March 2009
67 posts
COIN only works if you use it. →
An interesting economic arrangement here in Afghanistan: women shell almonds for no pay. They get to keep the shells, which they use as fuel for cooking fires. On one hand, it’s bad that labor is valued so poorly. On the other, it’s good that such an efficient, wasteless market exists.
Exactly the article I would write. →
“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the...”
– Ernest Hemingway
To appreciate your assigned mission, ask why you are doing it, then ask why to the resulting answer four more times. Don’t get dazed by minutiae or routine. Never be out of touch with the people who carry out the particulars of your objectives.
Remember when you discovered SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy and you watched them all in a row five times and quoted them in every conversation for two weeks and then it got a bit old a bit fast but others were just picking up on it so you heard “suck it, Trebek” every day and it was annoying but you couldn’t really show it because then you’d be a hypocrite since just a week...
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always...”
– Jimmy Carter
Most of the Local Nationals I work with have a limited grasp of English, but it is lingua franca for reconstruction contracting. Since I know maybe six words of Dari and Pashto, I have no right to laugh at their pidgin. But I can’t help it, here are some emails I’ve gotten:
hello I am [name redacted] fom [redacted] conistraction company in gazni we compeleted the work of ...
My gear and I, at last measurement, weighed 427lbs.
“Fulfillment in life involves loving a good woman and killing a bad man.”
– Robert Heinlein
If you’re an Afghan, here’s what you see: your government is hopelessly corrupt and robs you blind. U.S. forces are supporting your government, channeling billions of dollars to it, not you. If you’re an Afghan, here’s what you think: U.S. forces are either complicit with the robbers or they are stupid. If you’re an Afghan, why would you want U.S. forces around?
Hajji. The term is used more here by my comrades more often as a pejorative, like kraut or gook, than as an honorific. I don’t like that, but I’m conflicted. On one hand, it’s dehumanizing. On the other, dehumanization is pretty much necessary in order to kill, part of doing business in Afghanistan. I’m happy to report, however, that my unit does very little of that...
Happy Nawruz! Partying like it’s 1388 (um, I had kebab).
“For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.”
– Paul of Tarsus
Running at 8000ft: harder than at sea level. Anyways, that’s my excuse.
This makes many in my unit angry. →
I’ve been involved in some way with a number of multi-million dollar, high-tech defenses against insurgent tactics and capabilities, like MRAPs. Complexity tends to introduce nearly as many problems as it solves. Yeah, you might be better protected against IEDs, but what happens when the road through the village is only wide enough for a HMMWV? I’ve mentioned that I have an affinity...
Poor weather = no satellite internet.
There are zero active duty SWOs that stand out.... →
Discomfort is a necessary side effect. →
Last week, the New York Times asked President... →
Happy Pi Day, nerds.
Fashionable. →
A few days ago I attended a lecture given by a senior USAID official (I missed the name). It was mostly a “here’s what my organization does” speech, but the guy had some real pearls. I was glad I went, and humbled by my ignorance of my role here. From my notes: Don’t ever give away free stuff. Providing free seed to farmers puts a seed salesman out of business and...
Most valuable leadership trait: thoughtfulness. Subordinates will always bitch about your decisions, no matter how wise (the subordinate or decision). They don’t always (rarely, actually) need to know why you chose a particular path, but if subordinates understand that you never decide frivolously or arbitrarily then the bitching will be idle, won’t foment distrust. Also, given a...
Maybe we're missing the point entirely. →
Overheard on Mission
SCPO: “Would you bang [female’s name]?” PO2: “Yes.” SCPO: “How about [female’s name]?” PO2: “Yes.” SCPO: “You’d bang a snake if someone held it’s head for you.”
What it is. I’m not much into souvenirs, but I couldn’t imagine a better memento of a submariner’s tour in Afghanistan than a Soviet tank periscope.
Applies to many Naval Officers, too. →
“Be skeptical of things you learned before you could read.”
– Ben Casnocha
Does it take having nice things to realize you don’t need them? Except a good pillow, you need that.
Something to think about. →
Have you ever been in an unusual situation and imagined that you were the first person ever in that particular intersection of circumstances? I wonder if I’m the only one to have listened to This American Life (#374, Somewhere Out There) while in an Army helicopter over Kabul. What do you think, Ira?
1 Chinook helicopter with rear ramp down + 100mph + 1,000ft over the foothills of the Hindu Kush + 3hrs after dark in February = very, very cold. (1,104 is also an acceptable answer.)
“To a significant degree, the social barrier between officer and enlisted man,...”
– LtCol Dave Grossman, On Killing