Daily grind

10/22/11 Hi Everyone

I leave tomorrow morning for the Dasht (which means desert in Pashto) Camp...I'll come back with pictures and good/sad stories. The visit to the Ag.Ctr. this morning was uneventful. I got a chance to walk around and look at the stuff they grew a bit more closely. There is a small area, maybe 50' x 50' with 2' tall pomegranate seedlings that need to be transplanted...I figure that there are at least 200 of them in that plot. Grapes, eggplant (two varieties at least), tomatoes, sunflowers and okra seem to be what is left over from the just ended growing season. There were still plenty of fruit on the plants.

The cultural aspects of my mission are a bit hard. Some things will probably come easy. I think getting the locals to plant sunflowers to make cooking oil will probably be a no brainer. The cooking oil they import from Pakistan is of low quality and of dubious origins. Even though the area historically has grown olives it hasn't been a commodity for many years...not in the living memory of the people here so essentially it is a new crop and it will take a while for olive trees to develop. Maybe canola (rape) seed would be a good experimental crop for the Ag.Ctr.? The 10th Mt. Division is due to pull out of here in 5 months. A lot of what I will be doing will involve getting other, non-military organizations involved to continue the good work here. I got an ambivalent answer from my contact at Cornell University...This place has so much potential for them to do the best work they do, but I can't seem to make any headway with them. If anyone reading this blog has other contacts there I would love to have you do a little pushing! I do not want anything for myself, unless it works out that way...I could see myself training people from NGO's like Cornell on how to prepare and survive in the conditions here. My worry is that if the students and staff from places like Cornell come over expecting room service they may go a bit crazy.

While the military is here civilians are extremely protected. The FOB is surrounded by concrete walls and guards are everywhere. We have two observation blimps in the air...I'm guessing 200' up with eyes on everything they can view. There are UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) flying patrols all over the surrounding area and there are all kinds of auxiliary posts around the place including other FOBs, COPS (Command Observation Posts) and SPs (Strong Points) that keep track of all kinds of movements. The 'briefings' that happen before any mission takes place off of the FOB are incredibly thorough...vehicle position for the convoy, how the vehicles will travel...speed, spacing how turns will happen and more. Anything that has happened in the area is updated with regards to Taliban activity (not much here), IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices (again, not much here), suspicious vehicles (this is a bit humorous...they say "be on the look out for a white Toyota Corolla sedan with a luggage rack and no license plate" and that describes about half of the civilian vehicles here!) and suspicious people...

10/23/11 Hi All;

I made it to the COP (Command Operating Post?) that houses the 2-87 Infantry. The conditions here are a lot more primitive than at FOB Pasab. We arrived in about an hour and then went for a ride to the base of the mountains. The Major wanted me to look at the 'wadis' to see what I thought about putting in check dams to slow the water down enough to stop flooding at the Dasht camps. It isn't one big camp but a series of 9...more or less. Other than major civil engineering works where the wadis are originating I think the real solution is to put in simple canals and barriers near the camps.

The architecture here (not the military stuff) is earth construction that we call 'cob' in the USA. A mixture of local clay dirt and straw applied in layers or as earth bricks and covered with clay/straw mix. I haven't looked at the roof systems yet, but suspect that they are wet a lot during the rainy season.

The terrain around the Dasht area is very much more arid that the area around FOB Pasab. It kind of reminds me of the Badlands in the US. I grabbed a rock for Lisa's collection or maybe for her science teacher's collection...I'll let her decide. The weather is still sunny and dusty. Their winter is supposed to start next month and the rain will begin to fall. I will have to check with local experts and find out how much falls at a time...must be a lot based upon the erosion patterns at the wadis.

An odd incident happened on our way to the mountains. Kids threw rocks at our vehicle...actually beaned the turret gunners station. It pissed him off royally...I think it was more on the prank level and kind of a 'dare you to do it' kind of thing for the kids.. My 'babysitter' SPC David M thinks it is just a kind of thing that some kids would do anywhere in the world...

We're in a smaller tent with the NCO's (non-commissioned officers) until Tuesday and I'm in the MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) building writing this blog...now to find the DFAC (Dining FACility). Sorry for the misspellings...My glasses are in my tent and I am too lazy to go back and get them.

All for now. -Jim-

I have amazing signals here at the MWR building in the 2-87 compound. The place is only around 3 acres in size and I'm guessing that no more than fifty people live here. The MWR room is about 12' x 20' and 'rustic' in the worn out, nailed together furniture and tent look. There are a lot less 'luxuries' here too. The dining facility is serviced by a smaller tent/platform and is self-serve with about 3 on staff...two of which are kids in their early teens. The dining tent is just about three times the size of the MWR room.

There are a lot of culture shock things happening in my life right now...nothing unexpected, but it works my soul to see how the 'third world' actually lives on a day-to-day basis. Our presence here is necessary, but it seems that we are at a loss on how to handle the cultural differences in an efficient manner. Somehow it makes me realize on a lot of levels how lucky we are in our corner of northern New York...what an odd set of circumstances brought me there and here...

I wax philosophic...I just got up from a nap that had me snoring on a military cot in a dark tent near the mountains in Kandahar's Zhari district. I finished reading the last chapters in a Start Trek novel and found an open computer at the MWR. I'm headed to the dining facility while listening to soldiers tap away on the 4 other computers in the facility while others watch a basketball game or play video games on a wide screen tv. Irony: A lot of soldiers love to play war games on interactive video when they have leisure time...When I went for some training at Ft. Drum a number of months ago I asked if it helped with their marksmanship...the range officer stated that the video trained kids were good shots but wasted much more ammunition than the soldiers that grew up hunting real game!

Have a great day! -Jim-

10/24/2011 Hi Guys;

Finally I get to go out and meet some of the locals. Yesterday it was just looking at the geography and geology of the places where the water comes out of the mountains. Today we were originally scheduled to leave and tour several Dasht (Desert) Camps and the mission was postponed until 1400 (2:00pm). We visited Camps 7, 8, & 9. I will confirm my suspicions, but the populations of these camps must have dropped by 75% over the past 10 (or less) years. The people build walled compounds with the wall around their 'yard' being around 7' tall. The walls are made of sun dried clay soil bricks or just by packing handfuls of clay mud and building it up layer after layer. The home's walls seem to be similar, but perhaps a bit of chopped straw is added to the mud to give it a bit more durability. The roofs are also of clay mud placed over bamboo poles or other lumber that is topped wit a loose weaving of brush.

We were in a convoy of 4 armored trucks and stopped where we saw elders coming out to meet the trucks. I had a 'terp (interpreter) with me and was allowed to ask a bunch of questions about the potential flooding problems. The first camp (#7) wanted money to fix the potential problem. The second camp (#8) only wanted tools like pick axes, shovels and wheel barrows and they would take care of the problem. The third camp's elder was in the process of packing up a bus with all of his worldly possessions (and a lot of other stuff like pipe he was supposed to use for the people of his camp!) and moving to a different providence. Other than camp #8 everyone else wanted stuff from the Army to fix the problem. Hesco's are wire frames lined with fabric that are filled with dirt to protect military outposts. These would also work great for the flooding problems except that they have no bottom to retain the dirt against moving water and the locals cut them apart to make fencing and animal cages...that doesn't help the flooding for the next season. When I suggested using concrete "T" walls the conversation changed to needing better teachers or more school supplies or a loudspeaker for the Mosque. I asked a lot of questions about how things used to be done...not a lot of information given here.

Remember these are people displaced from a greener area that was occupied by the Taliban and then destroyed by a combination of Taliban and Coalition forces. These people were moved here and told to settle. That is why I think that there are so many abandoned compounds...the mud walls deteriorate in a few years without maintenance.

They have some goats and sheep, but do not appear to be growing any fruit, vegetables or grain. Most of the income comes from working on COPS and FOBS and other military facilities. I have some theories about the number of young children I saw...the population of under 12 year old is huge...this is possibly the result of the artificial economy and an overabundance of humanitarian aid...combine this with not passing on traditional self-reliance customs and I believe there is a disaster of big proportions in the future if they do not begin to take charge of themselves to some degree. I have similar beliefs about life in the US...too many people specializing in things that are almost the antithesis of self-reliance.

I did get a chance to talk to Krista this morning (my time...her time was bedtime Sunday night)...it was an amazingly clear connection. I got back from my mission today too late (4:30pm my time) to wake Lisa up, but I left her a voice message.

Time for a couple of bottles of water! The climate here is a 'dry heat' but I still sweat like crazy in the vest and helmet. I do dry off quickly and probably don't smell any worse than anyone else here...

Have a great day! Love, -Jim-

10/26/11 3:16 AM Hi Guys;

Not much happening here. My meetings with the elders at the DASHT camps resulted in a two page report with recommendations that we give simple supplies to the people living there to mitigate
flooding in their compounds. I suggested that there could also test out using surplus 't' walls (these are concrete barrier walls similar to what you see put along interstate highways - they come in three sizes) in a pattern I figured out that would keep them in place during the flooding season. I get to outline this to the irrigation panel today.

I did complete my security paperwork, started my invoicing so I can get paid for this trip, completed the local contractor forms and did more work for Woodhenge's 501C-3. A busy morning in our office. We are going to finally retest the rocket stove and move it to the trucking point for tomorrow's trip to the Ag. Center. Hopefully we'll boil some tea water for the ANP at the Ag. Center...I was hoping to serve them something like red zinger...it would be a radical change from their weak chai tea with a ton of sugar.

Things I've noticed that are different...the calls from the mosques for prayer, especially early in the morning and late in the evening...this is a real "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" moment; the stars at night are somehow different...I do know it is latitude and lack of background light, but it is fun to look up on my way from site to site at night. Smells are different...the dust here has a particular odor..so do the porta potties, dining halls and the men in the vehicles.

There have to be at least 20 different nations represented here, just listening to the accents and languages can be a distraction. The main civilian employer is Dynocorp. They hire form all over the
world to do the cleaning, food service and repairs on the FOB.

Attached are some pictures of me in the Dasht camps talking through my 'terp about solving future flooding problems.

Have a great day! Love, -Jim-

10/27/11 5:30 AM Hi All;

We tested the rocket stove after we did some modifications. We found out that the SeaBees (a branch of the Navy stationed here at Pasab) had some fiberglass insulation. We owe them some Gatorade. By removing the side of the stove I was able to stuff the cavity full of the insulation. We resealed the unit and tested it out in front of our tent. It worked, but we've figured that feeding it is a pretty much constant job. Today we went to the Ag Center and gave it to the ANP stationed there. It took continuous work on SPC George B's part, but we got a half gallon of water to a boil and a bunch of the ANP interested in playing with the stove. Mission accomplished. We're hoping to raid the burn pit soon and get the rest of the materials for the bigger, more scrounged unit. I also spotted a 4' satellite dish that would make a great solar cooker...we'll line the concave part with the silver Mylar blanket material and build a simple adjustable stand for the thing...if the dish hasn't been taken already...stuff left out tends to disappear quickly...I missed the chance to get a bunch of magazines for my AR15 at the burn pit...

My meetings with the irrigation people have gotten me the unofficial title of 'engineer' when I'm in the field. I make what seems to me to be stupid and obvious suggestions and list the things that are needed to be known about an area before any civil engineering works take place and it goes from there. It isn't that the military is stupid, it is just so compartmentalized that someone that puts pieces of the puzzle together in an organized fashion isn't that common. Re-tasking materials for a different job is not something that comes easily to the Army either...I think that belongs to the Marines as a specialty. Also calling the bluff of the locals as far as when they ask for a material for one job and you know that they really want the stuff for a completely different job...like the hescos (dirt holding wire containers used to protect an area) being converted into fencing, pens and cages.

The US Army does have its heart in the right place...there are thousands of projects underway here just to make the locals live better. I worry about the side reactions...with better living standards, health care and more food given to the locals the population has exploded in the past 12 years. When we leave there may be a survival problem unless the locals have developed their own infrastructure for continuing to provide for these needs. Getting an educational system in place and convincing the better educated Afghanis to stay here is essential. There is some chatter about the Chinese coming to help with post US infrastructure to develop the markets for the raw materials available here. The mineral resources here are supposedly incredible… and a lot of these materials are needed by modern industries... ie electronics.

I will be posting pictures from the stove test at the Ag Center shortly.

Have a great day! -Jim-