Week 33 from Afghanistan

Hope this find you well. 

Things are fine here.  Another descent week.  We got a new boss in as the J2 (Director for Intelligence) and he comes from a similar background as the community I come from.  We brought him around to see some of our units, and he pointed out a lot of the issues I have been talking about since I got here.  Looks like I will now have the political top cover to get some things fixed.  It may be a bit late in coming, but we have to set up for the enduring presence, and frankly, any doctrinal gains we make now will only help us in the next conflict we find ourselves. 

I continue to look forward to vacation in a few weeks and a move a few months after that.  I can appreciate what it was that was said in Ether about faith that giveth us a hope for a better world and maketh an anchor to the souls of men.  Of course he was also talking about the difficulty of hanging onto that which is just and true in the face of war and political machinations of his day.  Like the starving people who are so preoccupied with survival that the Gospel seems ethereal ("will that bible buy me any bread")--those who spend weeks upon weeks in situations they cannot control, and whose fate is determined by others (to include many whom do not have altruistic motives), can be challenged in feeling after spiritual things.  The immediate stressors and challenges can overcome our spiritual natures.  But with hope for a better world, we can hang on.  Fortunately for me, it is not much longer.  I can appreciate the difficulties of others who are stuck in situation for which they see no end to, which will last far longer, and whose hope is for the eternities--but even there, by clinging to faith and hope, we can separate ourselves out from the silliness around us. 

I am thankful for the quiet assurance of the spirit that I can feel, that assures me all is well.  When struggling I remember the fate of Joseph.  When he was being carted off by Arabian traders as a slave--things couldn't have looked very good.  Promises must have appeared dashed.  When fleeing from the wife of Potiphar and thrown into jail--things could not have looked any better.  Yet with all that, the way was provided not only for his escape, but the salvation of the family of Israel.  Like Joseph, we cling on to the hope of promised blessings, put our head down and trudge on--but we can move forward with assurance of the spirit that all promised blessings will be provided.  We may not be able to see it.  It may look pretty dark. But we will feel it.  Like Joseph, in the end, all things will turn to our good.

That said--it is nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Week 31 from Afghanistan

Hope all is well.  I depart for R&R in 35 days! Pretty excited about that.

By the time I come back I will be under 90 days left. It is good to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We are getting pretty excited about the move. There are several properties in the area that have some acreage and outbuildings and I'd like to have a mini farm. Mrs. L and I will head out at the end of my leave to look at houses. We may find it easier to buy something in town where the university is, but if we can swing something nearby but with some land to have some animals and a good sized garden, that would be pretty great.

My grandmother had a small hobby farm when I was growing up. How many animals she had varied, and she gradually downsized to nothing so she could travel, but when I was younger she had pretty much a little of everything. Some chickens, rabbits, hogs, a goat, cows, sheep, horses. Her garden wasn't very big, but it was sufficient, and I remember going out to find something fresh for dinner. She never had very good luck with fruit trees, but there were wild berries all over the area and we'd go out for raspberries or blueberries. My parents kept up that tradition for many years, maintaining a large vegetable garden. It was fun to work and see where your food came from.

I look forward to being someplace where we can be part of a community for the long term, and especially a place so environmentally conscious. It will be great learn to be a steward over a small patch of earth and see how things can grow.

As Brigham Young said:

“Fields and mountains, trees and flowers, and all that fly, swim or move upon the ground are lessons for study in the great school of our Heavenly Father, . . . [in what] is open before us in good books and in the great laboratory of nature.”

Week 29 from Afghanistan

It was another frustrating week here.  I'm sure it is the same for anyone in a situation where you are trying to wind-up a war--decisions are made for pragmatic reasons and short term gains, and the ultimate values that we hold dear are sacrificed to the practical.  It is a tough thing for people of high moral standards...the "why" doesn't make sense.

I had a conversation with my deputy tonight about this.  She is an Air Force Academy grad, and is of the mind that we should pull everyone out as fast as possible.  Her rationale is "why should we ask my friends to fight and die for something that just isn't worth it."  I think this is a common mantra over the decades of conflict since the second world war.  My answer to that is that we don't swear our allegiance to a conflict or policy, but to the constitution.  Under our constitutional framework, congress has a powerful role in conflict--both declaring war and funding it.  The people also have a significant role, as they can vote out Presidents with bad policy records.  Unfortunately, Congress has abdicated its role, and except for the War Powers Act and a couple of funding red lines in Vietnam and Iraq, have done little to debate and sanction or limit our conflicts.  The people likewise, are more disconnected than ever to our military, and it will be more so in the future--in 30 years or so, when the Vietnam generation has passed and is passing, there will be nothing left but the volunteer veterans of the growing warrior class.  57% of currently serving active duty military had a parent who served in some branch of service.  

It is sad and probably unsustainable.  I'm not sure how morally or ethically correct it is to send men and women into conflict without having a real stake in their fortunes.  It will be more and more difficult to answer these young captains when they ask why their friends should die, when the principals that provide strength to our constitution--an engaged public and Congress--give way to partisan interests, pragmatic political solutions, apathy and comfort.

I think her view is fairly consistent with what the majority of our young leaders believe.  It is the more senior folks who toe the line.  There are many reasons for this--certainly we have some good leaders--but there are also many seeking promotion, or profiting from the conflict, with less altruistic motivations.

In the sunset of my career, all I can think to do is to pray for our leaders, try to educate our people, and to inculcate the coming generation with a sense of duty and care for more than their personal and localized interests.

Fortunately, through faith, we have a surety of hope for a better world, and while this is concerning, I have plenty of peace in my own life, having a confirmation of good things to come.  I am thankful for the prayers for our family, for a Church family who serve and pray for us, for those in temples who remember our men and women in uniform, and our family specifically.  We are blessed.

Hope all is well.  Warmest regards.

Week 28 from Afghanistan

We are slogging through out here. We were hoping President Obama would announce some hard numbers of troop size, but absent that, we are muddling through the best we can, under the best assumptions we can. I have now seen the art of war at tactical, operational levels. While the politics of DC are disturbing, the confusion of coalition warfare is more so. I'm glad the folks at the tactical level don't worry about it too much and just get out and execute, or we'd be in a lot of trouble. Anyway, hopefully the can doesn't get kicked too far down the road.

All else is well. Looking forward to [Spring] and my R&R.

Week 26 from Afghanistan

Its great to write "Week 26"- halfway done and it is all downhill from here!  I appreciate the prayers and letters that help as I've moved through this journey.  I can now set my sites on my R&R, scheduled for spring--then, by the time I return from that, I'll only have a few months left.

It's been deathly slow here in Afghanistan.  With the holidays, even though we had some pressing business to attend to, it becomes challenging, because the folks at CENTCOM and in DC are all on vacation.  Hopefully we will be back in the swing of thing this week.  We are all hoping that the President's meeting with President Karzai this week will yield some decisions about our force posture here.  There is a lot in stand-by mode while we wait for a decision.  

Anyway, its been really quiet.  The gym tends to be the best thing about my day.

Hope all is well.  Warm regards

Week 25 from AFG

Slow week this week for us with the holidays. Pretty quiet--nothing significant to report. We watched It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, and had a Star Wars marathon on Christmas Day.

Thanks for all who included us in their Christmas Newsletters.  It is fun to hear how everyone is doing and to see your beautiful families.   

I've gotten a few notes congratulating us on our move.  Yes, we are excited. It will be fun.

Wish you all a Happy New Year

Week 24 from Afghanistan

I hope you had a good day and were able to enjoy a nice Christmas program wherever you were today. Things have gotten really quiet here. There was a bombing down the street earlier, but overall attacks are way down as Taliban sit tight for the winter. The climate has been a bit milder, and hopefully that doesn't allow more attacks, but there is snow in the mountains, and that is what makes fighting the toughest for them.

We are all waiting in anticipation for President Obama to make a decision on force presence here. I saw an article in the Washington Post saying he was considering a more rapid withdrawal.

Week 21 from AFG

I trust you had a good week.  I really don't remember much of mine.  Everyday is so much the same.  Nothing really exciting to report.  

It has started to get cold out here and the people here must be burning everything they can get their hands on because the air in the evening is thick with smoke.  When we lived in Turkey they burned lots of coal so there was a lot of smog, but it wasn't at ground level like this stuff.  I'm sure all of us living here will suffer ill effects from the air quality.  They even gave us a letter for our medical records to show that the air quality was toxic in case we ever have lung related issues.  Crazy place.

Me out with a couple of my guys from *** (stateside base).  They are currently on a team in southern Afghanistan.  This was the village I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago--the one sympathetic to the Taliban, built in a pile of dirt.

Week 15 from Afghanistan

"I am writing a bit early--I have a trip this weekend and am not sure if I will have internet access where I am going.  That may give me some interesting things to write about as I'll have some good engagement with some Afghan leaders, but I wanted to write a quick note now."

And the rest is a personal note to me and the kids... :)

Week 14 from Afghanistan

I hope you had a good week. The longer I am here, the more the days blend together. As a staff officer, your efforts do not yield immediate fruit, and all you can hope for at this headquarters level is to make incremental progress each day.

I am thankful for opportunities I have had to work with and develop young people--that is likewise incremental, but it is wonderful to see folks you have worked with for a long time improve in capacity. We get to see that as parents, as members of the Priesthood in our callings, and professionally. In most of our field units in the states, we have a regular crop of new agents rotating in each year direct from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. They come in as "probationary agents" who have to accomplish a number of required on the job training experiences over the course of a year before they become fully accredited Federal Agents. Usually about 1/3 of our agents at stateside offices are filled by probationary agents. Since 9/11 we have had a pretty standard process of bringing these folks on board, giving them an intense professional experience during their probationary year, and then sending them off for about three months of advanced and pre-deployment training before we send them off to a unit performing a mission where they ply their trade against terrorist, insurgents and spies.
They hit the ground and don't stop for their whole 6 months--16-20 hour days in hazardous and austere conditions. By the time they come back from that, they are among the most competent agents in Federal Law Enforcement. I have been a commander four times; twice in the states, once in Turkey, and once in Iraq. Of all the things I have been able to do as a leader, one of my favorite has been to develop these probationary agents and prepare them to the very best of my ability to be ready for what they will face in a combat environment. In my units, we press them and challenge them to ensure they conduct their operations to as high a standard as possible, because once they are chasing Taliban or al-Qa'ida, the environment is unforgiving. I've got five folks from my ***** team deployed here throughout the country. I see the statistics for all the counterintelligence forces here in theater--Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force--and week to week it is our Air Force units that are taking most of the enemy off the battlefield. I got a note from one of my former probationary agents today. He is doing amazing work and is loving the opportunity he has to serve. Its great to see the folks you have worked so hard with move from a crawl to a walk and then off to a sprint.

Week 13

I spent most of my week in Belgium.  My lovely wife was able to meet me out there, and it was great to be able to see a bit of that country with her at my side.  I returned to Afghanistan Saturday morning, and I am right back into the swing of things here.

Update Afghanistan Week 12

From hubby while we were in Belgium:

This a bit delayed as I traveled this weekend to Brussels to attend a conference at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE/NATO).  I'll write about that when I return, but I just wanted send a quick note out to say hi--most of my week was preparing our presentation for this conference--so it was long days but fairly boring staff work.

I did have a chance to write my oldest son this week.  He has been interested in attending a military academy for some time.  Apparently, some folks have been giving him a hard time about this when they have asked about his career goals, and he wrote me telling me about that.  It is a sad statement of our society that we have people that would discourage a young man from service--it is a fundamental responsibility of those in a free society, to be willing to serve when called upon. 

Week 11 from Afghanistan

This week's email was a bit personal so I'll only share a snippet.

"in the midst of political battles and debates, and especially in times like this for me where I am faced with what can sometimes seem to be senseless conflict, I have a favorite Tabernacle Choir rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever, that helps me focus in on exactly why we do what we do. I have pasted the words below, in case you haven't read them all. 

The Stars And Stripes Forever
John Philip Sousa came back to earth one day!
He looked around at what he found here all the contradictions that abound here
Good surviving, evil thriving, everything in disarray ...
With frown and mouth turned upside down
He said "This'll never do! dead level never do!
Don't they know to show some pride in who they are!
The pioneers of former years were not without their doubts and woes and fears but
They know well the love of God would never let them go astray!
But here today where there's no fear of dark in the wilderness some are in wilderness
They must shift and lift their gaze to some new star!
By a star in the east the least of men once were succored in time of needing
For the star promised peace to those in pain and from Galilee was Westwardly proceeding.
With the star of the West the best of men now are siding in their endeavor
To restore as of yore their country's pride in the glory of the stars and stripes forever.
Three cheers for the red, white and blue, for the red is the blood of our brothers.
The white is the light of the star that has led us to where we are.
The blue is the hue of the sky where on high the Almighty falters never.
Our banner for two hundred years! Oh pioneers! Here's to the stars and stripes forever!

Week 10 from Afghanistan

Hope all is well with you.  It has been a mixed week here.  We had a fairly significant attack down in Helmand Province, and also a couple more insider attacks from Afghans we are partnered with.  When you consider all the positive interactions that are occurring all over the country on a daily basis, this kind of thing is a statistical anomaly--but insurgents realize that it gets more media attention than roadside bombs, and it is the tactic de jure to try to break down popular support at home and cause distrust between coalition and Afghan forces. 
We have also been watching the unrest around the region with caution. 

Afghanistan Week 9

I had a chance to travel again this week.  Again, I was impressed by the amazing folks we have working things at a tactical level...  My team and I continue to try to push these lesson's learned into practical course corrections ... it is our duty to make an effort.  

My return back to HQs was disrupted a bit due to a

excerpt from Hubby's weekly email to family

"This has been a tough week here with a rash of attacks on US military from Afghan Security Forces, with the media coverage not helping much. On the policy side, which is where I work, it has been a bit crazy as folks continue to try to throw things at a problem that is rather complex. I'm afraid the front page news this has garnered will only inspire a desperate Taliban to push harder in this direction. Anyway, it has been exhausting....

"The best experience I had was getting a letter from my wife..." 

Afghanistan Week 6

excerpt from Hubby's weekly email to family:

"This has been a tough week here with a rash of attacks on US military from Afghan Security Forces, with the media coverage not helping much. On the policy side, which is where I work, it has been a bit crazy as folks continue to try to throw things at a problem that is rather complex. I'm afraid the front page news this has garnered will only inspire a desperate Taliban to push harder in this direction. Anyway, it has been exhausting....

"The best experience I had was getting a letter from my wife..."

Afghanistan- Week 5

There have been days this week that I've worried as the news has reported several accounts of what is termed "Green on Blue attacks"- afghans in Afghan Security uniforms attacking NATO/US troops.  Each report leaves me more anxious to hear from him, even in an email or IM.  Thank goodness I was able to hear from him each time.

Here is another snippet from this week's update from Hubby to our families.

"Hope all is well with you.  It was a bit of a crazy week here.  I see the news reported many of the deaths we had this last week.  There was a lot of scurrying about as the leaders here work to figure out if there is a common theme in all the Afghan Security folks that have turned against coalition forces.  I think the common theme is that they don't like us; but the Generals are hoping to find something a bit more actionable than that...
"I was thinking this week about folks that were lost, and then about the folks on my team, some of whom have been involved in pretty tough and bloody battles.  One of my advisers is a former Marine who has been shot up and blown up so many times that his body, at 32 years old, is pretty beat up.  He has traveled with me as I have done battlefield circulation so I have gotten to spend a bit of time with him.  He is divorced, has a brilliant daughter that he sees once a year, and has been pretty much continuously in either Iraq or Afghanistan for the last 10 years.  From my discussions with him, it is obvious that he has been involved in some traumatic stuff.  

I can't even begin to imagine the great task of our leaders to try and figure out how to fix another country and culture.  Hubby had one good day this week when he was visited by BrigGen Dahl (Army).  Hubby worked closely with, then Col. Dahl, on the Joint Staff (J2) for three years.  BG Dahl came over to Hubby's command area to say high and see how he was doing. From the tone in his voice and the words he used, he was very happy to see him.

I hope he has more good days as this year goes by.

Update from Afghanistan

Here is a short snippet from hubby's latest email to both our families. Great people doing great things in AFG.  (A few edits for PERSEC/OPSEC)

"I had an opportunity to travel again this week and met with teams that work tirelessly to identify, exploit and neutralize insurgent networks. These folks in the fight work 18-20 hour days in the worst conditions imaginable, from greatly exposed positions to destroy the Taliban networks that threaten enduring peace in Afghanistan. One of the teams I visited was led by a young Major that I have worked with in the past. If you met him back in the States, you would see a clean cut, good decent man, a born leader. He has been here for just over four months, just a third of the way through; you can see the toll that the mission has taken on him. The folks that work for him come in at a dead sprint for six month rotations, while he and his superintendent serve a year. As we talked about his need to balance out mission and health over the yearlong marathon he has to run, he told me that it was an easy thing to say, but that as the commander of these men, he didn't feel right about getting extra sleep or taking time out for himself when his guys were in harms way. He is out on every mission with them.

"Two of the agents on this Major's team worked for me at (former AFB). I had dinner with them and talked to them about their experiences here. These are two of the finest young men I have had the privilege of working with in my career. They came to my unit at (former AFB) straight from the best law enforcement training in the world, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center-FLETC. All federal agencies train there--the US Marshals, Secret Service etc (all but FBI and DEA). They came out of school excited to do the mission and hit the ground in (former city where AFB is) ready to work. Over two years they ran some of our most significant cases, to include the Air Force's leading undercover operation targeting criminal networks involved in the theft and resale of high end military property. They worked some pretty long hours back there and gained significant experience. After two years of that we pushed them through a pipeline of training to get them ready for deployment to Afghanistan. As I said, these are some of the most talented young people I have worked with. They been well trained and prepared. They have been here about two months, conducting source operations into Taliban networks, and driving capture/kill operations against the enemy. What they told me at dinner was that when they first started working with the team here, after the first couple weeks of non-stop outside the wire operations, they both nearly broke down--they asked themselves how they could possibly function like this. They questioned whether they were up to the task, whether they had the right training, experience, and endurance to possibly survive this experience. Now it is all just part of their standard routine. They are one of the most respected teams in country--there is nothing standard about it."