Journal Entry: Limbo
You’d have to be in the military to understand just how painful it is to get just about anything done. A simple trip to the rifle range requires hours waiting for buses, waiting for ammunition to show up, waiting through repetative, briefings from the range detail, thirty minutes of actual firing, waiting for everyone else to finish and finally waiting for the buses to show up again. Its like baseball: Hours invested for minutes of action. Now take that axiom and apply it to a one-year tour-of-duty in a combat zone and you start to get a glimpse of the amount of patience required to be a part of a two-hundred-person armed junket across the planet. I’ve actually amazed myself at how much patience I seem to have compared to many of the others. It must’ve been all the hours of downtime in Basic and AIT that imbued me with a tolerance of mind-numbing waste because I certainly didn’t have it before. According to the veterans this is the most inefficient, poorly-run mobilization anyone of them has been a part of. I have to admit, there is something offensive about spending two months preparing for a deployment. This one happens to be a full year, but that’s still right at 15% of our active time spent preparing for something we should already be prepared for by doing monthly drills. Its enough to make you want to write your congressman.
We (finally) left Ft. Bragg last Saturday afternoon…could’ve been evening. Its weird. I have no idea of what day it is. If its Friday, it’s the 17th. If its still Thursday, then I guess it’s the 16th. All the travel and time spend in small dark planes and tents – who knows. Basically, we’ve been in-transit for about a week and stand to continue in this status for another few days at a minimum. Operational security prevented me from discussing where I was when I was there but now that its after-the-fact I can say that we flew from Ft. Bragg to Shannon, Ireland and then on to Ancirlik Airbase, Turkey, terminating in Manas International Airport outside of Bishkek, Kyrgykstan. The airbase was what you might expect: An unsightly, utilitarian mess of Conex boxes, tents, port-a-poties and dusty gravel road and walkways. But, ah the view outside the wire was breathtaking. Its too bad we weren’t allowed to leave the grounds. The force protection measures we have to endure are certainly one of the expected disappointments of participating in modern war. My assumption is that the reasons for severely limiting our interaction with the public here is a mix of political concern over terrorist actions directed at our personnel and the vast cultural differences and sensitivities that are required in this area of the world where scores of people die in riots over percieved offenses toward their religion. Truly the calculus of cultural-exchange is dramatically different in this area of the world – in this kind of war. With every loss of American life a weapon turned on the public will and with polls showing that will eroding as the months go by, it is quite impossible to expect a post/theatre commander to make any but the most prudent policies regarding force protection. Any incident no matter if accidental would end up painting those responsible for the policy that “allowed” it to happen as cavalier with the lives of American soldiers. A career-ender to be sure. So we err on the side of covering-your-ass and cultural exchange suffers as a result. It’s a sad reality.
Layover in Kyrgystan
Still the beauty was remarkable! I’d never seen a mountain over 20,000 ft. before. I was told by a local that the mountains behind me in this picture are 100km away! Their imensity was awe-inspiring. Whenever I started to get a little stir-crazy, I’d only to go outside and stare at the horizon for a while. I was a little sad to leave such a beautiful place without getting to know the people or explore those sites that make a country what it is. I wonder how many Americans are coming through these countries having technically visited but having never really been there. Again, its dissappointing as I see one of the immutable long-term positive effects of our “adventures” here to be the inevitable personal exchanges and understandings that come with any type of human interaction. To mitigate such interaction stifles that understanding. I suppose its somewhat necessary for now. I hope that changes.
After nearly a week in Manas and several delays, we shipped off in the dark of night to Bagram where I now reside for another indefinite period of time.
On The Way
Our ride was uneventful, as was one of the other two flights. Unfortunately, one of our groups was turned back in mid-flight due to mechanical problems. So, we play the waiting game again here at Bagram. At least it’s a game I’m getting pretty good at…and the horizon at Bagram is even better! There’s got to be a metaphor in there somewhere. At least this time I get to eventually leave the wire for a nice tour of the countryside…weapons at the ready, of course and IEDs potentially around any corner. Its no joke, this is a dangerous place but the general consensus is that progress is being made – that the Afghans are much better off for our efforts and that with the upcoming elections in September, we are all moving in a hopeful direction. I’m proud to be a small part of making their future a bright and prosperous one.
On the Way to Chow in Bagram
Bagram Digs
As soon as the rest of our unit reunites with us we can pick up and start the move out to our respective assignments across Afghanistan. Our PRT team got some bad news though –we’re losing one of our more knowledgable and experienced NCOs. There was some last-minute restructuring of the battle-roster due to the upcoming national parlimentary elections and his services were deemed to be more useful elsewhere. We’ve still got a great team but I’ve lost a like-minded ally and its going to make this year more challenging than originally thought. Then again…I’ve come to appreciate a good challenge.
We (finally) left Ft. Bragg last Saturday afternoon…could’ve been evening. Its weird. I have no idea of what day it is. If its Friday, it’s the 17th. If its still Thursday, then I guess it’s the 16th. All the travel and time spend in small dark planes and tents – who knows. Basically, we’ve been in-transit for about a week and stand to continue in this status for another few days at a minimum. Operational security prevented me from discussing where I was when I was there but now that its after-the-fact I can say that we flew from Ft. Bragg to Shannon, Ireland and then on to Ancirlik Airbase, Turkey, terminating in Manas International Airport outside of Bishkek, Kyrgykstan. The airbase was what you might expect: An unsightly, utilitarian mess of Conex boxes, tents, port-a-poties and dusty gravel road and walkways. But, ah the view outside the wire was breathtaking. Its too bad we weren’t allowed to leave the grounds. The force protection measures we have to endure are certainly one of the expected disappointments of participating in modern war. My assumption is that the reasons for severely limiting our interaction with the public here is a mix of political concern over terrorist actions directed at our personnel and the vast cultural differences and sensitivities that are required in this area of the world where scores of people die in riots over percieved offenses toward their religion. Truly the calculus of cultural-exchange is dramatically different in this area of the world – in this kind of war. With every loss of American life a weapon turned on the public will and with polls showing that will eroding as the months go by, it is quite impossible to expect a post/theatre commander to make any but the most prudent policies regarding force protection. Any incident no matter if accidental would end up painting those responsible for the policy that “allowed” it to happen as cavalier with the lives of American soldiers. A career-ender to be sure. So we err on the side of covering-your-ass and cultural exchange suffers as a result. It’s a sad reality.
Layover in Kyrgystan
Still the beauty was remarkable! I’d never seen a mountain over 20,000 ft. before. I was told by a local that the mountains behind me in this picture are 100km away! Their imensity was awe-inspiring. Whenever I started to get a little stir-crazy, I’d only to go outside and stare at the horizon for a while. I was a little sad to leave such a beautiful place without getting to know the people or explore those sites that make a country what it is. I wonder how many Americans are coming through these countries having technically visited but having never really been there. Again, its dissappointing as I see one of the immutable long-term positive effects of our “adventures” here to be the inevitable personal exchanges and understandings that come with any type of human interaction. To mitigate such interaction stifles that understanding. I suppose its somewhat necessary for now. I hope that changes.
After nearly a week in Manas and several delays, we shipped off in the dark of night to Bagram where I now reside for another indefinite period of time.
On The Way
Our ride was uneventful, as was one of the other two flights. Unfortunately, one of our groups was turned back in mid-flight due to mechanical problems. So, we play the waiting game again here at Bagram. At least it’s a game I’m getting pretty good at…and the horizon at Bagram is even better! There’s got to be a metaphor in there somewhere. At least this time I get to eventually leave the wire for a nice tour of the countryside…weapons at the ready, of course and IEDs potentially around any corner. Its no joke, this is a dangerous place but the general consensus is that progress is being made – that the Afghans are much better off for our efforts and that with the upcoming elections in September, we are all moving in a hopeful direction. I’m proud to be a small part of making their future a bright and prosperous one.
On the Way to Chow in Bagram
Bagram Digs
As soon as the rest of our unit reunites with us we can pick up and start the move out to our respective assignments across Afghanistan. Our PRT team got some bad news though –we’re losing one of our more knowledgable and experienced NCOs. There was some last-minute restructuring of the battle-roster due to the upcoming national parlimentary elections and his services were deemed to be more useful elsewhere. We’ve still got a great team but I’ve lost a like-minded ally and its going to make this year more challenging than originally thought. Then again…I’ve come to appreciate a good challenge.
4 Comments:
Now things are really getting interesting! The pictures are great. I was particularly taken by the one you on your way to "chow"... the reality that you now must carry a weapon where ever you go adds a certain dimension of seriousness to the experience. Don't shot yourself in the foot!
Wow -- amazing photos! Those mountains are beautiful. And thanks for posting so quickly, FS. Didn't expect to hear from you so soon.
I second what dwight said -- it's sobering to see that you must always be on-the-ready. Take care of yourself!
This is really fun! I am so excited to see what happens next.
Such beautiful scenery. I suppose you could come back some day to visit. Maybe help with reconstruction in a civilian role at some point.
My cousin Mikal was in Peace Corps in Nukus, Uzbekistan. You probably won't go very close there, but she totally fell in love with central Asia. They shipped her back after the towers got hit, along with all the other P.C. volunteers.
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