Saturday, November 14, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Fighting Season
For the past 4 days, the Taliban in Afghanistan have been on holiday, celebrating their national holiday - the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan some 23 years ago. At that time - they called themselves the mujaheddin - or holy warriors. Tomorrow - officially begins what is known as the Fighting Season in Afghanistan.
I have a 16 year old son, who just recently got his learners permit to drive.....I wish - for his sake, and everyone on the road with him, he were driving one of these...:
Tomorrow.....I'll write some more.....but below is a video.....I think you'll like it...
That being said, the Commander - Kandahar Airfield (COMKAF) has raised the threat level on base to Level 3- which means body armor and helmet must be worn at all times - indoor and out. Oh joy!
So - with that introduction - I'd like to take you on a pictorial tour of Kandahar Air Field.
The "TLS" Building - which is the passenger terminal for all arriving Military and "civilian military" passengers. TLS is an acronym for "Taliban's Last Stand" When NATO came to Afghanistan and took Kandahar Air Field (KAF), this building which has 6 feet thick walls, was the last hold out of the Taliban. Two bunker buster bombs later - and the Taliban had their last stand. The inside of this old building still bears the bullet holes - and blackened walls of that action. You might say - it's a bit of a "fixer upper"....oddly enough - this is the building that COMKAF has chosen as their headquarters.
Danger - Danger Will Robinson - The ever existing danger on KAF - the remnants of the Soviets.....Mine Fields Everywhere...
I have a 16 year old son, who just recently got his learners permit to drive.....I wish - for his sake, and everyone on the road with him, he were driving one of these...:
My heart is always a bit softened when I see the sweet words written by childrent to the men and women of our Military:
Tomorrow.....I'll write some more.....but below is a video.....I think you'll like it...Sunday, April 25, 2010
Master Chief
I was very surprised the other day when I got an email from a gentleman I work with. I was flattered, as well as a little bit mystefied, because I don't look at myself this way. However, below is the email received.
Dave –
It is with deep respect and affection that I felt I should call you “Master Chief” because here, for this operation, you are functioning for all intents and purposes in the role of a “Master Chief”
I thought you would appreciate the enclosed info as it is a good overview of what the Chief Petty Officers of the US Navy do and how they demonstrate leadership to all they encounter. I appreciate your leadership, professionalism and friendship. It is your signs of being a good leader.
Kevin
It is with deep respect and affection that I felt I should call you “Master Chief” because here, for this operation, you are functioning for all intents and purposes in the role of a “Master Chief”
I thought you would appreciate the enclosed info as it is a good overview of what the Chief Petty Officers of the US Navy do and how they demonstrate leadership to all they encounter. I appreciate your leadership, professionalism and friendship. It is your signs of being a good leader.
Kevin
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter in a Strange Land
April 8, 2007 was somewhat of a monumental day for me - not only was it my son's 2nd birthday, it was Easter Sunday, and it was the first day I set foot in the middle east - as I headed into Baghdad to assist in the reconstruction effort of Iraq.
Three years later, I find myself in similar, but different circumstances. I'm back in Kandahar, Afghanistan after returning from an emergency/R&R Leave. It's Easter Sunday, and I'm away from my family. All of which leaves me with a sense of Melancholy.
Sunrise services were held here on base at 0630 this morning. It's unfortunately no different today than it was yesterday from a work standpoint, albeit, I'm trying to make it so in my own way.
One of the major differences between these two dates, is that when I served in Baghdad, Iraq, the focus was on reconstructing the Water Infrastructure of that country on behalf of the Iraqi people. In this assignment, my focus is in serving the American Military forces. Two very different missions in similar environments and circumstances. Working in a war zone is very frustrating at best. Frustrating because of all of the constraints under which you have to accomplish your mission - not the least of which is working under a Federal Contract, which by its very nature causes the work to be 10 times harder than it should be.
Obviously working in a War zone carries with it the difficulty associated with the dangerous conditions - almost goes without saying. And lastly, the customer - when your customer is an institution, like the United States Government - the difficulties are magnified 10 fold. They are magnified because the customer is an "entity", however, the face of that customer is the person you serve every day - 2 entirely different things - and what the person on the ground wants and directs is not at all what the "government" wants or directs. It's a situation of being able to distinguish between the "customer" wich is the might of the United States Government, and the "customers people" which are the soldiers on the ground. In between these two conflicting areas are "liason" officers - who typically have entirely "different" takes on it as well.
I have sat in on 3 meetings this week with the US Army, Airforce, Marine officers and enlisted men, along with United States Government employees and contractors, and have seen all of the differing points of views and behaviors poorly spoken to above played out in these meetings. Just yesterday, during a meeting I watched a Col in the United States Army make what I would call fairly bush league attempts to throw our team off balance or under the bus per say based on bits of information for which he didn't have the capacity to dig a little deeper on.
Case in point: Have you ever had someone ask a "leading" question to get you to answer in one way or another simply because they couldn't wait to pounce on you and then pound their chest. This gentleman did just that - only he sucked at it so badly - that none of us would take the bait, so he had to answer both sides of the question himself to make the point - which point - when we knew what it was - and properly answered it, made him look pretty silly - not only because his lack of information was so glaringly obvious (except to him), but that when I answered him, his counterpart - another Col, supported my answer and further expounded.
In that same meeting, this same gentleman made a statement for all in the room to hear, as well as those on the video conference - which basically was a castigation of our team, without any details - and then said - we'll talk after the meeting. So - he put that out there for everyone in the room, yet wouldn't resolve it publically either. After the meeting, all the military and government civilians left the room, and he kept us in there alone - and proceeded to tell us that he had been approached by Military Police and Criminal Investigative Division about some circumstances occuring by our team. He detailed them in a very "proud" manner, and when he finished looked at us like...."well, what do you have to say about that"....like he was springing a surprise on us.
Our response....- "Yes sir, we know all about that - in fact, we are the ones who discovered this, took it to the Military Police, and started their investigation for them.....and oh, by the way - this happened over a month ago."
Long story short - honestly speaking I felt like the Iraqi people I worked for in Baghdad were grateful to us for our efforts on their behalf. I don't get that same sense here. In fact - because of how operations in this theater are I honestly feel like from day to day, I have to fight my own customer in order to serve him....
Our task is daunting. We have an enormous amount of people and material to move. Don't forget this is a war zone, so we have to provide as best we can for their safety and general well being, and know where they are at all times in case of emergency or otherwise.
Sounds like an awful lot of grousing on my part - It's not. Just needed a forum to vent for once I guess.
All's well. Happy Easter.
Three years later, I find myself in similar, but different circumstances. I'm back in Kandahar, Afghanistan after returning from an emergency/R&R Leave. It's Easter Sunday, and I'm away from my family. All of which leaves me with a sense of Melancholy.
Sunrise services were held here on base at 0630 this morning. It's unfortunately no different today than it was yesterday from a work standpoint, albeit, I'm trying to make it so in my own way.
One of the major differences between these two dates, is that when I served in Baghdad, Iraq, the focus was on reconstructing the Water Infrastructure of that country on behalf of the Iraqi people. In this assignment, my focus is in serving the American Military forces. Two very different missions in similar environments and circumstances. Working in a war zone is very frustrating at best. Frustrating because of all of the constraints under which you have to accomplish your mission - not the least of which is working under a Federal Contract, which by its very nature causes the work to be 10 times harder than it should be.
Obviously working in a War zone carries with it the difficulty associated with the dangerous conditions - almost goes without saying. And lastly, the customer - when your customer is an institution, like the United States Government - the difficulties are magnified 10 fold. They are magnified because the customer is an "entity", however, the face of that customer is the person you serve every day - 2 entirely different things - and what the person on the ground wants and directs is not at all what the "government" wants or directs. It's a situation of being able to distinguish between the "customer" wich is the might of the United States Government, and the "customers people" which are the soldiers on the ground. In between these two conflicting areas are "liason" officers - who typically have entirely "different" takes on it as well.
I have sat in on 3 meetings this week with the US Army, Airforce, Marine officers and enlisted men, along with United States Government employees and contractors, and have seen all of the differing points of views and behaviors poorly spoken to above played out in these meetings. Just yesterday, during a meeting I watched a Col in the United States Army make what I would call fairly bush league attempts to throw our team off balance or under the bus per say based on bits of information for which he didn't have the capacity to dig a little deeper on.
Case in point: Have you ever had someone ask a "leading" question to get you to answer in one way or another simply because they couldn't wait to pounce on you and then pound their chest. This gentleman did just that - only he sucked at it so badly - that none of us would take the bait, so he had to answer both sides of the question himself to make the point - which point - when we knew what it was - and properly answered it, made him look pretty silly - not only because his lack of information was so glaringly obvious (except to him), but that when I answered him, his counterpart - another Col, supported my answer and further expounded.
In that same meeting, this same gentleman made a statement for all in the room to hear, as well as those on the video conference - which basically was a castigation of our team, without any details - and then said - we'll talk after the meeting. So - he put that out there for everyone in the room, yet wouldn't resolve it publically either. After the meeting, all the military and government civilians left the room, and he kept us in there alone - and proceeded to tell us that he had been approached by Military Police and Criminal Investigative Division about some circumstances occuring by our team. He detailed them in a very "proud" manner, and when he finished looked at us like...."well, what do you have to say about that"....like he was springing a surprise on us.
Our response....- "Yes sir, we know all about that - in fact, we are the ones who discovered this, took it to the Military Police, and started their investigation for them.....and oh, by the way - this happened over a month ago."
Long story short - honestly speaking I felt like the Iraqi people I worked for in Baghdad were grateful to us for our efforts on their behalf. I don't get that same sense here. In fact - because of how operations in this theater are I honestly feel like from day to day, I have to fight my own customer in order to serve him....
Our task is daunting. We have an enormous amount of people and material to move. Don't forget this is a war zone, so we have to provide as best we can for their safety and general well being, and know where they are at all times in case of emergency or otherwise.
Sounds like an awful lot of grousing on my part - It's not. Just needed a forum to vent for once I guess.
All's well. Happy Easter.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I've got a "REALLY SERIOUS PROBLEM"
For all of you who have chastised me in person for not having posted to my blog in over a month, my sincerest of appologies. Never figured I had anything that worthy of being read to cause the playful jibeing I've been getting for not having continued to proliferate my blatherings...
I've been home now for 3 weeks on a combination of an R&R and Emergency leave. My mother, who lives in Phoenix with her husband Burt had been experiencing heart issues that finally took her to the emergency room and subsquently to surgery to correct. With her advanced age - it was decided instantly to leave Afghanistan and get home, but not only to be there for her, but to be with my family as well. Mom's procedure went well, and she's now home with her doting husband, taking care of him as well. They are actually kind of cute to watch together. I'm really happy for them that they have each other to take care of.
Karen and the boys met me in Phoenix, and all 6 of my brothers were there as well - so this served as an impromptu family reunion of sorts. It was wonderful to see everyone and to get reacquainted.
After spending a week in Phoenix - I've been home in Denver for the past 2 weeks - having an R&R of sorts - not what we as a family planned - but making lemonade out of the lemons we were served. The past 3 nights - Karen and I spent downtown in a fancy hotel - having couple time, and last night the boys joined us in their own room - amidst a huge spring blizzard. It was a winter wonderland - downtown. Picture perfect.
Tonight we are spending our last evening at home together before I return to Afghanistan watching the movie "The Blind Side", for which Sandra Bullock earned an Oscar for her performance. Wonderful Movie....
During intermission - I took Jonah upstairs to get PJ's on, and get ready to go down when we were ready. After we had him all dressed - he stood up - and said - "Dad, I have a Serious Problem" after which he proptly swung around, dropped his pants bent over and started pointing at his behind......"this thing has got to go......" He was pointing at his right butt cheek at the time....and I couldn't see for the life of me what was bugging him. So I asked....and he responded - "that black dot....." I started laughing.... you see, Jonah has a birthmark on his left but cheek - an almost perfect little black dot, that you can't mistake anywhere. It was just one of those moments that I knew if I didn't write about immediately - it would be lost to the ethos forever.
We celebrated Jonah's fifth birthday last night at the Cheesecake Factory downtown - he thinks he's five now - and that's ok....even though it isn't for a few weeks.
I'm sure going to miss my wonderful kids and beautiful wife. This has been wonderful, though unexpected and unplanned.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"Unexpected Passenger"
The following post is actually written by a colleague of mine who wishes to remain "anonymous", but what he wrote was so profound and moving to me, that I asked his permission to post it.
"The recent excitement over the rocket attack and the flooding in the admin building are reminders that what we are doing here is very serious. We are in perilous and austere conditions. We feel for the injured and wish him well. Some (including myself) complain about difficulties and inconveniences while others simply did their best to get a job done in bad conditions. I’ll admit that I only picked up pushing water by following the example of a certain someone of a much higher pay grade pushing water out of the building. But as bad as we may see things, we need to remember what the military puts up with.
I was returning to KAF on a plane full of passengers. Our luggage was on a pallet towards the rear, blocking our view to the cargo hatch. We were experiencing an unusually long delay. Many had fallen asleep already. Others were trying. Some were reading books. No one was really paying attention. As I was growing impatient, I had to wonder what was keeping us so long. I got my answer.
A truck backed up to our cargo entrance. Four marines gathered in a square formation behind it. They began performing a ceremony as they opened the back of the truck to reveal a casket with a flag draped over it. I believe I was the only one who saw this due to the sleeping, and the pallet blocking our view. Partially stunned and unfamiliar with military protocol as I was, I didn’t know whether it would be appropriate to stand up. Furthermore, this engineer was restrained by an odd seatbelt mechanism to which he hadn’t taken time to figure out the release. (bad idea). So I remained seated as the body was brought aboard the aircraft and placed behind the pallet.
I then had a flashback to earlier that day. A marine NCO was chewing out a private for misbehavior. I’ll have to edit his military speech for content (just insert the appropriate epithets at will). YELLING two inches away from the private’s face: “This is the real thing! My buddy just got killed yesterday! You’ve got to get it through your head how serious this is! This is your call to duty! No more time for screwing around!”
As far as I knew, there was only one recently reported death in the vicinity of this base. I couldn’t help but entertain the notion that this casket contained the body of this NCO’s friend. I say “friend” because I could tell from his words that it was not just a faceless “fallen comrade”. This was someone he knew. A buddy.
When we landed at Kandahar we experienced a similar delay. This time I knew what it was about, so I had a lot more patience despite my overflowing bladder. Finally the cargo door opened and a truck appeared a few minutes later. This time, we all rose as the troops came marching up the ramp. We awaited their departure with some reverence. I can’t describe the mix of emotions I had since I was so tired (it was almost midnight after I only had four hours of sleep the night before) and because I’m not sure if I have the words to describe it (uncharacteristic considering my traditional loquaciousness, loquacity, loquaciosityesness… I talk a lot). What I can say is: I will probably never forget it.
We often tend to think about the fallen soldier as just another number. This is what they signed up for. We forget they are real people who have just died. They matter to people who knew them. Maybe they should matter more to us. Maybe it took one of our own getting injured to remind us that the troops put themselves in harm’s way all the time. This is a real war regardless of what the politicians think. Just remember the saying attributed to Osterkamp.
"All gave some. Some gave all."
My thanks to my colleague for sharing his experience. I think he captures precisely what gets lost every day here and at home. I would submit that not only these brave young men - the pick and flower of America, NATO and other nations of the world who are here risk all - but also those who support them in their efforts.
"The recent excitement over the rocket attack and the flooding in the admin building are reminders that what we are doing here is very serious. We are in perilous and austere conditions. We feel for the injured and wish him well. Some (including myself) complain about difficulties and inconveniences while others simply did their best to get a job done in bad conditions. I’ll admit that I only picked up pushing water by following the example of a certain someone of a much higher pay grade pushing water out of the building. But as bad as we may see things, we need to remember what the military puts up with.
I was returning to KAF on a plane full of passengers. Our luggage was on a pallet towards the rear, blocking our view to the cargo hatch. We were experiencing an unusually long delay. Many had fallen asleep already. Others were trying. Some were reading books. No one was really paying attention. As I was growing impatient, I had to wonder what was keeping us so long. I got my answer.
A truck backed up to our cargo entrance. Four marines gathered in a square formation behind it. They began performing a ceremony as they opened the back of the truck to reveal a casket with a flag draped over it. I believe I was the only one who saw this due to the sleeping, and the pallet blocking our view. Partially stunned and unfamiliar with military protocol as I was, I didn’t know whether it would be appropriate to stand up. Furthermore, this engineer was restrained by an odd seatbelt mechanism to which he hadn’t taken time to figure out the release. (bad idea). So I remained seated as the body was brought aboard the aircraft and placed behind the pallet.
I then had a flashback to earlier that day. A marine NCO was chewing out a private for misbehavior. I’ll have to edit his military speech for content (just insert the appropriate epithets at will). YELLING two inches away from the private’s face: “This is the real thing! My buddy just got killed yesterday! You’ve got to get it through your head how serious this is! This is your call to duty! No more time for screwing around!”
As far as I knew, there was only one recently reported death in the vicinity of this base. I couldn’t help but entertain the notion that this casket contained the body of this NCO’s friend. I say “friend” because I could tell from his words that it was not just a faceless “fallen comrade”. This was someone he knew. A buddy.
When we landed at Kandahar we experienced a similar delay. This time I knew what it was about, so I had a lot more patience despite my overflowing bladder. Finally the cargo door opened and a truck appeared a few minutes later. This time, we all rose as the troops came marching up the ramp. We awaited their departure with some reverence. I can’t describe the mix of emotions I had since I was so tired (it was almost midnight after I only had four hours of sleep the night before) and because I’m not sure if I have the words to describe it (uncharacteristic considering my traditional loquaciousness, loquacity, loquaciosityesness… I talk a lot). What I can say is: I will probably never forget it.
We often tend to think about the fallen soldier as just another number. This is what they signed up for. We forget they are real people who have just died. They matter to people who knew them. Maybe they should matter more to us. Maybe it took one of our own getting injured to remind us that the troops put themselves in harm’s way all the time. This is a real war regardless of what the politicians think. Just remember the saying attributed to Osterkamp.
"All gave some. Some gave all."
My thanks to my colleague for sharing his experience. I think he captures precisely what gets lost every day here and at home. I would submit that not only these brave young men - the pick and flower of America, NATO and other nations of the world who are here risk all - but also those who support them in their efforts.
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