This is a funny memory from my 1st week as an Army wife in Savannah, 4 years ago:
There were two gates from which you could enter and exit Hunter Army Airfield. In front of each, there was a single sign posted. It read: Heroes Live Here. Next to it flew a tiny American flag that someone had stuck in the grass. There were civilian security guards who worked at the gates and checked identification and DCALS (the military installation stickers that had to be affixed to your car’s windshield) as people came and went. People had to have proper identification and proof of auto insurance in order to be allowed through the gates if they did not have a military ID card. The first few times I drove on the post, I felt nervous; why, I wasn’t sure. I suppose it was all of the military’s formality: everything seemed so serious and so official, like handing someone your ID for entry. The first week I was there, I drove to the post to pick Max up from work (we shared his truck). I had my military ID all ready and with my window rolled down as I pulled up to the guard and handed it to him.
He looked at it, looked at me and said, pointing to his left, “Please pull right over there, Ma’am. We need to perform a vehicle check.”
A what?
Panicked, I slowly pulled the truck over to the lane where the soldiers in uniform were waiting.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, innocently, as I opened the tuck door and jumped out.
“No Ma’am,” one soldier replied, “This is a routine check.”
I stood there as they opened each door, opened each compartment, looked under the hood and in the back, checked around the tires and the gas cap. The whole thing took about eight minutes.
“Thank you Ma’am, you are all set,” the same soldier told me as he handed me my keys. I thought about making a joke about them not finding anything illegal, but looked at their serious expressions and their uniforms and decided to just get back in the truck. So I did.
“Thanks,” I called to the soldiers, as I started the truck and left to get Max, driving ever so slowly because I felt as though they were watching my every move.
Max assured me later that they were not.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Progress update
Associated Press
Courtesy Story
3/23/10
More than 30 shura members gathered, March 22, in Shah Wali Kot, Afghanistan, to speak with the District Governor about proposed projects to better the district. The main topic of discussion was the Kandahar Irrigation Rehabilitation Project, coined the Dahla Dam Project, which would greatly improve the irrigation systems' efficiency in the Southern region of Shah Wali Kot.
Lt. Col. Patrick Gaydon, commander of the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, said the higher turnouts in recent weeks are a product of improved security and that the people feel safer traveling to the district center.
"The troops out with [1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5/2 ID (SBCT)] have worked with Afghan national police to establish the kind of security that gives the people confidence to travel to the shuras," he said. "If they're afraid of being blown up, or confronted by the Taliban in their homes, they won't attend. Task Force Stryker has worked hard to make them feel safe."
The Dahla Dam is 58 years old, and carries with it 58 years of wear and tear. Water flows from the dam, down through the Arghandab District, and also splits through a series of canals to Kandahar City. The people of Sha Wali Kot acknowledge repair of the Dahla Dam won't provide much service to the northern areas of the district, which does not seem to be a point of contention. The biggest concerns presented in the shura were the possibilities of the proposed projects damaging the land, and to make sure jobs are created in the district.
"The people want the workers on these projects to come from the local area," said Aamer Aman, a U.S. Interpreter from McAllen, Texas. "The Governor reassured them that if they have qualified workers, jobs will be created for locals. If they have no qualified workers, the projects will most likely be contracted out of Kandahar City, but all the unskilled jobs will be given to local workers."
Aman said he felt there was a bit of tension in the shura due to lack of visible progress over the last two years.
"They're tired of talking," said Aman. "It's been two years they've been talking about the dam."
Aman also said that he perceived the Shah Wali Kot people's trust in coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan growing with each project completed in the region.
"People are seeing that when Task Force Stryker makes promises, we follow up," said Gaydon. "The culvert denial systems have not only been a visible improvement, they've made a difference in the level of security as well. Visible progress like that shows them the kinds of things we can do for them, and the kinds of things they can do for themselves to better their land."
Courtesy Story
3/23/10
More than 30 shura members gathered, March 22, in Shah Wali Kot, Afghanistan, to speak with the District Governor about proposed projects to better the district. The main topic of discussion was the Kandahar Irrigation Rehabilitation Project, coined the Dahla Dam Project, which would greatly improve the irrigation systems' efficiency in the Southern region of Shah Wali Kot.
Lt. Col. Patrick Gaydon, commander of the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, said the higher turnouts in recent weeks are a product of improved security and that the people feel safer traveling to the district center.
"The troops out with [1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5/2 ID (SBCT)] have worked with Afghan national police to establish the kind of security that gives the people confidence to travel to the shuras," he said. "If they're afraid of being blown up, or confronted by the Taliban in their homes, they won't attend. Task Force Stryker has worked hard to make them feel safe."
The Dahla Dam is 58 years old, and carries with it 58 years of wear and tear. Water flows from the dam, down through the Arghandab District, and also splits through a series of canals to Kandahar City. The people of Sha Wali Kot acknowledge repair of the Dahla Dam won't provide much service to the northern areas of the district, which does not seem to be a point of contention. The biggest concerns presented in the shura were the possibilities of the proposed projects damaging the land, and to make sure jobs are created in the district.
"The people want the workers on these projects to come from the local area," said Aamer Aman, a U.S. Interpreter from McAllen, Texas. "The Governor reassured them that if they have qualified workers, jobs will be created for locals. If they have no qualified workers, the projects will most likely be contracted out of Kandahar City, but all the unskilled jobs will be given to local workers."
Aman said he felt there was a bit of tension in the shura due to lack of visible progress over the last two years.
"They're tired of talking," said Aman. "It's been two years they've been talking about the dam."
Aman also said that he perceived the Shah Wali Kot people's trust in coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan growing with each project completed in the region.
"People are seeing that when Task Force Stryker makes promises, we follow up," said Gaydon. "The culvert denial systems have not only been a visible improvement, they've made a difference in the level of security as well. Visible progress like that shows them the kinds of things we can do for them, and the kinds of things they can do for themselves to better their land."
Thursday, March 18, 2010
In lighter times
Kissing bandit Carie Cornwell smooches a soldier from the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, during Wednesday's St. Patrick's Day parade. (Carl Elmore/Savannah Morning News)
St. Patrick's Day in Savannah is always a big deal. Whenever the battalion isn't deployed for the holiday, it marches in the city's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Tradition has it, that by the end of parade, the soldiers' faces are covered in red lipstick marks.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Robert Gates in Afghanistan with Max's unit
by Anne Gearan, Associated Press
USA Today
3/9/10
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a hard-hit battle unit Tuesday that its heavy losses have helped the U.S. begin to push back against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Gates visited a small, remote outpost 30 miles north of Kandahar, where the Fort Lewis, Washington-based Stryker unit has lost 22 men and suffered an additional 62 wounded since arriving here last summer.
The latest injuries came Monday night, and the latest death three days ago.
"You all have had a very tough time," especially at the start of the tour, Gates told members of the 800-soldier unit. "You came into an area totally controlled by the Taliban. You fought for a critical battle space, you bled for it and now you own it."
He told the troops that as the fight shifts toward securing Kandahar itself later this year, they will again be "at the tip of the spear."
Brigade commander Lt. Col. Jonathan Neumann explained one of its missions: securing a highway that locals use to bring crops to market in Kandahar.
"If people can't move freely on the highway," Neumann said, "they'll never feel connected to their government and like they are out from under the thumb of the Taliban."
Neumann said his troops also protect the local population from bandits and extortionists who try to waylay travelers and exact illegal tolls.
He said it can be hard to measure success when it means subtle changes of heart and intention among the locals instead of something dramatic, like taking a city.
"The metric that stares you in the face is our casualties," Neumann said.
Gates later walked a dusty street in Now Zad, where Marines pushed out the Taliban last year with help from some of the first reinforcements ordered by President Obama last year.
The Pentagon chief stopped to speak to shopkeepers who are among about 2,500 people who have returned to the city. Now Zad, once the second largest city in Helmand province, sat empty for four years, save for U.S., NATO and Taliban fighters.
"This place was a ghost town, a no-go zone," Gates said as he thanked Marines for an operation that served as a model for this year's battle in nearby Marjah.
Gates flew to Kandahar early Tuesday for meetings with U.S. and British generals overseeing the military campaign in Marjah. He presented Silver Stars for valor to two Army aviators before his visits with U.S. forces at bases elsewhere in the south.
On Monday, the Pentagon chief said the progress made in the Marjah offensive, launched last month, is encouraging, but he stopped short of saying the war is at a turning point. The Marjah campaign routed most Taliban fighters from a town they once controlled, without a high casualty toll for U.S. troops and the Afghan security forces fighting alongside them.
"People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead," Gates told reporters.
Gates met Monday in Kabul with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. McChrystal said preparations have begun for a crucial campaign to assert Afghan government control over Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban.
Gates traveled to Afghanistan to check on the progress of the war's expansion, directed late last year by Obama.
Most of the 30,000 additional U.S. forces Obama ordered will be in place by summer. Without being specific, McChrystal suggested that any heavy fighting in Kandahar will wait until more U.S. and NATO troops are ready
USA Today
3/9/10
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a hard-hit battle unit Tuesday that its heavy losses have helped the U.S. begin to push back against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Gates visited a small, remote outpost 30 miles north of Kandahar, where the Fort Lewis, Washington-based Stryker unit has lost 22 men and suffered an additional 62 wounded since arriving here last summer.
The latest injuries came Monday night, and the latest death three days ago.
"You all have had a very tough time," especially at the start of the tour, Gates told members of the 800-soldier unit. "You came into an area totally controlled by the Taliban. You fought for a critical battle space, you bled for it and now you own it."
He told the troops that as the fight shifts toward securing Kandahar itself later this year, they will again be "at the tip of the spear."
Brigade commander Lt. Col. Jonathan Neumann explained one of its missions: securing a highway that locals use to bring crops to market in Kandahar.
"If people can't move freely on the highway," Neumann said, "they'll never feel connected to their government and like they are out from under the thumb of the Taliban."
Neumann said his troops also protect the local population from bandits and extortionists who try to waylay travelers and exact illegal tolls.
He said it can be hard to measure success when it means subtle changes of heart and intention among the locals instead of something dramatic, like taking a city.
"The metric that stares you in the face is our casualties," Neumann said.
Gates later walked a dusty street in Now Zad, where Marines pushed out the Taliban last year with help from some of the first reinforcements ordered by President Obama last year.
The Pentagon chief stopped to speak to shopkeepers who are among about 2,500 people who have returned to the city. Now Zad, once the second largest city in Helmand province, sat empty for four years, save for U.S., NATO and Taliban fighters.
"This place was a ghost town, a no-go zone," Gates said as he thanked Marines for an operation that served as a model for this year's battle in nearby Marjah.
Gates flew to Kandahar early Tuesday for meetings with U.S. and British generals overseeing the military campaign in Marjah. He presented Silver Stars for valor to two Army aviators before his visits with U.S. forces at bases elsewhere in the south.
On Monday, the Pentagon chief said the progress made in the Marjah offensive, launched last month, is encouraging, but he stopped short of saying the war is at a turning point. The Marjah campaign routed most Taliban fighters from a town they once controlled, without a high casualty toll for U.S. troops and the Afghan security forces fighting alongside them.
"People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead," Gates told reporters.
Gates met Monday in Kabul with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. McChrystal said preparations have begun for a crucial campaign to assert Afghan government control over Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban.
Gates traveled to Afghanistan to check on the progress of the war's expansion, directed late last year by Obama.
Most of the 30,000 additional U.S. forces Obama ordered will be in place by summer. Without being specific, McChrystal suggested that any heavy fighting in Kandahar will wait until more U.S. and NATO troops are ready
Saturday, March 6, 2010
The reality for military families of deployed soldiers
It can be somewhat isolating living away from other military folks with deployed spouses. I'm reminded of this whenever I receive an E Army Family update (an email sent by the Rear Detachment Commander), notifying us (family members) of the most recent combat fatalities and/or injuries.
These emails pop up at random times. This morning when I received one, I was at the park with my son. I often envision my husband and son playing at the park together. When Max left, our baby was only ten months old.
As I open these emails, I'm reminded that he's not just away; he's away at war.
To be completely honest, I feel a sense of relief when I learn that the casualty was not in my husband's company. But, then that relief is met with sadness, just knowing that a family somewhere is shattered. And that irony disturbs me.
Max once said to someone, and I overheard, "There's nothing pleasant about war." I think about his words all the time.
These emails pop up at random times. This morning when I received one, I was at the park with my son. I often envision my husband and son playing at the park together. When Max left, our baby was only ten months old.
As I open these emails, I'm reminded that he's not just away; he's away at war.
To be completely honest, I feel a sense of relief when I learn that the casualty was not in my husband's company. But, then that relief is met with sadness, just knowing that a family somewhere is shattered. And that irony disturbs me.
Max once said to someone, and I overheard, "There's nothing pleasant about war." I think about his words all the time.
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