Lately it has been rather dreary due to the sporadic cold rain showers we are receiving. Today is the third day in a row we have received intermittent rain. The farmers are not complaining as this has been an extremely mild winter and Afghanistan is still experiencing another drought season. For the city dwellers it’s [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: Afghanistan, Armyism, Camp Phoenix, COIN, Deployment, Humvee, Kabul International Airport, KAIA, vehicle maintenance | 1 Comment »
From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Here is a link to the first video via Blackberry from SPC Kit Lowe’s Bronze Star Ceremony earlier today in Washington, D.C. (Video courtesy of WSAV-TV in Savannah) SPC Kit Lowe Receives Bronze Star in D.C. | WSAV. This second link is to the much longer in-depth television story that [...]
Filed under: Missions | Tagged: 108th Cavalry Regiment, 48th Battle Training Brigade, Afghanistan, Alasai Valley, Bronze Star, GA National Guard, Kapisa Province, Marine Capt Matthew Freeman, news, SPC Christopher "Kit" Santiago Lowe, Valor, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, wounded, WRAMC | 2 Comments »
My conversation with the ANA soldiers continued. I relayed a conversation I had yesterday with the ANA Mullah about Taliban Mullahs; the ANA Mullah had told me the Taliban Mullahs are not really Mullahs and use this title to their advantage to control the uneducated followers and villagers. As such, out of fear and respect [...]
Filed under: Mentoring ANA, Radio interviews | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Afghanistan, ANA, ANP, camp puppies, Deployment, education, ETT, IED, Mullah, news, Religious Officer, Taliban, U.S. Air Force, war, WUSF | 10 Comments »
Famous playwright and poet, William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Today I returned to the ANA literacy classroom for another interactive exchange of information. This time I was bearing gifts that included notebooks, pens, and pencils for the students. This immediately got the [...]
Filed under: Mentoring ANA | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, education, ETT, Holy Quran, Muslim, Religious Officer, Taliban, U.S. Air Force, war | 1 Comment »
Note: My intent is not to offend my Muslim readers and the context below is based on my research and my memory of an intellectual and theological conversation with an ANA Mullah. It was another one of those unpredictable days, not knowing what was in store for me as I ventured over to ANA land. [...]
Filed under: Mentoring ANA | Tagged: ablution, Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Deployment, ETT, infidel, Mullah, Quran, religious curriculum, Taliban, U.S. Air Force, war | 6 Comments »
Rex’s can’t post today due to extremely poor Internet connectivity so I am using the space to update everyone on the recovery of Rex’s friend and former camp mate SPC Christopher “Kit” Santiago Lowe. As many of the readers of this blog will remember Kit was wounded in August in a Taliban ambush in Kapisa [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Afghanistan, Bronze Star, Deployment, Kapisa Province, nerve graft, SPC Christopher "Kit" Santiago Lowe, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, war, wounded, WRAMC | 2 Comments »
Yesterday we had a reprieve from a mission, but our midnight mission for today was still a go. So in the afternoon we all met at the vehicles and started to get them ready for the mission. I was going to be the lead driver for the formation. My gunner an Army Specialist put a [...]
Filed under: Missions, School supplies project | Tagged: .50 cal machine gun, Afghanistan, Ashburn, Crossroads United Methodist Church, Deployment, ETT, MRAP, officers doing physical labor, Skype, U.S. Air Force, war | 2 Comments »
Today I was reminded of a famed quote about perceptions or misperceptions by Greek Philosopher Epictetus who said: “We are disturbed not by the events, but by the views which we take of them.” This quote was stuck in the back of my mind as I continued on with my discussion with the ANA soldiers. [...]
Filed under: Mentoring ANA | Tagged: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, ANA, Brigadier General Clarence KK. Chinn, Deployment, ETT, news, opium, Osama bin Laden, poppy, U.S. Air Force, war | 4 Comments »
