The More Things Change...

I have moved jobs yet again, but this time the move is largely cosmetic. I'm still working for the same organization I was before, but I've more or less shifted from being a worker bee to being in charge of the shop. The team I work with is great, and largely self sufficient, so I don't foresee much in the way of superviseree duties coming with my exciting new job title.

What this does mean is that I am in a better position to shape our overall strategy as a staff shop. The move also strips one layer of the chain of command between me and the Task Force Commander, which means I will have a more active role in shaping our overall strategy for four provinces in eastern/central Afghanistan. Pretty exciting stuff, all in all.

The downside is that I now have a lot more of the day to day beauracratic stuff on my plate. Giving the islamo-fasiacists the what-for apparently involves a ceaseless stream of meetings and slideshows and teleconferences (who knew?) and I'm now the guy who has to make sure all of those things get taken care of. Before, I could focus on my slice of the pie (which was already focussed on strategy) and leave the boring stuff to the boss.

So, all in all this is a good move, and I'm in an infinitely more interesting job than I was when I first arrived. Because honestly, coming all the way to Afghanistan after everything I went through at Fort Jackson, Fort Bragg, the CAQC and FOB Patriot, if I spent my time here lifting weights and playing video games...

You guys know what I'm getting at.

**I couldn't come up with a related picture for this post, so I put in this one of an adorable puppy instead, for one or more of the following reasons:

A) Everyone loves adorable puppies
B) My new gig requires long hours that make me fall asleep in my water bowl
C) I'm trying to establish a pattern of behavior
D) All of the above

I know which reason I'm leaning towards, but I leave it for y'all to guess at...

OXFAM Isn't Impressed

As it turns out, not everyone is as impressed with the job US Army Civil Affairs does in Afghanistan as we in the US Army Civil Affairs are.

OXFAM, a left leaning think tank dedicated to bringing about social justice, released a report suggesting that the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Astan engage in projects that are "unsuitable, unused or targeted by militants". Ouch.

Another criticism is that the civil projects spearheaded by the PRT's squeeze out local initiatives. This is a particularly interesting criticism, as one of the major tenets of civil-military operations is the legitimization of the host nation government. That is, the very thing OXFAM criticizes the PRT's for is something that the PRT's are explicitly trying do the opposite of. Not sure where the disconnect is.

One of the dudes at the Small Wars Journal (see comment 18) points out that we in NATO are still trying to get our head wrapped around COIN. So regardless of the merits of OXFAM's report, I think we will continue to improve our ability to rebuild in Astan.

That said, I'm sure things will start to improve exponentially once I bring my deadly rifle skills to the fight.

Afghanistan Blogs

Hey everyone. I have a favor to ask.

I'm trying to track down all of the interesting and informative blogs out there that focus on Afghanistan. I'm interested in blogs by soldiers, aid workers, locals, journalists, pundits...any and every source that in some small way contributes a viewpoint that reflects the situation in country.

Part of my job for the time being is to help my Civil Affairs unit develop situational awareness of what's going on at the micro and macro level in Afghanistan. Big Media reports are easy to come by, and I'm curious to see how useful blog sources can be to complement/contradict the news media at large.

Feel free to post to comments, or to email me directly, and thanks in advance for all your help--I can honestly say that doing this will help me and my unit of doing a better job fighting the Taliban and AQ. Crazy sounding, I know...but true.

Checking In and Saying Hey

Hello everyone!

Obviously, I've been away for a while. After 68 posts in less than 2 months of Army 2.0, this is my first blog since August 20th. To celebrate my return I thought I'd start tonight with an update on my timeline.

I won't share exact dates (even if I had them, which I don't), as troop movements are sensitive information that I can't post in this forum.

It turns out that I am going to Afghanistan. I'm currently slated to be a Public Safety Officer for the 451st CA Battalion. I don't know what this means exactly, and I might get moved into a job before all is said and done, but I meet my new unit tomorrow so I'm excited to learn more. As best as I can tell a PSO works with the police and emergency response, that sort of thing. An interesting, important mission, though not one I know much about.

When I link up with my unit tomorrow, we start a 4-6 week block of pre-deployment training. From there we'll deploy overseas sometime in December.

Fun stuff. More to follow.

Updated Timeline

Again, there are things I'd like to say--but won't.

Still, as I realize that a reading of this blog to date would have you all believing that I started the Civil Affairs Qualification Course (CAQC) this past Wednesday, an update is in order.

You see, showing up at Fort Bragg and then starting the CACQ this past Wednesday would have been way too easy.

Instead, we spent the last week--and I'm not kidding or exaggerating even a little--DOING THE SAME IN-PROCESSING AND PAPERWORK THAT WE DID AT FORT JACKSON OVER AGAIN! Literally, on Monday, we took all of our paperwork, arranged it in a different order, collated it into four different versions, and then got it all stamped off on as it now met the Fort Bragg Gold Standard of Excellence.

Because we were busy doing such things all week (including the previously posted urinalysis repeat) we couldn't start the Course in the class that started on Wednesday . The next course doesn't start until...drumroll please...31 July! So my crew and I are stuck at Fort Bragg, getting paid to hang out at the Gym and read Harry Potter Books for 3 weeks.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for the time off, and the laid back schedule...but I'd rather spend 2 salary free weeks with my wife. You know, what with the whole "going off to war" thing and all.