IA Update





On July 8th, I had the opportunity to brief Col. Lindsey Graham, JA, USAF (aka Senator Graham) concerning the success at the Justice Center in Parwan (JCIP) and its best practices. Having the Senator's attention for nearly an hour to discuss the possibility to export the success of the JCIP to outlying provinces was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. The biggest highlight of the brief was when Col. Graham used one of my terms during subsequent discussion!

On July 14th, I ran my first road race in over a decade. I ran in the Bagram Boilermaker (15K) which was a shadow run with the Utica (NY) Boilermaker. We started at 5:30 a.m. to avoid running in the heat...sure didn't seem like it by mile 5! Quite surprisingly, I ran it in 1:10:45. For those of you who may not know, I've lost about 40 pounds over the past 6-7 months and have added about 10 pounds of muscle. It's amazing how bad food (which results in eating less) and having nothing else to do in your free time but workout can improve your health and lifestyle. Anyway, here's a photo of me crossing the Bagram Boilermaker finish line flashing a "Fight On!"

The Dog!

For those of you who may not already be aware, the Afghan nationals are known for treating dogs terribly.  Other than their value in herding sheep and alerting insurgents to the presence of coalition forces, Afghans see nothing useful about them and have been known to beat stray dogs to death.  Consequently, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the following:

Note the pooch hanging out the passenger side window!

The Windy City...Afghanistan Style

One of the interesting things about Bagram is that it's located in the middle of a circle of mountains.  When the winds blow (as they often duefor the entire summer--almost daily) you get to see some interesting things...note the sand practically covering up the entire mountain below:

Here's what the mountains look like on a normal day:

Sorry for the delay in updates...the personal use internet here is terrible!

More on Herat

As the title indicates this post will provide more about my time as a Rule of Law Field Force Team Chief in Herat.  Due to multiple inquiries about what Herat was like, I've decided to expound more about my time there. 

While in Herat I had the opportunity to liaise with several Afghan justice sector personnel and NATO folks, but the most rewarding thing was seeing the development of a nation that has seen political and social strife for several decades.  Despite the many conflicts and despotic rule of the Taliban, Herat managed to maintain some semblance of urban development.  While it was nothing like what we'd see in the U.S., it was still possible to erect things like solar powered street lights and there was even some nice architecture.

The Solar Powered Street Lights

 I thought the manner of renovation on this one was interesting--that's a bunch of wood poles holding up the second story!

 But the true reward in seeing what has transpired since the United States removed the Taliban from power was seeing young girls go to school (this was strictly forbidden during Taliban rule). See below.

Next Update:  The Windy City - Afghanistan Style!