The other night I was invited to play dominoes with some of the guys. It was a fun evening. They gave me the courtesy of showing me how to play, which was unexpected. As one said, “If we teach ya, we can’t beat ya.” The strategy runs far deeper than I expected and the challenges were abundant. Oh by the way, dominoes with this crew is a full-contact sport. The language would make a sailor blush, just not this one. I gave as good as I got. By all accounts, I did well for a beginner and am looking forward to future invitations. Good crew they are.
Work progresses naturally, a few tough tasks, but nothing too bad. Our Deputy Director started his leave yesterday, so for the next three weeks I’ll be the Acting. Additionally, one of my staff officers starts his leave in just over a week so I’ll have to cover for him as well. I’m about to notify my union. Every country (I think) gets a two-three week leave period for a six month deployment except for us. Personally, I think the leave should be eliminated for a six month tour, but no one is asking me. It’s a national decision.
I’m watching this movie last night and a great line comes up. Feel free to guess the movie and the author.
“War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man.”
Hope all your taxes got done. Accountant's three and a half months of work are over, now they start their eight month vacation. At least one I know does. Maybe the two week military leave is a good idea after all.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
North Country
I returned back to HQ yesterday. For Boris, our HQ is in capital district right near the US Embassy if that helps. I’ll have to hit just the highlights and I expect this post to be long anyway. We convoyed to the airport Tuesday morning. Five of us were on this trip, all Dutch except for me: our General, two security personnel, and our Sergeant Major, a good group to travel with. Our plane left the airport on time … two hours late. We flew on a German C-160, much like our C-130 only smaller. We flew to the northern region. The country up there is considerably different from here. The economy is booming by this country’s standards. There seems to be a night life and all the stores are well stocked. I even saw a computer store with a top-of-the-line abacus. The air is cleaner, the geography similar in this case. The base we stayed at the first night is designed, built, maintained, and operated by the Germans. I have rarely seen a better base anywhere, certainly not in this country. It is clean, well built, and our accommodations were first class. Nothing like this base. The Germans know what they are doing in my opinion. We made a few visits out to some commands in the area – the purpose of our trip – and I learned a lot about the local army and their training. One of our stops was to watch one of their training centers in action (the equivalent of our boot camps). They are training well. As usual, I see children all over and feel for their plight. They all wave to us and give us the “thumbs up.” No question we are welcomed.
The General and I attended a Protocol Dinner that night. I was hoping for traditional German food, but no such luck. The dinner was the best I had while deployed though. Good conversation. I spoke with a number of different people including the Commanding General who will become a grandfather about the time my baby is born. I also spoke at length with the Deputy Commander who is from Norway. Very interesting and it prepared me for our trip the next day to a remote forward operating base in the region.
So we flew the next morning to the western part of the northern region. The geography changed a bit with smaller mountains, rounded, mostly sand covered. The base we stayed at this time is built and run by the Norwegians. There is also a Latvian contingent there. I was the only American. (Note to self: the Norwegian and Latvian armed forces have very attractive women serving, good thing I am married. As if.) This base was also immaculate with excellent facilities. However, they are overcrowded, so four of us slept in a tent, which was fine. The restroom/shower facilities were top-notch (my metric for a professional base). We travelled out to another forward operating base that we use to help mentor and train the army. Both of these places gave me a true feeling about what it means to be out in the middle of nowhere. Really in the middle of nowhere. At night we returned to the Norwegian base. I took a walk around after dinner when no one was out. Cold, dark, and quiet. Behind a stone/concrete wall with some razor wire, you are very alone.
We had time to socialize and it so happens on Wednesday nights they have a Norwegian tradition, “The Quiz.” This is a trivia competition open to all and prizes are awarded (more later). During dinner, of all things, I had to defend American whiskey. I was asked, “What do you Americans use for drinkin' whiskey?” I replied, “Drinkin' whiskey.” I then had to defend American whiskey on a Norwegian base to a Dutch general in Afghanistan. The kicker is the base is dry, so all we had later were a few cans of Beck’s non-alcoholic beer. So on to the quiz. It varies each week I’m told depending on who makes it up. This week mostly consisted of showing pictures of people who you had to ID and music where you identified the song and artist. We came in third, a good show I would say. Most of us couldn’t guess the recent music, so that was it. Of special note, while I got the answers for musicians like the Beach Boys and Kenny Rogers, our general got the answers for Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. I’m not joking and I couldn’t stop laughing. He explained that was his era. Kathy would be proud; he would do well in Amped Up.
They usually serve waffles Wednesday night as it is traditional, but they didn’t make them this time. My loss. Apparently, they are too sweet for breakfast in Norway. They eat them with either jam or goat cheese. I’ll stick with the syrup I suppose.
We flew back the next day without incident. The airstrip out in this remote place is just a long line of dirt. When our plane was coming in, our escorts decided it would be a good time to drive us on the airstrip (they didn’t know the plane was coming). So, the plane had to divert and make another approach. That was interesting. This time we flew a Fokker 50, commuter plane, and we even got a cup of coffee.
For the trip, I saw at least five more insects I never saw before. Jeff would have liked that part I suppose. I never saw so many sand flies (or whatever they are) before. I’ll have to cut this off now, I hope I’ve given the overall feel for the last few days. I’m sure I’ll remember more soon enough.
P.S. Anyone know the movie that had the drinkin' whiskey lines so Bill doesn't go nuts?
The General and I attended a Protocol Dinner that night. I was hoping for traditional German food, but no such luck. The dinner was the best I had while deployed though. Good conversation. I spoke with a number of different people including the Commanding General who will become a grandfather about the time my baby is born. I also spoke at length with the Deputy Commander who is from Norway. Very interesting and it prepared me for our trip the next day to a remote forward operating base in the region.
So we flew the next morning to the western part of the northern region. The geography changed a bit with smaller mountains, rounded, mostly sand covered. The base we stayed at this time is built and run by the Norwegians. There is also a Latvian contingent there. I was the only American. (Note to self: the Norwegian and Latvian armed forces have very attractive women serving, good thing I am married. As if.) This base was also immaculate with excellent facilities. However, they are overcrowded, so four of us slept in a tent, which was fine. The restroom/shower facilities were top-notch (my metric for a professional base). We travelled out to another forward operating base that we use to help mentor and train the army. Both of these places gave me a true feeling about what it means to be out in the middle of nowhere. Really in the middle of nowhere. At night we returned to the Norwegian base. I took a walk around after dinner when no one was out. Cold, dark, and quiet. Behind a stone/concrete wall with some razor wire, you are very alone.
We had time to socialize and it so happens on Wednesday nights they have a Norwegian tradition, “The Quiz.” This is a trivia competition open to all and prizes are awarded (more later). During dinner, of all things, I had to defend American whiskey. I was asked, “What do you Americans use for drinkin' whiskey?” I replied, “Drinkin' whiskey.” I then had to defend American whiskey on a Norwegian base to a Dutch general in Afghanistan. The kicker is the base is dry, so all we had later were a few cans of Beck’s non-alcoholic beer. So on to the quiz. It varies each week I’m told depending on who makes it up. This week mostly consisted of showing pictures of people who you had to ID and music where you identified the song and artist. We came in third, a good show I would say. Most of us couldn’t guess the recent music, so that was it. Of special note, while I got the answers for musicians like the Beach Boys and Kenny Rogers, our general got the answers for Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. I’m not joking and I couldn’t stop laughing. He explained that was his era. Kathy would be proud; he would do well in Amped Up.
They usually serve waffles Wednesday night as it is traditional, but they didn’t make them this time. My loss. Apparently, they are too sweet for breakfast in Norway. They eat them with either jam or goat cheese. I’ll stick with the syrup I suppose.
We flew back the next day without incident. The airstrip out in this remote place is just a long line of dirt. When our plane was coming in, our escorts decided it would be a good time to drive us on the airstrip (they didn’t know the plane was coming). So, the plane had to divert and make another approach. That was interesting. This time we flew a Fokker 50, commuter plane, and we even got a cup of coffee.
For the trip, I saw at least five more insects I never saw before. Jeff would have liked that part I suppose. I never saw so many sand flies (or whatever they are) before. I’ll have to cut this off now, I hope I’ve given the overall feel for the last few days. I’m sure I’ll remember more soon enough.
P.S. Anyone know the movie that had the drinkin' whiskey lines so Bill doesn't go nuts?
Saturday, April 5, 2008
I Feel the Earth Move
Looks like I can add earthquake tremors to my list of real-life environmental experiences. On Thursday, my friend Paul (Canadian guy) and I were having some coffee on the second floor outdoor patio of a building when my cup started rattling. Looking around, we didn’t see any of the things that might make my cup, or as we realized, the building rattle. We laughed it off. Later that night at Canada House, the same time as the Budweiser incident, we all felt the building move a little more. With no way to tune into a TV or radio to check it (even if we did we don’t speak Dari or Pashto), we were left to our own conclusions and certainly no knowledge of a Richter measurement. We already know this area is known for seismic activity and would feel cheated if we didn’t have some now and then. On another environmental note, it rained all day yesterday, which made today one incredibly clear day. The rain cleaned out much of the dust (particulate matter) in the air, known as rain-out. The detail in the mountains was more than noticeable compared to normal days.
I had a good day today providing a lot of information about the army to other directorates that need it. Apparently, the spreadsheet and analysis I put together is useful for many of the plans and operations going on. Tomorrow’s another day. I’ll have my standard briefing to the Commander and many others and then follow it up with a more detailed briefing to the Chief-of-Staff and around 6-8 other generals. Good times.
My friend Jeff, one of the Afghan 5, recently emailed me a picture (see below) he took of me before our last training convoy in Kuwait. It is before dawn, that’s our humvee in the background, and we haven’t showered or shaved in two days. Actually, our showers consisted of excessive use of baby wipes. I am wearing the Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) that you see in the papers and I have referred to before. We wear it every time we leave base and on flights in country. One gets used to it.
I had a good day today providing a lot of information about the army to other directorates that need it. Apparently, the spreadsheet and analysis I put together is useful for many of the plans and operations going on. Tomorrow’s another day. I’ll have my standard briefing to the Commander and many others and then follow it up with a more detailed briefing to the Chief-of-Staff and around 6-8 other generals. Good times.
My friend Jeff, one of the Afghan 5, recently emailed me a picture (see below) he took of me before our last training convoy in Kuwait. It is before dawn, that’s our humvee in the background, and we haven’t showered or shaved in two days. Actually, our showers consisted of excessive use of baby wipes. I am wearing the Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) that you see in the papers and I have referred to before. We wear it every time we leave base and on flights in country. One gets used to it.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Comments Reply, Etc.
What a great story by Grandfather and it's amazing I really never heard it before, go figure. I'm responding to comments since I don't have enough cool stuff for a new post yet. I have been busier than ever and will be for some time, probably the rest of the way.
Boris and Natasha, taking time away from getting moose and squirrel to drop a post, awesome. We run around our extremely small base. There is a paved square of road that isn’t too large - these are my kind of laps. I run for a time not a distance since I don’t really know the distance. We can make the run feel like cross country by running on the unpaved portions of the base including some gravel and dirt, but it hurts don’t ya know. We should use our running for niceness instead of evil.
I don't think you'll swing the drug trade with a couple t-shirts Terry, but there are people who would plotz if they knew some stuff I teach about sending aid to developing nations from an environmental perspective.
I spent about an hour or so in Canada House tonight at the invitation of one of the guys I work with. We are about the same age. Canada House is what they call their building that houses their National Support Element. The buildings generally have administrative rooms downstairs and a social room upstairs. We have one, but people don’t socialize there as we are not that tight here as a nation. We use it for the phones, Internet connection, and a bit of TV. They have a party every night, very nice group, the Army of the West. There are a few reasons the US doesn’t bond like the other countries here. One is we are too large in numbers and another is the guy who runs our support element is a piece of work. Our place doesn’t even have a cool name like Canada House, maybe we should use theirs.
I didn’t mention my brief yesterday. During what we call a pre-brief or rehearsal before the Commander comes in, one of the generals really gave it to me on some trivial stuff. The more experienced guys who do this every day spoke to me after and said I handled it well and that he goes after everyone sooner or later. Well, I got the reputation you would all expect. My general reassured me not to be concerned about that guy and that he’s the only one I need to worry about. Such relief. The best validation was that the Commander liked the presentation exactly how I presented it and it was the information he wanted. All's well until the next battle, which is about daily.
Boris and Natasha, taking time away from getting moose and squirrel to drop a post, awesome. We run around our extremely small base. There is a paved square of road that isn’t too large - these are my kind of laps. I run for a time not a distance since I don’t really know the distance. We can make the run feel like cross country by running on the unpaved portions of the base including some gravel and dirt, but it hurts don’t ya know. We should use our running for niceness instead of evil.
I don't think you'll swing the drug trade with a couple t-shirts Terry, but there are people who would plotz if they knew some stuff I teach about sending aid to developing nations from an environmental perspective.
I spent about an hour or so in Canada House tonight at the invitation of one of the guys I work with. We are about the same age. Canada House is what they call their building that houses their National Support Element. The buildings generally have administrative rooms downstairs and a social room upstairs. We have one, but people don’t socialize there as we are not that tight here as a nation. We use it for the phones, Internet connection, and a bit of TV. They have a party every night, very nice group, the Army of the West. There are a few reasons the US doesn’t bond like the other countries here. One is we are too large in numbers and another is the guy who runs our support element is a piece of work. Our place doesn’t even have a cool name like Canada House, maybe we should use theirs.
I didn’t mention my brief yesterday. During what we call a pre-brief or rehearsal before the Commander comes in, one of the generals really gave it to me on some trivial stuff. The more experienced guys who do this every day spoke to me after and said I handled it well and that he goes after everyone sooner or later. Well, I got the reputation you would all expect. My general reassured me not to be concerned about that guy and that he’s the only one I need to worry about. Such relief. The best validation was that the Commander liked the presentation exactly how I presented it and it was the information he wanted. All's well until the next battle, which is about daily.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Ireland Day
Last night, Thursday, we were treated by our Irish comrades to a barbeque in honor of their national day/St. Patrick’s Day. We had to delay it until then due to scheduling conflicts. They served beer, steak, chicken, sides, and had Irish coffee available for dessert along with a nice cake. Held outside in a nice courtyard by any standard, it was quite well done and the best attended event I’ve been to since my arrival. The group of friends I was with had a wonderful time and shared many laughs. I wish Sean could have been here for it, but the travel to and from would have been a real challenge.
Along with dessert we were regaled with a performance by our camp musical group – The Tali Band. They played all Irish music of course and are led by a British General who plays a number of string instruments and sings. Not bad at all. As a hobby, they tour the area bases when they can and play a variety of music.
After being a little sick last night (the Irish coffee perhaps), I had a relaxing day that included a run and a jaunt in the bazaar. My Friday/day off has come to an end. Another week lies ahead, but another week closer to home.
Along with dessert we were regaled with a performance by our camp musical group – The Tali Band. They played all Irish music of course and are led by a British General who plays a number of string instruments and sings. Not bad at all. As a hobby, they tour the area bases when they can and play a variety of music.
After being a little sick last night (the Irish coffee perhaps), I had a relaxing day that included a run and a jaunt in the bazaar. My Friday/day off has come to an end. Another week lies ahead, but another week closer to home.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Dinner Conversation
When a bunch of military guys get together to eat three times a day, the conversation can range from philosophical and intelligent all the way down to pure bathroom humor. Here is part of a conversation, verbatim, I had with Carey tonight. A 6'4'' 275 lb black guy from Tennessee, he is in one of the bazaar pictures posted earlier.
Carey: Where are the Three Stooges from?
Ithan: I don't know for sure. I do know that they are Jewish.
Carey: No! Really? All of them?
Ithan: Yep.
Carey: That's meshuge.
Good thing I wasn't drinking milk at the time. That was the intelligent part of our conversation, it went downhill from there. To balance it all out, we're going to watch a Dolemite film in the theatre tonight.
I had the opportunity to sit in for our General yesterday as he was stuck in another city with no flights available. As our story goes, you may remember our deputy was stuck as well in a different city. Interesting sitting in at meetings with a bunch of one and two star generals around. Believe it or not, they didn't look to me too much for comment. I almost had my first high visibility media conference today since neither of them was available. It would have been me and a two star being asked questions by a group of European journalists who were not expected to be too friendly. In a solid example of diplomacy and raw common sense, they cancelled my part. Another international incident avoided.
Carey: Where are the Three Stooges from?
Ithan: I don't know for sure. I do know that they are Jewish.
Carey: No! Really? All of them?
Ithan: Yep.
Carey: That's meshuge.
Good thing I wasn't drinking milk at the time. That was the intelligent part of our conversation, it went downhill from there. To balance it all out, we're going to watch a Dolemite film in the theatre tonight.
I had the opportunity to sit in for our General yesterday as he was stuck in another city with no flights available. As our story goes, you may remember our deputy was stuck as well in a different city. Interesting sitting in at meetings with a bunch of one and two star generals around. Believe it or not, they didn't look to me too much for comment. I almost had my first high visibility media conference today since neither of them was available. It would have been me and a two star being asked questions by a group of European journalists who were not expected to be too friendly. In a solid example of diplomacy and raw common sense, they cancelled my part. Another international incident avoided.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Easter's Past
And what would Easter be without chocolate bunnies? Well absolutely nothing to me. So, I had a lot of chocolate and some jelly beans, not to mention a few peeps for tradition sake. They put together a special lunch in the dining facility. We had a choice of steak or fish (I had the lasagna) and a huge dessert selection. When we left, there was a goodie bag with a small chocolate bunny and some chocolate eggs. My kind of holiday.
I have been covering for the deputy director for the past four days while he is on a trip to one of the other cities. Nothing has come up, which should give you a good idea about the difficulty of that job. Or perhaps he is going to face a world of hurt when he gets back, can’t wait to find out.
I thought the cashews my sister sent weren’t going to make it through the weekend. I was wrong; they barely made it 24 hours. Around 2.5 pounds of cashews gone - what a treat.
I usually have breakfast with a Romanian colonel each morning. We talk about a number of things. He forwarded a lot pictures to me that I sent home. Some pictures are of the children here, which are depressing, but even worse to view since I’m here. I can’t get over what they have to look forward to or what they don’t. They will not be posted here at this point, just can’t do it. I was out in a convoy today and saw many kids throughout the city. Some weren’t going to school, but many were. They wore what we would consider rags for clothes, but some had nice little backpacks. The themed pink or blue packs like our kids might have set against the gray and black of their clothes somewhat dazed me. We passed their school quickly and I could not get a long look, but it resembled an open area with a wall surrounding it. Almost like a fort. The school year began on Saturday coinciding with the New Year here and the kids look happy overall. I saw little children maybe 1-2 years old around the road being guided by what appeared to be a brother or sister only around 5-6 years old. It has nothing to do with my job, but I feel some obligation to find out more about the schools here and make some attempt to figure out what is going on. Perhaps more on that in another post.
For those who have it, I hope you are all enjoying your spring break.
I have been covering for the deputy director for the past four days while he is on a trip to one of the other cities. Nothing has come up, which should give you a good idea about the difficulty of that job. Or perhaps he is going to face a world of hurt when he gets back, can’t wait to find out.
I thought the cashews my sister sent weren’t going to make it through the weekend. I was wrong; they barely made it 24 hours. Around 2.5 pounds of cashews gone - what a treat.
I usually have breakfast with a Romanian colonel each morning. We talk about a number of things. He forwarded a lot pictures to me that I sent home. Some pictures are of the children here, which are depressing, but even worse to view since I’m here. I can’t get over what they have to look forward to or what they don’t. They will not be posted here at this point, just can’t do it. I was out in a convoy today and saw many kids throughout the city. Some weren’t going to school, but many were. They wore what we would consider rags for clothes, but some had nice little backpacks. The themed pink or blue packs like our kids might have set against the gray and black of their clothes somewhat dazed me. We passed their school quickly and I could not get a long look, but it resembled an open area with a wall surrounding it. Almost like a fort. The school year began on Saturday coinciding with the New Year here and the kids look happy overall. I saw little children maybe 1-2 years old around the road being guided by what appeared to be a brother or sister only around 5-6 years old. It has nothing to do with my job, but I feel some obligation to find out more about the schools here and make some attempt to figure out what is going on. Perhaps more on that in another post.
For those who have it, I hope you are all enjoying your spring break.
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