with convoy ops training. Jumping in and out of our pick-ups and SUVs over and over and over...

We are in the final week of training. One week from today we will be on the plane to Dubai.

Cops are Cops

Today was filled with a history class (four hours of monotone lecturing from a retired professor that really needed some coffee), visa applications, and the first class on convoy operations. The history class should have been good, but was filled with the speaker's thoughts on the US foreign policy shortcomings. The hardest part on the visa application was getting the little photo inside the box. The convoy class was much more serious and certainly set the tone for the remainder of the day. We are now immersed in the nuts and bolts of reality of living and working in Afghanistan. The remaining officers here are coming together as a team quite well. Cops are cops, no matter where you call home.

Uniforms

Today we received our uniforms and all of our soft gear. I will say this for the company: they do not skimp on equipment. It is top notch stuff that will stand up to the challenges to come.

The team selection/reduction has been mostly completed. The majority of those that come to the training and fail to complete it wash out during either PT or psych evals. The normal washout rate is about 25% and this class was no different. Those of us left are making good friendships that will surely last a lifetime. I am proud to be a part of this dedicated group of Americans that all share the vision of giving the people of Afghanistan their country back.

Coffee and Me

Another day in the box. Today was filled with administrative tasks that always accompany a new job. A largely mind-numbing day, but necessary. Tomorrow will be uniform issue and the final round of psychological prep. Today we also received a briefing from a company official that gave us a good overview on the differences of the mission depending on the region of the country where we may end up working. When the company confirmed that I was from Seattle, I was immediately put in charge of training the coffee protection bureau. Go Starbucks!

Day 1

Our first whole day is officially in the box. Eight straight hours of sexual harassment training followed by a two-hour briefing by the State Department director of the Afghanistan police program. The former was tedious and the latter was motivating. After the ten hours of training I had my psychological interview. I enjoyed speaking on twin passions of floral arranging and listening to vintage Barry Manilow.

Tomorrow will be another long day: physical test, final physical exam with enough shots to prevent the sun from rising, and final staff interviews.

The Crucible

My travel to Virginia is finally over. It was an uneventful, but long, trip to Fredericksburg. I am getting settled in to the hotel and preparing gear for the next 14 days of training. Each day starts early in the morning and goes through the day until evening. Because of the volume of training that must be completed before we leave, there are no breaks and no days off. There are a few over 100 men and a handful of women here preparing for the mission. Tomorrow will bring more stories to share.

Good night, Annie. Have happy dreams. Your daddy loves you.

One and a wake-up

The bags are packed (and heavy!), the "see-you-later's" have been said, old friends have shared thoughts, concerns, and advice, and now the launch is finally here. I leave for friendly Virginia early tomorrow morning for two weeks of final training before actually leaving for 'over there.'

Many thanks to each and every one of you that has made this day possible. I couldn't have done this without you.

For the military readers, some excellent advice from a Marine friend: Exsisto tutus. Si vos can't exsisto tutus , exsisto vehemens.

Vaya con Dios, amigos.