Today was Awards Day

Rocket Status: None tonight.

This morning started with a run at 5:30am.  The older Colonel showed up this time and ran most of the way.  I'm pretty impressed with his determination.  Here's a pic of the guys before we ran.

The next part of the day has been a long time in planning.  The awards ceremony started a little after 8am.  It went pretty much as planned.  The guys were pretty excited that were the winners, since they've never had anything like this before.  It didn't go exactly as planned, since the ANA public affairs personnel were taken away by a higher priority mission.  We had a US person step in to make the event work.  Here are some pictures of the event.

Here's the Senior Officer of the Qtr on the left.

The Junior Officer of the Qtr.

The NCO of the Qtr.

The Soldier of the Qtr and the Sharp Soldier of the Month.

The Colonel had these up right after lunch.  I was impressed at the speed.  

I immediately wrote a story when I got back from dinner and submitted it to the ANA newspaper with the pictures.  It goes to print on Tuesday, so the timing was perfect.

Friday off, but one meeting

Rocket Status: None tonight.

This morning started with a meeting.  For the drive over to the meeting and from now on, I switched to an up armored SUV...it's a lot safer.  The meeting wasn't bad...less than an hour.  After the meeting, I went to the wash rack and cleaned the vehicle up...it was pretty dirty...the personnel using it before were driving it in an extremely dusty environment.  After lunch, I went back and sprayed it off again...it's still dirty, but I'll get it cleaned up eventually.  The inside definitely needs a good wiping as well.

I met a friend at the Canadian compound today...we discussed the helicopter flights for the quarterly award winners.  I picked the meeting place, so I could have a Tim Hortons iced cappuccino...it was nice...still not happy about that move :(

After taking care of the helicopter rides and enjoying my Tim Hortons, I went to look at some rugs.  Didn't see anything I was looking for in the shops, so I drove back home.

I made it back to FOB Lindsey just in time for chow; Fridays are surf & turf, so I had some steak.  The lobster just didn't look to good, so I passed on it.  I ran into one of the interpreters that recently received his green badge, so I sat and ate with him.  We discussed what was going on in downtown Kandahar and the trouble between the tribes...hopefully it won't end up in a mini-civil war.

Finished the meal and went to the office to catch up on email.  Also prepared the plaques for the quarterly awards tomorrow and confirmed the photographer would be there.  I'm pretty excited about the awards...we'll see how they're received...I'll post pictures.  The ANA will be sending their public affairs to take pictures and hopefully we'll get it published in the ANA monthly publication.  Made it back to the room by about 9pm.  Went for a shower and now finishing my blog posting.  Have a good night, sorry...no pics today.

Thursday was dusty!

Rocket Status: None today.

Thursdays are always so quick, since the Afghans finish up by 1130.  I did spend about 3 hours with the Colonel today.  We discussed some work issues, but had some difficulty, since my interpreter didn't show up or call or anything.  He's a good guy, but always has an excuse for not being there...a poor excuse.  There was a wedding last night, so the logistics depot was practically empty this morning.  The Colonel and I discussed finalizing the plan to move the containers.  He, for some unknown reason, still thinks he doesn't need a plan on paper for moving over 80 containers.  I expressed to him, we have to have one, because they will not be stopping to ask you where each container goes.  There'll be two wretches (a large vehicle that can pickup containers quickly and drive around with them) and five tractor trailers...not sure what he doesn't get, but has said he'll do it.

We had a bad printer in our office at the ANA logistics center and finally got it replaced.  Of course getting a hold of the tech support people on a ANA base on a Thursday was impossible.  I guess we'll wait until Saturday to have it installed.

Okay...I went to a staff meeting today and when I showed up, they said you aren't here for the staff meeting are you?  Then they asked if I'd gotten the email showing it was changed to tomorrow...don't think I'd be standing there, if I'd received the email.  Anyway, I departed and went to Tim Hortons.  Now I have to drive there...frustrating.  I got there, parked, and went in to place my order...an iced cappuccino.  After receiving it, I went across the street to the Canadian compound and was thinking it might not be too bad since there is an indoor area to sit and enjoy my coffee...of course when I got closer to the door, I saw a sign that said Canadians Only from 6pm-9pm...it was 5:58pm, so I left and wasn't thinking good thoughts about Tim Hortons.

Today the dust really picked up.  See the pics below...Not as hot, but really dusty now.

Wednesday we had inspectors

Rocket Status: None tonight.

Running:  The old Colonel didn't show this morning.  When I saw him later, he said he was there at 5:30 exactly and we started running at 5:28; we'll be sure to give him time to show on the next run.  The regular three showed up.

I took the regular three to breakfast at FOB Lindsey.  They really get a boost out of going to eat there.  I took some photos this time.

Here's one of the guys drinking Maple syrup.  I put it on a waffle for them, but they didn't like it.

Here are some other pics of them enjoying their breakfast...although, sometimes his expressions confuse me.

Sometimes, they're too funny.

Here is something I found interesting.  When I asked what these tassles were, he replied "It means you have a mother-in-law.   He didn't say married...too funny.

Here are some pics of an ANA unit coming in from the road and picking gear up.  I don't know what they plan on shooting with that large weapon.

Today we had inspectors going through the books and asking some very accusatory questions about the record keeping.  I thought someone was going to get into a fight.  I think tensions have calmed, but the inspectors appear to be doing a fairly thorough job.  We'll see how accurate their report is when we get our copy.  It's funny also that someone told the inspectors that all of the 80+ containers belonged to the Americans and they didn't have the keys to any of them.

 

Interesting Tuesday

Rocket Status: I didn't hear them all, but I was told we had four rockets and it was during the daylight hours at around lunch time.

I was also told there was a ground attack, but don't know any details.  I don't know of any coalition soldiers that were injured.  I'm a little surprised they would try an attack during the daylight hours...they had to know there was no chance of surviving.

My day with the ANA Colonel consisted of me sitting in his office while he practiced English.  Nothing too exciting.

We did finish the quarterly awards certificates and I also confirmed the helicopter ride was a go for all the recipients.  I'm pretty excited to see how they'll react.  None of them have any idea there is a quarterly awards program, much less a helicopter ride.  We'll see.  I'll post pics of the awards and the helicopter ride.

That's all for today.

Monday was short, but good.

Rocket Status: None tonight...it's been a while since the last one.

This morning the much older ANA Colonel ran with us (all together with me, that's four).  I was impressed. He may have only run at a fast walk pace, but he was trying for 2/3 of the run.  I didn't give him a hard time when he stopped after that...it was his first run.  He told us later that he felt great during breakfast and looks forward to running with us all the time.  I have to say, I didn't give him the nicest pair of running shoes, because I didn't expect to see him again or at all.  If he continues to come, I'll upgrade his shoes.  I'm still a little shocked he showed up and ran for as long as he did.  Also, when we finished, I told the guys I was going on another lap and the Lieutenant ran with me...that also shocked me...and we ran at a pretty good pace.

The topics of the day were printer replacement and pallet use.  The only computer in the logistics depot has a printer that doesn't work.  We were working a replacement for it today and apparently they have some printers in the containers.  Here's the kicker...the person with the key to the container is on leave in Kabul and no one else has a key.  Why are the easy things so difficult?  They said they were going to cut the lock off, which begs the question of what's the point of having the one guy keep the key?  They also immediately asked for locks from me, since I brought them last time I cut the locks.  The pallet issue is a tricky one.  I'd love to see them wrap material in shrink wrap on a pallet, but it won't work in Afghanistan.  Customers picking up from the logistics warehouse insist on counting each piece when receiving it, so they would tear it all off and make a mess...back to where we started.

We received our generators today for our living quarters.  Can't wait to get them hooked up and running.  Here's a picture of the precarious delivery.  The person operating the crane takes it right over his head...crazy.

After lunch was a wash, since we had a going away to attend at main base Kandahar.

Here are some 1960s pics from Afghanistan...

Sunday was so so

Rocket Status: None tonight.

I provided shoes for one of the Colonels in the logistics depot today, so he can run with us tomorrow.  I'm a little worried he might have a heart attack.  We run slow, but he must be 60-65 and is not in the greatest shape.  We'll take it one step at a time tomorrow.  He sure seemed happy when I gave him the shoes.

This morning we sat with the logistics depot commander and chatted.  I asked what the work schedule would be during Ramadan.  This sparked a 20 minute explanation of the five pillars of Islam...It was funny, because the interpreter stopped after about 10 minutes and told me I asked him what you said, but he wants to tell you all this.  I told him I understand about the five pillars, but it's fine for him to explain it.  I'm sure he just wants me to understand.  Eventually he told me they'd work Sat-Thurs from 7:00am-1:00pm, which is probably more work than they're doing now...that's five straight hours, but I'm guess they'll slow down by the normal lunch time at 11:00.  We'll see.

In the afternoon I worked on getting the quarterly awards certificates translated into Dari, so the soldiers that can read will be able to read it; I wanted to be sure it was in their language and signed by their commander.   I needed to get their pictures to insert into the certificate, but I didn't want them to know what I was doing.  I just started getting everyone's picture, so they thought it was just for my personal use.  I don't mind doing the work and getting it started, but he'll need to do the next quarterly awards...they'll happen before I leave, so I'll make sure they happen and hopefully hand off a successful program to the next advisor.  I also need to confirm the helicopter ride for the winners and public affairs for photographic documentation.

We've also seen a growing interest in learning how to use the computer.  I'd say we have about 10 people that are asking if they can learn.  It was pretty funny today, because our interpreter was getting angry with the ANA guys because the computer wasn't working right.  I told him, they have to play with it and we can't discourage them in any way from getting on it.  Of course it'll have problems.  People that don't use computers are fantastic at getting computers to do things that can't be done...LOL.

Guess what we received more of today...yep, rice.  Now you may ask yourself, why unload these bags of rice by hand when they could be shrink wrapped to a pallet and easily moved.  One guy could unload the entire truck in less than an hour versus a team of people handling bags.  Stop burning brain cells and just let them do it the Afghan way...it hurts my brain to know there is such an easy way to do this.  I'll bring it up, but I don't expect it to work for them.

In the US we go to a normal office supply store, but here this is what the store looks like.  It's so funny how obsessed they are with samples. 

Here they are comparing the samples to the goods that arrived.

Here are the pics of Afghanistan in the 1960s.  To address a question in the comments: I don't know who took the pictures...I'd guess a British Ambassador or person that worked at the British Embassy in the late 1960s.  Sorry, I don't know where the body of water is in Afghanistan.

They love their rice...

Saturday...no Bazaar...too busy

Rocket Status:  None tonight.

Today was pretty good. The ANA Colonel was in good spirits.  I stopped in this morning after a meeting at the interpreter camp to try to realign all the services they receive under one contract.  Anyway, when I went for my visit in the morning, the Colonel had left to pickup an inspection team.  I decided to return immediately after lunch to see what the inspection team was here to see.  The ANA team consisted of three personnel...1 General and 2 Colonels and they were interested in accountability.  It should be interesting to see if they find anything.

Before I left, the ANA Colonel told me he had a meeting with his NCOs and Officers this morning and they all understand they shouldn't be making the customers do twice the work by duplicating order forms when the stock arrives from Kabul.  I think I actually got through to him on this process...yahoo.  Then he also told me that all the containers were labeled and ready for movement; these were the containers that were supposed to be moved Saturday, but he didn't live up to his end of the bargain.

On my way out of the logistics depot I noticed there was more rice being delivered...they do love their rice.  I've attached some pics of the warehouse.  I guess they'll stack it to the ceiling and hope there's no earthquake.

No shortage of cooking oil either.

And here's a jingle truck from the front.

Here are some pics of the 1960s in Afghanistan.