Afghanistan: A snapshot of international partners interaction with one another

As stated before, this continues to be a very interesting deployment. What is begining to bother me the most is the amount of time stuck in the conference room conducting mission analysis- that is the not so interesting part, but I am building an appreciation for the operational level of thinking and what is necessary to accomplish the mission at this level. The truely interesting part is devising ways to accomplish what you need to get done while traversing and dodgeing the various personalities inside and outside the organization. It is simply not enough to accept the status quo- there are always ways to get done what needs to get done- and I am not talking about simple tangible things, but the intangibles, like changing someones perception of an idea.

All part of the tools necessary for the counterinsurgent to fight in this convoluted melting pot of great ideas, missed opportunites, and forgotten promises. It stil bothers me that for ten years of effort in this country, we have done little to make a lasting impact on this country. The great ideas are pouring left and right now- and they are great ideas- it is just coming possibly too late in the game. There is still hope, but it seems like we are starting from scatch and there is little to build off of. Think of where this country could have been if it received the focus it should have for the last 10 years.

I ramble... and I am getting tired. I was going to write something longer, but I am too tired! Will try to recap some events next time I am on.

Afghanistan: The land where (surprisingly) many have not seen Americans Before despite being in the country for the last decade

So, deployment number 2 has kicked off with bang- not literally (luckily), but we've hit the ground running pretty hard. Very different deployment for me, I am on staff in the S9 position which has turned out to be very rewarding and interesting thus far. I knew what I was in store for when I got to Afghanistan and I have been making the best of the job since I've been here. The job title is civil military operations officer. Some call me the money man (which is mostly true). I manage all the projects our unit undertakes (construction and what not) and more importantly coordinate with the various organizations doing projects in the province- these include NGOs like USAID, other military organizations (in our case, primarily German), and with Afghan leaders. So far, it has been interesting to see the interactions between different people and various organizations. They are as varied as the personalities themselves.

This is the first time in the last month I have actually had some time to write... I ended up getting an assistant, but I forsee after a month, I made need another one. Dealing with millions of dollars of government money can be a bit uneasy, but I have people I can go to for advice- makes the burden easier to handle.

Hmm, what else? Think I'll go to bed...

OUT