Living in box and a new job

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, been pretty busy. After my return from Logar I was asked if I wanted a position as an Advisor, which is different from a Mentor in that instead of going out to the PD’s to monitor how they’re doing, you stay at the base and are basically an Instructor at the training facility, think academy. So I said yes. Then I was told I would be taking over as the Logistics/Advisor Officer for the camp. My main job is running the supply issue for the ANP here and showing the Afghan’s how to complete the necessary paperwork when requesting gear for the police. After that parts done for the different cycles, I can jump in on the classes I want to help with, like the range, handcuffing, baton, car stops, ect. I think I’ll like it.
I also got moved to new living quarters. These metal boxes, conex’s, are generally used for storage. Somewhere, someone came up with the idea of making them into rooms. Mine’s on the second level and it’s actually pretty nice. It’s about 8’ x 16’ with a bathroom and AC. All the comforts of home, minus the kids and my beautiful wife.

Leaving Logar

Had to go back to Logar last week to train my replacement. Basically, like camping out for a week. Then caught a flight back to the city, where I’m assigned right now. I go to various Police Departments, meet with the Chief’s, (each PD has its own Chief or General), and go over the basics. I’m working with another New Englander, a guy from Maine, which is rare because northerners are the minority here.
I’ll miss some things about Logar like being away from the flagpole, the clean air, it stinks in the city, and clear nights when you could see millions of stars. Thing is, when you’re on a FOB its you and one other guy and the Military, which I don’t mind. But here, you’re with Cops, and after being one for 20 plus years, it’s comforting.
So, I’ll say so long to Logar, thanks for the memories. Not goodbye, because you never know…

I'd like to mention the passing of a dude I had the pleasure to meet and work with. As a matter of fact, I probably spent most my time here working with this guy. He didn't have any rank, just a Patrolman, but he was in charge of his Check Point because of his experience, dedication to duty and the respect of his men. Gul Alam was taken by an IED recently and he will be missed. He is the model of what the Afghan National Police should strive for. (in the photo's he is meeting with village elders and handing out humanitarian aid to a local village).

On another note;

Witnessed something interesting and disturbing yesterday. I was waiting in line for the DFAC, (dining facility) to open. In line in front of me was an Indian man and in front of him an Army Staff Sergeant. We were in the wash/waiting area with several other people. It was close, but not over crowded. The Sgt turned towards the Indian gentleman and said “Hey, you’re in my personal space, we don’t do that” The other guy just looked at him. He then said “back the **** up” and pushed him back. Nothing serious, the guy wasn’t hurt, it was more a forced step back. I actually thought he knew the dude. Then the doors opened and we moved in to the chow line. I was a couple people behind the Sgt, and meatballs were one of the items available for lunch. There are three or four Indian guys working behind the counter, one behind each section of choices. He hands over his plate and says loudly, “just meatballs, I only want meatballs”. The meatball guy puts one meatball on his plate and the Sgt flips out, steps back and throws his hands in the air, yelling “ what the ****, can’t you people speak English”. He then walks away to the other side of the tent where they serve sandwiches, muttering about how he can’t understand why the people in this country can’t speak English. This guy’s picture should be in the dictionary next to Ugly American.
Several thoughts on this; I’m not sure what kind of training the military gives its guys to acclimated them to the culture of the countries that they may be occupying, but a lot of places in this region of the world don’t have the same views as Americans do as far as personal space goes. It doesn’t mean that much to them. Maybe the Sgt was an FNG to the Stan, didn’t look like it though. As far as the English thing goes, well, do I really need to say that this dumbass is not in Kansas anymore.
It’s people like this moron that are the reason why the US is having such a hard time accomplishing anything over here. It’s the general attitude of a lot of the military. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it, (it’ll be on the test), we are here to mentor and help in the Afghan’s fight against the Taliban. If this nitwit is treating the people that work on our bases like that, you can imagine how he treats the local villagers.
If the Officers here don’t know how their troops are acting, they need to open their eyes. If they do know, they better wake up and smell the Chai, before it’s too late.

Wartime Links

Yes Virginia, there is golf in Afghanistan. But, as you can see, the green is actually a grayish gravel. It was actually a minefield at one time. Now its a nine hole par three. No water hazards, but look out for the little mounds, never know, they might have missed a couple. Four...boom!

Castles

So I had the opportunity to visit the Queen's Palace in Kabul, (below left). I guess at one time it was quite the place. This is open for us to go inside, which we did. Really amazing. Opposite this is the King's Palace, which you can see behind me and in the photo, above right. That is closed to the public. Back when the Russians invaded, they destroyed both building and they've never been repaired, too bad.

If you want to see them in their original state, you'll have to go online. Due to copyright infringement, I can't show them here. But check it out, they were extraordinary.

Vacation

Well after a much needed vacation, I’m back on Mars.

The leave was everything I hoped it would be. Fantastic job by Pam, as always, of planning and mapping out the upcoming events. After the graduation, ceremony and party weekend, we, me, Pam and the boys, headed north to Canada. My daughter had to finish school and would fly up the next week to meet us.

The first leg was from RI to St. Johns New Brunswick. As a graduation gift, Nick and I went kayaking and then went into the Reversing Falls in St John’s on a jet boat ride. No kidding that boat went underwater numerous times, frigging cold water too. Very cool. Then we did some sightseeing around town.

The hotel had a water slide in the pool and me and the boys did things that should have gotten us kicked out if they had seen us. Footage available on Facebook. Two nights there then it was on to Halifax Nova Scotia. It was a whole city like Thayer St and Newport mixed together.

After Halifax we went to a little town called Shelburne where we rented a house. Couple things, it was supposed to be a beach house, it wasn’t. I mean we live in the Ocean State. Beaches are everywhere. We wanted a house on the beach. This was near a beach which was overgrown all the way to the water. That and it rained the entire time we were there. Thank god the boys had Xbox because the only internet we had was if we drove into town. It was nice being together though. We cut the stay short and headed back in the direction of Halifax.

We went back towards Halifax to await the arrival of Mel and found a hotel with another waterslide and broke more safety codes. Mel flew from Boston to Halifax and met and sat with Charles Barkly, not Knarles, on the flight.
We left there and drove to a place called Moncton. Checked their claim to fame, the Chocolate River, and Hopewell Rocks, then dinner at a little Mexican restaurant where we learned of the passing of the late great MJ.

We finished up the trip with a two night stay in St Andrews at a great place called the Rossmount Inn. After about 1750 miles we got home.

That two weeks was great, had some real quality time with the family. The week at home, including the 4th, went way to fast. It was nice to see old friends and look forward to the next time.

Graduation Day

June 13, 2009

Got home Friday and Saturday was my son's Graduation Day. It was a great day and the next day we had a little party at the house with some family and friends. These are some shots of Nick and I, my Mom, Pam, Logan and a few of the guys, Dave, Tom, Dale and Brad. It was great to see everybody.

By the way, it took about 30 hours of travel time to get home, 18 of those in the air. Takes a lot out of you. I was beat up from going back in time and it was nice that Pam and I had a day to regroup in Boston before heading south to RI.

Half way mark

Well I'm almost at the half way point and I'll be home soon on leave.







Some things I've learned;

The way to help and change this country is through education. That means it may take a couple generations for the changes to take effect. As of now, most Provinces, the outlying ones, only allow boys to attend classes. Girls go to school in the bigger cities, but even they are in danger from attacks, as was the case of the two girls that were sprayed in the face with acid on their way to class.

The men we are training to be police are not doing it for reasons that most American men and women become cops. They have no concept of the "thin blue line", and are mostly doing it for the money, (about $100 a month), or the power to strong arm villagers for money and goods.

Yes, they are warriors, but they are also very lazy. I won't go into personal hygiene, which is a blog all by itself and I really don't feel like talking about it right now.

The US Military;

Let me say this, soldiers are soldiers and always have been. They are young men and women at war and are dealing with it like soldiers always have. They make due. The Officers however are a different story. I wish there were more over here like Ray and Tom, who I'd work for anytime. But the Officers I've met and worked with over here leave much to be desired. Most are basically arrogant punks and the big problem with how the military is conducting this operation begins with them.

As far as I know, we are here to help the Afgan people bring democracy to their country and get rid of the Taliban. If you run a scorched earth policy and treat the locals like they're the bad guys, all you do is push the young men towards joining the Taliban. Counter productive if you ask me. You can't roll into a village with big noisy armored vehicles and threaten villagers with bodily harm for wnating to get close enough to ask for water and expect the Afghans to accept us openly. It won't work. You're just breading younger terrorists.



I can't say it hasn't been hard, it has. Not the work or the conditions. Being away for so long. The hardest part has been being apart from my family and freinds. I'm fortunate I have such good support from back home. Thank you all.

Range Officer

I've been assigned to the range for the last week and it's very interesting. The Afgan Police work with the recruits and we oversee them using language assistants. Let me put it this way, they need a lot of help. The ANP instructors are very good, very experienced. I can sum it up this way. These are people whose mothers didn't use prenatal vitamins, they didn't have nutritious diets growing up, nor the benifit of sports programs to help with coordination. They are however, instilled with a will to fight but are inherently lazy.

This week the women are shooting, which is a trip. Some are pretty good, others however, well check the photo's.

This is the Afgan gun rack in my room at my new location. My M-4, with slight modifications.



I should be home in a couple weeks and we're having a party at the house, (big suprise). If you're reading this, then you're invited. Here's the official invite.
(double click for details).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK

A change of scenery

This is what we flew in when they moved us out of Logar. We left because of certain developments between us and the military that I’m not at liberty to discuss. I’m in the city now working as an advisor. Unknown for how long. Right now I assess the Afghan Instructors as they teach classes to recruits and I will be heading to the range to be a range officer. Let me say this about the Afghan Police Recruits. At Logar, when teaching, you could hold their attention for about twenty minutes at a time. Then they would lose interest and drift. Like teaching children. After that, you were just talking to yourself. They’ve already been trained, and are already working. Much like teaching seasoned cops back home that go to in service training because they have to. Know what I mean? Its better here, it’s more like being at an academy, which it is. Should still be interesting with guns though.

Our security here, and at many other places in country, is done by Gurkhas. They are Warriors from Nepal who take their name from the 8th Century Hindu warrior Guru Gorakhnath. A disciple of his, Bappa Rawal actually liberated Afghanistan with his Gurkha Army, driving the invading Muslims out.

They’re well trained and highly devoted. The line goes, when asked by a Queen if the enemy would get to her, the Gurkha replied, “I can not promise that they won’t get to you, but I promise that if they reach you, they will be covered with Gurka blood".

They carry a Kukri, also known as a Gurkha Blade. A formidable weapon that comes in a variety of sizes. They use them as weapons and tools. I’ve actually seen one used to decapitate a goat, with one stroke. (sorry, no video as this is a PG Blog). The one I have is a ceremonial blade, worn with a dress uniform for special occasions. A Nepali boy will have one at the age of five and will be skilled in the use of the weapon before he becomes a man. It’s said that by the time he joins the Army the knife has become a chopping extension of his arm. A very dangerous weapon in close quarters.

Just want to say hello and recognize a couple guys I had the honor to work with in Logar. They worked for an unnamed organization that I can only identify as AF5. Former high speed military operators that were there to help the cause and really participated, if only the military would’ve listened, eh boys. To nights by the flame and the Call to Cigar. Lou and Kevin, nice working with you. Dosvidanya.

Partners

I have to continuously apologize for bad internet service. But this time it was the generators. Our side of the base is, or was powered by a big ass generator that we would shut off during the day to conserve fuel. We had a smaller generator for daytime hours. About a day after the 33rd left, the big one died. So we, the three Dyn guys living in our building, ran the small one during the day until we went to bed. When we got up we ran it. Well two days ago that died, bad fuel pump. So for the last three days, we have been living like the Afghan’s. Actually the Afghans have power, so… We ended up splicing into another generator, (sshhh, don’t tell anybody) and now I’m back on.

So something has been bothering me for a while. I gave a speech at my retirement party and while I guess it wasn’t bad, I realize I really didn’t say the things I should have said. I don’t know if writing it would have helped either because I don’t know if it was in my head then to say. So here goes.

The job for me was about partners.

When I first started out on the department my first partner I rode with was, that’s right you know him, you love him, Jack. He was who I spent my first Christmas and New Years with. He taught how to not take it so seriously. He was a good guy to be my FTO, of course we didn’t call it that, but that’s what he was. And because WPD rode signal cars, when I was put out on my own, he was really my only partner of my time in uniform.

Then I became a Detective and Detective work is all about partners in WPD, (or was anyway). The first partner I had was a guy named Joe Bell. Joe was old school, nose to the grindstone kind of cop. Former BCI guy, who showed me how to process a scene. My first B & E investigation was solved from a print we lifted off a piece of glass.
Then I was on my own for a while working bad checks. After that I worked in a five to six person squad doing B & E’s and Assaults. I was partnered with Bob P. I never laughed so much. Funny guy. We slipped away one day, (saying we were looking for somebody) and ended up on Second Beach in Middletown, sipping a cool drink (virgin of course) and smoking cigars. You would have thought we were at a cocktail party. After that it was SOG and I was working with the Grinch, (Mike T.) we did unorthodox work with good results. Then back out on the floor and Scott M and I were a team. Fun stuff and if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be in Casa De Lillian. Then I went to HIDTA and was paired with the crazy Frenchman from Woonsocket. The first and best thing Guy told me was “small cases, small problems, big cases big problems, no cases…” Well, we had some big cases and the problems that go with em. Towards the end, I came back to regular Detective work and I guess my last official partner on the WPD was Dave V. Hope I didn’t corrupt him too much.

Of course along the way, I worked with a bunch of great people, on shifts, groups, squads, teams, whatever. The men and women in blue, the other Detectives I had the great opportunity to work with, the guys in SOG and the boys in HIDTA, (FBI, RISP, Providence, Cranston, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, East Providence, CF, Charlestown and Coventry). The Bomb guys from Providence and the Fire Marshalls Office, US Customs people and the BATF. Of course the frogs on the Dive team, and the boys in Black. Ray, the best boss I’ve had, Chris, my Mentor, Dale, Brad, Thomas, Jay, Steve F, Rock, Andrew, Mark, Mini-Me, Steve L, Mike F, Steph, Sean, My brother-in-law, Mike, whose been with a friend since we met in the academy, Beave and BA, Paul W and Stump, Cruz, Mark C and Hutch. My old diving partners, Billy H and Scott H. And anyone else’s name I neglected, (sorry).

Now this wouldn’t be complete without mentioning two people, two partners. One of which has been my partner since High School. Through the years of M.M., 82nd, West Roxbury VA and the WPD. He’s always been there, even now. To borrow a line from Spock, “I have been and always shall be, your friend”, (corny, but what the hell). Last, but by no means least, my lovely Wife. She supports me and Loves me and we will be partners till the end. Yin Yang Baby, Yin Yang.

Sorry, but I had to get that out.

Diversions

So, when the 33rd left, they took the Internet with them. The dish, modem, router, even the wires. Well, not all the wires. I’m back on now, so Hello Everybody. Haven’t been doing much, cause the new teams not ready to roll. So it’s a good thing the building has an extensive DVD collection. About that, how things have changed.

Wavy lines, fade to flashback….
Overview of the woods in North Carolina.
Soldiers, milling around.
Zoom in on a young MP sitting behind the wheel of a Jeep (not HMMV, cause they didn’t exist yet). He’s reading because there’s nothing else to do.
(and no smart ass remarks from any military guys like, why wasn’t he cleaning his weapon, pulling watch, setting up camp or digging a foxhole) it was all done, that’s why.
Point is, there was and still is a lot of down time in the Military. Add to the fact that technically, I’m not in the Military, just attached to them, means I have even more down time.

That’s what I did then, I read. I read a lot. That’s cool, I love to read. Now though its different. I have two computers in my room, mine and the company’s, a TV with cable (only three channels, sports, news and movies, but hey, better than nothing), DVD and more movies than I can watch. Until recently I had an Xbox 360. Yep. Love gaming, most of you know that. Asked the boy if he could send my Xbox from home, but he said “no way”. Basically, “love you Dad, but the Xbox stays home”. So I found one on Ebay and had it sent here. Halo version, so it was all green and military looking. Had Pam, who supports my gaming addiction, send me a bunch of games and got to play a couple weeks until the RED RINGS OF DEATH. When the motherboard gets to hot the system shuts down and freezes and three or four red lights glow around the power button. It’s the worst thing that could happen, especially since there’s no local repair shop. So I had to send it home. By the time it gets fixed, I’ll be home. I’m not the only one either, most guys have games on computers or have systems of their own. One of the guys had a system and put it on a power point projector on the wall. There were four guys playing Call of Duty, life size. It was pretty interesting.
So that’s how things change.
Communications as well. No cell phones back then either. Now, I can call on a computer (with video), Sat phone, IM, or cell. Some can be pricey, but you can't put a price on talking with loved ones.
This is at one of our nightly rituals of sitting around the fire, (till it’s really dark, then its blackout time).

The 33rd

I’d like to extend a Laurel and Hardy handshake to the guys of the 33rd Combat Brigade out of the Illinois National Guard. They were here when I got to Shank and they took me in. They left recently and are headed home and I will miss them. When I was told where I was going, they said that I would be with a regular army unit. A high speed unit. When I got here, I found that I would be living and working with these fine gentlemen. At first I was a little leery, till I rolled out with them. My opinion of the National Guard has changed.

You know, I was full time Army many moons ago and when I got out, I didn’t even consider joining the NG because they were, to be honest, a joke. But that was a long time ago and things have changed, like they often do. With the recent history of the US being involved in several conflicts, the roll of the NG has increased as has their expertise and quality of people. This group of guys have backgrounds to include a railroad engineer, teacher, laborers, farmers, and several Police Officers.

They were overworked and under-appreciated by the regular army. I would roll with these guys anytime and anywhere. True Operators. Thank you my friends, Bama, Beers, Bietz, Bo, Urbies, Rouen, Doc, Corey, Adam, Wes, Col, K, Tank, Mr. T, Brewer, Hays, BJ, Ruge, Jonesy, Evans, Sgt. B, Ehnle, Coss, Pepe, Dirty Villa, Z, Mr. M, George, Sgt. W, and Tink.

Adrenalin

Firing RPG's at the Heavy Weapons Range

Amended....

Not sure if any of you know why I decided to leave the job, some do, but here it is.
I still loved the job, but there was nothing else I wanted to do at WPD. My time was up. I used to see guys bitching about this and that, although I was elsewhere for about six years, so I didn't have to put up with the day to day buffoonery, I was still there more than I had to be. And I enjoyed it. Had a good career and worked with some fantastic people. So I had to exit, stage left and make room for others.
But the bigger reason was this. When I used to go on raids, SWAT or drug or anything else, I always got the rush, that adrenalin rush that cops get and look forward to, when you go through the door, (first, last, it doesn’t matter). I’m sure street Cops get it when they go into that great unknown of stopping a car in the middle of the night, (if you don’t your lying or you should re-evaluate). Most dangerous job in LE, the front line officer, I mean SWAT you’re geared up for it, any other specialized unit too, that’s what you’re trained for, right?

But the rush….

Acceleration of heart and lung action
Paling or flushing, or alternating between both
Inhibition of stomach and upper-intestinal action (digestion slows down or stops)
General effect on the sphincter
Constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body
Liberation of nutrients for muscular action
Dilation of blood vessels for muscles
Inhibition of lacrimal gland (responsible for tear production) and salivation
Dilation of pupil
Relaxation of bladder
Evacuation of colon
Inhibition of erection
Auditory Exclusion (loss of hearing)
Tunnel Vision (loss of peripheral vision)
Acceleration of instantaneous reflexes

That’s the clinical definition, but you know what I’m getting at.

It wasn’t that we had a ton of SWAT call outs, (WPD Operators, you know what I’m talking about), but when you spend pretty much your whole career wearing black, you’re bound to go on some call outs. Drug raids however, well, I lost count. Towards the end after about three or four years with SOG and six years with HIDTA, my heart rate started staying the same, unless there were stairs. I started thinking that maybe that wasn’t a good thing. I was maybe getting complacent and that’s not good. Bomb calls, yes, but there just weren’t that many. Always got it when we were under a 900 ft ship though, but then they stopped calling.
Oh well. So that’s why I decided to leave, wanted to find the next thing. But you know what? Couldn’t find it. Not that I didn’t try, but there just isn’t a big calling for what I wanted in RI. So after a year of learning about the dark side of RI politics, I flew 7000 miles from home to get that rush again,(uh oh, sounds like an addiction). That might explain the whole jumping out of a perfectly good airplane all those years ago, (right Dave?)

Every time we leave the wire here, ( leave to FOB), there’s that rush, it doesn’t last the whole trip, but certain things you see or hear, perk you up. So, if any of you junkies over there are missing something, there’s plenty of work in this vast wonderland called Afghanistan.

Hey, do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a war story?
a fairy tale starts with "once upon a time" and a war story starts with
"no shit, there I was"

See ya

Details...

I was surprised to see this on one of the local roads. Not the fact that these fine gentlemen were wearing reflector vests, but that they were behaving much like the crews back home. Standing around talking. The only thing missing was the one or two cops standing with them. I guess details are the same the world over. Except instead of laying pipes or lines, they’re probably planting IED’s. Just kidding.

Is this camel loaded or what, and no, that’s not me behind it.

Happy Easter

I hope you all had a lovely Holiday. The bunny didn't make an appearance here, could be because he couldn't hop so well wearing body armor and a kevlar helmet.

We had a local taylor make us some outfits called ManJams, ( that's what we call them). Taylors the short guy in the middle. Very comfortable and breezy. Faces blocked because of OpSec, you all know me, so....

That's me and George, my roommate with the local weapon of choice.