A JAG in Afghanistan

New Blog

2007-10-31T16:28:00.000-06:00

I've had several people ask me if I'm going to keep up my blog. At first I said "no", figuring that once I returned home from Afghanistan no one would be interested in what we were doing. But, as I've looked back over my own blog I've realized just what a valuable tool it was in helping me track my many "adventures." It also helped me realize just how much I'd forgotten.

So I decided to not continue this particular blog but have started one that my family and I can post to. Once again, it will be a blog for my family but you, the world, will be invited to read about what we're doing.

So if you want to read about my life as a civilian as well as the thoughts and happenings of our family, check us out at:

http://thechurchsnews.blogspot.com

Final Article

2007-09-30T10:48:00.000-06:00

We had one last article written about us in the Deseret Morning News. Here's the link: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695212676,00.html

And here's the content of the article. I think our "15 minutes" is now officially over.

3 Utahns coached Afghans on laws
JAG officers tell of their challenges, progress
By Jens Dana, Deseret Morning News
Published September 24, 2007

Many members of the recently returned 1st. Corps Artillery faced hot combat against the Taliban on the battlefronts of Afghanistan during their yearlong tour of duty.

But among their ranks are three soldiers, all from Utah County, who fought against injustice on a different kind of battlefront — the courtrooms of Afghanistan.

In civilian life, Lt. Col. Robert Church, Capt. Dusty Kawai and Maj. Paul Waldron are hometown prosecutors and defense attorneys. Church works as an Orem city prosecutor, Kawai is a defense attorney with Esplin & Weight in Provo, and Waldron is a lawyer with Scribner & McCandless PC in Provo. But a year ago, they were deployed as JAG officers who trained the staff judge advocates of the Afghanistan National Army on military judicial procedures.
While the U.S. military has taken a strong hand in training the Afghan army for nearly six years, they are the first JAG officers to train the legal officers. For more than a year, the three officers challenged corruption, faced death threats, endured setbacks and saw the progress of a fledgling military judicial system in their quest to establish rule of law.

Church, Kawai and Waldron arrived in Afghanistan on Aug. 20, 2006. Originally, they were activated to work in civil affairs such as building community wells and bridges, but a JAG official reassigned them to become legal mentors in the cities of Kabul, Gudar and Kandahar.

When they arrived at their assigned bases, they soon received reports of blatant corruption among high-level Afghan officers. Many would steal military supplies, abuse young soldiers in their battalions and engage in racketeering, charging local villages "protection fees." Others were cogs in the drug-trafficking machine.

The Afghan military legal teams were eager to prosecute low-ranking soldiers for petty theft and assault, but Church was frustrated that they winked at crimes perpetrated by high-ranking officers with far-reaching political connections.

"They weren't prosecuting or investigating them," he said. "They were just accepting it as a part of the culture."

Almost immediately, the three JAG officers took a direct hand in prosecuting crooked senior officers.

Rule of law

A few months into his deployment, Kawai received reports that a battalion commander had drugged and sexually assaulted a young soldier, which, he said, is an all-too-common practice in Afghanistan. Kawai and his ANA counterpart traveled to the base where the assault reportedly happened and began looking for the soldier, who had fled to the mountains.

Three days into their search, the soldier came to them at night. He had heard they were looking for him, and his friends sneaked him onto the military base disguised in civilian clothes.
With tears in his eyes, the soldier told Kawai he intended to kill the battalion commander. In a long, desperate conversation, Kawai pleaded with the young man not to take the law into his own hands.

"Please believe we will do all we can to bring him to justice," he said. Eventually, the soldier agreed.

"But if you fail," the young man warned, "I will kill him myself."

Kawai and his ANA counterpart prosecuted the commander. They presented a mountain of physical evidence and witness testimony to prove the assault. Though the evidence was staggering, there was a chance the commander would get off free. He had many powerful friends. Parliament members with an interest in the case advised the judges to drop it.
Despite the pressure, the judges sentenced the commander to five years in prison. He appealed his sentence, but the ruling stood. Kawai said it was the first instant he's heard of any high-ranking Afghan officer being sentenced to serve time in jail for a crime.

After the sentence was handed down, Kawai asked the soldier who was assaulted if he was satisfied with the trial's outcome. The soldier, again with tears in his eyes, thanked Kawai.
"This is more than what I hoped for," he said.

As Kawai left the courtroom, throngs of young soldiers swarmed around him, anxiously asking about the trial's outcome. When he told them, they cheered. Some pulled out their cell phones. Within minutes, hundreds of soldiers knew the trial results.

"It showed the Afghans that on the horizon there is a time when the rule of law is applicable to everyone," Kawai said.

Not everyone was happy with the trial's outcome, or Kawai's aggressive mentoring style. The Afghan core commander at the base Kawai was assigned to got phone calls from Parliament demanding to know why the legal team was investigating military leaders. Close friends warned him they heard a $500 contract on his life was issued while Kawai was investigating another battalion commander.

"I knew I was creating enemies" he said. He wasn't deterred.

Letdowns, victories

His fellow JAG officers also enjoyed their share of victories, though not every case concluded with a happy ending.

Church also trained legal teams that convicted high-profile officers. While he was at the Kabul Military Training Center, two sergeants assaulted an Afghan recruit. At trial's end, one received five years in jail and the other received eight years. But he also experienced his share of high-profile letdowns.

Church and his legal team accepted the challenge of prosecuting a one-star general with an extreme penchant for violence. They had nearly 30 witness statements, including testimonies of dozens of soldiers he'd assaulted and beaten. But the general was a brilliant strategist with an ace in his hand — political allies.

"He was very good at what he did," Church said. "He was also very violent and very corrupt and very evil."

They managed to take him into custody and prosecute him, but outside forces played a strong hand. Witnesses changed their stories, others refused to testify. The judges convicted the general of a single assault charge, but he only served 52 days in jail. Church was disappointed with the ultimate outcome of the trial.

"From a theoretical point of view, the case was a success because we did an appropriate investigation," he said, "but ... he didn't get fired, he didn't get transferred. He went right back to his job."

Waldron also faced setbacks. Kandahar — a place he dubbed the Wild West of Afghanistan — is a region where the most heated combat between U.S. troops and the Taliban plays out. Afghan legal staffers were afraid to serve there.

But Waldron said the region wasn't as dangerous as it seemed. Camp Hero, the base where he was posted, was never rocketed.

"They were very poor shots," he said of enemy combatants.

Waldron tried to carry out his legal mentoring duties, but the region only had 20 percent of the required legal staff. He trained leaders and soldiers for six months before he was reassigned to humanitarian projects with the Commanders Emergency Relief program.

Despite the setbacks, Church said they saw a noticeable decrease in corruption, but the country still has a long way to go.

"With any fledgling system there's going to be bumps in the road, so our model is we're taking baby steps," he said.

Time to grow

Up until a year and a half ago, the Afghan military justice system was based on outdated Soviet codes, Waldron said. The rising generation eagerly accepts the new military justice code based on the U.S. Uniformed Military Code of Justice, but the older generation still clings to the former system.

"In many aspects, we cannot expect Afghanistan to progress too fast," he said.

In the meantime, Church said he's already seen a rising crop of courageous prosecutors, including his counterpart, Col. Kaliq.

Kaliq challenged the status quo before the U.S. JAG officers showed up.
"He's fearless," Church said.

Two months before Kaliq joined up with Church, a thug ransacked his house to pressure him into dropping an investigation against senior officers. Fortunately, he wasn't home at the time, and his 13-year-old son evaded the intruder.

The staff Kawai coached also grew into brave prosecutors over the course of a few months. When the core commander of the base would try to bully them into dropping investigations against senior officers, they insisted that the law trumped all other vested interests.
"We don't work for you," they would say. "We work for the law."

The ultimate goal of the legal mentoring system is help the Afghan people reach a point where they won't need trainers to shadow them where they go, Kawai said. It may take a while, but he's optimistic they will be able to adapt to the new military legal system.

"It's a nation of warriors," he said. "It's just going to be a matter of them embracing this new system."

Coming Home

2007-09-30T10:38:00.001-06:00

I’ve only been home a month and I still haven’t finished my blog. I’m sure by now no one will even log on to read my final musings so this is more for posterity.

I can’t begin to describe the feelings of getting on the plane in Gulfport, MS (Camp Shelby) knowing that it was the final leg to going home, excitement being an understatement. This time being a senior officer was a disadvantage as we boarded last so I ended up sitting in a middle seat, but you know what, I didn’t mind. The senior officers had been pampered the entire trip so it was someone else’s turn and besides, it was the last leg of the journey so I could put up with the dreaded middle seat for a few hours. Because we had to get up at “zero-dark-thirty” (0330) in order to get to the airport I was actually able to sleep for the majority of the trip so that made it pass quickly.

As we began our descent into the Salt Lake Valley you could feel the excitement build inside the plane. Looking out the window I could begin to see familiar sights and that only added to the excitement. When the wheels of the plane touched down, a cheer erupted throughout the plane. We were home at last. Once again, the flight attendants were so great. They thanked us profusely for our service.

As we taxied towards the Air Guard terminal, two fire trucks greeted us with a tunnel of water, similar to what we were greeted with in Dallas. It was just as cool the second time as it was the first time.

The plane finally came to a stop about 100 yards from the actual terminal. Just as in Shelby, we had to go through the meet and greet from all the dignitaries. What an honor it was to be honored by the Generals, the Colonel’s and state officials. (Governor Huntsman was not there so sent the Lieutenant Governor instead.)

Then came the walk/run to meet my family. About half of the plane had disembarked by the time it was my turn. As I walked towards the crowd of people I was scanning the crowd looking for Luke, since he would have been the tallest of the group. I was not to be disappointed. He was there holding a sign, along with Janae, Seth, Braxton, Lyman and Donna Durfee (my –inlaws), and Dallin, Memorie, Miranda and James Durfee. They had all sorts of signs. Seth’s said “The car is mine” in reference to his dillusion that my car that he’s been driving the last year is really his and Braxton’s said “I’m taller than Mom.” Janae's was the only one expressing any kind of sentiment (OK, "I Love You" is a good sentiment, but nothing at all sentimental from the boys - go figure!) (Not a lot of pictures as they had the video camera going.)

As I embraced my wonderful wife and sons it was such a surreal experience. Of course it hadn’t really hit me that I was home, that would come much later. It seemed more like being home on leave only in the back of my mind I knew I was home for good. But still, it didn’t seem like a reality yet.

We were afraid that they were going to make us stick around to listen to the dignitaries give a speech but fortunately we were spared that “agony” and were allowed to simply go home. For once, somebody was thinking.

I’ve already written about the reception that I got at home. I still get choked up when I think of all those flags, the time that was spent putting them up and what they represented. I hated to see them come down but after several days they did. I really missed them. Before I left last year I hung a brand new flag in front of our house. As you can imagine, hanging there the entire time I was gone, it was a little bit faded, sort of like my uniforms, but proud, nonetheless. Next summer on Flag Day it will receive a proper “retirement” befitting it’s station.

I know that I should have written this when it was all fresh. Time has faded somewhat the actual feelings I had and went through but suffice it to say it was good to be home.

We got home on Thursday, Friday we spent the morning at Camp Williams going through the demobilization process. That was actually less painful than I thought it was going to be and for that I was grateful. I was done shortly after lunch and home early.

Janae had planned an Open House for me on Saturday night. I wore my “man jimmies” and with my broken tooth felt like a real Afghan. So many people made wonderful treats that I easily put on a few pounds just sampling one of everything. The best part though, were all the people who stopped by. Once again I was really humbled by the outpouring of love and friendship. With so many people coming to see me I didn’t get to spend much time with anyone in particular but figured that would happen in the coming weeks and months. It was just so great to see everyone. Janae really did a great job in planning and I’m truly grateful to her for her thoughtfulness.

So what’s it been like being home? Great, wonderful, frustrating, challenging; all those emotions. It wasn’t like being home on leave and I’m not sure why. I think because we knew that leave was for a short, finite period of time the emotions were different. This time, we knew it was for a long time, hopefully forever, so maybe that’s why it felt different. As the weeks have gone by it’s been an adjustment for all of us. Janae no longer had the entire bed to herself and had to put up with having a husband around. The boys had to fit me back into their lives and that wasn’t always easy.

Because we didn’t get home until after the boys were back in school, we never got a summer vacation. I had been saving for and planning on one for the entire deployment and to be robbed of that time together as a family was sorely disappointing. We tried to make up for it by going to Park City one day but Seth couldn’t come so while we had a good time it was not what I had wanted or expected. Some guys simply pulled their kids out of school but with Seth at the “Y”, Luke in 11th grade and Braxton in 8th, I just couldn’t do that to them. They hate making up homework, plus they didn’t want to get out of school. In fact, Luke and Braxton didn’t want to come to the airport to meet me for fear of missing school and having to make up homework. How’s that for love?

We had been briefed that we needed to be careful about our expectations. Being gone for so long you imagine what it’s going to be like, what you hope it’s going to be like and what you expect it to be like and no matter how many people tell you it’s going to be different, you don’t believe them. Well I can tell you that the briefers were right. It was not what I expected.

Your family has learned to get along without you and so it’s hard to fit back in. Your friends have moved on with their lives and while you’ll always be friends, it’s not the same as it once was. I don’t mean to sound so negative, because being home is the greatest thing, it’s jus that it’s not what I expected. See there, that expectations thing.

The first two weeks were actually pretty hard but things have gotten better. As I’ve gone back to work and have started to find my rhythm again, life is slowly feeling more normal. In fact my time spent in Afghanistan is becoming almost like a dream. I still dream about Afghanistan – what’s really weird, is that I’ve had the most vivid, memorable dreams since I’ve been home. I’ve never been one to really remember my dreams but since being home I’ve had the strangest dreams that have lingered with me for several hours after I’ve woken up. That’s another thing we were told would happen, the dreams and in some cases nightmares, so once again, the briefers have been proven right.

Let me just say though, that being home has been great despite the challenges.

So now what? Even though I haven’t written for the month I’ve been home I’ve missed writing. I’m not sure that the musings of a civilian will be of interest to anyone after this so I’m not sure what to do. I thought of creating a new blog page and writing about my life as a city prosecutor but I’ll have to give that some thought. Janae has told me that several of our neighbors who read my blog have started their own blogs. Good for them. Maybe I just need to keep writing for my own posterity. We’ll see.
In any event, I want to thank all of you have kept up with my writings and who have left comments. I’ve enjoyed the comments almost more than anything. So with that said, God Bless!

Daily Herald Newspaper Story

2007-09-03T22:22:00.000-06:00

Our local paper, the Daily Herald, did a story on Paul, Dusty and I. It was front-page worthy and appeared on Saturday, August 25, 2007.

Here's the link:

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/235489/

Here's the text if you don't want to go to the link:

JAG Officers Help Spread the Rule of Law to Afghan Army

When Lt. Col. Robert Church, Capt. Dusty Kawai and Maj. Paul Waldron arrived in Afghanistan last August, the country's military justice system was in its infancy. It has not yet reached maturity, but thanks in part to the three Utah County soldier-lawyers, it is growing.
Church, of Orem, Kawai, of Pleasant Grove, and Waldron, of Springville, are members of the Utah National Guard's 1st Corps Artillery, and during a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan they worked for the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the military's legal wing. As the United States taught the Afghan National Army to fight terrorists and police its borders, the three Utahns helped teach it how to police itself.
The ANA's military justice system was enacted in late 2005, but when Church, Kawai and Waldron arrived in the country a year ago, that system was barely functioning. Western legal concepts were on the books, but were often misunderstood or simply ignored. It was the three JAG officers' jobs to mentor the prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and legal staff and teach them how to abide by the rule of law.
"There was a lot of resistance down where I was, to me, implementing the new system because the commanders would prefer to simply beat a wrongdoer with a pistol butt and throw them in a (shipping container) for a few days and let them roast in the heat than actually follow through with the military justice system," Waldron said.
Each of the three men was assigned to one of Afghanistan's five military regions, with Church in Kabul, Kawai in Gardez and Waldron in Kandahar. In Gardez, Kawai often sat in on trials and offered advice, while Waldron, whose region was not as well staffed by the ANA, didn't take part in deliberations. Church, stationed in the country's capital, spent much of his time training officers and recruits.
"We spent most of our time just trying to train the Afghan commanders on their new system, how to implement it, get the system going," Waldron said.
Oftentimes, they would be advising the defense attorney, prosecutor and judges on the same trial, making sure everyone played by the book. They didn't have any authority over their Afghan counterparts, but they did have influence. Church called this "mentoring with a big stick."
They had no authority to tell them what to do, Church said, "but they perceive that we do, therefore we wield a lot of influence with the Afghans."
The three feel they made their mark and had their share of success. When they first arrived, the country had conducted only 14 courts martial. In his region alone, Kawai oversaw 32 over the past year.
Perhaps most indicative of the changes that occurred in the military justice system during their tenure in Afghanistan is a greater willingness to go after high-ranking officers. Church took part in the trial of a brigadier general in the Afghan National Army who was accused of raping a soldier. That case succeeded, yielding a conviction of a brigadier general for the first time in the ANA's history.
Unfortunately, that general had a lot of political clout and served less than two months, but Church still feels it was a sign of progress.
"Be that as it may, we convicted a brigadier general," he said.
Waldron said the outcome wasn't always as important as how the judges and lawyers arrived there.
"Rather than getting certain results, our job was to make sure the process was proper," he said.
Of course, they still liked seeing a happy ending. Kawai helped the ANA's legal system convict a colonel to five years for sexually assaulting a soldier. That colonel was also well-connected politically and was considered a hero by many for his service in the country's war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, but the sentence was handed down, despite a great deal of opposition.
"In this rape case there were soldiers waiting outside the courtroom, and when I came out they ran up to me and said, 'What happened?' " Kawai said. "I told them he got five years, and they just were all on their cell phones."
Another officer whom Kawai helped convict was running a mafia-style protection racket in the town he was in charge of, and was stealing money from his soldiers as well. Kawai said the convictions were empowering for the soldiers who had often seen their commanders act with impunity.
Not everything went as smoothly as they liked. Judges who were used to questioning the defendants themselves had to get used to the idea of letting the prosecutors do it. A prosecutor whom Kawai worked with wanted to continue a trial without witnesses, and Kawai had to emphasize the notion that a defendant has the right to face his accusers in court. And Waldron got into an argument with a judge whom he said didn't grasp the concept of relevant evidence.
"I was so angry I stood up and walked out," Waldron said.
Kawai made enough waves that he got death threats and was given a full security detail. He even avoided an assassination attempt when he spotted an improvised explosive device that had been placed in his vehicle's path on the way out of town one day.
But things are notably better off than when the three lawyers arrived, they say.
"Now that they have achieved success, I think they will be better equipped to achieve that success on their own because the pattern has been set," Church said.
Church is going back to his job as an Orem city prosecutor, Waldron will go back to the law firm Scribner & McCandless, and Kawai is leaving his former firm to be a Utah County public defender. All are happy to be home.
"I'm really looking forward to getting back and trying some cases and just advocating for my clients. I've missed that a lot," Kawai said. "I can't wait to get back into the courtroom."
But the three take pride that the rule of law means a little more in Afghanistan than it did a year ago.
"I saw a lot of progress," Kawai said. "From when we got in the country to when we left the country, there was a general greater acceptance that there are laws on the books and you have to abide by the laws. I really consider that a success story."

Haven't Forgotten

2007-09-03T22:21:00.000-06:00

I know, I still have several entries I need to write. I'm just finding other things to keep myself busy. I promise to finish this saga in the next couple of days so check back.

Demobilizing at Shelby

2007-08-29T08:31:00.001-06:00

As I mentioned previously, I was struck by a wall of humidity when I stepped off the plane and it never went away the 3+ days we were at Shelby. But you know what, I wasn’t wearing body armor, I wasn’t carrying any weapons and for most of the time I was in shorts and a t-shirt, so I didn’t mind as much.

There was certainly a feeling of deja vuz being back at Shelby. The senior officers and NCO’s stayed in the same place we did when we were there the first time. It would have been really weird had I gotten the exact same room but I was in a different one but I couldn’t tell when I walked in as it was the exact same layout, same furniture, same everything.

Shelby was just as beautiful. One evening I took my camera and just walked around the base. There’s a small lake on post, Walker Lake. It’s an incredibly beautiful scene, as you’ll be able to tell from the pictures. There are about 6-7 cabins around the lake that look like they would be pretty nice to stay in. That was the only thing I’d missed about Shelby was the green and beauty.

The first night in the chow hall I realized just how spoiled/blessed I had been. Food is a huge morale booster so the military does a good job of feeding their troops. You’ve already read about Friday night “surf and turf” but I don’t think I’ve mentioned just how much food was available. There were always at least two – three entres to choose from, in addition to the ever present grilled cheese sandwiches, hotdogs and hamburgers. After the entres there were vegetables, a full salad bar, a short order bar (wings, mini-pizzas, corn dogs, fries, onion rings, cheese sticks, etc.), a bar that rotated between being a potato bar, Asian food bar, Mexican, etc. and then dessert – cake, pies and usually 4-5 flavors of Baskin Robbins ice cream to chose from. Yes, the possibility of getting fat was a very real threat but of course, when faced with this kind of food every day for a year you get “tired” of it and can very easily complain. (I tried very hard not to because I knew there were guys down range eating MRE’s, cooking for themselves or eating much worse.) So, coming from all that back to Shelby was quite the shock. The choice was between left over spaghetti and smashed ham sandwiches. I surveyed the slim pickin’s and decided to have salad. I walked over to the salad bar and the only choices were iceburg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. I opted for the leftover spaghetti. All of a sudden, I was missing the chow hall at Phoenix, not missing being there mind you, just missing the vast quantity of food and choices.

Out processing was actually quite painless. I was so grateful to have gotten my hearing test done the day before as that speeded things up quite a bit. I made the smart tactical decision to hit the nursing/records review first. There was no one in line and I got through in about 3 minutes. I then went to immunization and had them sign me off – again, I had the brilliant forethought and had all my shots updated before I left Phoenix. I then went to a couple of other stations and then noticed that the line had grown considerably at the nursing station. In fact, that proved to be the bottle neck for the rest of the day so was infinitely grateful that I had gotten it out of the way.

After medical we went to another building to finish up financial, personnel and the rest of the records review. Again, the “out processing gods” were smiling upon me as I was done by 1400. I had to skip lunch to do that but it was so worth it as some guys didn’t get finished until almost 1800 that night and a few actually didn’t get finished. Because I got done so early I was able to go to the gym and then take my photo safari around the lake.

Because the next day was used to finish all the last minute details and I was done, I was able to do what I wanted. I went to the gym that morning and ran into Aaron. He said that there was a group of guys who were going to the pool later so after I worked up a sweat on the elliptical I went over to the pool for a while.

It was there that I was informed that I wasn’t done after all. Turns out that there was a problem with one of my documents that while an inconvenience was fixed without too much problem.

The rest of the day was spent anticipating the flight home the next day. That night I went out to dinner with a bunch of other guys and had a great time. Since we had to muster at 0330 the next morning I didn’t stay up too late watching TV.

All in all, demobing proved to not be as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Flags on My Street

2007-08-28T12:25:00.000-06:00

(Note: this is chronologically out of order but I wanted to get it posted so I could thank Janae and Lisa and everyone else who put this welcome home together.)

A friend of mine from Camp Phoenix, a Navy Lieutenant Commander who is a school teacher in Sandy, Utah, returned home about 8 weeks ago. I was talking with her replacement and I was told that when she drove down her street, the ward had put flags in every yard lining her street, the neighbors were out waving and the Scouts were in uniform saluting her as she drove up. As I heard about this welcome home she received I was so impressed by the thoughtfulness of her neighbors. I thought it would be cool to have something similar happen but never imagined it would, mostly because our ward and Scouts don’t have the flags.

Well you can imagine my surprise when I turned down my street and saw flags lining the street. Every house had a flag in its yard and some had two. As I turned into our cul-de-sac, my house had 15 flags in front; lining the sidewalk, the driveway and across the front. There was a big banner on one of the fences that said “Welcome Home LTC Robert Church.”

I can’t even begin to describe the feelings and emotions that went through me. As I said I never expected anything like this so to have all those flags out was such a wonderful surprise. I felt incredibly honored. To see all those flags rustling in the morning breeze really choked me up. I thought of the past 15 months and the sacrifices I and my family have made. I thought of the freedom that those flags represented. I thought of all the men I had met and worked with in Afghanistan and the freedoms they were fighting to ensure for their families and country. I then thought of all the men and women that I had left behind who are carrying on the mission and I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude to them and the countless others who have served and who will continue to serve.

Janae told me about the flags. She said that she had wanted to get them up but was starting to feel overwhelmed with everything she wanted and needed to get done before I got home. She said that about a week before I got home, her friend, Lisa e-mailed her. She said that Lisa said that she felt like she wanted to do this for her, for me, for us and was e-mailing to ask Janae if it would be alright. Of course that was an answer to Janae’s prayer. So Lisa got permission from the neighboring ward to borrow their flags. She organized a work party to get them put up in time for my arrival back home. So to Lisa and everyone else who helped put them up, Thank you!! I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to see all those flags.

Janae had ordered the sign last fall. There was actually another one out on 1600 N. but I was too busy talking to see it when we drove past it.

So here are a bunch of pictures taken shortly after I got home. I didn’t have the neighbors lining the street since it was the middle of the day but I did have a bunch of neighbor children who were home and just getting home from school who came up to greet me. It was a lot of fun to see them and see just how much they had grown over the last 15 months. I must admit I could get used to the "hero worship" thing - kidding!!!

The Flight to Shelby

2007-08-26T11:43:00.001-06:00

(I've been home for three days now so my desire to "blog" has waned but in an effort to finish out this history of my deployment I will log the events of the trip home.)

Our flight out of Manas took place on the 19th. Once again we had to go into lockdown but fortunately this time, it wasn't for as long as the flight crew was ready to fly before our scheduled departure time.

We flew from Manas to Baku, Georgia. It was about a six hour flight during which I slept the entire time. For you James Bond afficionados, "The World is Not Enough" was filmed there. I was hoping to get off the plane so I could say I've been there. At first we were not going to be allowed to deplane but because it was going to be a 2.5 hour layover they let us off - but only under "guard." They weren't military guards - or maybe they were but were just wearing civilian clothes. Unfortunately the airport was nothing exciting. I did get my picture taken, me and the Super Heroes, in front of a caviar advertisement just so I could prove that I'd been there. I then took pictures of our group in the lobby but one of the "uniformed" guards came over and wagged his finger at me. At least he didn't confiscate my camera.

The next leg took us to Shannon, Ireland. Same place we flew through on our way to Afghanistan. From Shannon we flew to JFK in New York. As soon as we flew into US airspace and flew into Maine, the pilot let us know where we were and you could hear lots of guys cheering. Then when we landed on New York, the cheers once again rose throughout the cabin.

It was so cool to walk around JFK and finally be in America where everything was familiar. I got a bowl of clam chowder and a roll and it was delicious. Disappointingly the food on the plane was pretty bad this trip. Oh, and did I mention that there was no first class seating for the senior officers? I couldn't believe the inconvenience of the whole thing. Ha, ha.

We finally flew into Shelby, arriving around 1100. And just as I knew would happen, as soon as I stepped from the door of the plane was hit by a wall of humidity. Yuck.

BG Wilson and an entourage of officers and senior enlisted had flown to Shelby to greet us and that was cool. SGT Aaron's parents who are serving a mission in the area were also there to greet us and it was nice to meet them.

It took us 26 hours to get to Shelby but it was so worth it to finally be at the final stage before we actually got to go home. As much as I didn't like Shelby the first time around, I was glad to be back.

Photos - KAIA, Traveling, etc.

2007-08-26T11:40:00.000-06:00

Pictures From Manas

2007-08-26T11:26:00.000-06:00

The "tent" we slept in.

The reason for the orangeishness to the picture is the sunlight coming through the canvas covering.

The chow hall.

Inside the chow hall.

The base chapel.

Inside the gym. The same orange hue is do to the fact that it is inside a tent as well.

The building that housed the computer and phone room.

The Manas International Airport.

Old Friends

2007-08-26T11:13:00.000-06:00

Remember how I said that I got to bed around 0515 on Wednesday morning? Well I was woken up around 1100 that morning to the sound of lots of talking. As I lay there listening to the conversations around me it was obvious what was happening. Old friends were being reunited. If I didn'tmention it, the guys from Kandahar, down south in Afghanistan, had arrived in Manas two days before we did. Most of us had not seen these guys the entire year so it was the first time that we had all been together.

It was great to see old friends. Of course the main topic of conversation were the adventures of the last year. Listening to some of these guys tell their stories raised the hair on the back of my neck.

A couple of my friends stopped by my bunk (I still hadn't gotten out of bed yet) and shared their experiences. Since you already know my boring stories let me share the highlights of what I was hearing. I was amazed at the number of fire fights some of these guys were in. I know it wasn't as often as it seemed as I listened to them tell their stories, but it seemed like it was an every day occurrence. It was interesting to listen to them comment how small arms fire directed towards the convoy was not seen as a big deal.

One of my friends said that when the Taliban would start shooting with their AK 47's, he would just get a little bit lower inthe turret. He explained that the Taliban were not very good shots so after time they just figured that the only real precaution was to just hunker down a bit lower. RPG's (rocket propelled grenades) on the other hand, were cause for taking more evasive maneuvers. Apparently the sound they make is much more intimidating than an AK47 - I would imagine so, and as you can imagine, does quite a lot more damage. One of our guys had over 50 confirmed kills. What a sobering thought and to listen to them tell their stories, it was in a days business. War is ugly and death occurs but to listen to someone tell of the firefights, of returning fire, of seeing an enemy fall to the ground as the result of you pulling the trigger, seemed completely surreal, at least for someone who has never had that experience. know that this particular soldier is not alone in having that many confirmed kills. There are a number of our guys with similiar experiences. I can only wonder and imagine what it was like but am grateful not have gone through those experiences.

A friend of mine was telling me that the philosopy of the ANA is that just because the enemey runs out of bullets does not mean that they are surrendering. He said that he asked about that after one particular brutal firefight. He said he knew that the enemy had run out of ammunition first but there were no prisoners taken. He said that's when the ANA made the comment. He said he never personally witnessed the finishing off of the enemy but that it was obviously taking place.

I was told that the Taliban were extremely good at pretending to be dead or wounded. My friend said that you could shoot in the ground near them, kick dirt in their faces, do all manner of things designed to get them to move and they wouldn't. He said that their hope was that you would get too close so they could attack you. I could only imagine the training the Taliban must have gone through to become so disciplined. Scary thought.

I heard lots of stories about ambushes; on both sides. One guy said that they were proceeding up a valley when they ran into an ambush. He said that he and one other gunner were returning fire in two different sectors of fire. He said that he looked in between his and the other gunner's position said that time slowed down, just like in the movies. He said that as he was reorienting his weapon to engage the Taliban he saw the Taliban squeeze the trigger and watched the grenade coming towards his position. The enemy overshot their position, that it flew overhead and impacted quite some distance from their position but like I said before, as I listended to the story, it raised the hair on the back of my neck; not just from the story itself but from the nonchalant way in which the story was told.

In one instance an exchange of observers was taking place. Two uparmored vehicles had remained behind and the rest of the convoy had left. He said they got word that they had come under attack so quickly left their position to support the convoy up ahead of them. He said as they arrived on scene they saw several Taliban run towards their motorcylces in an attempt to escape and once again, very matter of factly described "taking out" the enemy. Again, these stories reflected common occurrences that some of my friends experience all throughout the year.

I'm sure after this gets posted I'll remember other stories and maybe will compile a list to post later but as I listened I realized that my legal stories had nothing on these guys. Of course my mission was completely different than theirs and the success I achieved was very different than theirs but there was a part of me that wished my mission had been a little more exciting. I know there are many of you out there that are grateful that I was not involved in any of these kinds of incidents, me being one of them, but I don't know that you can fully understand the feeling of thinking "I wish that had been me, just once" unless you've been here. I can't explain it but maybe it's the fact that I've been in a combat zone and didn't see a single day of combat. I know, that should be a good thing but still...Call me crazy.

Final Afghan Thoughts

2007-08-26T11:00:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention in the other post about our time at KAIA (KabulAfghanistan International Airport) that we turned in the plates for our IBA(Individual Body Armor). After we turned in our plates we packed our IBA vests and kevlar helmets for shipment home. That was weird.

After carryingaround those 20lb plates it was such a weight off my shoulders, literally. It was almost symbolic as well. We no longer had the weight of the deployment hanging on our shoulders. It was pretty cool.

Well we ended up sitting at KAIA for almost 11 hours before we left. Originally our flight was supposed to leave at 1300 but that got delayeduntil 2045. In the military's infinite wisdom, we had to be back at the departure tent at 1700 where we went into lockdown. Unfortunately chow didn't start until 1715. Heaven forbid that they delay the report time for 30 mintues so we could eat but that would make too much sense. So darn it, I had to order a pizza which actually wasn't too bad. Lock down consisted of sitting in a stuffy tent until it was time to boardthe plane. Remember the 2045 departure time, well that's when the first wave of soldiers was taken to the plane. I ended up in the second wave and it was almost 40 minutes before the bus returned to take us to the plane. As I walked on our pallets hadn't even been loaded yet. Becuase there were over 80 of us travleing there were 10 pallets to be loaded. We each had 1-2 black boxes along with 1-2 duffel bags, hence the 10 pallets. I'm not sure why the plane wasn't loaded before hand but it wasn't. Anyway, it took another hour to get the plane loaded but we finally took off at 2130.

As we were getting close to leaving the tent the thought occurred to me thatwe were in our last hour in Afghanistan. What a cool thought. I thought about all the Afghan's I'd met and wondered what will happen. I hope that the foundation we've laid will get them through the coming years. I know that they have good mentors following us so I'm not too worried.

I sat next to Trooper on the plane. A few minutes later a Navy LCDR boarded. As she walked past us she commented that her boots were no longeron the ground. "Boots on the ground" is just what it sounds like. It's also the phrase used to describe the length of your tour. Ours was one year "boots on the ground." Most units have never made it to a year but by the time we leave Manas we will literally have 12 months "boots on the ground." Lucky us.

About an hour into the flight Tropper turned to me and said, "Do you knowwhere we are?" I immediately responded, "Not in Afghanistan." We both laughed. Since it was so dark out I didn't bother looking our the window in the door but Trooper called me over. He said to press my face up to the window and look straight out. As I did I saw the Big Dipper straight across from us. It was a really cool sight. After about a 90 minute flight we landed in Manas Krygzstan (sp). This is where we flew through on our way here so it seemed fitting to be backtracking the same way that we came. As I stepped off the plane I was struck by the smell of grass. What a great smell. It was also quite cool, at least compared to Afghanistan. It was such a welcome feeling. They are 90 minutes ahead in time from Afghanistan so it was almost 0130 inthe morning. If you're asking why 90 minutes and not 60 or 120 I can't answer that. For some reason Afghanistan is 30 minutes off. I'm sure I could Google to find the answer but never got around to it. It was just one of those quirky things about Afghanistan. It took almost another 2.5 - 3 hours before we got our bags so most of us went to the chow hall to get something to eat.

Remember that Manas is in a"hazardous duty" zone, just like Afghanistan and Iraq which means that those serving here are entitled to the hazardous duty extra pay that I've been getting this last year. Anyway, as we walked into the chow hall, there to meet us was the MWR(morale, welfare and recreation) poster advertising all the off-base excursions people could go on; tours, golf, sight seeing, etc. Aaron pointed it out to me and we just shook our head that the service members serving here were entitled to hazardous duty pay. Life's just not fair.

Finally our bags arrived and we filed off to our tents. We're staying next to where we were last year. Finally at 0515 I crawled into bed to get a few hours sleep.

We're Going Home

2007-08-22T13:44:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is the day!!! I can't beleive that it's finally here. After 1.5 days of outprocessing we're finally done and ready to go home. We'll be landing at the Air National Guard slab at the SLC airport sometime tomorrow morning before noon. By now all the families should know. I can't believe that after 12 monts in Afghanistan and the 2.5 months before that spent here at Shelby are finally done. Looking back it seems like such a dream. Of course there were moments that the dream was a nightmare but fortunately those moments are fading into the background.

I could go on and on about how great it will be to see my family tomorrow but I'm sure you can imagine what's going through my mind right now. Words really can't adequately express the thoughts and feelings right now.

So with that said, I'm off to put my laundry in the dryer, go to our final formation to get the last minute news and then figure out what to do my last night at Shelby.

See you all tomorrow!!

New Entries

2007-08-22T13:43:00.000-06:00

The computers in the computer lab would not let me access my blog page, hence no postings for over a week. However, I sent several entries home via e-mail and will post them over the next few days so check back to seeh what our week at Manas was like as well as our time here at Shelby outprocessing. I'll also be posting pictures so check back in a few days.

Phoenix to KAIA

2007-08-14T04:22:00.000-06:00

The first leg of our journey home has been completed. This morning we were tranported to KAIA (Kabul Afghanistan International Airport). Because there are so many of us we had to do it in two movements. The first group went met 0830 and my group met an hour later. We actually didn't leave Phoenix until after 1000 but that's OK because we were at least moving towards home.

There's only been one other time when I've been nervous about driving here in Afghanistan; last winter driving through downtown Kabul in a Toyota Landcruiser and today. We were moved in the back of open 5-ton trucks. A couple of things combined to make me nervous, the primary one being the suicide bomber of two weeks ago and that today was my last movement on the ground. The thought was, "I'm on my way home, please don't let anything bad happen." Thankfully we made it alright.

Now begins the waiting. Our 1300 flight was of course bumped to 2045 tonight. In someone's infinite wisdom we have to go into lockdown at 1700 but of course chow is not served until 1715. Someone wasn't thinking. That means that those of us who want to eat will have to get something from the Air Force One cafe and take it down to the tent. I'm not complaining, too much, because again, we're moving towards home.

We found out this morning that our flight out of Manas has been moved to the right two days which will delay us getting home by a day or so. We're hoping that things will go fast and smooth at Shelby so that we can make up for the two days but we'll see.

I'll post pictures later because I don't have the cable to my camera right now so check back for movement pictures.

Last Days

2007-08-13T03:29:00.000-06:00

We’re down to the last stretch here in Afganistan. I can’t believe that it’s actually that close. This last week I’ve been weighed down with other concerns and worries, some of which what I was going to say in Sacrament Meeting but that wasn’t the only thing. I won’t burden you all with those details but they have gotten in the way of me really feeling the excitement of going home. Don’t get it? Neither do I. But, now that my talk is over and I’ve dealt with my own issues, the reality is finally starting to hit. To think I’ve done the “last” of certain things is so cool!

We met this morning to discuss final details and final plans. We still don’t have firm dates when we’ll arrive back in Salt Lake but it’s less than two weeks away. We were told that the guys from Utah that are at Shelby to assist in the demobilization process are trying to compress the number of days we’re actually there. Of course we all hope to be there the minimum number of days possible. Will keep you posted.

I’ve decided that I’m really going to miss the folks in the office here. They have accepted me into their “family” and made me feel like one of them. I have really enjoyed working with them. The kinds of issues this legal office has faced and will continue to face are certainly worthy of a soap opera or some soft-porn movie. It’s been a real eye opener for a not-so-naïve boy from Utah. I thought I’d heard it all but I’ve certainly received an education since working with them. The phrase of the day (actually it’s been the phrase of the deployment) is “You can’t make this stuff up.”

My room is pretty much empty. The only things left are what will fit in my carry-on and a few other things that if I don’t eat or use in the next very short time period will get thrown away. I’ve gotten rid of my fridge, microwave and Stanley is getting my TV. I even swept and mopped the floor for Zeb, since he’s moving in after me. It will be weird to move back into a house that I have to share with other people as well as sleep in a bed with someone else. OK, I lied about that part. It will be wonderful to sleep in a bed with someone else. Can’t wait but again, since this is a family friendly site I won’t go into any more details on that subject.

So I’m not sure what else to tell you about. My computer is ready to be wiped clean as I’ve downloaded all my files and pictures. I’ve packed everything away or else thrown it away. In fact the only reason I even came into the office today was so that I could use the computer. I’ll probably go to they gym later tonight, watch a movie and then prepare to move in the next little while.

But like I said, I still can’t believe that the end is in sight. What a great thing.

Last Sunday

2007-08-13T03:19:00.000-06:00

Our last Sunday in Afghanistan. We had a great meeting last night. Merrill and I both spoke and there was a certain poignancy to that since he and I have worked so closely the last year.

There was easily over 30 people there and that's only half our group. The other half flew directly from Kandahar. I imagine next week when we're all together in Shelby we'll have close to 60 people in attendance. It will be pretty cool.

I actually had to turn up the volume on the clavinova to compensate for the thunderous sound of all the male voices. It was great!

Merrill's topic was 1 Nephi 3:7 and he gave a great talk on preparing for life’s challenges. He recounted the trials and struggles that Nephi went through. He then pointed out that Nephi had spiritually prepared himself ahead of time and because of that he was able to succeed whereas Laman and Lemuel could not because they were relying on the arm of the flesh. He also talked about how the Lord could have made their challenges easier; i.e. getting the plates, but part of the learning process is going through the struggle of finding the answers. It was a great talk.

I was assigned the topic of “Return with Honor.” I had been praying all week that I would be able to deliver something that would be of worth to the brethren. All week I really struggled with what to say and up until yesterday morning, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to say.

I talked about how are we going to return. We can either go back better than we are right now or we can return to the status quo. I know everyone of us has made commitments to ourselves and to the Lord to do better but the real test will be after we’ve been home for a while to see if we fall back into old habits and routines. I talked about areas of my life that I haven’t done so well on this deployment and what I was going to do to improve. I talked about the areas that I have had success and how I want to continue to succeed in those areas. I talked about returning to my wife and how I want to honor her and treat her like the queen that she deserves to be treated. I know I was not alone in those thoughts and feelings.

Earlier in the week I had read a passage in a book written by Christian authors about overcoming the natural man. Several passages of the book really struck me (in fact I felt a stinging rebuke in some of their words) and wouldn’t leave my thoughts as I prepared this talk so I decided that the Lord wanted me to include them in my comments.

They talked about obedience versus mere excellence in our relationship with God. They posed the question, what is the difference between obedience and excellence? Some may argue that they are the same, that if we strive for excellence we will achieve obedience but they suggested otherwise. They suggested that to aim for obedience is to aim for perfection but that excellence is something else, something less than perfection. They argue that mere excellence allows room for a mixture of standards.

Take American businesses for example. US businesses strive for excellence. It is through excellence that they will obtain and keep your business. However, in the business world, excellence does not equal perfection. US businesses could strive for perfection but it’s too costly in terms of their profits. Rather than be perfect they know it’s enough to seem to be perfect to their customers. By stopping short of perfection they find a profitable balance between quality and cost. They look to their peers to discover the best practices of the industry.

This thought really struck me in particular as in many instances, this is the kind of man I am. It is so much easier to appear to be perfect in my callings at church, in my relationship with my wife, in how I perform my job that I stop short of perfection but still portray the façade of excellence. But in terms of my spiritual development where does that get me? Close to but just short of where I want to be in terms of my relationship with the Lord.

I continued reading.

The authors then posed the following questions.

How far can we go and still seem perfect?

By how far can we stop short but still seem perfect?

I then thought of the question, How far then, does that keep us from the Lord?

We all know someone who we look up to and think that they are perfect, or pretty close and wish we could be more like them. We all portray a certain image of what we want others to think of us, at least I know I do, but then we all say to ourselves, if they only knew the real me what would they really think?

That thought made me think of this scripture.
Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

I decided that I wasn’t quite a whited sepulcher, yet, that my real problem was that I wasn’t striving for that perfect obedience to God’s commandments and the other things in my life that would allow me to truly feel like I was living up to the standards that I wanted for myself. I realized that if I was only more obedient then I would not have made the mistakes that I have over the last year.

Christ commanded his disciples to be perfect, even as he and his Father are. (See Matt. 5:48; 3 Ne. 12:48.) But this commandment may seem overwhelming. I know I become discouraged at the thought of becoming perfect. It’s too hard. It’s easier to appear to be perfect, to achieve that appearance of excellence than actually be that way.
Moroni taught that we should “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; … and love God with all your might, mind and strength, … that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.” (Moro. 10:32.)

The scriptures go on to say,
If we love and serve the Lord and keep his commandments, it will be possible for us to become “perfect in Christ.” (See Gal. 6:2; Mosiah 18:8–10; Mosiah 24:14–15, 21; Alma 33:23.)

Stephen E. Robinson has written:

“Perfection comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That happens as we become one with him, a perfect being. It is like a merger. If you take a small, bankrupt firm that is about to go under and merge it with a corporate giant, what happens? Their assets and liabilities flow together, and the new entity that is created is solvent.”

“This is similar to what happens spiritually when we enter into a covenant with the Savior. We have liabilities; he has assets. So he proposes a covenant relationship. After the covenant is made, I become one with Christ, and as partners we work together toward my exaltation. I do all that I can do, and he does what I cannot yet do. For now, in partnership we are perfect, through His perfection.”

Brother Robinson goes on to say:

“Sometimes we feel very inadequate when we compare ourselves to others. We may even begin to despair. But when the Lord looks at us, he measures us against ourselves. His expectations are based on our abilities. He simply asks, Are you doing all that you can do at this time? Consider the principle of tithing. The man with ten million dollars is expected to pay one million dollars in tithing. The child with ten cents is expected to pay one penny. Both offerings are a full tithing in the eyes of the Lord.”

“In our home we have what is now called the parable of the bicycle. It dates back to when my daughter Sarah, who was seven years old at the time, came in and said, “Dad, can I have a bike? I’m the only kid on the block who doesn’t have one.”

“Well, I didn’t have the money then for a bike, so I stalled her. I said, “Sure, Sarah.”

“She said, “How? When?”

“I said, “You save all your pennies, and soon you’ll have enough for a bike.” And she went away."

“A couple of weeks later I heard a “clink, clink” in Sarah’s bedroom. I asked, “Sarah, what are you doing?”

“She came to me with a little jar, a slit cut in the lid, and a bunch of pennies in the bottom. She said, “You promised me that if I saved all my pennies, pretty soon I’d have enough for a bike. And, Daddy, I’ve saved every single one of them.”

“My heart melted. My daughter was doing everything in her power to follow my instructions. I hadn’t actually lied to her. If she saved all of her pennies, she would eventually have enough for a bike, but by then she would want a car. I said, “Let’s go look at bikes.”
“We went to every store in town. Finally we found it—the perfect bicycle. She was thrilled. Then she saw the price tag, and her face fell. She started to cry. “Oh, Dad, I’ll never have enough for a bicycle!”

“So I said, “Sarah, how much do you have?”

“She answered, “Sixty-one cents.”

“I’ll tell you what. You give me everything you’ve got and a hug and a kiss, and the bike is yours.” Then I drove home very slowly because she insisted on riding the bike home.

“As I drove beside her, I thought of the atonement of Christ. We all desperately want the celestial kingdom. We want to be with our Father in Heaven. But no matter how hard we try, we come up short. At some point all of us must realize, “I can’t do this by myself. I need help.” Then it is that the Savior says, in effect, All right, you’re not perfect. But what can you do? Give me all you have, and I’ll do the rest.”

“He still requires our best effort. We must keep trying. But the good news is that having done all we can, it is enough. We may not be personally perfect yet, but because of our covenant with the Savior, we can rely on his perfection, and his perfection will get us through.”
So what I took away from this is that I need to quit striving for the appearance of excellence or even mere excellence but strive for obedience.

I love Brother Robinson’s words, that all the Lord requires is our best effort, that after we do all that we can do, it’s enough.

So as I return with honor for me what that means is that I will return home, leaving my past mistakes behind and commit to being a better man, husband and father.

I didn’t mean to actually share my talk with you but as I got going it all just sort of flowed onto the page. Returning with honor is something all of us will do but since last night I’ve decided that the real test will be six or seven months from now to see if we are still holding on to that honor. I hope the answer is yes.

Eagle Scout

2007-08-11T04:33:00.000-06:00

Luke is now an Eagle Scout!! Congratulations Luke!! He met with the board on Thursday night and after “hours and hours” of grueling questions, he was awarding Scouting’s prestigious honor. We now have to wait for the paperwork to come from the Scouting Office before we can hold his Court of Honor but hopefully that will come quickly.

As you may recall, he did his Eagle Project collecting school and humanitarian supplies, made hygiene kits, collected toys, clothes, backpacks and other great things for the kids. He organized the Scouts and they collected items from all over our area. Janae can give you the exact number but they easily sent over 60 boxes of supplies over here. For a month or so the guys at the Post Office “hated” me because I received so many boxes.

His donations were distributed in two different missions. I’ll post some pictures from both. I know that lots of kids were benefited by his efforts as well as the efforts of all those who donated.

Thanks Luke and Congratulations!!

The Last Steak and Seafood Night

2007-08-10T08:06:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, Friday night is steak and seafood night. The steaks are always grilled over charcoal. Whether it was here or at Blackhorse, around 2:30 - 3:00 in the afternoon you could smell the charcoal being fired up. Then about an hour or so later you could smell the tantalizing smell of grilling steaks.

And then there was always seafood. Most nights it was crab legs, as many as you could eat. I'm not a huge crab fan, mostly because I hate getting the meat out. For some reason the military does not provide the cool utensils you'd get at a true seafood restaurant that facilitates the eating of crab legs. Oh well.

Other nights, it's fried shrimp and since I am not a fan of fried seafood - harkens back to a night of gorging oneself on fried seafood in Myrtle Beach, SC on vacation many, many years ago with the family and then waking up aroud 0300 to puke it all back up. Yummy thought! Anyway, I always pass on the fried shrimp.

And then there are the lobster tail nights. Those are the best. They're not huge lobster tails but you can have as many as you want. And the garlic, melted butter is the added bonus. Well I was hoping and "praying" that tonight would be lobster tail and because I've been such a good boy, it was lobster tail night. I ate four of them along with my steak and chased it all down with mint chocolate chip ice cream. I was a very good boy!!!

So now I'm off to the gym to spend an hour on the elliptical in an effort to work off the few hundred calories I just consumed.

And for those of you who don't think it's fair or right or whatever that we get to eat lobster over here, just remember, I had to come to freakin' Afghanistan, in a war zone just to eat lobster. So I don't want to see any comments about us eating lobster or crab legs or steak as I would have gladly sacrificed all the lobster, crab and steak that I ate this year to have eaten macaroni and cheese with my family back home.

Oh, new phrase going around the office that fits the first part of this entry...

"I'm depressed cuz I'm fat."

"I eat when I'm depressed."

"I need more chocolate sauce."

Of course you have to say it your most sorry, pitiful voice.

This is dedicated to D-Cup!

"Arguably" Part II

2007-08-10T06:38:00.001-06:00

As I was looking at some notes that I had made for a different project, I noticed that I had failed to include another of Zeb's "arguablies." Here it is...

Meatloaf is "arguably" the greatest singer/songwriter of his generation.

"Arguably"

2007-08-09T10:56:00.000-06:00

There is a new phrase in our office, actually there are several new phrases, some of which are not able to be shared on this “family friendly” blog. Although, if I did share it it would only reinforce the assumption that many people have out there that I’m truly a heathen. But since I want to continue to keep you guessing as to my true nature, I won’t share one of those phrases.

Rather, let me share with you, one of the “arguably” greatest terms in the English language. I know there will be others out there who disagree but “arguably” speaking, no one can deny the power of this term.

Did you know that Thanksgiving is “arguably” the finest of the holidays?

Did you know that “arguably” the greatest part of cheese, “is the cuttin’ of it? (A Bodie quote.)

Zeb is “arguably” the most anti-monky man in the world.

Blue gel pens are “arguably” the finest pens there are.

And the list could go on…

But let me finish by saying that my family is “arguably” the greatest family ever.

And that’s “arguably” the final word on this topic.

Family Reunion

2007-08-09T10:45:00.000-06:00

This morning the rest of the “family” that is flying out of KAIA arrived via Chinook. The Kandahar folks will be flying directly from Kandahar. Since the landing field is near my office I got a perfect view of the choppers flying in as well as taste the dust they kicked up.

Since they got here right before chow there was a lot of hugs and hand shaking that took place at lunch. It was great to see everyone.

Up to this point the fact that we leave in a dwindling number of single digit days hasn’t really hit but seeing all our guys in the chow hall and then later, wandering around camp has helped bring that reality home.

The other bit of good news was that if everything goes well I may be walking through my front door in approximately two weeks. Again, no firm dates, but things are starting to solidify.

SGT Aaron is back from Camp Dubbs so it’s been great to see him. Dusty has graced our office this afternoon with his soprano Spanish as well as dug right in and helped us out. Like the heading of this entry, it’s been one big family reunion.

Just can’t wait until I’m reunited with my actual family!!

2007-08-05T03:14:00.000-06:00

Here's the JAG staff at Phoenix these days. LTC Zeb Williams, MAJ Chris Barton, CPT Stanley Myers, SGT Martha Dawn Bodie and SPC Emylie Gillian. They have been a great group of professionals to work with and I'm really going to miss them once I leave.

The "open" sign - that's a whole different story.

Super Hero Postage!!!

2007-08-05T03:05:00.000-06:00

Over the last year Janae has sent me hundreds of cards and letters and many of them had the coolest stamps - Super Hero Stamps!!! I kept many of them, as you can see, and decided to say thanks to my wonderful wife for all the cards and letters and especially for the coolest of the cool stamps! Thanks!!! I decided that my own DC comics Super Hero's needed to pose with the stamps. So there they are.

Single Digit

2007-08-05T03:04:00.000-06:00

Down to single-digit days before we leave!!

Barney Bet

2007-08-02T04:41:00.000-06:00

In our office there is a new kind of bet. It’s called the “Barney Bet.” I can’t remember all the details of how it came about and frankly, it’s not that important. What is is the seriousness of making a “Barney Bet.” You only want to make the “Barney Bet” if you are absolutely certain you are going to prevail. For if you lose a “Barney Bet” you must sing, in a loud voice, the following song to the tune of Barney’s “I love you, you love me” song:

You were right,
I was wrong,
Now I sing the Barney Song,
Cuz you were right,
And I was wrong,
Now I’ve sung the Barney Song.

As I mentioned in the previous post, SGT Bodie lost a “Barney Bet” so had to sing the Barney song in the bunker. It helped relieve the tension.

We have even talked about upping the ante a little. Now that we’re all used to the Barney song in our office – OK it hasn’t been sung all that much - we may decide that the loser of such a bet must sing the song in the DFAC – chow hall. We haven’t received unanimous support for that proposition yet but we’ll see.

You can bet that if that becomes the punishment I won’t be entering any “Barney Bets” in the near future!!! In fact, SGT Bodie just pointed out that I have yet to enter into a Barney Bet. I wonder why?!

VBIED

2007-08-02T01:33:00.001-06:00

NOTE: I may post pictures later. They're pretty "impressive" in that they show the destrutive power of such an explosive device. They show the reality of the violence that our soldiers face every day.

Well today (Tuesday, July 31, 2007), after almost a year in country, I experienced my first VBIED (vehicle born improvised explosive device – translation: suicide bomber in a vehicle). Now before you get too concerned, I was in the chow hall when it exploded but I experienced it nonetheless. Of course I’m not saying that my experience was like that of those guys who have actually been in a humvee and been hit by one but I at least caught a glimpse of what it was like.

This morning at about 0845 I was sitting in the chow hall with a bunch of Utah guys – Merrill, Jim, Larry, Damon, and a few others, when there was this loud whump, followed by a concussion. Outside I could hear the sound of breaking glass. Of course everyone in the chow hall got up and in a fairly orderly fashion “rushed” the door. When something like this happens you have to get to your assigned bunker so that roll can be taken to account for everyone.

As I walked out the door I could see the smoke plume directly across the compound on J-Bad highway. I then realized that it was most likely a VBIED. As I arrived at my bunker the rest of the office was there. Of course we engaged in a discussion of what had just happened.

While in the bunker we got reports from those who needed to be out and about. What we heard was that a convoy from the KMTC traveling to KAIA (Kabul Afghan International Airport) was hit outside our compound by the VBIED. No US deaths but some injuries. SGT Bodie, Martha Dawn, swore she heard that some KBR employees had been killed but Stanley and I called her on it and made it a “Barney Bet.” (More to follow on the “Barney Bet.”) She lost so had to make good on the “Barney Bet.” It was hilarious! After about 10 or 15 minutes in the bunker we were free to return to duty.

Just as we were getting ready to be released two Blackhawk’s showed up with gunners in the open door and circled the area. As they flew overhead pulling security it made the situation seem even more real. Let me try to explain. After the explosion there was the initial disbelief as to what had happened. After that wore off it was simply a matter of sitting in the bunker. Since we couldn’t see what was happening and we could only talk about it the reality just hadn’t set in yet. But when the choppers started circling overhead, that, for some reason, made it seem more real.

Of course the base was shut down.

Stanley had to go to the front gate. He came back with updated details. He said that he accompanied a few other soldiers outside the gate to view the scene. He said that there were body parts of the suicide bomber strewn all over the place. I’m sorry if this offends or sickens you but it’s reality. He said that the spinal column was lying out in the open. Brain matter was spewed all over the place. A pharmacy across the street had to call and ask that an arm be retrieved from off their roof. Intestines were hanging from the vehicle. Are you getting the picture? He said there really wasn’t anything left of the bomber. “Good,” I thought.

As I said, no US soldier was killed but Stanley said that from the condition of the humvee, the occupants on the side where the bomb exploded would have been pretty shaken up. I can only imagine. Update: the most serious injury were some broken bones.

As I said, we’ve had our share of Utah soldiers live through this kind of experience. I won’t try to tell you who because frankly, I don’t know. What I do know is that our up-armored vehicles save lives and it makes me angry when we are expected to drive around in what we call “thin-skinned” vehicles, in other words, non-armored vehicles. I’m just grateful that the bomber decided to hit one of the humvees and not one of the thin-skins as the results would have been vastly different. Update: since this incident occurred, we’re not allowed to travel outside the gate in thin-skinned vehicles. Go figure.

Of course we all had to discuss whether or not this would qualify us for a “combat action badge.” They’re awarded to those who see combat, are within a certain radius of something like this as well as a few other requirements. I know that there will be those who will submit themselves for the badge by virtue of being within the specified distance. In fact, Trooper was discussing that he should be eligible since he was in the chow hall, reaching for a diet Coke when the explosion took place. He said the explosion shook loose a piece of ceiling tile which fell in close proximity to him. We all suggested that he might even qualify for a Purple Heart. (I don’t mean to make light of those soldiers who have legitimately earned these awards.) Again, we could all imagine the “award-hungry” soldiers who were probably scheming just how they could get these kinds of awards. Me, I was just grateful that I wasn’t close enough to have earned it.

Martha Dawn, bless her heart, was pretty shaken up for most of the day. Her fiancé works at the KMTC and even though he wasn’t there at the time, she knew some of the guys that were. In reality, I think in our own way, we were all shaken up, just a little. For those of us who have never experienced this before I have to admit it was a little unnerving. Brought the violence that takes place elsewhere in the country too close to home.

I admit, I’ve been safe and spoiled this last year. Just the way Janae and I like it!

Here's the official Press Release:

Suicide Bomber Attack in Kabul

Kabul, Afghanistan – A suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacked a U.S. convoy today on Jalalabad road near Camp Phoenix resulting in the injury of three local nationals and four U.S. Soldiers. The bomber died as a result of the incident.

Of the injured, two U.S. Soldiers were flown to the Bagram Medical facility and two were treated at Camp Phoenix. The local nationals were treated at Camp Warehouse. The condition of the injured is unknown at this time and the incident is currently under investigation.

“This incident is a harsh reminder that we must stay vigilant in our efforts to provide stability and security to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Livingston, Commander of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix. “Our goal right now is to ensure our Warriors and injured locals national get the best possible care and we pray for their quick recovery. I can assure you we are working with Afghan National Security Forces and our Coalition partners and we will do a complete investigation of this incident.”

This Month!!

2007-08-02T01:03:00.000-06:00

We are coming home this month!!! After 14 months we can finally say that we'll be home later this month. We can say that we'll be leaving country in less time than we would have spent at AT (that's annual training for those of you not schooled in military lingo). I wish I could say when we'll be home for good but our schedule is still not solidified but at least it will be this month!!

Those of us who are at Phoenix are getting just a little bit giddy. It's hard to wipe the big grin off our faces. As more and more of out Utah folks roll into Phoenix in preparation to leave they bring with them an added sense of excitement. It's pretty contagious.

I'm sure I'll see many of you at the airport and I expect you to be waving signs in support of your favorite blogger - me! Kidding! Seriously though, I look forward to meeting many of you who have read my blog and either loved it or hated it.

I still have a few more entries in me so keep checking back.

See you soon!

Monkey Butt

2007-07-28T02:36:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, in hot climates where you get a little damp and sticky in certain places that we don't discuss in public or at least "civilized" people don't discuss such subjects, there are powdery products out there designed to keep you nice and dry and rash free. Such powdery substances come in various names, "baby powder," "medicated powder" and now "Monkey Butt Powder." Someone sent this to one of the guys in our office and as you can imagine, us not being very civilized, we have gotten some mileage out of this product.

So in my continuing effort to chronicle my "adventures" here, you are now all official members in the Monkey Butt Powder club.

Nope. No monkey butt down there!

I told you I wasn't civilized!!

More Faces of Afghanistan

2007-07-26T23:22:00.000-06:00

Here are some more "faces of Afghanistan." These were taken by LCDR Steven Parks down in Kandahar. Thanks for sharing.

Back to Blackhorse

2007-07-26T07:18:00.000-06:00

Our trip to Blackhorse went well. It was obviously the most bittersweet of all the training because of my relationship with all of the officers there.

Since I’ve told you about the travel to each location let me comment on our trip to Blackhorse – it was fast and easy. Since Blackhorse is just down the road it was a short drive down on the mail truck. The thing that was new and different was the fact that the road between here and Blackhorse is now completely paved. It’s been almost two months since I was last there and I was amazed and impressed with how much work has been done. They are now working on the road between here and downtown Kabul. At some point the Afghans will have a nice road/highway to travel on.

The other construction project that impressed me was the hand-made rock wall that stretched for kilometers between the KMTC and Blackhorse. It’s incredible to watch the process. First they dig trenches by hand 5-6 feet deep where they set the foundations. Then they build the wall 8-10 feet above ground with razor wire in the top. These walls are incredible, really fine craftsmanship. Here’s a picture of me and Batman, who accompanied me to Blackhorse, in front of a section of the wall. The wall is covered with a thick coating of dust but hopefully you can get an idea of the kind of work these walls entail.

On Blackhorse they are making rock-paved water drainage canals, for lack of a better term. Once again, the craftsmanship is extraordinary. Here I am in front of one under construction.

Our classes went great. As always, lots of questions dealing with their own particular needs. It helped that I knew the challenges, issues and cases they’ve dealt with over the past year so I was able to answer a lot of questions right up front.

The “highlight” of the experience was the controversial “ass-stabbing” case that’s been going on. It originated from the KMTC and has been referred to the 201st for prosecution. Because I know some of the players in this drama look at my blog on occasion I won’t go into the details. Suffice it to say that there have been extreme differences of opinion on how this case should be handled. Both sides are on the extreme end of each spectrum with each side flinging accusations of corruption on the one hand to over reacting on the other. The truth is somewhere in between. I have stayed out of it until now but again, because of who has read my blog will refrain from sharing the details of what happened. Ask me about it later and I’ll give you and earful. The case is still ongoing and if the investigation goes where it now appears to be going we may have criminal charges against not only the “ass-stabber” but against his father and uncle. It will be interesting to see how it ultimately plays out.

Blackhorse has changed since I’ve been gone. When we arrived a year ago there were just over 200 people there. That number has more than doubled. It means that living quarters are tight, open spaces has been filled with more b-huts and tents, the chow hall is crowded and the quality of food has greatly diminished. I never thought I’d say this but I actually missed the chow hall at Phoenix despite all the “complaining” I’ve been doing recently. I’ve got to learn to keep my mouth shut and quit complaining. I realized that I’ve grown accustomed to Phoenix, primarily my private room. It’s funny how a little thing like privacy makes a HUGE difference in your quality of life. Even when I was in the single room as opposed to my double sized room, I still loved being able to retreat to my own private haven.

Remember how I talked about the ANA pool. Last fall I posted pictures of it in a deteriorated state but filled with water that was a beautiful shade of green. The this winter I posted a picture of it filled with rebar and broken pieces of cement. I saw a picture of it recently where it was completely refinished and filled with sparkling blue water. I was looking forward to seeing it full but was disappointed. It was empty. I was told that they needed to drain it to clean it after a particularly dirty group of soldiers swam in it. Oh well. The Afghans have really done a great job of refinishing it as well as rebuilding the deck and pavilion around it. It looks like a great place to have a summer afternoon/evening party.

They created a series of terraces around the front of the pool and have planted flowers, plants and vegetables. Again, the stone work is quite impressive. As Nick and I were walking along the edge he pointed out a plant that was growing and said that it looked a lot like a corn plant. I thought he was joking and looked sideways at him. When I realized he was serious I laughed and said “that’s because it is corn.” I told him that he was going to be forever immortalized on my blog page with that comment. He laughed and said that I had to be sure to include the comment that “you can take the boy out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the boy.” (Nick was born and raised in Queens, New York and only moved out of the city, to Atlanta, two years ago. He is truly a New Yorker and I’ve enjoyed learning about life in the city since I grew up a country boy.)

The 201st is also getting its own courthouse and detention facility. We went by for a photo op. As you can tell, Afghan construction techniques are the same across the county, as is the design for the buildings. We had our pictures taken with the work crew. Oh, and here's a photo of somone's lunch that was left on the ground. Anyone hungry?

The last day of class, when we had graduation and the exchange of gifts was much more emotional than I thought it would be. I thanked them for their friendship and hospitality over the last year. I thanked them for teaching me so much and hoped that I, in turn, had been able to teach them a few things. I recounted our first meeting. I didn’t tell them about my thoughts of “I can’t wait to get out of here” but instead shared the simultaneous feelings of excitement I felt at the new adventure I was about to embark upon. I remember thinking on that day of introduction that the day of good-byes would never come and now, here it was. As I was up there talking with them I actually got a little choked up which surprised me. The Chief Judge and the SJA then shared their own comments which were nice. COL Karim, the SJA, has never been overly friendly but he was kind in his words. In fact the first day of class as they all came in each one gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek, except for Karim. Oh well. It used to bother me but now I just figure that’s who he is and don’t worry about it.

Looking back at the deployment as a whole, it’s gone by incredibly fast. Of course there were days and weeks where it didn’t go by so fast but now that I can look back on the deployment as a whole, it’s gone by so fast. I’m glad it’s over but at the same time, will miss parts of this experience.

Another Sabbath at Blackhorse

2007-07-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

Once again, after a very long time, I was able to spend a wonderful Sabbath evening at Blackhorse. I had forgotten just how much I missed attending church with my friends and brethren from Utah. Don't get me wrong, the guys at Phoenix are great and we have wonderful meetings but they're not my family. Tonight I was with my family again. Brother Stewart conducted and it was great to hear him. In attendance were Brother Topham, Brother Duncan, Brother Brocious, Brother Fagan, Brother Bingham, Brother Neff, Brother Austin, Brother Pack, Brother Palfreyman, Brother Christensen and me.

I have been having computer problems - again - this time with my government computer, so was trying to make alternate arrangements right before church, so I walked in a few minutes late. The meeting hadn't started yet but I was the last one there. It was so great to see so many brethren in the room.

I had the privilege of blessing the sacrament with Brother Topham and blessed the bread and passed the water. What an honor that always is.

Unlike the past, I didn't lead the singing. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I lead the singing quite often and then afer a while, Brother Jonas and I took turns. Now I play the Clavinova at Phoenix and that's been great, although the sustain pedal is broken and that drives me crazy.

Anyway, after the sacrament, Brother Austin gave a wonderful talk. He said that Brother Stewart asked him two weeks ago to speak. He said that not a day went by where he didn't think about what to speak on but couldn't decide. He said he kept wishing and praying that the Holy Ghost would simply tell him what to speak on or that someone would assign him a topic but nothing came. He said that he was going to give a talk that he had prepared a couple of months ago but never gave because of a mission he volunteered to go on but said he just couldn't get his mind wrapped around the topic. He then had mentioned how he had been going through the Ensigns and kept coming back to Elder Eyring's talk in the June Ensign about the Holy Ghost. He said that he finally realized that the Holy Ghost was telling him what to talk about and if the Holy Ghost had had a hammer, his head would be in much worse condition. We all got a chuckle out of that.

He talked about how there have been times during the deployment where he has felt the spirit and other times when he hasn't. I could certainly relate to that. At times my spirituality has been like on a roller coaster. Some days and weeks I'm riding high and some weeks I'm plummeting down rapidly. I guess the key is to always climb back up the hill.

He talked about what we need to do to receive the spirit. Again, as I listened to his words and the spirit of his message I thought back on this year. I have learned so much about myself and about the Spirit. There have been times when I have been on my knees pleading with the Lord for his guidance. There have been times when I have felt the tears well up in my eyes because of the sorrow I've felt as well as the joy. I have received answers to prayers in ways that I never imagined. I have gained a testimony of the Fast. I have renewed my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have learned what it means to have the Spirit with me.

There were times when Brother Austin had tears in his eyes. I could feel and share in the emotions he was going through. I'm sure we all could. He said that at one point in his preparation he thought he wanted to give a talk that would let us all know how spiritual he was but as he pointed out, Elder Eyring teaches us that you can't have the Holy Ghost under those circumstances. The funny thing was, Brother Austin had the Holy Ghost with him tonight and we could all feel of his love of the Lord and the spiritual power that he possesses. I know I could feel it and was certainly grateful to have been there.

Brother Stewart got up to conclude and testified that the Spirt has been with us this year. He certainly has. He said that the men, both Afghan and American, have noticed a difference. Again I know that to be true. We truly have performed a mission for the Lord here and I will always be grateful for the time I've spent here. Of course I have missed my family tremendously but at the same time, this has been a great learning experience.

Tonight would have been the first Sunday that Team 2 was at Phoenix. Remember, Team 2 was my team at Shelby and the guys that I have spent the majority if the year with here at Blackhorse before my transfer. I love them all and was sad that I missed that first meeting after beig at Phoenix for the last couple of months but at the same time, I'm so glad to have been here tonight.

It was truly a spiritual feast.

Thanks Brother Ausing!!

Hot Like Me

2007-07-21T03:21:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago our legal NCO, SGT Martha Dawn Bodie, showed me a calendar she just received. It was called something like “Men in the Military.” As she showed me a couple of the pictures I could immediately tell that some of these guys were not in the military, mostly because of their hair – long and shaggy. So I grabbed the calendar and a couple of us went through month by month and gave our opinion as to whether or not they were actually in the military or not. Turns out most of the guys on the calendar were once in the military but no longer. Somehow it was decided that I would be Mr. June in her calendar but that’s as far as the discussion went. Anyway, we got a good laugh out of “eye candy” non-military guys calendar.

When I got back from Kandahar, this calendar page was on my computer. What do you think? “doncha wish your boyfriend (husband) was hot like me?”

Me and Martha Dawn.

The Last Days in Kandahar

2007-07-20T23:23:00.000-06:00

Our last class was a success. The Corps commander had come the first day and gave a speech. Apparently he’s famous for his speeches. Paul was telling us later that the first day he met him he was scheduled for a short meeting but after 2+ hours the Commander was still going strong. In fact there have been times when others have tried to talk but the commander simply tells them to be quiet or will actually put his hand over their mouths to keep them from talking.

We still had two short blocks of instruction to cover when he showed up so we had graduation before we were technically done with the class. It was alright though. He wanted to present the certificates which was fine. He’s a 2-star and I’m a lowly LTC so I guess he can do what he wants. What impressed me though was that he presented a few, had the ANA SJA present a few, had me present a few, as well as Nick and Paul. I was impressed that he didn’t “hog” all the “glory” for himself.

One of Paul’s office mates is the public affairs officer (PAO), LCDR Steven Parks. He and a French PAO showed up to take some pictures of the class and for graduation. You’ll see some of LCDR Parks’ pictures in an earlier post. As I was reviewing the pictures he took he showed me some other ones he took on a recent HA mission that were wonderful. He graciously gave me copies so I’ll post them here shortly under another “Faces of Afghanistan” entry.

After class I had expected to be presented with a gift, similar to what we received in MES but we didn’t. Instead we had lunch. I knew that we were would be having lunch with the SJA but because of their culture of giving gifts was a little surprised that we didn’t receive anything. Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t need another scarf but have just gotten used to the tradition. However, after arriving and seeing just what the SJA, COL Zarak had provided, I was infinitely more grateful for that “gift” as opposed to another scarf.

The table was loaded with food; meatballs, three different types of fruit, bread, rice, vegetables and pudding. Paul was hoping for kabobs but none were to be seen. COL Zarak was joking with Paul that he would have to “kill” him for not getting any kabobs. We all laughed. COL Zarak then signaled to one of the soldiers who was there as a waiter and he and one other began to bring out dozens of skewers with kabobs on them. It looked delicious. Paul and COL Zarak laughed and joked with each other. As I watched their interaction I was pleased to see the relationship they had developed and how well they got along. I wished COL Karim and I had had that type of relationship but he just doesn’t have that kind of personality.

Just as it looked, lunch was delicious. At first I thought that the kabobs were made of beef and chicken. It wasn’t until I bit into a piece of “chicken” that I realized it was a blob of fat. They intersperse them with the meat to keep them tender and give them flavor. The meet was delicious and fairly tender but I think I could have done without those globs of fat.

After lunch the chief judge wanted to take us to his office, to the new, under-construction courthouse and the new detention facility. Paul was a little disgusted with the trip to his office. Apparently the chief judge is quite the complainer and Paul was certain that all he wanted to do was complain about the lack of AC, the lack of new furniture and other complaints that we, as Americans, could do nothing about. With that foreknowledge, I kept cutting him short when he would raise these issues so our visit in his office was a short one.

I’ve been spoiled by the wonderful court room the 201st has. Somewhere up the US chain of command someone shook loose $10,000 to remodel the room that had been used as a court room. It’s now a beautiful room, done in dark wood paneling with brand new furniture. In contrast the 205th holds court in the judges small office with the parties sitting around the wall. Not a great set-up but one done out of necessity. So I would have thought that the judge would have been grateful for a new building. Instead all we heard was complaints.

As we drove to the new buildings my first thought was that they were a little out of the way of things and that was one of the complaints of the judge. They’re fairly isolated in a corner of the base with several acres of barren land on two sides, with the wall of the base on the other two. When I mentioned it to Paul, he pointed to the commander’s office which was not that far away, pointed to the main gate which was relatively close and said the barren spot of ground was the helo pad. With that in mind I realized the complex wasn’t all that far from things.

The judge then started complaining about how the detention facility was too close to their chambers. He said that the prisoners would yell out the windows at them and make them feel bad. Paul lost his patience and suggested that the judge exchange his uniform for a dress since he was acting like a woman.

The judges final complaint, or at least major complaint that I heard, was that because they were so isolated and with so much open land around them, the enemy could sneak in and put mines in the ground and kill the judges as they came to work in the morning. With that Paul had to excuse himself and went back to his truck as he was so disgusted with the judge. Frankly, I didn’t blame him.

For my brethren in the building community I’m sure from the pictures you’ll find the unique building practices of the court house interesting. Love the way they support the roof. I was a little leary of walking amidst all those poles and that feeling was only reinforced when one of the workers on the top level dropped something very heavy and caused the ceiling to shake.

We were there during the workers lunch and it was interesting to see what they were eating. Their main course was a watery soup of yogurt and green onions with a few cooked vegetables and naan (bread). They use the big loaves of naan as plates and then eat the bread around the things on top of the bread. They were very gracious and invited us to join them, but of course since we had just eaten we declined. I suppose the fact that I didn’t want to get sick from eating and drinking the local water/food had something to do with it.

The next day we flew out of KAF. We finally got to see the “last stand.” It’s the building where the last major fight and strong hold of the Taliban was. The building has since been converted into the passenger terminal. I overheard someone say that it was the most photographed building on post and I can understand why. It’s a small piece of history that we all wanted to document. Inside you can see in several places where the bullets hit the wall. Pretty sobering to think what had taken place within that building. Outside was a small monument built to remember those who had fought and died there. Again a sobering and quiet reminder of the bravery of our fallen soldiers as well as those who lived to fight another day.

Finally it was time to walk to the plane. As we approached from behind, the four propellers were creating a terrific wind storm. Our flight wasn’t until 1330 so it was already hot but as I entered the blast from the propellers it was like walking into a blast oven. The heat was incredible as was the force of the wind. I actually had to lean forward just to make any headway. I had a bottle of cold water in my hand and just those few minutes of walking in that heat warmed up the water considerably.

The flight back to KAIA was unremarkable as was the trip back to Phoenix. It was nice to be back in my own room with my wonderful AC.

My next trip is to Blackhorse, sort of like a home coming. Should be fun.

Kandahar

2007-07-20T23:19:00.000-06:00

Kandahar is just as hot as I thought it would be. I think it’s been around 105+ degrees every day. It can get up to 115 and even hotter but fortunately it hasn’t gotten there yet.

Our first day of class as I was proposing the schedule, which included afternoon sessions, the Afghans immediately protested. They said that they would rather start early and end by noon to avoid the heat in the class room. This week we’re teaching in ANA land so the buildings have no AC. So it was agreed that we would start at 0700 every day and end by noon. It’s actually worked out OK. Granted the afternoons can get a little long with not a lot to do but so far we’ve filled them with they gym, “force regeneration” and strolling along the boardwalk.

Here on Camp Hero there is a huge area that is surrounded by a covered boardwalk. In the center is a soccer field, small roller-blade arena, and volleyball pit. On the boardwalk are various fast-food places; a Canadian donut shop - "Tim Hortons" aka "deadman's donuts", Korean snack bar, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Burger King. There are also several Afghan shops selling various items, a sew shop, embroidery shop as well as a restaurant just off the boardwalk. It’s actually pretty nice.

The base even has it’s own waste reclamation plant. The first night we were here I asked Paul what that terrible smell was and he said it was the “poo pond” or “bamboo pond.” It’s the water/waste reclamation plant that has bamboo growing in it and it’s about 100 yards or so down the road from his room – where we’re staying. He offered to take us down to see it but of course we declined. The smell was enough of a tour.

This part of the country is the “hot spot” in terms of Taliban fighting. This is the area where Scott Lundell was killed, where road side bombs are a regular occurrence as well as small arms fire. Paul says that when they first got here there were regular rockets being fired over the camp but none that actually landed inside the wire. He says that they will get high ranking officers down here routinely so that they can say that they’ve been where all the fighting is, despite not going outside the wire, so now I too can say that I’ve been down here where all the fighting is taking place. Actually I have never gone outside the wire so haven’t really been in any danger and so far no rockets have flown overhead so in reality my time spent in the danger zone has been rather quiet.

This was one of the last areas where the Taliban were and because of the airfield here it was heavily bombed. You can still see bombed buildings as well as craters in the road. Paul keeps meaning to point out one of the last buildings they occupied but hasn’t and I’ve forgotten to ask. Maybe tomorrow.

Kandahar itself is flat and barren. I’m sure there are fields somewhere but I haven’t seen any. The wind has been blowing so a fine dust is always in the air. It lends a distinct haze to the horizon as well as wrecks havoc with my eyes and throat.

KAF (Kandahar Air Field) is made up of coalition forces. The predominant countries here are Canada, Britain, and Denmark – the “Tri-Lat” (tri-lateral). Other countries that are represented here are Australia, German, Danish, Romanian, Bulgarian, French, Jordanians, Czechs, Portugese, Spanish, Italians, Belgians, Polish, and Paul can’t remember any more. So you can see it’s very much a coalition down here. Once again the coalition DEFACs (dining facilities) are very European. I’ve loved the bread and cheese and have eaten more than I should but it’s so good and nothing like we can get at Phoenix.

KAF is a hug base, despite what Paul says. The drive to ANA land takes almost 15 minutes, but to be honest, a lot of that is due to really bad roads. The gym, MWR (morale, welfare and recreation – phones, computers, game/movie room, etc.) and boardwalk are all centrally located. The PX is a little bit of a walk but not too bad. It’s a much more pleasant experience here than at Bagram Air Field (BAF).

Well that’s about it for Kandahar. It’s late so when I read this tomorrow I might think of other things to talk about but for now that’s it.

Tomorrow is our last day of class and graduation. The SJA down here has invited us to his office for lunch and Paul says it will be delicious – naan (bread), rice, kabobs, pudding, watermelon and a few other things so I’ll definitely have something to write about then.

Continuing Adventure of Trying to Get to Kandahar

2007-07-20T23:09:00.000-06:00

After I finished the last entry we ate dinner at the Air Force One cafe in the passenger terminal while we waited for our flight. As I was watching Battlestar Galactica on my computer I was eating a Starburst. All of a sudden I felt something hard in the candy. My first thought was that it was something in the candy and then I realized that it was a tooth. I had pulled off a crown. As I pulled the crown out of my mouth and felt the hole that was left in my mouth I was startled to feel no real tooth there. Long story short it was a tooth that had cracked and then broken off. When my dentist and friend, Dr. Craig, put the crown on there wasn’t much of a tooth left. When I finally got to see the dentist in Kandahar he confirmed my fears – not only had the crown come off but it had broken off most of the remaining tooth. He said it was a miracle that the crown had stayed on for as long as it did. He said that my only real options left were to have a gold post drilled into the remaining tooth and have the crown reattached but he said the same problem would exists – not enough tooth left. He said the real option and permanent option, would be to have the root extracted and have an implant put in. I’d then have to wait 3-6 months for the bone to grow around the implant, then I could go back in and have a tooth put back in. I thought “I can do that.” “I’ve got great dental insurance at work” and mentioned the fact. He then said that most dental insurances in the states don’t cover implants. My heart sunk a notch. I then asked how much the procedure cost and he said around $2,500 – 3,000. My heart plummeted at the thought of all that money. I suppose I could live with a gap in my teeth. It’s not that noticeable as it’s further back in my mouth. But then I’m not sure my pride will let me live with it but I’m not sure my wallet can afford it. So with that said, I’m setting up a charitable foundation where you can all send me donations to “fix my smile”. OK, not really but now I have to figure out some way to pay for it.

The dentist said there was a remote chance the military would take care of it. The only drawback, as I understand it, is that I would remain on active duty for the duration of the procedure and I’m not sure I want to do that. I know other guys who have had major medical issues, like this one, who have been sent to some Army base, no where near their home, and basically sit around as they get their issues resolved. Not something I really want to do so I’m back to paying it for myself. Oh well, decisions, decisions.

OK, update since I wrote this and before I post it. Things are looking up for the military to take care of it without having to go to some Army base. It could be that I can return to my civilian life and have Tre-Care take care of the cost of the repair. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!!

Kandahar - The Pictures

2007-07-19T05:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks to MAJ Satriano and LCDR Steve Parks (the PAO - public affairs officer in Kandahar) for several of the pictures.

Nick and I on the plane to Kandahar.

Welcome to Kandahar.

First day of class.

Nick, Azim, Paul, Nadir, Me

Graduation.
Didn't I do a good job on the certificates?
The nearly completed court house.

The "under construction" detention facility.
Me and Superman at the construction site.

The construction workers having lunch.

Young Afghan construction worker.

Lunch of kabobs, meatballs, rice, fruit, bread and pudding after the last day of class.

The Warrior, asleep, holding onto his belovedM4.

Scenes from the "boardwalk."

The Taliban "last stand" - the last building they occupied.

Looking inside.

Bullet holes in the mortar.

It's now the passenger terminal for military flights out of Kandahar.

Kandahar - Part I

2007-07-19T05:08:00.000-06:00

Since my narration of our trip to MES was one long entry and knowing how some of you out there don't like my long narratives, I'm breaking our trip to Kandahar up into segments. Here's the first part.

I was only back at Phoenix for 15 hours before I had to turn around and head back to KAIA. Because there were a couple of people who had an early flight, I had to meet the convoy at 0500 even though my own flight wasn’t until 1330. I hate getting up that early but had little choice. So at 0530 I was sitting outside the passenger terminal, asleep, waiting for my plane.

After I dozed for almost two hours I went and had breakfast at the DFAC (dining facility). It’s always a treat as it’s very European in it’s cuisine, which is only natural since it’s an international task force here. There were the traditional American dishes, cold cereal and such but what made it different was the hot milk that was bubbling in a crock pot that they put on their cereal, dip their bread, muffins, toast, etc. in. If you didn’t want your cereal milk hot then you got it room temperature as the milk was just sitting out. Lots of cheese and thinly sliced meat – prosciutto (sp). I love the cheese but was surprised to see bleu cheese out. I love bleu cheese and took some but it seemed weird to be eating it for breakfast. Lots of good hard bread, croissants and other rolls. It was great.

The bazaar was here today and in some people’s minds it is legendary. I must admit that there were lots of shops but they were mostly the same; watches, DVD’s, gemstones, scarves and wooden boxes. In other words nothing new. It’s always fun to walk through though and try and find something different.

Nick had spent the night here so I stowed my stuff in his room. It was a lot like mine at Phoenix; double connex with a couple of bunk beds. The “nice” thing was that it was in the heart of Croatia’s and Sweden’s billeting – lots of eye candy. I’ll leave it at that.

Again it was no surprise but there’s quite the international feel here. The other coalitions have no prohibition against drinking and fraternizing so lots of that going on. Each country has its own “watering hole” where drinks are served. Even though I’m not a drinker they looked like fun places to hang out. It made me wonder if our soldiers wouldn’t be less stressed if we had more places like that on our own posts, someplace where soldiers could gather and just hang out. Don’t get me wrong, each base has developed its own place but nothing with the, oh what’s the word I’m looking for, charm maybe, of what I saw here.

The other European cultural phenomenon I witnessed was the clothing culture, or lack thereof. Because our first flight was canceled and the next one was not until 2200 hours we had lots of time to spend back at Nick’s room. We sat outside which happened to be next to the showers. I was amazed at how the men and women would simply walk around in their underwear. There was even a couple of guys that came outside to smoke in t-shirts and very skimpy underwear. I was a little taken aback but remembered that these same guys probably go to the beach in even less. It was interesting.

As I said, our first flight was canceled so by the time I fly out of KAIA I’ll have been here for almost 17 hours. I’m not sure it was better than spending the day at Phoenix but at least I was away from the office.

Mazar-e-Shariff - The Pictures

2007-07-19T00:22:00.001-06:00

On the plane to Mazar-e-Sharif (MES).

The "gang" as we got off the German plane. Welcome to MES.

Me in the Dingo, both as the gunner and as the passenger.

The streets of MES.

The statue being constructed in one of the round-abouts.

Camp Spann.

The Judges of the 209th Corps.

Members of the class.

"Professor Bob"

Graduation Day.

Edris and the doves at the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque.

The tomb of Ali bin Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Mohammad.

The civilian airport at MES.

The snack bar.

Our plane.

The first lake I've seen in Afghanistan.

The Ghar - as seen from the air.

Mazar-e-Shariff - The Details

2007-07-19T00:19:00.001-06:00

(I wrote this on September 12, 2007). Well my first official Afghan National Army Military Justice Course is completed. It was a resounding success. The only thing that would have made it better was two more days. Next week I’ll be in Kandahar so have plans to extend it by a day and a half.

On this trip I was accompanied by CPT Chris Barton, the Phoenix Deputy SJA, CPT Stanley Myers (former starting quarterback at the Citadel) , the Phoenix Legal Assistance Officer and MAJ Nick Satriano, one of the lawyers from our higher at CSTC-A. He works with the other two lawyers who mentor BG Shir, the ANA top lawyer.

As we left Phoenix to travel to the airport, the roads were blocked so we ended up taking an alternate route to KAIA (Kabul Afghanistan International Airport) (we pronounce the acronym “key-a”). I’m glad we did. It was the “back way”, a way I’d never been before. We drove past the western-most boundary of the KMTC where a dozen or more tents were set up. Our driver said that it was the Kuchi’s – Afghan nomads, who lived out there. What was amazing to me was that they lived in the middle of piles of garbage. I couldn’t believe that anyone would want to live there, especially when our driver said that once it got hot it really started to smell. Well I got my answer a little bit further down the road as I saw several of them scavenging through the garbage. The women and children were going through and pulling things out of the garbage piles and putting them into big bags. My assumption is that they were scavenging for things to use and or even sell. What a sad way of life. The other thing that amazed me were the dresses of some of the girls. They were incredibly beautiful. The dresses were the most beautiful colors; blue, green, red, yellow, and each one of them was covered with bright spangles that reflected the morning sunlight. As we drove past one camp there were several young and teenage girls outside. One of the girls was twirling around in her dress. The sun really sparkled off her dress. It was such an odd thing, to see such beauty amidst all the garbage. I know, I know, a flower can grow in a garbage pile but these were human beings living in the garbage piles and that’s what made it see so odd.

The other nice thing about the “back way” was the chance to see more of the outskirts of Kabul. We passed acres and acres of vineyards – the grapes are to be eaten, not pressed. Here was all this green in the middle of the city. It was also a surprising thing to see. We also saw 3-4 girls walking with these incredibly huge bags of, I’m not sure what was in them, but they were huge, balanced on their heads. I’m not sure if they were Kuchi’s or who they were or where they were going, but it was really cool to see their balancing ability.

KAIA is staffed by our coalition partners. It’s interesting to see the differences in uniform, hair and facial hair regulations amongst the different countries. Many of the countries do not prohibit facial hair so you see goatees, soul patches, beards and everything in between. Most don’t have hair regulations either and I actually saw a guy who had combed his long hair into a type of Mohawk. Long hair on the men is not an uncommon sight with all types of hair styles. Then there are the women. Now I would never say that the women in the U.S. military are unattractive but sometimes the truth hurts. The women in the other forces are something else. We ran into a unit from Sweden and I must admit that I’ve never seen more beautiful “soldiers.” I’m told that the Czech nurses, who staff the medical clinic at KAIA, are worth getting “sick” over so that you have to visit the TMC (troop medical clinic). One or two of my junior officers are trying to finagle a way to linger at KAIA on our way back so as to take in the “sights.” Then the uniforms. Lots of services allow their soldiers to wear t-shirts instead of the traditional military blouse. That would be nice. The French have shorts and when I say shorts, they’re just that – short – butt-huggers. I could do without them as they were pretty scary!

Our flight north was uneventful. In fact I slept most of the way. We sat in jump seats on a German cargo plane. I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the seats were. We were not allowed to get up and look out the windows so wasn’t able to take any pictures of our flight north.

After we landed we had to wait for our ride to show up. After 20 minutes or so I saw a couple of humvees and a German humvee, called a Dingo, pull into the parking lot. Turns out the Germans were part of our convoy and had three empty seats. Guess who got to ride to Camp Spann in the Dingo? It was pretty cool. German engineering, as always, is better than ours. Comfortable bucket seats, lots of leg and head room and fully air conditioned. It’s also self-contained. The gunner sits protected inside with the gun mounted outside. The weapons system is controlled electronically from inside. As I said, the gunner is completely protected but the other nice benefit is no dust or heat is pouring in from an open turret. Also the ride is quite comfortable, unlike our clunky, bone-jarring vehicles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for our armored vehicles when I’m out and about but after riding in the Dingo I realize there’s a more comfortable way to be safe.

Mazar is famous for several things, including its blue mosque. It’s a large mosque built on one of the three most holy sites in Islam, if I’m not mistaken. Someone had a dream or vision that Mohammad’s cousin and son-in-law was buried here so the Mosque was built. (The only problem with that theory is that the guy died in Saudia Arabia and it would have taken over 30 days to get the body here in that day and age and it would have been well decomposed so this particular historian doesn’t believe the body is really there.) It’s surrounded by a vast fenced courtyard with trees, bushes, flowers, etc. It looks like a beautiful location. The chief judge offered to take us into town to visit the mosque, followed by dinner at his house but of course we’re not allowed to go. Bummer. Anyway, it was really cool to just simply drive past such a historical and religiously significant location. Our interpreter, Edris, was going into town to pray at the Mosque. I sent him with my camera and asked him to take some pictures.

I hope you can tell how beautiful it is. Edris says that the building is covered is mosaic – tiny pieces of tile. He said the inside is just as beautiful as the outside. The crypt where the guy is born is where the people gather to pray. He said that as he went inside he was stopped because he had a camera. He explained to the guard that he was from out of the country and had traveled all this way to visit and pray and could he please take some pictures. The guard acquiesced.

He also took pictures of the grounds. Again, it’s a beautiful place. As in most countries, doves represent peace. For that reason they allow hundreds of doves to gather on the grounds. In fact you can buy corn to feed them so there’s Edris among all the doves.

Mazar is in much better condition than Kabul. Paved roads that are really paved and in good condition were among the first thing I noticed. There are even multiple lanes of paved roads. At each major intersection they are building round-abouts and like our European brothers, they are building big statues in them. One was of five horsemen that was pretty impressive. I didn’t get my camera out in time for that one so had to settle for a picture of the scaffolding in another one. Hopefully you’ll get the idea of what they’re trying to do.

Camp Spann, the US compound within the ANA Camp Shaheen, reminds me a lot of Blackhorse, small and intimate. We got bunked in a b-hut whose AC barely worked. That first day was pretty hot as it’s got to be 10 degrees hotter up here. In Kabul we’re at about 6600 feet above sea level whereas here it’s not as high, maybe 2,000 feet lower. And it stays hot at night unlike Kabul that cools down quite a bit. I never thought I’d say this but I was missing my life at Phoenix – private, well air-conditioned room. I told Janae that I had become quite spoiled and soft.

Unlike Phoenix though, all the lights except for a few are turned off at night, I’m assuming for security reasons. That means that unless you can see in the dark you need a flashlight to get around. But the benefit of that is that you can see the stars and even the Milky Way. It was so beautiful that I would spend time each night just looking at the stars. It’s so easy to forget how beautiful the night skies can be when you can’t see them.

So with all that said, let me tell you about our class. The three judges attended which was good as we relied upon their interpretation of the code as well their guidance for they wanted to have happen in their court room. The chief judge, BG Mahdi, was the primary spokesman. COL Salim, we dubbed “Elvis” because of his big hair and LTC Shah Man spoke very good English and was a lot of fun. COL Rassool, the SJA was there as well as one prosecutor and one defense attorney. Five young CID (criminal investigative division) agents were there and they were a lot of fun. So we had eleven total which was a good size for this class.

Originally we had planned for five days of training but as I was finishing the presentations thought that we’d only have three days. I obviously failed to adequately take into consideration the time it would take to translate as well as the fact that the Afghans love to talk. By the end of the first day we were way behind where I thought we would be and was starting to feel panicked about not getting everything in, which of course we didn’t but at least we hit the highlights. By the time we ran out of time, we had had a great class. Like I said I wish we would have had more time but this will give Nick an excuse to come back and finish up the training later.

The most fun we had was when we did our direct and cross examination practical exercises. I had come up with several scenarios, specific to what the Afghans will see in court, and made up different fact situations. It was fun to watch them ask the witnesses the questions. After each question and before the witness would answer, I would have the class vote on whether or not the question was in the proper form or complied with the rules of the exercise. It was fun to listen to them argue back and forth about whether or not they met my criteria. In the end Nick and I became the chief witnesses, he was the accused and I was the victim, so that made it even more fun as Nick is quite the ham and was acting the part of the poor, picked on victim.

At the conclusion of class we were honored by a few words from the Chief Judge as well as the SJA. Of course they thanked us for helping them and their new military justice system. They said it was an honor for them to have hosted us and were so appreciative to us for coming to them. We were then “robed” with the traditional Afghan scarves. I knew Nick and I would receive one as the instructors but was not surprised that Chris and Stanley also received one as they had participated, albeit briefly, as well. SFC Tiona Harrison, the paralegal up here who arranged for the conference room, brought in drinks and snacks on our breaks and printed the certificates, also got a scarf. So then we had to pose for group pictures. The Afghans love having their pictures taken so ended up with lots and lots of pictures.

After the “scarving” ceremony we had graduation. The Afghans love certificates, and the more colorful they are, the better. I had prepared a certificate with their country map in the background as a water mark. I then had the US JAG symbol on it, the Phoenix VI logo and the US Army logo on it. I then put the US and Afghan flags on it. I had taken their pictures at the beginning of class so had their pictures in the middle. I then had the graduation information written in English under the US flag on one side and then had it translated and written in Dari under the Afghan flag. Finally, I had a place for mine and Nick’s signature. Is it sounding like a busy slide? Absolutely. Tiona added the finishing touch by printing them on photo quality paper which made them especially nice. As I expected, they were thrilled with them.

The Afghans have a tradition upon receiving such a diploma; they face the crowd, hold it up and proclaim their allegiance to Afghanistan and her people. It’s pretty cool.

After graduation it was time for goodbyes. Chris and Stanley had never experienced the “hug and kiss” routine before but each one of us got a hug and kiss as they left. Lesser men would cringe but those of us comfortable with out manhood recognize that it is a very acceptable part of their culture. I’m not saying that I’m going to start going around hugging and kissing other men at home but I think I’ve finally gotten to the point that I don’t shy away from it. It was funny though to see the expressions on Chris and Stanley’s faces. They haven’t had enough contact with the Afghans yet to get used to the “culture.”

It was a great class for many reasons. It allowed me to gage my course and see what needs to be cut, what needs to be expanded upon and what can be done better. It has given the ANA up here some basic skills that will hopefully help them in their court martials. AND, it means that I’m one class closer to going home. I’ll be in Kandahar next week, back to Blackhorse after that, the 207th/Herat in the east and if there’s still time, the 203rd /Ghardez. After that there’s no more time and I’ll be heading home. Whoohoo!!

So that’s been my trip up north. It’s been so nice to get out of Phoenix for a while. I was telling Janae that I’ve really missed working directly with the ANA so this has been a nice change and I’m looking forward to the remaining classes.

Now I get to tell you about the trip home. When we flew in we landed on the coalition side of the airport up there. When we flew out, we left from the civilian side. As we drove up, if I had not been in Afghanistan, I would have thought that it was a compound of abandoned buildings. Out buildings with broken windows and cracked exteriors, weeds in the driveway, peeling paint – the whole third-world thing. But no, it was the “international” airport of Mazar-e-Sharif.

The chief of security of the airport greeted us but since he didn’t speak English he directed us to climb the four flights of stairs up to the traffic controller tower to speak with the controllers, who just happened to be German. We confirmed that our flight was leaving from there and would be leaving in about 45 minutes. The Germans offered us something cold to drink and as I opened their fridge I realize that there wasn’t much in there that I could drink. It was stocked full of beer! There were a couple of bottles of water which I took. Edris was with me and as we took the first drink, I realized that it was sparkling water. The look on Edris’ face told me that he’d never had it before Later he confirmed that he’d never tasted it before and that it was disgusting. I had to agree. I don’t like sparkling water.

So after a wait of 40 minutes our small plane landed. There we are loading our bags. It seated about 8.

I was sitting right next to the prop and while I couldn’t see it as it was spinning caught it on camera. So here are some pictures of the terrain of Afghanistan. I saw my first lake and it didn’t surprise me that it was in the mountains.

We landed at Bagram to pick up two more passengers and then took off again for an 8-minute flight back to Kabul. We flew past the Ghar and it was cool to see it from the air as it just rises out of the plain.

So there you have it. It was a great trip and I must admit I was glad to get back to Phoenix to my room. Now on to Kandahar.

Mazar-e-Shariff

2007-07-13T10:25:00.000-06:00

I've been up north in Mazar teaching the course I prepared for the ANA prosecutors and defense counsel. It was a resounding success. I thought I had brought the post with me on my thumb drive but didn't so you'll have to check back later. I'm heading south tomorrow to Kandahar so will have to report on my second trip.

Anyway, check back for details and pictures from Mazar-e-Shariff as well as the scoop on my trip to Kandahar.

Father's Day Gift - Our Savior's Love

2007-07-07T00:19:00.000-06:00

I meant to post this picture right after I got back from leave but as you can tell I didn’t. For Father’s Day Janae gave me this picture. Isn’t it great? When I opened it and saw what it was I got all choked up. There was something about the look of sadness in the Savior’s eyes that really got to me. It expressed His sadness over the mistakes we’ve all made since being here, sadness for us having to be here, sadness for the atrocities that His brothers inflict on each other, sadness at the fact that families have to be separated from each other, sadness over the pain and anguish that we as soldiers feel. So many things.

But then there’s comfort in His embrace. I hope we’ve all experienced that comfort. I know I have on many occasions since being here and anticipate needing the comfort of His embrace for a little while longer, oh say, the rest of my life!

I immediately put it in a frame and placed it next to the statue of a soldier that Janae’s mom, Donna, gave her right before I deployed.

Isn’t it a great picture?!

Fly in the Urinal

2007-07-07T00:10:00.000-06:00

Janae sent me an e-mail that talked about how somewhere, someone had painted a fly in a urinal. Apparently we men are so childish that we will aim at the fly and in so doing minimize any mess that we might otherwise make on the floor. Seen the e-mail?

Well I thought it could be true but you never know with stuff that gets posted on the internet.

I am here to tell you that it’s true. I had to come all the way to Afghanistan and go to the ISAF (coalition) compound to see this phenomena myself, but there’s the bug in real life. Instead of a fly, I think it’s a ladybug. I didn’t actually get close enough to look.

So there you have it, an internet story that’s been proven true?

What? Did I aim at the bug? What do you think?

New Digs

2007-07-06T23:15:00.000-06:00

While I was on leave I received an e-mail from the housing folks here at Phoenix. Apparently my name bubbled to the surface of some VIP housing list and I was now eligible to move into a double connex. They’re reserved for LTC’s and Sergeant Majors and above. At first I thought that it wouldn’t be worth moving all my stuff since I was comfortable, albeit a little bit cramped. Then I went and looked at the room and immediately decided that it was worth the hassle of moving my few remaining possessions.

The room is not double wide but double deep, make sense, so I have a front room and a back room. It’s great as I no longer have to squeeze myself between my bed and my desk; one room for the bed, one room for the desk and closet. I love it.

Only two disadvantages and don’t take this as a complaint as I’m not complaining, but the AC does not really cool down the back room that much so I moved the bed to the front room as I like to sleep in a cold environment. The second disadvantage is that my back wall faces the plaza where they show movies three nights a week. The first night I walked into my room from the opposite direction as the plaza. I forgot it was movie night. As I walked in I could hear someone’s TV blaring loud enough that I could hear every word that was being said. I decided to try and be the good neighbor and ignore it but after about 20 minutes I’d had enough. I wasn’t quite sure if it was the room on either side of me or upstairs but I was going to go hunting. As I walked out of the room I could still hear the sound when it dawned on me that it was movie night. Of course I couldn’t do anything about it except endure it or flee from it. I decided to flee (it wasn’t a movie I wanted to watch). So now I either endure the noise or find something else to do until movie night is over. Don’t you just feel sorry for me? I didn’t think so.

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-05T07:48:00.001-06:00

Once again I attempted to come up with something really grand and eloquent to honor and celebrate our nation’s birthday but being grand and eloquent is not one of my fortes. Instead I ended up looking on-line for something worth repeating to share to here’s what I came up with.

Don’t you just love Erma Bombeck? I do. Here’s what she said about today’s celebration.

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”
I had to laugh at this one because it sounds like so many of our family gatherings. Had I been home we would have had lots and lots of food and eaten ourselves sick. I can just taste the home made ice cream but since we didn’t have home made ice cream here, had to satisfy myself with Baskin Robbins double chocolate. The DFAC once again tried to come through for us. They set up the grills out on the plaza and barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, steaks and ribs. The ribs were the best I’ve had in a long time – tender and lots of meat on the bones. The sides were all typical DFAC sides and not really worth mentioning. The bakers made about 8-9 large sheet cakes, intricately decorated. One cake looked like the Liberty Bell and one looked like the White House. Pretty cool.

We had no parades here but there were flag raising ceremonies all day long. It was very cool to see the different units out there raising their flags to send home to family and loved ones. I raised mine last November 11, on Veteran’s Day so didn’t participate yesterday but I was tempted. Even though I’ve seen our flag flying every day you sometimes take it for granted so yesterday to watch over 100 flags, throughout the course of the day, being raised and lowered over what was once Taliban territory, was pretty cool. Did you put your flag out yesterday?

Next quote is from Thomas Jefferson,

“My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!”

OK, so how many of you out there have completely taken for granted the freedoms you enjoy? I daresay a good many of you. I don’t know too many Americans who have to worry about whether or not a roadside bomb is going to explode. A little extreme? Not for the Afghans. Well let’s go with more mundane things, things we really take for granted. When you walk into your house at night, do you every worry that there won’t be any power? In Kabul there’s no electricity after a certain hour because of power shortages. Do you every worry that when you turn on the tap to get a drink that there won’t be any water? How about clean water? Most people have to go the local well to get their water. How would you like to have to cart your water back to your house? Ever wonder how many flies and other flying insects have been crawling around on the piece of meat you bought from the butcher or how much dust has coated your newly purchased piece of meat? I didn’t think so. You simply go to the store and buy it nicely wrapped in a piece of plastic from the cooler. Here, you get to see it hanging in the market and watch the butcher cut it straight from the carcass. It’s the little things.
I like this one from Abraham Lincoln.

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
This one made me think of all those who say we shouldn’t be here. That the cost is too high. I agree. We have paid a very high price for being here and in other parts of the world. But as I watch these people begin to embrace democracy, as I listen to the local talk about freedoms they have never had before, I realize the price is worth it.

And finally,

“If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.” Hamilton Fish

What have you done lately to make our country a place truly worth living for? Did you vote in the last election? Do you get involved in your community? Or are you like me and so many others, that we simply take for granted what we have and complain when it’s not working? I’ve always said that if you don’t participate in the system you give up your right to complain about the system. Have you maintained your right to complain about the system?

As a prosecutor I’ve heard so many people complain about our system, how it’s screwed up, how corrupt our system is, how it’s this or how it’s that. It’s too bad we don’t have a system in place to simply send those people over here to see what corruption really is, to see what “screwed-up” really is. But alas we don’t. I think it was Trooper and I who had this discussion but our solution is to “butt-stroke” those folks to the head and ship ‘em over here to live for a while and then we’ll see what they have to say. But alas, not a legal or viable option, but one that sure sounds good.

So on this 4th of July, 2007, I hope that you all had a great time at your barbecues and family picnics and water fights and that you oohed and aahed at all the great fireworks. But I also hope that you took a minute to really remember what this day is celebrating. I hope you didn’t forget the freedoms that you have and what I and so many others like me have done for you. I know I will never celebrate another 4th of July without looking back on this deployment and realizing what it has done for me and my family.

2007-07-04T00:18:00.000-06:00

Andrew sent me this article from http://www.politics-religion.com/ Thought you might find it interesting...

June 26, 2007
6-year Old Boy: "Taliban Recruited Me to Bomb U.S. Troops."

FORWARD OPERATING BASE THUNDER, Afghanistan The story of a 6-year-old Afghan boy who says he thwarted an effort by Taliban militants to trick him into being a suicide bomber provoked tears and anger at a meeting of tribal leaders. The account from Juma Gul, a dirt-caked child who collects scrap metal for money, left American soldiers dumbfounded that a youngster could be sent on such a mission. Afghan troops crowded around the boy to call him a hero.

Though the Taliban dismissed the story as propaganda, at a time when U.S. and NATO forces are under increasing criticism over civilian casualties, both Afghan tribal elders and U.S. military officers said they were convinced by his dramatic account.

Juma said that sometime last month Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, “throw your body at them.”

The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister—but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan.

“When they first put the vest on my body I didn’t know what to think, but then I felt the bomb,” Juma told The Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at this joint U.S.- Afghan base in Ghazni. “After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help.”

While Juma’s story could not be independently verified, local government leaders backed his account and the U.S. and NATO military missions said they believed his story. Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator for Juma’s village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. Army Col. Martin P. Schweitzer. Schweitzer called the Taliban’s attempt “a cowardly act.”

As Deciwal told Juma’s story, 20 Afghan elders repeatedly clicked their tongues in sadness and disapproval. When the boy and his brother were brought in, several of the turban-wearing men welled up, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.

“If anybody has a heart, then how can you control yourself (before) these kids?” Deciwal said in broken English.

Wallets quickly opened, and the boys were handed $60 in American and Afghan currency—a good chunk of money in a country where teachers and police earn $70 a month. Afghan officials described the boys as extremely poor, and Juma said he is being raised by his sister because his father works in a bakery in Pakistan and his mother lives and does domestic work in another village.

“I think the boy is intelligent,” Deciwal said. “When he comes from the enemy he found a checkpoint of the ANA (Afghan National Army), and he asked the ANA: ‘Hey, can you help me? Somebody gave me this jacket and I don’t know what’s inside but maybe something bad.’”
Lt. Col. George Graff, a father of five who attended the meeting, also teared up.

“Relating to them as a father and trying to fathom somebody using one of my children for that kind of a purpose, jeez, it just tore me up,” said Graff, a National Guard soldier from St. George, Utah. “The depths that these people will go to get what they want, which is power for themselves—it’s just disgusting.”

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied the militant group uses child fighters, saying it has hundreds of adults ready for suicide missions. “We don’t need to use a child,” Ahmadi told the AP by satellite phone. “It’s against Islamic law, it’s against humanitarian law. This is just propaganda against the Taliban.”

However, a gory Taliban video that surfaced in April showed militants instructing a boy of about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife. U.N. officials condemned the act as a war crime. Fidgety but smiling during all the attention, Juma told the AP that he had been scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body.

A fan of soccer, Juma said his favorite subject in school is Pashto, his native language, but he also showed off a little English, shyly counting “1, 2, 3″ before breaking out in an oversize smile.

Raised in a country where birthdays are not always carefully tracked, Juma said he is 4. But he looks older and Afghan officials said he is about 6. His brother appears to be a year or so older.
Their village lies in Ghazni province’s Andar district, a Taliban stronghold targeted this month in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation. The region remains dangerous and Afghan elders worry for Juma’s safety. Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said he was “a bit skeptical” about Juma’s story at first, “but everything I’ve heard makes me more and more comfortable.”

Thomas said the case would force soldiers to think twice before assuming children are safe.
“This is one incident. We hope it doesn’t repeat itself. But it gives us reason to pause, to be extra careful,” he said. “We want to publicize this as much as we can to the Afghan people so that they can protect their children from these killers.”

Col. Sayed Waqef Shah, a religious and cultural affairs officer for the Afghan army, wiped away tears after seeing Juma. “Whenever I see this kind of action from the Taliban, if I am able to arrest them, I’ll kill them on the spot,” he said.

Haji Niaz Mohammad, one of the elders at the gathering, said he hoped “God makes the Afghan government strong” so it can defeat the Taliban.

“They are the enemy of Muslims and the enemy of the children,” he said, shaking his fists in anger.

CMA

2007-07-02T07:37:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago I went on a Command Medical Assistance (CMA) visit. I’ll include lots of pictures. It was a great visit and we saw over 650 patients. What made it “exciting” was the location.

Remember a few posts ago I talked about the increased violence here in Afghanistan and here in the Kabul area? Did I mention that about 10 days ago a couple of rockets were discovered; one pointed at Phoenix and the other at the ISAF compound? If I didn’t it was because I didn’t want to concern anyone. The village where the rockets were located is also suspected to have a large Taliban influence there and is considered a “high-risk” location. It’s not a place that the Americans or Coalition forces can or should go into lightly. With all that said, our humanitarian officer decided to try and foster some good will towards the American by organizing a CMA visit. When I heard about it and volunteered to go, I was told that it was a potentially dangerous area, that the rockets were discovered there and that it was a possible Taliban hold-out. The Specialist then asked me if I still wanted to go. I gulped, thought about the fact that I have 7 weeks left and said “yes.”

Was I nervous? Not too much until I went to the briefing the night before. That’s when I got the butterflies in my stomach. We got our security briefing and of course it was much more detailed than what I’m sharing with you. Because of the high risk we went over all the procedures that we would take if we came under attack. If that didn’t make the pucker factor go up not much else will. Not that I thought about backing out but as I looked around the room at all the female medical personnel that were going, I thought there was no way my manly manliness would allow me to back out. So I was in. My prayers that night were for a little added protection. In the end, it went great. OK, we did hear a mortar explode in the distance but no one skipped a beat and we just kept on working.

As we got there, the ANP (Afghan National Police) had already set up a security perimeter. The SECFOR (security forces) from Blackhorse were also on the scene providing initial security. That was a comfort but nothing I haven’t seen before so wasn’t too worried by it all.

The clinic where we were at was built by the Koreans in 2004 and was a little ragged around the edges but was a fully functional medical clinic. It was set up very nicely to see women and children on one side and men on the other. There were even two rooms with outside windows that served as pharmacies, dispensing medical supplies, babies milk, antacids and other things.

In other humanitarian missions I’ve been on the women have rushed the gate trying to get in. This time, the ANP had it really well organized. The women did press the line a little bit near the gate but for the most part they were well behaved, lining up against the outside wall of the wall around the clinic.

As you can imagine the women brought their children. We were cautioned not to become so enraptured with the kids that we ignored security. As you’ll be able to tell from the photos, there were some cute kids. In some cases it was heartwrenching to see the condition these kids live in and then in the next minute you’d see a woman with her children who were dressed “to the nines” at least for an Afghan. It was an interesting dichotomy.

The care taker of the clinic was an old Afghan man. At one point he obviously had the big toe on his right foot broken as it stuck up at a ninety degree angle to his foot. It looked so odd because it wasn’t natural. He obviously cannot wear shoes and I wondered if his feet get cold in the winter since he can’t wear shoes. I guess that image has remained with me because you would never see that in the states, but then again, there are lots of things I’ve seen here that you would never see in the states.

The men were easy to search since we can actually put our hands on them. The women were a little tricky since we’re not allowed to touch them, at least the men aren’t. We had two Afghan women interpreters who did a cursory search over the burka – an added difficulty. We’d then send them to another enclosed room where our female MP’s would wand them with the metal detector. After that I got to “direct traffic.” I would say “slam aleykham” as they came in and “hodoffas” (I have no idea how to spell these greetings correctly) as they would leave but other than one un-burka clad woman, I didn’t get a single response much less a look in my direction. I didn’t really expect much as the women are treated as second class citizens and they don’t like to interact with the soldiers.

The village and clinic were on top of a small hill so it gave a great view of the surrounding area. I’ve often described Afghanistan as brown and barren and it is but I was glad to see areas of green; fields, trees, gardens. It gave me hope that this country will continue to recover.

The only negative aspect of the whole day was having to wear my IBA for so long. My shoulders and hip ached from having to wear it all day as well as standing all day. It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve had to stand, wearing my body armor for long periods. I usually just wear it on convoys. But, I was glad that that was the only negative thing about the day. I could withstand a little discomfort to accomplish what was a positive mission. I just hope that our intention of fostering good will in this village succeeded.

Next Month!!!

2007-07-02T07:29:00.000-06:00

Wow!!! I can finally say that we’ll be home for good next month. I never thought this time in our deployment would come. For those of you who don’t have all the details of when we’re coming home and what we’ll be doing, let me fill you in.

We leave here sometime around the middle of August. We fly north and will spend a small amount of time preparing to leave the region. We will then fly in the general direction of the United States, landing in Mississippi after the middle of the month. We will out-process at Camp “Hotter than Hell and Even More Humid” Shelby for a day or days or even more days. We will then fly home to Utah on whatever day that actually ends up being and after an alleged 48 hour pass we'll out process in Utah. After that, most of us will return to being full-time civilians.

How’s that for details?

OK, I can’t give you dates as the only sure date (at least for now it’s a sure date) that we know is the date we leave Afghanistan. But of course I can’t tell you that date for security reasons. You’ll have to get that from your loved one.

Regardless, we come home next month and I know I speak for all of us here, I cannot wait!!!

The Gospel is Being Taken To All Lands and All Nations

2007-06-28T01:11:00.000-06:00

As soldiers we are prohibited from proselyting. Conversion to Christianity, actually to any other religion, for a Muslim, is punishable by death. Hence the prohibition. However that doesn’t mean that the gospel isn’t being taught here in Afghanistan.

Last night at dinner I was told the following story. OK, before I actually begin the story, I need to give you some background details. The majority of the KBR workers who work in the chow hall, cut our hair, massage our backs, make our Blizzards, pour our coffee, are from the neighboring “stan” countries to the north; Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kjergistan, etc. They’re all part of the former Soviet Union. We do have civilian contractors here as well. One of the civilians is a member, he speaks Russian and has more interaction with the KBR workers. He’s the one who told me this story.

Last fall he came into contact with one of the massage therapists – it’s not what you’re thinking. As they were talking he mentioned that he had lived all over the world and that he spoke Russian. She asked him what had taken him to so many places. He said initially it was his LDS mission and then his work for the government. That lead to a discussion about the church. He described her as one of the most “golden” contacts he had ever met. He invited one of our soldiers from Utah to help him in answering her questions. Our soldier was concerned about being in violation of General Order 1 so took a back seat position but was available to answer questions. When he was home on leave at Christmas, he told his family about her and they felt inspired to purchase a Russian Book of Mormon and write their testimonies in it. He brought it back with him and gave it to Brother Zander to give to her.

Brother Zander initially gave her a video that briefly described the basic tenets of the gospel. When she came back after watching it, she wanted to know where she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon, who could she pay her tithing to, and when could she get baptized. He was able to give her our soldier’s Book of Mormon. Brother Zander had translated the families testimony into Russian. She began to read and Brother Zander and another began to teach her the discussions. Since she is not Afghani but Tajik there wasn’t the fear of converting that a Muslim would have. Brother Zander had previously called Church headquarters and received permission to teach her. Brother Zander said that she was soaking up the message that was being shared with her and wanted to be baptized. So it was arranged that she would be baptized at home. She asked Brother Zander to come to her town to perform the ordinance.

After she returned home she was again taught the discussions, this time by the Sister missionaries. She continued to show her excitement and enthusiasm for the gospel and quickly got through the discussions a second time. The date was set and Brother Zander made his way north.

At dinner he showed me pictures from his trip – he had just barely gotten back. She lives in a very beautiful part of her country but comes from a very poor family. She and three others of her family live in an unheated, no running water shack, barely big enough for four people. It looks like it could tip over with the slightest push. It’s part of her families farm. Her parents live in the main house and while it was bigger than the “shack” not by much. It’s no wonder that she has left her country to find work.

Brother Zander said that they had to go quite a ways out of town to the river where the ordinance was performed. I forgot to ask him if it was because of any negative backlash that would follow the baptism or if it was simply because there was no other place to perform the ordinance. In any event, she was baptized in the river. Just like in the early days of the church in the states.

She’s coming back to Afghanistan to work only this time she will be at the Airport where there’s more of an international coalition presence vs. a strong American presence. I hope she does well.

The gospel is being spread here in Afghanistan. While it’s not being preached directly to the Afghans, through our example and our interaction, they are feeling something of what we have. We as members of the Church are sharing our testimonies with our fellow soldiers as well as those we live and work with. Book of Mormons are being given away. And as is now evident, people are being baptized as a direct result of our presence here.

The Spirit of the Lord is being poured out upon this land!

Way to Go Chihuahua!!

2007-06-28T01:04:00.000-06:00

In a certain officer's family (his name has been hidden to protect the "not so innocent"), there is a tradition of "dogknapping" their father's Chihuahua statue. The family hates the thing, hence the dognapping. Somehow, "unbeknownst" to him, the little thing made it's way to Afghanistan. It was recently seen on his desk...

Fallen Soldier Memorial Service

2007-06-24T07:07:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in a previous posting, we lost four Task Force Phoenix soldiers last week. Well we lost another soldier two days ago in a small arms fire fight with the Taliban. I try not to dwell on the increasing violence that is happening here but you can’t help it, especially when you hear the daily reports.

Let me pay tribute to our fallen heroes; CPT Joshua Steele, SFC Christopher Henderson, SFC John Hennen and SSG Roy Lesayder. Four men who were here serving their country and the Afghan and who paid the ultimate price.

The memorial service was very moving. It was held outside the DFAC (dining facility) in front of the flag pole, on Patriot’s Plaza. I wish I could remember more of what was said but I can’t. So you’ll have to settle for the highlights. It was interesting to me what caused me to choke up. As the Chaplain described the men, when he described three of them as husbands and fathers, that really hit me. He then reminded us that three of them were killed on Father’s Day. That was a hard one. What a terrible way to remember Father’s Day for their families in the future and yet they will be able to celebrate the bravery, courage and dedication of their Patriot Fathers. They were described as ordinary men doing extraordinary things. We are here to help the Afghan people and the Afghan Army forge a nation built on democracy and freedom. There are evil men and forces out there that do not want this to happen. Each of us, in our own way, are doing extraordinary things. The other comment that really choked me up was when they were described as being cut from the same cloth as the flag; honor, courage and patriotism. What a wonderful thing to say about a soldier.

As we stood there listening to the various speakers the sun began to set. There was enough of a breeze to cause the flags to waive. That was pretty cool. The few clouds in the sky caused the sun to sun to peak through. And then as the sun set behind the mountains it cast a warm glow over the service. My camera couldn’t catch the beauty of the setting so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I won’t describe the specifics of the service. You’ll have to go back and read about LT Lundell’s service last November to get those details of a Fallen Soldier service but this time we had to go through four missing personnel at roll call. That was incredibly hard.

No one likes to go through these services. My heart goes out to the families of these soldiers. I wish I had the words to express the feelings we had standing there on the plaza but I don’t. All I can say is that unless you’ve been here you’ll never fully understand what we’ve gone through and what it’s like to participate in the proceedings.

New Forensic Technology

2007-06-24T06:59:00.000-06:00

Merrill is good about keeping a journal of his activities. I wish I were so good. He sends out portions of his journal for family and friends to read. He has included me on his distribution list. I particularly liked this entry. Rather than try to re-write their experience, especially since I wasn’t there, I’ll let him tell it in his own words…

“One day when CPT Dickert, Wais and I went to meet with one of our ANA counterparts who is both a prosecutor and a lead member of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) he was asking for lab equipment. When we asked what kind of equipment he said they wanted these vacuum cylinders that they could use to extract the scent from a footprint and use it in a court by letting out a little air into a dog’s nose and have the dog see if the accused is the criminal. At first we thought he was joking but it was good we didn’t laugh because he was very serious. Wais said sometimes he is embarrassed by the Afghan people. We know they mean well and have their ways different from our own. I feel that education and freedom to choose will help these people in the future.”

The officer Merrill is writing about is COL Rahmatullah and it didn’t surprise me in the least when I read that it was him. As Merrill writes, more than anything these people need more education to help them progress. To him, I’m sure this was a perfectly logical request and he had every reason to believe that such technology exists out there. This just accentuates why we need to be here and why we need to continue to be here.

Here's a picture of Merrill and I with COL Karim, the SJA - he's in the middle, with his legal officers and COL Rahmatullah. Even though he'll never know that his story has been posted here, I don't want to point him out.

Happy Anniversary - 21 Years

2007-06-21T03:32:00.000-06:00

Janae and I have been married 21 years today on June 21st. 21 on 21. Has kind of a nice ring to it. And like last year on our anniversary I’m deployed. And like last year we had to celebrate on a different day.

When I told the guys in my office how long I’d been married they were blown away. Two of the three officers I work with are all in their mid-40’s. One has only been married for 6 years and the other for 9. They couldn’t believe that I would get married so young much less still be married to my first wife. They were impressed and amazed…as well they should be!!

As you may have read in a previous posting, Janae and I spent two days at the Homestead in Midway. That was our anniversary celebration. And while we had a great time I miss not being home today to celebrate. I’m looking forward to next year when we can actually celebrate our anniversary on the actual day.

If you’ve read my blog over the last year you know how much I love my wife and how she is the one who has born the brunt of this deployment. As I sit here in my office with no one to worry about but myself she is at home having to take care of the day to day problems that arise. I know we’re heroes but you know what, our wives who are at home are the real heroes.

So to my hero wife, Happy Anniversary and know how much I love you!!

P.S.

After I wrote the above version, I went back and read last year’s blog entry. My I was verbose. In perusing my blog entries I can see where they have gotten shorter and shorter over time. Does that mean I’ve lost my zeal to write? Probably.

Last year I regaled you with the activities of my day so in the tradition of last year let me walk you through my romantic day.

I woke up at 0430 – a common occurrence these days and lay in bed for a while. Even when I was home on leave I was waking up at 0430 so there must be something “magical” about that hour. I thought about getting up and going to the gym but decided to lay in bed for a while longer. I was wishing I was home in bed with my wife on our anniversary so that I could…OK, I can’t say that as my boys may end up reading this entry. Anyway, I spent a less than romantic early morning in bed.

Actually I dozed off as I remember my iPod going off – I use it as my alarm clock and laying there listening to the music for a while. Finally about 0545 I drug my sorry butt out of bed, put on my PT clothes and went to the gym.

Today was biceps and back so after 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill to warm up I started lifting. Not too motivated today but I lifted for about 50 minutes. Then I went back to the treadmill to watch the last 15 minutes of Dodgeball that was playing on the Armed Forces Network. Our Inspector General is a 90 lb Puerto Rican woman. Boy she’s an animal in the gym. I realize that she’s only 90 lbs but it’s a wonder to behold her doing pull-up after pull-up. She asked me if I wanted to work out with her but I told her she scared me too much. We just laughed.

Went back to my room and had a delicious vanilla protein shake made with pineapple juice. Mmmm. Doesn’t that sound yummy?

My personal laptop has been giving me nothing but grief lately – oh, I was able to recover all the data off my hard drive, thanks to Larry at work. Anyway it’s now causing me other problems so I took it to the computer guys to see if they could fix the problem. After telling me all the horrible things that could be wrong with it, filling me with untold dread, they told me to come back tomorrow. My fingers are crossed.

Spent the morning reading e-mails and essentially twiddling my thumbs. I was supposed to be out East this week training but the prosecutors are at another conference so had to cancel my trip but in light of recent events, maybe that’s a good thing.

For our romantic anniversary lunch I had the choice of overcooked hamburgers with plastic cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches that had about a pound of melted butter on each slice of bread, baked ham and pork chops in barbecue sauce. I went for the pork chops. They actually weren’t that bad. Soggy broccoli, of course, carrot and raisin salad, all washed down with a bowl of chili. Doesn’t that sound just yummy?

This afternoon Asmahtullah came by to see me. As you may recall he was my interpreter at the KMTC. He’s such a great young man. I asked him about the recent violence in Kabul and how do the locals feel. As I thought, most people are happy to have the Americans here. He specifically mentioned paved roads, clean”er” water, relative stability, women’s rights and other things. He said the ones who are protesting against the Americans are the pro-Taliban – just like I thought.

Now it’s almost dinner and I’m all a tingle over the thought of what gourmet delight will be offered.

After dinner I’ll go back to the gym and attend the abs class. Still working on that ever elusive 6-pack. Actually, I can tell that I’ve got some definition, they’re just hiding under 10 lbs of flab that doesn’t want to go away and I’m not disciplined enough to lose.

After that I’ll head back to my room for a quiet evening, alone. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Increased Violence

2007-06-21T03:30:00.000-06:00

If you’ve been watching the news or reading the paper you know of the increased violence we have experienced here in the last week or so. Some things may not have made every newscast or paper so let me just recap what’s been happening.

A week ago a 14-year old boy was run over and killed by a vehicle being driven by a KBR (Kellogg, Burton & Root) employee. KBR is the contractor who provides employees who cook, clean, maintain our physilities, etc. The boy was pulling a wheelbarrow on J-Bad road – that’s the main road that runs connects Kabul to Jalabad. Phoenix, KMTC and Blackhorse are all along J-Bad road. Anyway, as the first vehicle was passing the boy, he tripped and fell. He fell under the vehicle and the back tires ran over him, killing him. Because the road is so bumpy the driver didn’t even realize what had happened. The second vehicle in the convoy had to radio him to stop. It was a tragic and unfortunate accident.

Even though it was not an Army accident, the Army is attempting to pay the family a solatia payment. It’s basically a monetary gift apologizing for what happened. The interesting aspect of this incident is that the village elders have cautioned against paying the family too soon. Their fear is that this will cause other families to sacrifice their children by throwing them into our convoys in an attempt to get money from the U.S. Of course, we of a Western mindset, do not want to even consider that as a possibility but the local village elders believe that it is a real concern. What a truly sad statement about the poverty and value of life, if in fact it is true.

A few days later a bomb exploded in downtown Kabul, killing a busload (approximately 35) of Afghan National Police officers and recruits as well as injuring civilians. Some of our forces responded to assist and during the incident a soldier’s weapon was discharged, injuring one person and killing another. Of course it was a tragic and unfortunate accident. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time, following closely on the heels of the 14-year old boy.

As we read about the incident on-line, photos were shown of Afghans chanting anti-American slogans, punching the air in fury and other angry images. Of course I could understand their anger and frustration over the unfortunate injury and death but at the same time our office was frustrated and a little angry at both the people and the media. We were angry at the people because rather than chant their anti-Taliban slogans, they were chanting their anti-US ones. The Taliban had just exploded a bomb in Kabul killing so many people. We responded simply to assist. While that doesn’t negate our responsibility it still bothered us, me, what the response was.

And then we were mad at the media for portraying these photos and writing the story in that manner. I’m sure that the anti-American sentiment was real but small. After having been here for as long as I have and having interacted with enough of the locals I really feel like they want us to be here. So I felt like the media was exploiting an unfortunate situation, exploiting a minority of the population, to sensationalize a story. I’m sure that it would have been just as easy to find many people in the crowd would have expressed a positive American sentiment, but then that doesn’t make for sexy journalism.

The KMTC was rocketed the other night, several rockets slamming into the buildings there. Fortunately no one was injured but the message was clear. Then, the next night rockets flew over Camp Phoenix. I was actually awake at the time but didn’t realize exactly what it was. The rockets did not land within our compound but that doesn’t negate the fact that someone out there doesn’t like us. Needless to say I’m quite content to remain within the confines of Camp Phoenix for the next few weeks.

The violence continues almost on a daily basis across the country. It has the potential to be paralyzing but you can’t let it. We have a job to do and you have to believe that you’ve taken every precaution that you can and go out the gate hoping and praying for the best.

And then there have been the US deaths, four in the last week. One soldier was killed in an RPG attack and three others, along with their interpreter, were killed by a roadside bomb. During the 2006-2007 command there were eight deaths in the year. In the month that the new command has been here they have lost four soldiers. You can imagine the somber feeling that has been around the command for the last several days.

As the reports of the deaths came in my first thoughts were, “Is it someone I know? Is it someone from Utah?” When it wasn’t my next thought was “Thank goodness.” Of course I then felt guilty for being glad it wasn’t someone from our command. It goes without saying that I never want to see one of our service men or women injured, much less killed but it’s only natural to feel a sense of relief when it’s not someone connected to you. My heart goes out to the families of these soldiers. They were over here serving the Afghans, fulfilling an important mission but were called upon to pay the ultimate price. They are true heroes.

Photos From Outside the Comdedy Club

2007-06-18T01:28:00.000-06:00

I took our camera with us to the comdey club and took some photos outside. The closeup of me at the end is my "do I really have to go back to Afghanistan?!?!?" face.

Home on Leave

2007-06-18T01:22:00.000-06:00

I’m sure most of you don’t want ALL the details of what I did on leave so I’ll just give you the highlights. Of course graduation was the main event and since you’ve already read about that I can move on from there.

Family was the next big event and I was grateful to be able to spend some wonderful, quality time with my family and extended family. It was great to see my parents, my brother Chris his wife Keri and daughter LoraLynn, aunts and uncles - Mike and Elaine and Loy and Emily, Janae’s parents and her brother Dallin his wife Memorie and their kids.

I took each of the boys out on a “date.” The activities were as varied as are the boys. We ate, we saw movies, we played video games and we went to a comedy club. It was a lot of fun. Janae and I spent two days at the Homestead. The first day we took Luke and Braxton with us to swim in the Crater – Seth had to work. For those who don’t know, at the Homestead there’s a volcanic cone that it is filled with 80 degree mineral water. The water is 60 feet deep and is a world renowned place for scuba certification as well as snorkeling and soaking. We thought it would be fun to bring the boys along and sure enough, we had a great time. Our allotted time was for 40 minutes but because it was such a slow day we were able to stay as long as we wanted. Luke was ready to leave before Braxton so he and I went to the hotel pool, hot tub and sauna while Janae and Braxton stayed in the Crater. After 2.5 hours Braxton was ready to leave.

The next day I had made arrangements to go horse back riding but since we woke up to wind, rain and scattered snow showers it was no surprise when the stables called and canceled our ride. I was pretty disappointed but what can you do. Instead we went to Park City and did some shopping, browsing and just enjoyed spending time together. We found a great little restaurant on main street in Heber for dinner, Spin Café. If you’re ever in Heber be sure to stop in.

We had a great time at the comedy club. Seth has been several times but the rest of us haven’t so we decided to make it a family event. Again, rather than bore you with the details let me just say that we had a great time. The boys came home quoting some of the more memorable quotes of the evening.

It was also wonderful to see so many friends and neighbors at church and around the neighborhood. I stopped by my office and was pleased to see that they really do miss me and are looking forward to my return.

What else? Yard work. I know, I know, most of you hate it but I love it. It’s really therapeutic for me and I was able to get some done. Our wonderful home teacher, Don Capps, got our rototiller working and I got started tilling our garden before something new plagued the process and had to use his to finish tilling the garden. Once that was done we got a few things planted and I’m looking forward to getting home permanently in August to see its progress.

The last weekend at home was Orem City’s Summerfest. As per tradition, we went to the parade with our good friends the Atkinson’s. A couple of years ago someone in the group called out to someone they knew on one of the floats or in a band or something. I think it might have been Janae. Well someone else in the group began calling out random names in an attempt to get someone’s attention. And that started the tradition of yelling random names at each passing group. This year was no exception. Now while I don’t expect any of you to see the humor in this – it’s one of those “you had to be there” experiences, we had a ball. As we yelled to a group of “Golden Girls” on their float, Janae overheard one of the women say to another on the float, “they must be drunk.” Of course that garnered quite the merriment from those of us engaging in this rather juvenile but entertaining behavior.

We also call out “greetings’ and “cheers” to the entries. Calls such as “Way to go Barbershop Singing Men!?” or “Spin, spin, spin” to the people carrying the balloons. I’m pleased to report that we were successful in getting every balloon entry to spin their balloon. We were even successful in getting one group to then spin it in the opposite direction. Well as the silliness progressed we began to throw out cheers to others as well, cheers such as “Way to go mother pushing the stroller!” “Way to go teenage boys walking in front of us!” “Way to go goth kids!” We even yelled out “Way to go couple in love!” closely followed by “Kiss her, Kiss her!” When he planted a passionate kiss on her lips he got an even louder cheer. Needless to say we enjoyed the parade immensely.

The fireworks that followed were a dazzling display of pyrotechnics and are always a big hit.

We also saw “Pirates” and while I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, loved the movie but didn’t love the ending. I’ll leave it at that.

It was so nice to be able to drive on paved roads, although all the construction in Orem was a pain. Luke begins driver’s ed in a few weeks so is anxiously engaged in accumulating the requisite number of hours driving. He and I were able to get out and spend several hours practicing. Janae had relegated the task of taking him on the freeway to me so we were able to get out and drive on the I-15. Because I knew rush hour traffic would be a bit much, we decided on the safer bet of driving Sunday morning while everyone was supposed to be in church. I’m pleased to report that he is quite a good driver.

Mmmm, I can still taste the milk. We get that wonderful boxed milk that doesn’t quite taste like real milk so it was great to drink the real stuff. All the ice I wanted in any kind of drink I wanted to put it in was nice. Home made ice cream. Cheese cake. Edible and delicious pizza. Iceberg milkshakes. Home cooking. Home made rolls. I could go on and on. I wish I could say that I exercised some restraint but I didn’t. I also wish I could say that I continued my rigorous exercise regime but I didn’t. I’m sure I’ve put on at least 5 lbs since being home but it was so worth it.

Thor was glad to see me and I was glad to see him. I’ve missed my puppy almost as much as the rest of my family. Janae and the boys have done a great job taking care of him and actually got his weight down while I was gone. He looked great.

Fish tank? You’ll have to ask my family.

Dallas, Part II

2007-06-18T01:20:00.000-06:00

I wanted to tell you a few more things about Dallas and the wonderful people who volunteer their time there. I forgot to mention, when our planed landed from Kuwait the airport fire department was there firing their water cannons over the planes in welcome. It was pretty cool.

As we checked in this morning on our way back to theater, there were several USO volunteers answering our questions, telling us what we needed to know and making sure we were comfortable. There was an office full of books, magazines, snacks, water, soda, candy, etc., all for the taking. We were directed to the USO waiting room that had cell phones, land line phones, internet connections, food, drinks, movies, etc. Since it was pretty crowded I found a place where I could sit and plug my computer in.

This morning as I was writing my blog entries a USO volunteer asked me if I’d like a wireless internet card. Of course I said “yes.” She took me to her office and gave me card which gave me 24 hours of unlimited internet access. Cool!

As we were waiting to board the plane, several USO volunteers moved through the soldiers pushing carts, dispensing snacks and water. I was able to chat with a couple of them for a few minutes and found out more information about these amazing volunteers.

As I suspected, the reception committee that I told you about earlier is there 7 days a week, 365 days a year for as long as there are soldiers coming through Dallas on leave. Tomorrow (June 12th, 2007) the 500,000th soldier is expected to pass through and there was an even bigger reception planned. These men and women volunteer countless hours every week to make sure that all the service members going or coming through Dallas are taken care of. A couple of elderly women, known as the “kissing Grandmas” are there every single day to dole out hugs and kisses to the soldiers. I had told one of the volunteers about Seth’s graduation and she called one of the “Grandmas” over and had me tell her the story. She got tears in her eyes as I told her the story and after I was finished, she asked me if she could give me a hug and a kiss. I felt quite honored.

Like I’ve said many times, I can’t believe the support that we receive from hundreds of strangers. I’m so impressed, awed and humbled by their willingness to serve. It makes me realize how much more I can and should do to serve, not only our service members but those who are in need all around me.

Father's Day

2007-06-17T03:08:00.001-06:00

Since I was home on leave last week we celebrated Father’s Day then so today’s big day almost slipped past me. Almost, but not quite.

Seth spoke in Sacrament meeting yesterday. Janae sent me the notes from his talk and I decided to share some of his thoughts with you all. His first note was “honor thy father as thy father.” Now while he may have meant something completely different, here’s what struck me. We must honor our father for who he is, not who we may wish he was or who we maybe want him to be. Seth pointed out another way of honoring our fathers is listening to their counsel and advice. He used several examples from the scriptures where sons did v. did not listen to their fathers. (Good advice Seth!!! You should listen to your father more!!) Anyway, just a few examples from his talk. Janae said he did a good job. Wish I could have been there to actually hear him give it. Oh well.

So what makes a great Father? Hmm, let’s see… A great father is someone who happily accepts a stupid “soap-on-a-rope” for Christmas every year without complaint (sorry Dad but thanks for enduring all those years!). He’s the Dad who teaches you how to ride horses, fish in the streams on Boulder Mountain, gives you opportunities to work, and work hard, holds you accountable for your mistakes, but loves you just the same, sacrifices his time for you, is full of “Cowboy Wisdom” and humor, is known for his “fatherisms,” is the consummate teacher, is an even better friend. He’s the guy who grew up in a small town in Utah with absolutely nothing, worked hard all his life and taught his kids how to work hard. He’s the Father who valiantly served his country during a time of conflict and taught his children a love of country. A great Father is one who loves and adores his children’s mother and makes sure that his kids know how special their Mother is. A great Father is one who can joke with you and be your friend when no one else will be. He’s the guy who understands what it feels like when your first “love” doesn’t love you back. He’s the guy who takes you water skiing with the Scouts making your feel more important than your 10 or 11 years deserve. He’s the guy who inspires you to be better than you are.

I could go on and on with these references to the Father’s in my life but let me pay tribute to them individually.

My Dad is the greatest Dad ever! Once again, I know you’re all out there disagreeing with me but for me, my Dad is the greatest. In trying to decide upon the one thing that really stands out about him, it’s his, oh, how to describe it – work ethic, willingness to serve, willingness to forgive, love of others. OK that probably sounds like lots of things and not just one but it all comes down to how my Uncle Jim described him, “a man without guile.” I have seen my Dad go through some of the most difficult of circumstances with a smile on his face, without harboring any anger. I made the comment to him one time about how angry I was at a former business partner of his for the way he treated my Dad and the ensuing difficulties that came about. Dad just looked at me and said something like, “I’m not mad at him so why should you be?” I learned a profound lesson that day, one that I have never forgot.

I could list lots of other things about my Dad – life-long Scouter, great packer (you should have seen the truck and trailer that he packed that had all of mine and Janae’s stuff on it when he moved us to San Diego to go to law school), the guy who can fix or build or repair anything and so many more things. I inherited so many of my Dad’s qualities but the one that I failed to inherit was his innate sense of direction. There’s an incredibly embarrassing story out there about a certain officer who couldn’t read a stupid map and got his team lost at Camp Shelby all because he didn’t get his Dad’s gift of direction but that’s another story – or not.

Then there’s my Father-in-Law, Lyman. What a great man to have for a Father-in-Law. For some reason I didn’t scare him quite so much when Janae brought me home for the first time, but maybe he should have been scared, just a little. He has always been a friend to me. We both love to work in the yard (his is always so immaculate and beautiful) and so I’ve enjoyed learning from his experience. His service in the Korean war, serving in the legal office, became another common bond when I decided to join the Navy out of law school. His work ethic, his integrity, his love of family are all qualities that I greatly admire. But perhaps the best lesson I’ve learned from him is how to be a great father-in-law. As my sons approach the time when they will be married I hope that I can be as good a father-in-law to my future daughter-in-laws as he has been a father-in-law to me.

And then there are the Grandfathers.

Grandpa Bill lived up and over the hill from us. He taught me how to work. Living on a huge piece of property there were always fences to mend, horses to feed, weeds to pull and all the other things that needed to be done on a large ranch. He was of the old school, that once you gave your word, you were committed. “My word is my bond” was a common phrase of his and he lived by that creed. He was a man of tremendous faith. I loved listening to the stories of his conversion and then the many stories of how his faith was rewarded. Great lessons for a young man to learn. His favorite scripture became my favorite scripture, “I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” I have taken great comfort in those words. Later in life I loved the fact that he started calling Grandma Edra “Tiger.” That was so atypical of the perception I had of him as I was growing up, the perception of a stern businessman, that I loved seeing the softening of his personality. It taught me that you could be the most successful and manly of men but still have a soft and loving side.

Grandpa Howard was the consummate Cowboy Grandpa. He will forever be linked to “Grandpa Cereal,” fishing on Boulder Mountain, his beloved horse Brigham Tea, the ranch at Boulder and changing sprinklers in the pastures. Because of him and what he taught me at the Ranch I was able to instill in my sons a love of fishing on Boulder Mountain, riding Brigham Tea before he died and spending time in Boulder. (I’m afraid I’ve failed them in the Grandpa Cereal department and the pastures have long since been sold.) When I told him I was going to go to law school he asked me why I wanted to be one of those “liars.” I hope that I’ve made him proud. Even though he lived in Arizona and we lived in Washington, there’s a special bond that develops between a Grandpa and his grandson. He idolized Grandma and made sure that I knew it. What a tremendous example he set for me. Later when he became a sealer in the temple, Janae and I had the honor and privilege of having him perform our marriage ceremony. His cowboy wisdom shone through that day as he shared a cowboy poem with us about making a house into a home. While I’ve forgotten the specific words, I’ve never forgotten the message. And then there are his famous “fatherisms.” Let me share just a few with you:

I'm busier than a one armed paper hanger.

I'm colder than a well-digger's knees.

Grandma was slow, but she was old.

If you are waiting on me, you are wasting your time.

If you are sitting up with me, I got well a long time ago.

To a prospective Son-in-law: "Are you taking away a plate or are you bringing one to the table."

Any fool can spend money.

I'm broker than a 10 year old Mule.

You should like to do what you have to do.

And my all time favorite…

We knew you were coming, cause you hadn't got here yet.

So on this Father’s Day, I am grateful for the men who have blessed to be my Fathers. The man I am today is directly related to the men they are. I just hope that I can live up to their expectations and make them proud.

The pictures. Let me explain. There’s Dad, replete with headband, helping a nephew build his house. It says so much about him. There he is on the horse with my niece Alexandria and nephew Addison - cousins. I developed my love or horses and riding because of him. There I am, in Boulder, on Brigham Tea with Seth and Luke – oh how we miss him when we go to the ranch. As you look at that picture imagine my Dad and a much smaller version of me on him or one of our other horses. At the same time imagine Grandpa Howard and that same smaller version of me on him. There we are fishing on Boulder Mountain. Again, imagine Dad and Grandpa Howard in those shots. Because Grandpa Bill taught me the same love of horses and fishing, you can put him in the same shots and get the same image.

Graduation News Story Link

2007-06-12T21:05:00.000-06:00

Thanks Lisa for sending me the link to the Channel 2 News Story.

For those that would like to see the news clip, here it is:

http://kutv.com/local/local_story_151093514.html

French Student of the Year

2007-06-11T12:35:00.001-06:00

Braxton was nominated by his French teacher to be student of the year. After graduation we hustled up to the junior high for his awards presentation. He was surprised and pleased as French was his favorite class this year.

Way to go Braxton!!

Gradutation Pictures

2007-06-11T12:27:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from graduation. Two of them appeared in the paper (the first two). The others are pictures taken that day. (Oh, the non-family member graduate in green is the girl who thought my cute puppy was a "loud cat." )

Graduation

2007-06-11T12:24:00.000-06:00

The reason I waited so long to come home on leave was so that I could be home for Seth’s graduation. Almost 10 weeks ago I e-mailed his principal, played the sympathy card about being in Afghanistan for his entire senior year and asked if I could possibly present Seth with his diploma at graduation. Well within a day of sending the e-mail, I got one back telling me that they would be honored to have me present him with his diploma. I was so excited. Of course we didn’t tell Seth.

Well graduation was great. My parents came up from Arizona as did my brother Chris, his wife Kari and their daughter LoraLynn (who had graduated the week before). It was great to see them after so long. Of course Janae’s parents were there and it was equally wonderful to see them. Donna has been such a big support – writing me every week.

Anyway we had let the word out that we had this planned so we got a little bit of media coverage. Channel Two (CBS affiliate) was there and did a really great story. I wish I were not so technologically challenged and could load a copy of the story but you’ll have to take my word for it, they did a great job. I was so impressed with Seth when he was interviewed, he was so poised and confident. I wondered what happened to my little boy.

That afternoon a reporter from the Deseret Morning News came by the house and interviewed us. Once again Seth did a great job. Here’s the link to the article if you want to read it on line, otherwise, I’ll include the article at the end of this entry.

The next morning I got a call from a woman saying she was calling from “cable radio” and that Johnson and Johnson wanted to interview me. I had no idea what “cable radio” was, thinking that it was something new, like cable TV. Anyway about 15 minutes later they called back, again telling me that they were calling me from “cable.” The DJ’s asked me if I’d been listening to their show that morning. Not wanting to look like an idiot, I simply said that I had barely woken up and hadn’t turned on the radio yet.

Well the interview was fun. Of course they asked me what was the first thing I did when I got home. I laughed and told them that I couldn’t tell them that. They laughed and one of the DJ’s yelled out “I knew he was going to say that.” Oh, if they only knew!! They then asked what was the second thing that I did when I got home. That was a little more public worthy – we went for pizza at the Lindon Pizza Factory.

OK, this is not about graduation but I want to say thanks to the Pizza Factory. They comped us our entire dinner. Paul Tieman and his family were there – we always see several people that we know when we go there. Anyway Paul went to the manager and told them that I had just gotten home from Afghanistan – in fact I hadn’t been home for more than two hours when we were sitting in their restaurant. Well like I said, they comped us the meal, thanking me for my service. Once again, the support we soldiers receive is so incredible.

Well it wasn’t until a couple of days later when I was retelling this story that somebody said that it wasn’t “cable” radio but K-Bull. Of course I’ve heard of K-Bull but not being a country music fan it didn’t dawn on me. Boy did I feel stupid. So to Johnson and Johnson of K-Bull, I apologize for not realizing who you were!

Anyway, I digress. Graduation was a great experience. Presenting Seth with his diploma was such a wonderful experience. One he and I will never forget. I was vaguely aware of the audience but I was focused on Seth walking towards me. It was really cool. Having missed his entire senior year this was my way of participating in a small way.

Later that day Luke said that I needed to get deployed in two years and come back for his graduation so that I could do the same for him. I told him that I hoped that wouldn’t happen.

Anyway, Seth is a graduate. I can’t believe that our “baby” is a high school graduate, bound for college and then a mission.

Boy we’re getting old!!

The Deseret Morning News
May 31, 2007
Soldier Takes Leave, Hands Son Diploma
Elizabeth Stuart

OREM — Lt. Col. Robert Church almost didn't notice the 2,000 people who stood, cheering in his honor Wednesday at the Timpanogos High School commencement exercises.

All he could see was his son, garbed in the traditional graduation cap and gown, headed toward him, ready to receive his high school diploma.

"I wasn't looking at the crowd," said the J.A.G. officer and attorney, who came home on leave from Afghanistan to present his son, Seth Church, with his diploma. "I don't know — did they stand up?"

Robert Church caught up his 18-year-old son in a bear hug after passing him the eagerly awaited diploma. The hug was long in coming: Robert Church left home for Afghanistan nearly a year ago.

"It was the perfect way to end high school," said Seth Church, who assumed his father would be catcalling from the stands with the other parents.

He was a little confused, he said, when the teachers ushering students onto the stage to receive their diplomas asked him repeatedly, "Are you Seth Church?"

Maybe he had done something wrong?

"When I walked out it was dark, and I was kind of blinded by the lights. I was just thinking about not tripping," Seth Church said. "Then I heard them say my dad's name and that he was giving me my diploma — and I was like, Wow!"

Robert Church missed a lot during his time overseas; his youngest son took up French and joined the school choir. His 15-year-old braved his first year of high school and earned his Eagle Scout award. His oldest got caught up in his first romance and earned a scholarship to Brigham Young University.

"This was my one opportunity to participate in Seth's senior year. Giving him that diploma was surreal, overwhelming, special — all of those adjectives," said the lieutenant colonel, who lit up like a small boy in a candy shop. "So cool."

Many of the lieutenant colonel's colleagues chose to take their leave during the holidays, but Robert Church said he opted to eat Christmas dinner alone in Kabul so he could see his eldest son graduate. The army grants only two weeks leave.

"Christmas comes every year, but graduation comes only once in your son's life," he said.

Although Seth Church missed having a father's advice as he dealt with the stresses of making post-graduation plans and delved into the befuddling world of women, he is in awe of the work his father does.

"You hear a lot of news about the war, and it's most all bad," he said. "My dad tells me a lot of good things that are happening in Afghanistan. He tells me how appreciative the people are and how grateful they are to have just a taste of the freedoms we have. Hearing him talk has given me a new appreciation for freedom."

Robert Church has spent the past 10 months helping jump start a new military justice program in Afghanistan. When he returns to the country in a week and a half, he will begin teaching a mini-course to bring Afghani officers up to speed on the skills needed to prosecute or defend someone in the courtroom.

"It is incredible to see the Afghani army moving away from beatings and harsh treatment of soldiers. It's inspiring to see these soldiers begin to realize they have rights," he said. "If this was a 9-to-5 job and I could go home to my family at night and on weekends, it would be a dream job."

Oh, I got a lot of grief from my boss, Paul Johnson, for that last comment about the “dream job.” I should have clarified, it would be a dream job, but only after my job at the city.

Walking Off the Plane

2007-06-11T12:22:00.001-06:00

I finally made it home. But not before a 2+ hour flight home. Once again I was blown away by the support of total strangers. As we boarded our flight to Salt Lake (there were 4 of us – two of us from Afghanistan and 2 from Iraq) the flight attendant asked me where we were coming from – again, that senior officer thing, I was the first soldier on the plane – I told here that we were coming home on leave from Afghanistan and Iraq. I was able to sit in the “first” part of the plane (yes, I flew first class again – it’s shameful but I loved it!) and as the people would pass me, some would shake my hand and thank me for my service, others would smile, some would pat me on the shoulder – it was great. After we were all boarded, the flight attendant got on the speaker and announced that there were 4 soldiers on their way home from the Middle East and on behalf of the crew and passengers, wanted to thank us for our service. The plane then broke into clapping and cheering. Once again I was moved by the support of total strangers.

OK, now I finally made it home. When the plane landed in Salt Lake I can’t really describe the feeling of gratitude I had for making it home safely.

Since I was in the front of the plane I was one of the first ones off the plane. And there they were, my wonderful family. I don't think I've seen a more amazing sight - my beautiful wife Janae and my handsome sons. (Janae was able to get passes for them all to go through security and meet me at the gate.) Once again my eyes welled up with tears as I looked at them. It had been almost 10 months since I’d seen them so you can imagine the joy we all felt at being reunited. Hugs and kisses were shared, even with Luke who normally will not let me kiss him. Well he allowed me to give him at least one kiss before he declared that that was enough. But that was fine, just being with them was again was such a great thing.

And thus started my leave. Actually, that was day zero and since I got home around 3:15 in the afternoon it was like having a half day free. Boy was it great to finally be home.

Dallas

2007-06-11T12:19:00.001-06:00

I knew what to expect when we deplaned in Dallas but knowing it didn’t really prepare me for what happened. As we got off the plane and headed towards customs we were on the upper level from one of the ticketing areas. The walkway was glass enclosed so we could see down to the waiting passengers and they could see us. As we began to walk around the ticketing area the passengers began to clap and cheer, some even stood up to clap, cheer and wave. And that wasn’t even the planned reception. As I looked at all those faces looking up at us I was overcome with a tremendous feeling of pride for the privilege I have of wearing my uniform and serving my country. I’ll concede that it actually caused my throat to tighten and my eyes get a little bit wet. I couldn’t help it. It was such a cool thing to see and experience.

As we cleared customs that’s where we were met by an organized mob of cheering, whistling, waving, smiling people. There were easily over 300 people there. Signs of support were everywhere. Hundreds of flags were waving. People were reaching out to shake your hand, to touch your uniform, to simply let you know that you were loved and supported. Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, retired soldiers from the Korean Conflict in their dress uniforms were there. Families with young children, Grandparents. You name it, they were there. People were thrusting water bottles, Girl Scoutt cookies, bags of goodies, flags and all other sorts of things at us. That’s where I lost it. I had tears in my eyes. I couldn’t help it. The raw emotion in that room was so overpowering. Once again, the pride at being able to wear this uniform and the tremendous outpouring of support simply overcame my ability to keep my emotions in check.

As I finally made my way through the cheering throng and was waiting for the shuttle to take me to my gate, a young boy approached me and asked me for my autograph. His brother ran over and thrust his autograph book into my hand. Their mother then asked if they could take their picture with me. Here we are. Their mother said that her boys absolutely love to come to the airport and cheer for the soldiers. I can only imagine that they will grow up to be soldiers themselves.

As I looked at all these people I couldn’t believe the generosity, the support and the love for the troops. People like this gather every time a R&R flight comes in and that’s just about every day. These people were performing a vital service for us, one that I’ll never forget. I was truly humbled by their willingness to come down and cheer for total strangers. I wondered if I lived in the Dallas area would I be willing to do this same thing. I hope that I would.

2007-06-11T12:11:00.000-06:00

(For some reason I can't move the pictures to where I want them so you get them now. Guys sleeping on the floor, waiting for a plane, "tent city" in Kuwait, Arabic McDonald's and Me and Superman on the plane going home.)

And so it begins…the journey home (OK, I’m actually writing this after the fact, while sitting in the Dallas Airport waiting to fly back to Afghanistan, but work with me here).

The convoy that took me to BAF (Bagram Air Field) left at the very reasonable hour of 1030 in the morning. Didn’t’ have to get up early or anything. Of course I didn’t get any work done that morning as I was too excited to finally be going home on leave. But I at least made an appearance at the office to keep up the illusion that I am a hard working Army officer.

After the convoy got to BAF, I checked into the R&R tent and had the rest of the day to myself. Not much to report other than I spent an hour or so at the gym.

The next morning we had to report to the passenger terminal by 0830 and our flight was scheduled to leave by 1130. Of course we were all quite excited by the prospect of an early flight especially since the flight from the previous day had been canceled. Well our excitement was soon squashed as we were told that the plane hadn’t even arrived yet and wouldn’t be there for 3-4 more hours. We were told to simply wait in the passenger terminal until our next muster time but being the slightly rebellious soul that I am, I left, got something to eat, wandered over to the PX and tried to pass the time as best I could. When we mustered again we were told that the plane had barely left and wouldn’t arrive for another 2 hours or so. Once again we began the waiting game. Finally our patience was rewarded and we began the boarding process.

Since I was the senior officer on the plane the crew saved me a seat on the front row of the C-17. I thought, “this is great. Rank certainly does have it’s privileges.” It was great, lots of leg room! But, it was right in front of the only on-board bathroom and I swear, every one of the 120+ people on board used it. Every time the door opened I was hit with a wave of that nasty port-a-potty smell. By the end of the 4 hour flight I was about ready to use it myself, only it was my dinner that was rumbling around in my stomach that I was going to deposit in the bowl.

Well we finally arrived in Kuwait. Hot doesn’t really describe the temperature. When we left Afghanistan it was in the mid-90’s. While I don’t know the exact temperature it was A LOT hotter, even though it was the middle of the night when we got there. The next day the temperature soared and it made me grateful not to be stationed there.

I won’t bore you with the details of all briefs but will simply mention that we got there after midnight, had a 0200 briefing to submit our names for our itineraries, had to be back at 0600 to pick up our itineraries and then had to be back at 1130 for our customs inspection. Not a lot of time to sleep but that was OK. I was still too excited.

After we cleared customs we were sent into “lockdown.” We were basically “prisoners” in a secure area so that we couldn’t sneak back onto the unsecure area of base to acquire something “illegal” to take home. Again, due to the fact that I was on the way home made it bearable, but just barely.

By the light of day I was forced to admit that Afghanistan is “beautiful” compared to Kuwait. At least in the Kabul area there are majestic mountains that surround the city. Kuwait was a dry, barren wasteland. Oh, did I mention that it was hotter than Hades? If I didn’t, it was hotter than Hades and once again, I was glad that I was not stationed there.

Here are a couple of pictures of the base. Not to scenic is it? The base had a McDonald’s – didn’t eat there but did take a picture of the Golden Arches in Arabic.

Finally it was time to get on the plane. We were bused a 40 minutes to the airport where once again, senior officers were afforded some privilege. It was a commercial plane, chartered by the military to transport soldiers. Twelve First Class seats were made available to the 5 Lieutenant Colonels and Senior Enlisted soldiers. Talk about comfort. The seats fully reclined and there was so much space between the seats, even when fully reclined, that I couldn’t touch the seat back in front of me when it was reclined. The food was great, the service impeccable. Needless to say the flight home was really great.

We stopped to refuel in Scotland and while a layover shouldn’t count as having visited a country, I’m going to now claim that I’ve been to Scotland. I think I should qualify as having visited as we had to walk across the tarmac to get into the terminal. That’s a little more than simply walking down an enclosed jetway, don’t you think?

Anyway, that was our trip home. I’ll write about Dallas in a separate entry as it was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had in a very long time.

Success Story

2007-05-23T23:30:00.000-06:00

As I alluded in my last post, last week CPT Dusty Kawai helped his ANA achieve a huge success. I'm sure I'll get some of the details wrong but I'll try to hit the highlights as they were told to MG Black.

In January, as one of the soldiers was leaving an office, he was grabbed from behind and felt a cloth being placed over his mouth. When he awoke, he was being raped by the Brigade Commander, a LTC. After the assault was over, the soldier left the office, feeling sick from the drug he was administered as well in pain from the ordeal. (I'm trying to spare you the details.) He reported to a friend or medic. He was immediately examined and the physical evidence confirmed that he had been raped. He was also able to provide additional physical evidence that confirmed what had happened. (Again, trying to spare you the gross details.) Statements were taken by the victim and those who witnessed and observed the victim after the rape.

In the ANA, when a crime is reported, the Commander must initiate an investigation. In this case, the 2-star ANA General did not want to do anything so he collected the statements and hid them in his office so Dusty and the legal folks had no idea this had taken place.

A few weeks/months later, one of the soldiers snuck into the General's office, copied the statements, put them back and then forwarded the investigation up to the JAG's office at the Ministry of Defense (MoD). At that point, the nation's top JAG, BG Shir, ordered that an investigation be done.

When the MG found out about, he attempted to thwart the investigation by sending the LTC to a course at the KMTC. He also threatened to have Dusty fired for pursuing this investigation. I'm not sure why the ANA general thought he could fire the US ETT but he threatened Dusty anyway. Little does he know... Anyway, they finally got the LTC back from the KMTC and restricted him to base. Boy was he unhappy.

Again, I'm a little sketchy on the details, but as I remember, the only way they were able to get the official investigation going was when the deputy commander ordered the investigation take place. He did it when the MG was gone. At least that's how I remember it.

Then, when it was time for the investigation to begin, the MG would not authorize the ANA any vehicles in order to go to the location to conduct the investigation. So Dusty put together a US convoy and personally went down with the prosecutor, defense counsel and investigators to conduct this investigation.

That's one thing Dusty has really excelled at. He's gone with the investigators on so many of the investigations. He's really trained his ANA well on how to conduct a thorough criminal investigation. During his recounting of his experience someone asked him if he was ever afraid or felt threatened. He said that there have been several times when he's slept with his 9M on his chest because he was sleeping right in the middle of those he was investigating. (MG Black had asked me about and said his biggest concern for us was our safety. I leaned over to him and told him that I'd never heard Dusty tell me that before.) Anyway, I digress.

Dusty said that they found the victim who naturally had felt that nothing was being done with this case. He felt that like so many other cases, this one was going to be hidden away because the criminal was a senior ranking officer. Dusty rose to the challenge.

A terrific investigation was done. The key witnesses were protected so that they wouldn't be intimidated into changing their story. The defendant was restricted to base, as I said, and his movements were monitored so that he could not intimidate the witnesses. All the necessary court proceedings were done, the procedures were followed to the "T", the judges made all the right calls and the dirt-bag was convicted. He got 5 years in prison.

I know I've left out a lot of the details but believe me when I say that this case would never have been prosecuted so successfully had Dusty not been there every step of the way.

That's what we stressed with MG Black. With the Akhtar case and our rape case (8 year conviction), none of this would have been possible had the mentors not been there. There are two Corps here in the country that don't have JAGs and they have cases just like this that are not going anywhere because there is no ETT presence. I'm hoping that he'll be able to make it happen that more JAGs can get assigned to these positions.

Anyway, just wanted to share the story of his success.

Way to go Dusty!!

TJAG of the Army Visit

2007-05-22T08:32:00.000-06:00

Remember a couple of months ago how the Navy's top JAG visited us here in Afghanistan? Well the Army's top JAG was here for a visit. MG Scott Black came to visit. He's a very warm, caring individual. He "scared" me when he said that he's heard about me and the success we're having here. I think that my friend, COL Diner, who works in Kabul must have said something to him. I hope that's the case. I would hate to think I've come to his attention some other way. He then made me even more nervous when we said goodbye and he said he'd be seeing me again. I hope it's just my over-active imagination working.

Several of us were able to travel to Kabul to the ISAF - the international coalition compound - for lunch and to meet him. It was great.

We were able to talk about the success we've been having here, tell him our "war" stories, impress upon him the importance of this mission and brag about ourselves.

Last week Dusty - my JAG down range - had a huge success with one of his trials. I was able to tell the General all about Dusty's accomplishments. I'll post his story in my next entry.

However, unlike the Navy JAG, no coins were forthcoming. Oh well.

Learn From My Mistake

2007-05-22T07:10:00.000-06:00

For the last several weeks I've kept having this nagging thought that I needed to back up all the pictures I've taken on this deployment. Did I listen to that little nagging voice? Of course not. Then I thought, "when I'm home on leave I'll buy an external hard drive so that I can back up my pictures." What a great thought, don't you think?

Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to do that.

Last night my hard drive died a swift and bitter death. My IT guys are telling me that they do not have the capabilities of salvaging anything from the drive.

If I were not going on leave in the very near future I'd be much more despondant. As it is, the prospect of leave is the only thing keeping me from slitting my wrists. OK, not really but you know what I mean.

So now I am in the process of contacting anyone and everyone I can think of who might have taken roughly the same pictures I did.

Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!

From now on, I'm backing up all my photos. Do the same!!

Back to Blackhorse

2007-05-21T08:38:00.000-06:00

My official replacement at Blackhorse arrived and is now in place. His name is CPT Daniel Dickert and he’s from South Carolina. I was able to take him down to Blackhorse and introduce him to the staff and the ANA.

It was so good to be back “home.” (I told him that when you start calling your base “home” you’ve been here too long – and I’ve been here way too long!!) It was also really weird. He was moved into my old room and I ended up staying there with him. As you may recall, I started on one side of the room and then switched to the other side when my roommate left. Well I moved Daniel to the side that I most recently left and I ended up staying on the side I originally started. Can you say deja-vus (or however you spell it)?

I introduced him to all the Marines. They can be a rather intimidating bunch but I assured him that they were a good bunch of guys.

My main goal was to introduce him to the ANA. I was pleased to see that that went well. But at the same time it was hard. I hate to admit that when I left I was getting a little burned out from all the problems but as I sat there for the 2.5 days getting back into the mentoring game, I realized just how much I missed being a mentor. It was so great to sit in Karim’s office and the judge’s chamber and “discuss” issues. As I’ve been preparing this course I’ve come across several issues that need to be resolved and I was able to at least get answers to my questions. I didn’t always agree with their interpretation but at least I got some answers.

The day we went to Karim’s office, almost his entire staff was there. They all gave me hugs which was unusual as they’ve never done that before. But you know what, I didn’t mind it as I’ve really missed them.

And then being back with my “family,” that was probably the greatest part about being back. Seeing Merrill, Steve, Larry and all the others was wonderful. Wais has really missed me as well as he gave me an Afghan hug, something he doesn’t normally do.

So now I’m back at Phoenix. Do I call this place home? Uh, no. It’s the place where I sleep at night and work during the day but it will never be home.

Speaking of home, I can now say with 100% confidence that I will be home in less than a week!!! Can I just say that I’m a little excited? OK, maybe more than just a little. I actually packed tonight even though it’s still a few days away, that’s how excited I am.

Faces of Afghanistan

2007-05-13T08:59:00.000-06:00

Wanted to share some photographs. Some I took, some I found on the shared drive at Phoenix.

I'm calling this entry, "Faces of Afghanistan."

Hope you enjoy the photographs.

Oh, and thanks to all those who took the photographs. I wish I could say that I took them all.

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T08:38:00.000-06:00

I’ve been trying to come up with something really profound to say on Mother’s Day but my “profoundity” is lacking. I wanted to say something that would really epitomize what our Mothers mean to us. I wanted to extol the virtues of Motherhood like no one else has done before. I wanted reduce you all to heaps of blubbering emotion with my eloquence but alas, I’m afraid that I’m just going to have to settle for spewing forth some thoughts on the page that may or may not have any great significance.

Why do we love our Mothers? Well that’s kind of a stupid question. We love our Mother’s because they’re our Mothers. I know if I said that my Mother was the greatest Mother ever, I’d get half a dozen comments on how I was wrong. If I said that my boys Mother was the greatest Mother ever, I’d get the same amount of comments. But guess what, I don’t give a “rat’s behind” if you all think the Mothers in my life are the greatest because they’re mine!!

What is it that makes a great Mom? Hmmm, let me see. Someone who makes the very best chocolate chip cookies in the whole world? That would be Janae. Someone who instilled a love of music and who made me learn how to play the piano? That would be my Mom. Someone who, when you’re tempted to do something really stupid as a high school student and you think to yourself, “if I do this and Grandma Edra finds out, I’d be so ashamed” so you don’t do that really stupid thing? That would be Grandma Edra. Someone who teaches you the proper way to eat fish caught off Boulder Mountain in the back of their camper at a family reunion? That would be Grandma Ida. Someone who writes you a letter every week while you’re in Afghanistan, that would by my Mother-in-law.

Great Mom’s are all those things but they’re so much more. As I watch my boys grow into young men, I realize that their greatness is directly attributable to their Mother. Of course I realize that I have made my own contribution to who and what they are but let’s be honest, a boy’s Mother plays an integral part of who they are. Janae is an amazing Mother. As I’ve watched her over the years I’ve been amazed at her patience, her loyalty, her dedication to the needs of our sons. She has spent countless hours molding them into righteous Priesthood holders. Through her service, she has taught them how to serve. Through her work ethic, she has taught them how to work. Through her sense of humor, she has taught them how to have fun.

She’s the kind of Mom that thinks and plans ahead. I can’t tell you how many late nights one of the boys has come to her and said, “I have to make ___ (fill in the blank) for a school project.” Well guess what, she has on hand whatever that is needed to complete the project. Whether it’s poster board, or markers, or this or that, she’s got it. I’m sure some of it has to do with the fact that she’s a teacher but she’s just that way. She’s visionary.

And speaking of teaching, she’s got to be the greatest teacher ever. How many teachers do you know who become teacher of the year as a substitute teacher? Huh, huh? Can’t think of one, well my son’s Mother is one of the few. Being a great teacher has been such a blessing to our boys as well. She has been there for them, helping them with their homework. I remember times working with one of our sons on spelling or some other subject and all we did was butt heads. Of course Janae stepped in and made things so much better. If you didn’t know this already, my sons are brilliant but they didn’t get it from me. They got it all from their Mom.

A wise man once wrote that he was born of “goodly parents.” My boys will be able to say the same about their Mother, that she was a goodly woman and that she taught them in the ways of the Lord.

Another wise man said that he was everything he was because of his angelic mother. Again, my boys will be able to say the same thing.

I know that I am the man that I am today because of the Mother of my sons. All men marry above their station in life and I’m just grateful that she said “yes” to me. (Now I’m only saying that for the public record – the truth is that her Dad paid me to marry her! Shhh, don’t tell anyone!) All joking aside, she has put up with a lot being married to me and I’m just grateful that she has had the patience and the where-with-all to stick by me.

And Janae is who she is because of her Mother. So to my wonderful Mother-in-law, Donna, thank you for being a wonderful Mother. Not only has she been a great Mother to Janae, she has been a great Mother to a rather wild, stuck-up, snobbish son-in-law who tended to put skiing above going to class in the early days of daughter’s relationship with this irresponsible young man. I’m sure she had nightmares about the man her daughter was marrying but I think that I’ve finally grown up enough to justify her daughters faith in me. I can’t think of a better Mother-in-law to have. I’ve been truly blessed.

Well of course I am who I am because of my own Mother. As I said, all sons have a special relationship with their Mothers and I’m no exception. Being the oldest has given me the advantage of being with her the longest. What a lucky guy I am!! A few years ago she was pretty sick. I had the privilege of giving her a blessing. As I lay my hands on her head, I felt the Spirit of the Lord flow through me to her. What a wonderful experience that was. She, who had given me so much, I was now able to give something back to her. It was a truly wonderful experience.

And then there are my Grandmothers. My best-friend, Grandma Edra, passed away several years ago. I still miss her. She was my rock. I still remember her “Sunday school” lessons and how they molded me into who I’ve become. How I wish that she was still physically present in my life but I have to be grateful that I can still feel of her spirit. Even now, after all these years, I think, “I’d better not do that because Grandma Edra is watching and I don’t want to disappoint her.”

Then there’s Grandma Ida. She’ll be 91 this month. Several years ago she asked me to speak at her funeral. At her 90th birthday celebration last year, I told her that if she wanted me to still speak she’d have to wait a year. Looks like she’s holding on. She was the greatest Grandmother because she was a “cowboy grandmother” and who can resist a woman like that. The summers I spent at the Ranch added a whole different dimension to who I became. As we worked in the garden together, walked to the tiny little store together, read together and all the other things we did together, she taught me some invaluable lessons.

Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough. Like I said, I wanted to be profound, I wanted to be wise and in the end all I could be was grateful. I could tell lots of personal stories about each of these amazing women but I’ll save those for my own memories. All I can say to each one of these women who have so affected my life is thank you. Thank you for bearing me and thank you for bearing with me. I know that there is a special place in Heaven for Mothers and Wives because of who and what they have to put up with.

So on your special day, Happy Mother’s Day to the ones I love the most!!!

Man Jammies

2007-05-03T06:14:00.000-06:00

A traditional style of clothing of the men are what we call "man jammies." I have no idea what they're called in Dari so "man jammies" they are. The consist of a long flowing shirt, just like a night shirt and a pair of draw string pants, exactly like MC Hammer pants - remember those?

Anyway, COL Khaliq presented Scott and I with a pair as a gift. He got white and I got black. I joked with him that at least they got the colors of our personalities right!!

As you can see, the pants are about as wide as they are long. I asked why they were so wide and the only answer I got was "that was just the way they were." Needless to say you have an incredible amount of material tied around your waist.

But they are quite comfortable or at least they seem like they will be. I haven't actually worn mine but just trying them on I could tell that they'd be comfortable.

So there you have it, me and my man jammies.

The Embassy

2007-05-02T03:03:00.000-06:00

Recently we took a trip to the embassy. I'd actually been there a couple of times but the rest of the legal office hadn't. The old embassy, the one shot up when the taliban took over, is the picture with the windows in the background. The new embassy is the "lovely" mustard yellow color.

We were able to meet the new ambassador. He had arrived the week earlier and was still suffering from jet-lag. Nice guy though.

The Ghar

2007-04-29T08:32:00.000-06:00

On Friday last, we hiked the Ghar (Ghar in Dari means mountain – isn’t that real original?). We mustered at 0430 and left by 0500. The sun had just started to rise when we got there so it made for a beautiful morning hike.

You’ll be able to tell from the pictures the kind of terrain and the steepness of the slope. All I can say is that I was glad that I’d been working out every day for the last year. But, despite all the time I’ve put into the gym, I still got winded as we traversed the side of the mountain.

The Ghar is surrounded by the firing ranges. We parked in one of the range parking lots. There was a young Afgahn male there asking for “one doll-ah man to watch your truck.” One of the guys paid him a dollar but it was a dollar wasted as they guy was no where to be found when we got back. Actually, we left two security guards there so the guy probably felt like he didn’t need to stay.

I fell in at the end of the column of the hikers. I noticed up ahead that there was a group of guys staring at the ground, taking pictures. I thought, “Why are they taking pictures of sheep turds?” Well when I got there it was not just simply a sheep turd. It was a perfectly round sheep turd that was rolling around on the ground. Have you guessed what was causing it to roll? OK, from the picture you can probably tell, but it was a dung beetle. Another first in my life. I can now dazzle my friends, relatives, acquaintances and complete strangers with my tale of seeing the dung beetle rolling his ball of dung. And now you can say that you’ve seen one as well. Aren’t you just thrilled?

About 1/2 way up there was a shepherd on the side of the mountain singing to his heart’s content. His sheep and goats were traversing the side of the mountain foraging for food. As we passed him, he too asked for “one doll-ah man.” Must be a racket. He was amazing though as he was running up and down the side of that steep hill in nothing but a pair of loose fitting sandals. One bit of advice though that I didn’t get until too late – stay down wind from him!! Not a lot of showers on the side of that mountain.

Scattered around the side were several Taliban lookouts. OK, I don’t know for sure that they were Taliban outposts but that’s what one of the guys who had been on the hike before told me. They were certainly well placed as the views of the surrounding valley were incredible. You could see for miles and miles. You’d be able to see further if it weren’t for the smog, dust and fecal matter hanging in the air. Have I mentioned that we’ve been told that the air here has 8 parts per million of fecal matter. Ummm. Doesn’t that sound yummy!!

Anyway, the views from the lookouts were magnificent as well as very strategic. Scattered around them were Russian shell casings, rocket tubes and other discernable signs that weapons had been fired from these locations.

And yet, despite the obvious signs of war and destruction, there were signs of great beauty as well. Wild flowers littered the sides of the hill. Small signs of beauty amidst the barren landscape, a real testament that you can find beauty just about anywhere.

Before you reached the 7,500 peak, you had to crawl across a spine of rock. I hope the pictures do the experience justice. I’m not a big fan of heights so needless to say I was just a tad bit nervous traversing the spine, but I made it.

A group of French soldiers had started about 20 minutes before we did so of course they were already there. As I mingled among them I could smell the distinct odor of alcohol. At first I couldn’t figure out what it was and then I saw the champagne bottle. The French were up there toasting the rising of the sun, drinking their cheap champagne in plastic champagne glasses.

I had brought an American Flag. I flew it over Camp Blackhorse on Veteran’s Day last November and will take it home to be the new flag that we fly in front of our house. I’m glad I brought it as several people took advantage of it.

Again, the view was incredible. Since we were at the highest point, you could turn in any direction and see forever. Blackhorse was hidden from view by a small hill but you could see the KMTC, you could see the airport and planes landing and so much more.

As we were hiking down we met a group coming from the KMTC. It made me smile to hear them grumble and complain about how steep it was, how hot it was (it was only 0745 by then) and how they didn’t think they were going to make it. One of the senior officers from the KMTC was climbing with them. It was his 40th hike and he was wearing his body armor. We couldn’t decide if he was a manly man or just insane. We finally decided that he was insane.

It was a great hike and I’m glad that I did it. I realized that I had done about the only “touristy” thing available for the soldiers to do. So now I can say that I’ve finally become a tourist in Afghanistan.

Leave

2007-04-29T08:31:00.001-06:00

Well it’s finally almost here, my turn to go on leave. Merrill and Wais have been home for a couple of weeks now and will shortly be on their way back. They both left at about the same time and it just about killed me watching them go and me having to stay. Then I got transferred up here to Phoenix shortly after that to work on the military justice course and that about did me in but I’m adjusting and trying not to count down the days.

I can’t give out exact dates and details for obvious reasons but suffice it to say that I’ll be home in less than a month. Seth graduates the end of May and I’ll be home in time for that. My parents are coming up as well as my brother Chris and his daughter who graduates the week before. It will be great to see them as well as my family and friends at home.

When I get back we’ll be under 60 days of our tour. So while it’s been excruciating to wait this long to go home it is signaling the end of this deployment.

Anyway, I suppose I shouldn’t write about it as it only makes me all the more excited. My leave papers are pinned to my wall so I see them everyday. Maybe I should put them away.

Nah!

Heroes

2007-04-29T08:30:00.000-06:00

Before I left Blackhorse I was helping draft the narrative to accompany the awards for many of our soldiers from Utah. I was amazed, inspired and humbled by what our guys have done. While I realize that I have made a contribution to the military legal system here, it somehow seems to pale in comparison to what some of these guys have done.

Let me share just a few examples of what our guys have been doing. All of this is in the past, so wives, you don’t need to worry. I won’t share any names as I know some of them want to remain anonymous and don’t want the attention focused on them.

So here are a couple of stories from our Utah soldiers. I’ll include some of the language from the awards narrative and then add editorial comments where appropriate.

One of our officers led over 25 combat missions and engaged the enemy on nine occasions, each time exhibiting tremendous courage under fire. I still haven’t been shot at, have not experience an IED or been subject to any discernable danger. For him to have been in nine different fire fights is beyond my limited realm of comprehension. On one of his missions an ANA vehicle suffered a rollover. The officer immediately established site security. He administered life saving first aid and coordinated the evacuation of three injured ANA soldiers. Thanks to him, these injured soldiers survived.

Another soldier came under rocket attack and while some may say fooheartedly, he left the safety of his bunker to make sure his ANA were all safe and accounted for.

Another soldier spent two weeks living out of a humvee while they conducted missions to keep the enemy in check. So here they are coming under fire, defending a key location, eating, sleeping, conducting missions around the clock, doing everything that needed to be done, all out of a humvee.

Other soldiers lived out of foxholes dug into the ground, living like that for weeks on end.

Most of our downrange guys engaged the enemy on more than one occasions, receiving fire and returning fire.

And these are just the few that I’m aware of. I know that some of our soldiers have been wounded in action, have displayed tremendous courage under fire, have lived like animals, have worked their butts off. All while I was comfortably living at Blackhorse making sure that the legal system worked well.

Like I said, I realize that I have made significant contributions in my own way but when I read what these guys have done I feel a small tinge of regret. I’m not sure if anyone who hasn’t been here can understand what I’m saying but suffice it to say, they’re the real heroes in my book.

Bob's "Spacious" Living Accomodations

2007-04-25T08:48:00.000-06:00

Now that we've seen the outside of Bob's room, let's take a look inside.

As soon as you step into his commodious accomodations, you see his desk on the right. As you move your gaze a few inches to the left, there's his closet.

Move your eyes just a blink, again to the left, is his "comfy" bed.

Now as you turn around, you can see the end of his bed where there's a small fridge and microwave on a stand that he sort of built himself. Notice the countdown calendar. He swore he would never count down the days but he's getting too excited to come home on leave.

One more blink to the left and there's the door and the starting point of our tour.

The pictures don't really show it very well, since I didn't take pictures of the floor, but there's only about two feet of space (OK, maybe a little bit more, but not much) between the desk and the bed.

Like I said, "spacious" and "commodious" but it's mine, all mine!!! Ha, ha, ha,!!!

Legoland

2007-04-25T08:41:00.000-06:00

Let's see where Bob lives, shall we? Oh yes, let's....

We call it Legoland. Maybe you can tell why. They are connexes stacked next to each other and on top of each other. Aren't you jealous that you don't get to live here?

I'm sure you are!!!

Just outside my room is this waterfall that someone built along with the swing. I have taken it over in the evening, sitting out there reading and listening to the sounds of the water. It's actually quite soothing.

A New Assignment

2007-04-23T08:32:00.000-06:00

I’ve received a new assignment. I’ve been transferred to our higher command in Kabul. I’m now at Camp Phoenix. If you’d like my new mailing address leave a comment with your e-mail address and I’ll send it to you personally. You can also get it from Janae. I just don’t want to publish it here for all the world to see.

Last January I suggested that we develop a military justice training program for our prosecutors and defense counsel. I’ve been lucky, the prosecutors and defense counsel I’ve worked with in the 201st Corps are actually trained lawyers and I erroneously thought most were. Turns out most are not. Even with trained lawyers in our Corps they are lacking in a lot of skills and expertise. So in an effort to try and help them improve the quality of legal services I made the suggestion that we develop the training program. Well guess who got tagged with the responsibility of preparing it? You’re right. Me.

After I get back from leave the plan is to travel to each of the 5 Corps here in country and conduct the training. I’m hoping to be able to go on the road trip but we’ll see. If we can’t make the road trip work logistically we’ll probably have the prosecutors and defense counsel come to Kabul for the training. The only problem with that will be that I’m preparing the training for a small group setting, not a large group. Besides, I’d like to see the rest of the country so I’m hoping for the trip.

I’m also up here to facilitate the transition between commands. The current command element who has been here for the past year is getting ready to be replaced by the new command element. Obviously I can’t give you any dates of this event but it will be happening in the near future. So like I said, I get to facilitate the transition, sort of be the institutional memory.

So am I happy to be here? Well…ask me that when I’m home and can tell you my “real” feelings on the matter. Of course I miss my family at Blackhorse, I miss my room, I miss the food in the DFAC (dining facility), the tight knit family feeling and I miss my ANA.

So what are the advantages of living at Phoenix? Well I’ll have to think about that and get back to you.

In the meantime, I have a new change of scenery. Stay tuned since I now have new things to write about.

Baptism

2007-04-19T05:58:00.000-06:00

I was at Phoenix on Sunday. The Chapel is right next to the JAG office. As I was walked up I noticed a crowd of people gathered around a wooden box. The Chaplain and a young woman were standing in it in their PT clothes. As I stopped to see what was happening I realized that she was standing in a makeshift baptismal font. Of course I had to stay and witness this sacred event along with about 30 others.

It was obviously very different from an LDS baptism but still something special to witness. As they stood in the font, the Chaplain asked her if she was willing to accept Jesus as her Savior. She said “yes.” He asked her if she was willing to deny Satan, his influences and the evil ways of the world. She said “yes.” He read several scriptures about baptism and its importance. He read a scripture about humility and asked her if she was humble. Again she said “yes.” He then had her kneel and said “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost I baptize you unto life.” He then had her kneel forward to immerse her under the water.

Those of you of the LDS faith will know the thoughts that went through my mind so I won’t share them here. What I will say is that it was a beautiful experience. To think that this young lady had a desire to reaffirm her faith in Jesus Christ and was willing to do so in a very public baptism, in a war zone, was such a cool thing to witness. I thought of the faith she had to go through with this sacred ordinance. I felt blessed to witness the expression of her faith and it made me think about my own faith. It also caused me to reflect upon my own covenants that I made at baptism and to feel gratitude for the knowledge and testimony I have of this sacred ordinance. It was a cool thing to witness on the Sabbath.

Unique Cleaning Practice

2007-04-19T05:56:00.000-06:00

We have a team of local nationals that clean our barracks building. They do a great job, by the way. But every morning I see one of them walking down the hall with a spray bottle spraying the floor. At first I thought it was some kind of cleaner or pre-treatment stuff. I just recently found out it was water. Since they don’t speak English I have never asked what it is they’re doing. I never asked Wais as I never really gave it much thought other than when I would see them spraying water.

After the water was sprayed one would come through with a broom. You would then see dirty smear marks down the hallway. Again my confusion mounted as I couldn’t figure out why you would spray liquid on a dirty floor only to sweep then follow up with a mop.

Well I found out my answer.

I was at the Ministry of Defense building one day and saw the same thing, only this time on the carpet - yes, spraying liquid on the carpet. That really threw me for a loop. Spraying liquid on the carpet then sweeping. All I could think of was that water soaking into the dirty carpet and making it even dirtier. Well Wais was with me at that time so I asked him.

Anyone figured it out yet? It’s to keep the dust down while they sweep. Go figure.

Spray water on the floor or carpet and you get less dust when you sweep. I can see a sort of logic in that argument. I mean there is dust everywhere. Now that winter and spring are over everything is getting dry and dusty. I guess you need to do whatever you can to keep the dust down.

I’m still not convinced that spraying water on the carpet is the answer but then I’m not Afghan so I guess my opinion really doesn’t matter.

A New Driver

2007-04-15T06:50:00.000-06:00

Janae e-mailed me with the news that we have a new driver in the house. Luke got his learner’s permit last week. She was so proud of him as he passed the test the first time. The only reason I say that is while she was waiting for him she talked with another mom who was there with her son. Apparently this cocky son only did the on-line exams and did not read or study the book. When he failed the test his mom was secretly glad as now he had to read and study the book. Janae said you could tell that he seemed like one of those “know-it-all” teenagers who needed a dose of reality. Anyway, way to go Luke!!

Janae’s getting him enrolled in driver’s ed this summer. She had him enrolled in a class at Timpanogos but then discovered that he would miss Youth Conference if he stayed in the class. We were thrilled when he told Janae that he didn’t want to miss Youth Conference and could they see about getting him into a class at Orem High. I think I was more proud of him for that fact than getting his permit. Our kids truly amaze us sometimes.

Now Janae gets the “privilege” of teaching him the preliminaries of driving. I guess they’ve had one successful lesson in a parking lot. Janae reports that he’s doing a good job and seems to be a careful driver. I’m sure I’ll get the chance to drive with him when I’m home and you know what, I can’t wait!!!