Afghanistan My Last Tour

We dismounted from our vehicles and visited the future office building and sleeping quarters.  I could tell by the expressions on my teammate’s faces, they weren’t exactly thrilled about their new digs.  But I know with a little bit of elbow grease and imagination, they will fix it up.

We walked around the corner to visit our Kandak soldiers.  It appeared they added additional tarps and covers to their sleeping quarters composed of dirt-filled barriers.  Outside two soldiers were preparing some hot chai.  They burned firewood in a metal bowl to boil the water for their chai.  We took a quick tour of their living quarters.  Their biggest complaint is trying to stay warm since they don’t have any heaters or stoves.  Not all of the soldiers had cots and they constructed some make-shift beds out of scrap 2 X 4’s and plywood.  Their other complaint was about the thin blankets issued to them.  The MOD provided them thick blankets to survive the winter.  But the ANA officers allegedly took the blankets down to the local bazaar and sold them.  Then they purchased the cheapest and thinnest blankets they could find and pocketed the money from the difference in price.  I have learned this is a common practice among the ANA.  When they are short on money, they sell their issued items i.e…boots, coats, etc.  In my personal opinion if they would pay the soldiers more money, they would be less incline to steal or sell the items given to them.

The ANA DFAC was a sight to see too.  The kitchen area if you want to call it that was dimly lit and the shelves were sparsely stocked with some flour, beans, and old Naan bread.  The concrete floor was black with soot from the burning firewood.  The cook was making rice when I walked in.  One of the soldiers explained previously they had a US contractor and the quality of the food was great.  But now, the Ministry of Defense subcontracts the food and preparation even though they still receive the same amount of money for the food contract.  I wonder which enterprising government official is pocketing the difference in the money from the subcontract.

While we continued our tour of the facilities, my ETT team started to off-load the 7-ton trucks.  Meanwhile the ANA soldiers stood off to the side and watched.  When I found out was going on, I pulled all of my teammates and our ETT team leader talked with the officers so that the soldiers would unload the trucks.  As long as the American military does the ANA job for them, they have no incentive to do it themselves.

In between off-loading trucks, I had an opportunity to talk with a small group of ANA soldiers.  They were openly discussing how they were going to steal some of these items and then sell them in the bazaar.  They even joked with one of the ANA officers about how much money he was going to make.  My interpreter was translating for me and they didn’t seem to care.  I brought them into a semi-circle and chastised them for stealing these items.  I explained that every time they take these items, they are taking away from their ANA brothers who have to suffer the consequences.  I was very direct about if they wanted us to leave their country, they have to become self-sufficient and take over the security of their country.  But if they steal everything given to them, then they are unable to complete missions and their quality of life is degraded.  For a few minutes I was in control and I watched as they stared at the ground.  One soldier asked me, “What can we do, we are such a small group and we can’t tell on the officers because there is nobody to tell?”  I paused and said it starts with them as a group and they have the responsibility to tell their friend and their brother.  Then as the group becomes larger, changes start to happen.  But at a minimum, don’t take any of this winterization gear because your ANA brothers are cold just like you.  But at least you will have a B-hut in the next week and will be able to stay warm.  I don’t know if my message will have any effect or not.  Only time will tell.

Before we left the FOB, I took some additional pictures.  Take a look at their vehicle maintenance and the crude tools they have to perform this job.  The proper tools have disappeared and were probably sold in the bazaar.

Our team leader made a decision to leave the FOB and return to camp.   We received some intelligence reports that we may encounter demonstrators outside the gate.  When we drove past them, it looked like a family gathering instead of a demonstration.  We made pretty good time driving back to the city before we encountered traffic gridlock.  While we sat there waiting for vehicles to clear out, I took pictures of my surroundings.  One truck was full of layered levels of sheep packed in tight and down below was a man and his donkey.  On the side of my vehicle was an Afghan truck taxi transporting laborers.  Then on the other side was a family with some small children in it.  They were so cute and gave us the thumbs up gesture.

The market area was bustling and full of people.  This is not the friendliest market area either.  Most of these people are tribal Pashtuns (Taliban sympathizers) and much poorer than the rest of the populace and wealthier people living in the inner city.  A traffic cop humored us as he attempted to direct traffic flow with one hand out and the other in his pocket.  We returned back to camp without incident.

Filed under: Missions Tagged: | Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Camp Airborne, corruption, Deployment, ETT, U.S. Air Force, war