First time to meet with Afghan Army Colonel

Today was a little rough after last night's attacks.  Rumor is we killed all the Taliban or insurgents that attempted to breach the base. Didn't get to sleep until approximately 2:00am, because of the regular sirens and announcements on the giant voice speaker system. One of the people on my team was stuck where they were until this morning, so they were exhausted; but they worked the entire day, because they had things they wanted to get done.  Awesome team here!!!

No rocket or mortars so far tonight!!!

Here are the guys working on removing armor doors to the HMMWV, so it can be used to drive around the yard easily and used as a utility vehicle, at least temporarily.  They needed a vehicle in the yard, so they made it work.  They'll put the doors back on as the rest of the 250 vehicles are repaired and it'll be good as new.

I don't know if you can make ANA out very well, but I saw this blanket hanging in the doorway of the village.  It's identical to our US military issue blankets.  Kind of interesting to see.

This is the mess that was underneath the bathroom unit we removed.  You can use your imagination as to what was all over the ground.  I'd like to think it was just moldy.  Anyway, we were going to let it dry out and cover it with dirt, but the people living there had a different idea.

Here's what they did.  It was so clean, you couldn't tell it was ever dirty.  We didn't know there was concrete under the mess.  It's a nice feeling to see them taking pride in where they live.  Some Americans say the Afghans don't take care of anything, so don't give them anything nice because they'll just destroy it.  It may happen in certain instances, but it's usually because of a lack of training and not a willingness to destroy things.

Here's the team putting the bathroom unit in place.  This is truly thinking outside the box :)

Here's a project to expand their mosque, because it  was so small.  The mosque was also being used by transients, who'd sleep on the concrete floor.

Here I am in a meeting at the Afghan Colonel's office.  Names are not listed for many reasons.

Here is my Afghan Army Colonel.  We will be working very closely together over the next several months.

On the table in front of me is Chai tea and a platter with cashews, almonds, chick peas (I think), and raisins made from white grapes.

The job should be filled with many challenges, which is my favorite thing about deployment jobs.  If it's easy, there's no job satisfaction.

Today is Panjshambe

Today being Panjshambe, which is Thursday, means it is a half day for Afghans, so we don't get as much done. Tomorrow is their full day off. 

Apparently there will be some training coming up with ANA recruits in the near future and the ANA did not adequately plan for their temporary living accommodations. They found out the bathrooms and shower units did not function at all and the contracted tents did not get scheduled until it was too late. I'm sure the ANA recruits will be fine, but it is frustrating seeing it happen. It will be over 100F in the day and they may be sleeping outside for a few days.

How do you mentor or advise someone to care more about their troops? Any ideas?

We were at the site today and were taking away the old bathroom and shower units when the ANA Colonel showed up and insisted we not remove the units, because someone in the future might fix it. Afghans do not like to throw things away. We had to use the crane and put the unit back.

Here's where the shower unit used to be...

Here is when they put it back...How do you get an Afghan on top...Of course he should just hold the hooks with his hands...we don't need no stinking ladder!!!

These poor guys were getting crammed into this small little hut, because the ANA wanted the huts for their incoming troops.  Here's the hut on the inside and out.  They still needed to get more beds in there.

Then with the generators that went out yesterday, at least we did get them somewhat working today. They're not too healthy, since they've sat without running for nearly 2 years. At first, there was a little smoke...

Then all of a sudden chunks of debris started flying out of the exhaust pipe...I assume it was soot build up or carbon. Anyway, the smoke reduced on it's own. Yahoo...they have power again. The other generator is torn apart to be repaired again...hopefully done right this time.

The medical kitchen is coming along very quickly. It looks a little rough, but is only one day's work. They are quick builders. 

A close up for you brick layers...okay, there's no mortar on the sides of the bricks, but other than that it's not bad. They aren't actually bricks, rather solid concrete blocks.

For the end of the day, we decided to check in to see what was going on at the village dining hall. They are building a bakery and they do a pretty mean stucco job...check it out...it's smooth.

They built the bakery in a few days...not bad.

No drama today, other than some ANA disagreements on planning for troop reception.