The Longest Month

Hoorah! May is over.  Who knew May had forty-five days, which is what it felt like as the calendar refused to allow June to take over.  June marks a new beginning as the formal training finally comes to an end and we make our final preparations for heading over to Afghanistan.  I was so mixed up in my days towards the end that I seriously thought the month was over, only to be reminded that it was only the 27th.  Yesterday marked the final event in a ten day culminating exercise that put us through our paces in all the areas that we trained on ove the last two and a half months.  It was our final exam, and as expected, we aced it.  I don't know how many times over the past couple of days I have said "we are truly blessed."  For we have a great team and they continue to excel in every aspect of their jobs.  There is nothing for me to do but ride their coattails and watch them do great things.  One example is our female engagement team.  This is nothing more than the five females on the PRT that will have the opportunity to work with Afghan females mentoring them on education, business opportunities and family healthcare.  In the one event they participated in, they did so well that the trainers are going to make all the other PRTs watch the video of the event so they can see how to do it right.  The Security Force is the most well-disciplined and the most physically fit team out here.  They make great decisions and they care about the mission and about each other...truly blessed I am.

Now, if I may, let me speak about Indiana.  The next time I have to drive cross country and I take the northerly route, I am driving around Indiana.  I' sorry but I feel that strongly about it.  I will take a detour all the way around the state rather than drive through it.  At first I didn't want to blame Indiana for Camp Atterbury.  It isn't Indiana's fault that the National Guard made the choice to put it here. In fact I am pretty sure that every state has a version  of Camp Atterbury, so I was willing to let the state slide a bit.  But there is no excuse for the weather.  I can't believe how everyone always talks about the great Pacific Northwest and how it rains too much there.  I have spent most of my life in the Pacific Northwest and I will tell you I have never seen so much rain as I have seen in Indiana.  The large mud puddle that would often take up half the parking lot outside the barracks (I dubbed it Lake Kunar) has almost dried up after a few days of sunny weather.  But there is always the danger that it will come back again in a moment's notice.  With the rain comes the lightning and the thunder and the hail the size of golf balls.  All the COs had to leave a meeting early because tornadoes were touching down nearby and the building we were in was not well protected. Are you kidding me? Training events out on the firing ranges were repeatedly cancelled because of the lightning that was striking the ranges.  That was just Spring.  When I first arrived here in February it was 4 degrees and covered with hardpacked icy snow.  Indiana, no offense but I am done with you.

So, now we give some briefs, tie up loose ends and get ready for a well deserved seven days of leave before starting the real adventure. Last night a few of us had the opportunity to attend an Afghan dinner in celebration of the end of the exercise.  Over the past ten days we were interacting with Afghans who were role players in each of the exercise events.  They played every role from provincial governor to tea server to Taliban.  They were all there at the dinner so we were able to share a meal with them and converse with them outside a structured event.  It was a great evening and a nice way to wrap up things.  They even got me up dancing for about a minute (I am trying to keep it off Youtube).  We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands in the traditional Afghan style. Good company, good food....a good way to end the longest month.