Damn Hot

The team is making its way to Afghanistan.  A short stop in Kuwait they say and its on we go. 

We all pitched in to unload the gear off the trucks and worked the process to get ready for the next leg.  "Line up in formation" the tall Sargent belts out.  "Please retrieve your form XYX@@GT#?P and have it ready to be stamped"  Why was not clear, but no one was going to ask.  Arrange your gear, set it aside and get chow. We will find you a flight out!  Wow, impressive.  This may all work out .  Ha!!!!

This place is damn hot.  Its 10 am and already over 100 degrees with 15 MPH dust blowing in our faces.  By lunch is getting near 120. 

How a society can live in such extremes is beyond me.  Well nothing that six more hours of waiting outside cant cure.

Insensitive?

A couple of us were to meet the Police chief of a model Station (training vignette of course) and discuss equipping of the forces and maintenance complaints.

We drove up to the station taking careful note of the man on the cell phone watching us.  Did the obligatory meet and greet with the Chief's staff and made our way to the conference room.  Not a bad place, seems to be in order.  The conversation was pleasant and my references to my Greek heritage were making their mark. 

Its too bad there was all this yelling and blood curdling screams coming from the jail.  What to do.  The Chief said not to be concerned, as this is just disgruntled people complaining about being arrested, but rest assured he said, they are bad people.  Hmmm I thought, well carry on and please close the door so all that pesky noise wont bother our meeting.

Well, its time for a tour of the jail.  My, there is a lot of blood on the walls, and one man is demanding to speak with the foreigners.  What to do???  Do I risk usurping the Commander's authority by intervening or do I quietly take stock of the situation and report it to higher ups later.  What to do?

After we ended the vignettes, our mentors (mostly US Institute of Peace folks) were incensed.  How could you ignore the plight of this man?  Didn't you see obvious signs of prisoner abuse? We are the beacon of freedom and should intervene as a demonstration of US commitment to purging abuse from the world.  Why yes I did see some evidence I of abuse and took notes, but I did not feel I was in a position to intervene directly....... silence. 


I guess we failed that exercise.  These dilemmas we are given are torturous. On one hand you want to engage and an the other  you have a mission.  I am a truly compassionate person when it come to suffering, but I guess today I demonstrated an indifference.  

Bad George.

9 Lives

The team was in its final two weeks of training, and most of it was in vignettes with Afghan ex-pats acting the part of Ministerial staff and other leaders we are likely to meet. 

They say you have nine lives in training and one in real life.  Its best to learn from the nine so you can focus on the real one.  The last week was big for learning. I used up a total of six lives overall and four in the last two weeks of training.

- Drive down the wrong road into an ambush?  Life 1
- Walk through the market place and get kidnapped? Life 2
- Go to a meeting in a Police Station and not notice the new package in the conference room after a tour of the jail?  Life 3
- Not quite fully checking the rear wheel of the Suburban after a great meeting? Life 4

Sobering, but its exercises like this that remain in your consciousness.  It getting time for the real thing.

Up and Away

We left Camp Atterbury for Forward Operating Base (FOB) Panther for the last week of training.  This is a remote site, a 15 minute drive from the Miscatatuck Urban Training Center.  We went by H-60 Army Helicopter in full battle armor to get us used to this mode of transportation, and what a ride it was.  Our pilots and crew were great and didn’t mind our jokes or the class pictures in front of the Helo.  

We strapped in, put on ear plugs and lifted off.  Helicopters are not the smoothest of machines but they do things no other aircraft does.  Its noisy, hot and shakes a lot, but unlike rides I’ve had on some older Navy birds, this one didn’t leak fluids or have screws vibrating across the floor. The 2000 foot altitude ride over the Indiana countryside was scenic and when we got close to FOB Panther, the pilot entertained us with a high banking turn with a nice flair to a landing on the grass.  It was a great way to arrive at our new home.

FOB Panther is a collection of a few dozen trailers and a some large soft sided enclosures to get us used to living in austere settings and focus on being an adviser.  The classroom stuff is over.  This last week will involve us planning an Adviser session, convoying to the UTC and meeting with our counterparts played by Afghan Ex-pats. Its going to be as real as can be before we deploy.  We get a bunk, a foot locker and a small closet.  No room for extras.  At least there is A/C.

High Stress Communications

Learning what to say and how to say it in a stressful situation is a skill everyone needs to know.  Dr. Covello is a world leading authority on this type of communication who looks a bit like comedian Martin Short.  He was Mayor Juliani’s man during and after 911 helping frame that famous speech reassuring the people of New York, after the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings.  Of all the lectures, he has the results and science to back up what he says. 

Working with our culturally different Ministry counterparts will be stressing, and adding terrorist threats, a sense of urgency and an interpreter make it all even more complex.  Covello travels all over the world teaching this stuff.  A few facts:  Did you know that Afghanistan and Japan use the word “No” least in the world?  Guess who is first?   Using “no”, can’t, and won’t just don’t work in High context cultures.  Its just too final and insulting.  It also undermines your credibility when you actually can do something later.  Nordstrom’s Department store’s business model is built on not saying no. 

This does not mean the Afghans say yes when they mean no, but rather they might say “God willing” (meaning not likely to be done now), or “This will be difficult” (are you F-ing kidding).

Based on extensive data and research, Covello has identified three universal truths to high-stress communicating:

-          When stressed, people want to know you care first, so the messenger must be compassionate.

-          When stressed, people have difficulty processing information, so it has to be simple.

-          When stressed, people focus on the negative, so the message has to provide reassurance.

Seems obvious, but at least we can say “the expert says”.

Medic!!!!

We spent some time learning about combat medical treatment.  This is serious stuff, though we had some fun in class which made our instructor laugh.  We got our own pouches with the things we need to stay alive while under fire.  Unlike at home, there is no time to dial 911 when bad guys are shooting at you or a roadside bomb has gone off.  The instructor was very blunt….If you are conscious, you have to stop your bleeding with your own tourniquet.  Period.  Its pretty sobering.  We spent time learning how to do this and how to put tubes into another’s nose to get them to breath.  

After that we went into the simulator room where we marveled at a mannequin who could breathe, spurt blood and yell if needed.  All controlled by the instructor.  This was pretty eerie but well worth it.  Next is was a battlefield casualty room set up to look as if a bomb had gone off in a crowded room.  We were put in groups of three to tend to the wounded.  Although we knew these were smart mannequins, it made your heart race thinking of little time you had to keep them from bleeding out.  I hope never to have to use this knowledge.

Roll Over - Roll Over

Today was vehicle safety day.  We were going to experience a roll-over in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle or MRAP.  This is a beast of a truck used to haul soldiers in dangerous areas where enemy roadside bombs might be.  The larger MRAPs were used extensively in Iraq but not so much in Afghanistan due to their weight.  Nevertheless, the Army says we need to understand what a rollover feels like.  We got about thirty minutes of classroom instruction on the key do’s and don’ts.  Do strap yourself in tightly and do secure all material as when this thing ever does roll over, loose heavy stuff like ammo cans and weapons will do bad things to your body.  Don’t puke or you will clean it up or panic. When you reach a tipping point, everyone is supposed to yell Roll-Over Roll Over to prepare for the inevitable.  

Next was the simulator where an MRAP crew cabin is mounted on a frame which allows it to do controlled barrel rolls.  This is a cool rig where the operator is able tilt the rig or let it roll over.  The instructor said he woul

d roll us a bit until we reached the tipping point, then he would roll us over and over until we got it right.  The MRAP is a tight fit for anyone with little cloth jumper seats to sit on, and with body armor, it was even tighter.  For a short guy like me, my helmet was a good five inches from the roof of this thing, but for the bigger guys, they were glued.  We strapped in tight harnesses and gave a thumbs up.  We got to the tipping point, thinking the guy on the high side of me would slip from his harness and crush me, and yelled Roll Over - Roll Over and off we went, stopping upside down to see most of the tall guys with their helmets planted firmly on the roof.   Then we rolled on, then back again.  Some had worried looks, but one of us started laughing, which lightened the mood for everyone.  After that it was yells for more.  Like I said, this is good group.  Sorry. No pictures of the rig allowed.

Long Guns

We asked to be familiarized with the M4 Rifle since it was likely to be with us in convoy.  The M4 is essentially a black M-16 rifle, but with a collapsible but stock and lots of cool attachments points for all sorts of add ons.  All we wanted was to be taught how to handle it and get to the range to fire a few rounds.  

We practiced handling, learning how to aim and dry firing indoors. We were then taken to a range where Army snipers were shooting at man-sized targets 200, 400 and 500 yards away all while on the move.  When they were done it was our turn.  Some of us on the other hand got winded on the walk with body armor past the 500, 400, 200 yard shooting stations to the 100 yard point.  It must not have instilled much confidence to these young soldiers seeing sweating civilians walk up to the firing line. 

This wonderful group of soldiers volunteered time from their training to walk us civilians through the paces of shooting from the prone position.  Half of us got weapons with sights where all you had to do was to align a red dot to the target and squeeze the trigger, while the rest had iron sights.  The first eight of us laid down on the tarps while our hosts gave us two magazines of 10 rounds each.  Once the all clear was given, we commenced to shooting.  The first thing you noticed was that your helmet dipped down over your eyes on account of the straps holding it to your head and the body armor didn’t allow you to tilt your head back very far, so the whole thing became pretty clumsy for all the shooters.  One shooter had to have their soldier host hold her helmet back above her eyes so she could shoot.  All the while biting his tongue I suspect.  I had the same helmet problem, but I had the red-dot sight and quickly put 20 rounds in the center.  That was no fun I thought.  You can’t miss.  I think we gave them enough stories to tell their buddies. 

Ministry of Churn

We learned the process by which Coalition money gets to the Afghan Ministry of Finance and then trickles down to the other Ministries.  It’s a fascinating process that we told them to use which pretty much mimics our own Pentagon processes.  They are doomed.  For the stuff they are to buy with our money, they have to abide by US Procurement Laws, so no foreign made uniforms or boots. Check 1 for no Afghan jobs.  No contracting to firms which may have questionable ties.  Check 2 for no jobs.  Many local companies cant meet the many accounting rules.  Check 3, as only a few compete….and so on.  We want these people to stand on their own, but it seems we built in checks that makes it harder.  The good thing is that the system is so convoluted that no-one Afghan can be truly held responsible for not getting things done.  Its as if the process was tailor made for them.   

We bought an Army?

The Afghan National Army and the Police make up about 350 thousand men for a country the size of Texas, costing the Coalition (namely us) about $5B a year to run.  Good or bad, its what it is.  Think Tanks say it should stay this size, if not larger to tackle the Taliban and secure the borders.  Its a moot point, as we are primarily footing the bill for paying and equipping these men (and a few women).  Most countries spend 3% or less of their GDP on their military, so Afghanistan’s $20B GDP seems a bit small, so something has to give.  Its quite a paradox that we need a large Afghan force to quell the insurgency for economic development to occur, yet its difficult to invest because the security bill is pretty high.  That’s where the Coalition comes in.  We have to keep this Army running long enough to bring the insurgents to the table.

An Interesting Place

Afghanistan’s history goes back some 5000 years.  Some tribes, like the majority Pashtuns, go back that far and many trace their roots to Alexander the Great.  Its been a melting pot for many of the great civilizations, Persian, Turkish, Indian and Chinese and often seen as a frontier to be exploited.  Afghanistan was never the destination for the great empires, but it had to be tamed to get through it.  

Afghans were Buddhists, Zoroasterists and practiced many other religions until Islam came early on in the late 600s CE given its trading crossroads, but it took nearly 200 years to be converted.  The major empires; Persians, Greeks, Mongols, Timur-E-Lane, Turks, British, Soviets and others had a crack at this place and all with limited success, mostly by controlling at the major population centers.  The Afghans will remind you the outer rural provinces were never conquered. 

The new Afghan government is working on reforms and economic growth strategies to bring this country into the global family, but the rural areas make up 80% of the population and who stubbornly cling to their tribal ways.  They tell us the Afghan modernists/elites yearn for the golden era (1930s -1970s) and would like us to help them (Kabul at least) return to it, but in reality, back then Kabul’s influence and modernism only went as far as the pavement.  And so it is today.  What will success look like? Personally, if the Central government can show that its trustworthy and the Army can hold its own against the Taliban, then reconciliation and stability have a chance. I’m here to help with the first two.