HOME!!!

We left Afghanistan in Mid-September and flew to Manas Airbase in Kygrzistan. After a few days there, we moved on to Ft. Dix NJ where we would all beat the common sense out of ourselves.

Nine days were spent at Ft. Dix for the check the box mind numbing stupidity of the U.S. Army demobilization process. One would think that all efforts would be made to get us home ASAP. Not the case at Ft. Dix. No one would work past 1630 hours and the staff actually took the Labor Day weekend off while we were restricted to the barracks! We had to attend a briefing with a full bird Chaplain. The theme of the brief was reintegration and the Colonel asked the guys if they had anything on their mind. After an hour of unloading things that only an Infantryman can fully appreciate, the Colonel flat stated that Ft. Dix generally does not demob combat arms soldiers. And then we found out that the PDMRA leave many of us earned while serving on Operation Noble Eagle was denied. Welcome home assholes, Uncle Sam is done with ya, move out.

We finally left for home at zero stupid thirty on 2 October. When about 5 miles out from Geneseo, the Livingston County Sheriff Department escorted us to the village of Geneseo. At which point we dismounted the bus and marched through the center of town to the Armory about one mile down the road.

My son Ethan in the foreground and the boys forming up in the background.

SFC S marching his platoon with me in the background.

Ethan and I at the Armory. The reason I do what I do.

Afghan National Police Command Sergeant Major

My lasting legacy in Afghanistan is the establishment of the rank of Command Sergeant Major in the Afghan National Police. This rank will give the patrolmen a voice. I created the rank insignia which mirrors the ANA, this way everyone will know who is bringing what to the table in joint ANSF operations. The ANP CSM is the beginning of establishing professionalism in the NCO ranks. A way to combat corruption among the officer corps and the ANP overall. The man who was chosen, CSM Karim Khan is the first among CSMs that will be established throughout Afghanistan.

Ironically, the Afghans spent 10 years defeating the Soviets. Yet their uniforms and marching mirror the Soviets. We pinned the new ANP CSM on 30 August 08 at the Kabul ANP NCO Academy. He was pinned in front of 1500 ANP NCO cadets. Here is the honor guard.

Here I am with the newly pinned ANP CSM

The ANP CSM with CSTC-A, TF Phoenix, RPAC Kabul and ARSIC Kabul Sergeant Majors

ANP CSM Karim Khan after pinning

ANP CSM Karim Khan being pinned by Deputy Ministers of the Interior for Security Mangal, DM for Counter Narcotics Daud, DM for Logistics Basir.

KABUL

Here are some shots from a trip down to Camp Gibson. I needed to go down there in order to give a brief to the COIN academy on the ANP and PMTs.

The Queen's Palace at Darulaman

King's Palace at Darulaman

It is rumored that the hippies introduced watermelons to the Afghans in the 1960-70s. Well whoever did, the Afghans took their lessons seriously. Some of the biggest watermelons I have ever seen are in Kabul.

Here is a Hazara hauling wood the old, old fashion way.

A good look at the dwellings terraced into the mountains of Kabul.

J-Bad Again...

On 10 June, the usual crew flew down to J-Bad to check out another FDD graduation. All went well until the helicopter came in early. Everyone rushed to get their gear on and we ran out to the LZ. I knew as soon as we got on the bird, (a NYARNG CH-47) that something was wrong. There were other dudes strapped in back. The flight was supposed to be a dedicated bird for the Deputy Minister, whom we were travelling with. Anyway, after the crew informed me that the final destination was Bagram, not Kabul it dawned on me that we boarded a regularly scheduled ring flight. We departed the aircraft, took stock of things which was, damn we are hungry! We ate chow and I secretly hoped that our helicopter was on the way to pick us up. Luckily it did.

A picture of Naseri and I on the CH-47. Naseri is our Terp and the Deputy Ministers administrative assisant.

Afghan National Police NCO Academy

On 13 August, we travelled over to see how the German sponsored NCOA was doing. The school is run almost entirely by the Afghans. A graduating class of ANP NCOs has about 1500-1600 students enrolled. The school is located in Kabul and it is pretty squared away, despite the picture that I have attached to this entry.

This is an Afghan led class on how to properly clear a building. The guy immediately to the right of the door pointing his weapon at the guy across from him, who the by the way is returning the favor, happens to be an Afghan Colonel teaching the class. I guess the block of instruction on proper muzzle awareness must have come later in the day. Notice the guy on the far left, he is lined up for a headshot on his buddy as well. His buddy, if by some grace of Allah survives the potential shot to the brain case, will not even be able to defend himself because his weapon apparantly is a piece of paper. And yes, that is me watching the whole business unfold. I finally broke contact when I discovered the good Colonel had a magazine in his weapon.

Sergeant Jaime Gonzalez

Sgt. Gonzalez was killed in action on 3 August 2008, during a ground convoy by an IED. He was a husband and a father and served in the Texas National Guard. He was assigned to the CSTC-A PSD (personal security detachment). His job was to protect the various folks on Camp Eggers moving around out in the box. I had the honor, on numerous occasions to have Sgt. Gonzalez provide security for my moves.

The night before he was killed, I went running and then to the gym. On the way to the gym, I ran into Sgt. Gonzalez. We exchanged quick greetings and moved on. The next I heard about him was that he had been killed. If I only had the ability to see into the future, I would have taken more time the night before. I would have said something more cool or profound than "whats up Sergeant?" Literally here today, gone tomorrow. That quick. The finality still haunts me, that quick greeting the night before, you can never know...See ya Bro.

Sgt. Gonzalez

Fallen comrade ceremony at Camp Eggers

1 August

Drove all around Kabul today looking for a suitable place to house an ANCOP battalion. The ANCOP commander, Brigadier General Shareef accompanied us. We first went to a site about a 1/2 hour northwest of the city. The site was not owned by the MOI (Ministry of the Interior) but some another ministry. The site was currently occupied by an ANP District HQ and since there were no dedicated toilets, the police just went everywhere. The place smelled like one big pile of shit. The bonus prize was the pile of UXOs (unexploded ordnance) some jackass literally threw into a pile on the side of the buildings. The other problem was the fact that if we got this site all fixed up, the other Ministry may step in and re-possess the site.

The next stop was south of the city and like the other site it was a ANP District HQ. There was a building which was being renovated and it was quite nice. Unfortunetly, ranking officials of the MOI had their eyes on it and they were not going to give up nice, new offices for a bunch of police. So, of course the shithole was chosen. Adjacent to this site was a large mosque and a madrassa (religious school).

Mosque under renovation

Me at the shithole.