18 May 07: Today was another mission escorting leadership to a KLE (Key Leader Engagement). Our colonel (O-6) was meeting with a Provincial Minister for lunch. No big deal, except our route was blocked on the way to the location. The road had been turned into a cement factory by local villagers. They had dug a large hole and were mixing cement in it. After our interpreter talked to the villagers we inched our way around some houses (thoughts of last weeks missions running through our minds) and back on the road. We had to cross a canal and “bridge” marked on the map was actually a 25 year old soviet bridge, the kind placed by the mechanized tanks, in other words, temporary and portable. This “bridge” was rusted and didn’t look stable. The villagers were encouraging us to cross telling us ….”Good, strong”, we buckled up and off we went…..thankfully I was in the first truck…..we made it okay. At the Ministers house lunch was good, again the kabobs kicked butt. They brought out the fish and I was taken back by the fish…..just check out my pics under May.
17 May 07: Ok, today was cool. We had to deliver a brand new Toyota Landcruiser, armored SUV to a Governor. The SUV was loaded armored to the max. Guess who got to drive it….that’s right, this personnelist was tasked to drive the SUV to the Governor. Who thought I would be driving a luxury SUV in the middle of Afghanistan? Anyways, fun, something fun to tell the kids.
10 May 07: This was the most interesting mission to date. We were taking Civil Affairs officers to visit some local agricultural projects and a dehydration plant in the province. All was going well, until our return to base. The local national who we were following to a local co-op farm pointed us back to the main road and we were off. We turned into a village and the road became narrow. We dispatched ground guides to walk each humvee through the village. The road was lined with trees and brick walls with only inches in clearance. After several “S” turns we knew there was no turning back since there was no way to turn around. Suddenly the convoy came to a halt in middle of the village. The lead truck had become wedged between two walls, and I mean wedged. After some slight damage to the wall the truck pushed through, needless to say after the fourth truck the wall was damaged, 7 of 8 side mirrors were gone, and the entire village had come out to witness the world’s sole remaining superpower come to grinding halt with two mud and rock walls.
9 May 07: Our meeting with the Governor today was a Provincial Development Council. This is where the government plans its responses to the needs of their people. The PDC works with our PRT, UNAMA, and USAID in addition to other NGOs (non-governmental organizations). Coordination is a must since we want to maximize funding.
8 May 07: We went out to the Parwan Governor’s compound for our weekly meeting. I suppose I should explain their government a little. The President is elected by the people, however the President appoints the Governors of each province (our state) but the Provincial ministers are elected. Within each Province are districts (our counties) and they are elected by the people. Within the districts are the villages which are led by the village elders. So, one of our functions is to help mentor the Provincial Governor in becoming more effective administrators. We have two Provinces, Kapisa and Parwan, each with their own challenges. This particular Governor works on AST (afghan Standard Time) which is about 2-3 hours different than any other time zone on the planet. So anyways, the Governor invites us to have lunch with his Deputy. The meal was fantastic, didn’t ask what I was eating, but the kabobs were great. Their bread is a lot like pita bread, they use it as their fork, picking up their food. It was nice to have some more relaxed conversation with the Governor, it helps establish the relationship between him and our commander.