The Journey has officially begun

Since my last post we have arrived at our final destination down-range. I can already tell that this is going to be a fulfilling deployment. Afghanistan is a very poor country, most of the people still live their lives as they did in the days of Christ. I know that you have heard the saying, that you don't know what you don't know. This is true for a large part of the country, but these people want the same liberties that we Americans enjoy so freely. They are thirsty for a simple life, one free of war, free of worry. They are so worried that we will leave them to fight the Taliban alone. I am fortunate to mentor an Afgan COL, which is the Corps G-6, along with his staff. I have a TERP, short for interpreter assigned to me at my beck and call. I also have a vehicle assigned to allow me to travel to my many meetings with the Afghan, as well as the many communications personnel on KAF, (Kandahar Airfield). Life here is wide-open, 100miles an hour. Everyone on our staff is working hard to work with our American counterpart that we replace, because they leave soon, and with their departure is much of the experience of our jobs. So we work hard to learn as much from them as possible. Below is a picture of my counterpart CPT Beatty from the Oregon National Guard, standing outside my G-6 shop, where I work.

Many of us associate with the children of Afghanistan, they have developed a habit of constantly begging for anything from water to whatever you give them. It is very hard not to give them what you can, but we know that they are taking it back home to their families, and that is fine. This is a very proud country, the men are very proud, they do use the children to prey on US forces, so we have to be very careful, even around children.

I am really looking forward to doing what I can to make a difference in this country. In the short time, I have been here, I do know that they know when you are sincere or not about helping their country. They look you directly in your eyes, as though they are looking for confirmation. I can see the years of pain and hurt that they have endured with so many years of fighting and the lack of the basic necessities that we enjoy in this country. LTC Nasif's staff is learning basic computers, which has been a challenge. They really want to improve and learn how to support themselves better and how to improve their country.... I pray that God use me to do His will in this country. In the short time that we have worked together, we have gained a mutual respect for each other and we both look forward to a great working relationship. The below picture is with me and my interpreter Abdul outside the mosque during one of my visits to the ANA compound.

So until next week, please keep the people of Afghanistan and our soldiers in prayer. We are doing a great thing here....