The trials of life and its Curveballs

A brother Scot Sanders gave me this at the beinning of my 2nd (and his 3rd) deployment to Iraq. I retain it with me today.

DO WHAT IS RIGHT ANYWAY

People are often unreasonable,

Illogical and self Centered;

Love them anyway.

If you are kind,

People may acuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,

You will win some false friends and some true enemies:

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,

People may cheat you;

you spend years building,

Someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,

They may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,

People will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,

and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, iIt is between you and God;

It never was between you and them anyway.

4-11: The Dasht-e-Margo

The Karez can be seen on the left side of this photo taken near Lakshar Gah. They look like a series of giant ant hillson the edge of the town and can be built by many generations.

Thie sharp escarpment is at the tail of the Hindu Kush between Delaram and Shindand. The topography is mesmerizing here.

~~~~~~~~

The Dasht-e-Margo Desert covers a wide swath of southern Afghanistan and, is intersected into parcels by the north/south Helmand and Farah Rivers. The rivers bring significance to this wide desert terrain for it is within these valleys that people live and thrive because of the waters there. The Helmand River is one of five major river systems in Afghanistan and rises from its source in the Hindu Kush mountain range. This river drains 30% of all water in the Afghanistan State. Kandahar sits near the northeastern boundary of this desert and US Marine Corps outposts straddle the Helmand River. Recently, operations in Marjah brought to light the importance of the irrigation channels where the most recent poppy crop was being readied for harvest. The channels were created in the 1960s by the United States to help Afghanistan develop its own sources of food. The poppy brings the farmer exponentially more money and the farmers use this money to buy food, build their homes and, in some cases, to fuel more nefarious deeds.

An interesting feature in the landscape is the Karez. The Karez system is a means to convey subsurface water from one location to another by excavating holes and then tunneling to the direction of the water outfall. this ancient system has been used for hundreds if not thousands of years. A series of holes is dug to ground water, then tunnels connect the path of water to its outfall where then it is used for personal use, washing clothes, drinking, farming, and for livestock. The Karez water is a surficial aquifer relied on by most towns and villages as their only source of water.

A program is on-going to drill to depths of 800-1500 feet to extract water from deep aquifers so as not to affect the Karez. To date this program has been very successful and has produced water of high quality. One day, when the coalition forces leave, these legacy wells will remain for use by the people of Afghanistan to improve their lives and improve regional stability. The men and women participating in this effort are completely dedicated to performing expeditiously to establish as many wells as possible in a constrained time frame. The distances and terrain they have to traverse is often difficult and fraught with danger. Yet they press on. They are true professionals.

Kandahar
4.11.10

Easter in Kandahar, Afghanistan 2010

It's been some time since I posted so I will endeavour to recap some past events on future blogs. Today will be reported in real time...

I awoke to the sound of fighters launching themselves down the runway. It was uncommon to hear eight of them blast into the Afghanistan skies one after the other as usually it is two maybe four. Today, it would be a bad day for some bad people. The morning was uncharacteristically clear and devoid of the dust that has a tendency to linger in the atmosphere here at Kandahar.

This is my second Easter here in Afghanistan. And being in such a foreign land plays with the emotions. The isolation teaches you a lot about your strengths, your weaknesses and, if properly harnessed, can build. Unfortunately, it can also tear down so you have to pay some attention to that.

I was not caught up in work today and my mind wandered. I let it take me where it would and there is freedom in letting your mind do what it needs to do. Today was a "reset" day for me. Easter is a "reset" day - a renewal, a reminder of what is important and to set our sight on those things. To close my day, I attended the Anglican service in the rich tradition of the English Church. The service was calming and a fitting end to a day that should recenter us. I took communion and upon returning to my chair in the chapel, the sun was juxtaposed such that it beamed through the colored glass upon my face. It was a reaffirmation to me of what the day had been. This was a pure and clear light.

At the closing, the Priest prayed for two men, both 19 years old who had lost their lives in combat this week. Young men sent by their country to fight on this foreign soil. I will never understand the complexities of war and the manifestation of evil.

I am thankful that I will return home soon.

God's Peace,

RSN

Bagram - Final Journal Entry

(Back: Glen, Dan, Rustam, Gary, Sergey, Darryl, Front: Andy, Jay, Scott, Ray,Rocky)

One Chapter Closes ~ Another Opens...

Here I sit in Kandahar, yet all the thoughts in my mind are where I just left. A place made famous by Alexander the Great's exploits, a dusty bowl laying in the shadows of the Hindu Kush. I sit in my new "digs," a tent, and the reality has already entered deep in me - The reality that I left one of the best collections of men who were unique in their skills and added those particular skills to make form where there was no function.

I knew long ago that my days at the camp were numbered, but I did not realize it would be so hard leaving - not the job, but you guys. Needless to say, I arrive here with some mixed emotions and feel like I left the real band of builders behind me. It was good to come to know each of you and learn of your strengths. It was amazing to me to see you all combine those strengths into a common purpose. It was fabulous that we faced diversity and challenge with such a united font. For me, I have to attribute these traits to my military time, as I am sure certain of you think.I was very fortunate to have you there- we shared common struggles, common beliefs, and common outlooks working for a common purpose in so many ways. Really, it was hard getting on that plane and seeing the work move under my feet when we took off. A lot of our sweat is on that place called Bagram. Our fingerprints are on the ground there and made permanent by solid pieces of some of the best concrete in the world.

When I look back on my years I will certainly look fondly at those months we had in a place where Alexander once tread. We shared openly, with honesty, integrity, and honor and humor - nothing can replace that. Nothing. I don't think it can be understood by anyone unless they have lived this way in such an austere environment.

Well, I guess that is it. Continue to do your best no matter the situation. I owe you my deepest thanks for supporting me as you did.

Be safe and in the years to come. I hope you remember these days we had and can provide a good bit of warm and cheerful stories to your children and grandchildren when they ask, "What did you do in the Afghan Campaign, Daddy?"

Scott

Kandahar

02 SEP 09

What we can learn from Children

I am back in the land of the Hindu Kush. The mountains have very little snow left revealing their jagged teeth that reach for the haze-blue sky. Here in a land filled with tribal factions where the big voting event (2 days ago) followed a series of threats including one where the Taliban would cut off any "purple-stained" fingers.

The winds of 120 days provide gusts from the northeast and kick up sand in the air. It has cooled here and there is a bit more crispness to the night.

On to the subject of my blog today...

A dear friend and brother in arms, Chris lost his oldest child a few weeks ago; his son, David was 24 years old and the oldest of 7 children. I learned of this tragedy from Chris while riding across the Cooper River Bridge with my own oldest son and his wife. Over the coming days I found myself thinking a lot about Chris' loss, and the thoughts came in and out of my awareness as I prepped to depart yet again to Afghanistan. I followed the emotions on the Facebook posts and the comments left on the obituary page set up. The funeral was on a Friday when I was in Norfolk.

Chris commented on a small vignette with far reaching implication of a discussion he was having with his family about an upcoming trip to a cabin - one of David's favorite places. His youngest son, AJ who, when told that his oldest brother would not be at the cabin they were going to, proclaimed, "...yes he will be there, he'll be driving a cloud." And I thought, here was wisdom in its truest and most innocent form - wisdom that is spirit inspired rather than created by man.

I told another friend of this and commented on how children - by their nature - have not been yet conditioned by the world and how pure thoughts like this are. He told me of another story of when he was 4 years old at his father's bedside. The Doctors had said that the father had days to live. Amidst all this sadness, the 4 year old boy said to his dad, "come on out of bed, dad and play some ball with me." His father told him that one comment changed his whole attitude and also his will to live - that indeed his son through his natural want to play with his dad gave him the inspiration necessary to pull through. His dad revealed that story to his son 15 years later.

I know my brother Gary was and continues to be encouraged by his own son, Nick during his recent struggle with illness.

Children give me hope and encouragement. And they sometimes have a better understanding of the life-death-life interface than we do. The way things have gone in recent years, I wonder if we are leaving a better world for our children. I think we can though, if we just see God and act, through our children's eyes.

Bagram

22 Aug 09

Perspective from the USA

I have been able to enjoy the fruits of this good country. Two things I want to share with you. One is an article about the current political climate and is a poignant example of how victory was viewed during WW II and now, and the other a link to a powerful sermon by Anthony Kowbeidu entitled "The Terrible Reality of Hell," which relates clearly to victory by recognizing and staring into the reality of Hell.

The link for the sermon: http://www.wearestandrews.com/sermons.aspx?ArticleId=187#

And the article from IBD posted at: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=333326274391143

which is copied below:

Winning Is All

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, July 24, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Afghanistan: It was a bad week for the president. After accusing Cambridge, Mass., police of acting stupidly, he called victory unnecessary in Afghanistan. Does the commander in chief misunderstand the use of force?

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Read More: Middle East & North Africa

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In the dark days of May 1940, Winston Churchill famously outlined the task before the British people: "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terrors, victory however long and hard the road may be — for without victory there is no survival."

Contrast that with what the president told ABC News last Thursday: "I'm always worried about using the word victory, because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur."

If the goal of the U.S. in Afghanistan isn't victory, what is the purpose of the blood, toil, tears and sweat of our forces? What is the meaning of the struggle and suffering of their families?

According to Vince Lombardi, "If you can accept losing, you can't win."

Now, in fairness to our president, he doesn't seem to be saying that losing is an option. He noted in the same interview that "when you have a nonstate actor, a shadowy operation like al-Qaida, our goal is to make sure they can't attack the United States."

Going on, he said the U.S. "will continue to contract the ability of al-Qaida to operate," which the president called "absolutely critical." We agree.

But we are at something of a crossroads in Afghanistan. The toil, tears, sweat — and especially blood — have increased of late.

As a result, public displeasure is on the rise in Britain, Canada and Germany, which with their tens of thousands of troops are taking part in the U.S.-led coalition — the kind of coalition, by the way, that liberal Democrats consider absolutely vital before fighting wars against terror states.

Our allies could eventually pull out. So at a time like this, the job of the president is to remind them, and the American people, that we are in a world war against a network of evildoers.

Barely two months into this administration, the Pentagon was sent a memo announcing that we were no longer engaged in a global war on terror; this was not a "long war" the American people were faced with.

No, the endeavor U.S. servicemen and women were being asked to spill their blood for would from now on be called an "overseas contingency operation."

How's that to stir your patriotism?

Imagine the message that al-Qaida, the mullahcracy in Iran and nuclear-armed North Korea take from these choices of language. The U.S. doesn't consider "victory" to be its goal in Afghanistan; the U.S. no longer believes it is engaged in a "war" against the Islamists who killed thousands of Americans on American soil in 2001.

Apparently, "winning" a "war" is passe to our 21st century way of thinking. Using an "overseas contingency operation" to "contract the ability" of "nonstate actors" is the enlightened phrasing.

Was the same mind-set behind the president's decision last week to second-guess police officers without knowing the facts? The "good guys vs. bad guys" mentality just isn't nuanced enough.

The truth is that eschewing plain language in favor of this kind of muddled babble sends a message of weakness to our enemies around the world.

And it downplays what is at stake at a time when the American people and our allies are in dire need of some unvarnished, old-fashioned, Churchillian truth telling.

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God's Peace, my friends

Awaiting Mission

I look at ships from my quarters and wonder. Where will they go? What mission will they be called to do? Who will man the battle stations and at what time? Who will command them? And how well will the commands be carried out? How well will the sailors execute the various missions they will be commanded to do? The questions have parallels to life itself. As a vessel myself I wonder these things. I wonder what I will be called to do, and how well I will do it...

I am back in the states now - Norfolk - a true Navy town. Had my 2nd tour here in the early 80s when Secretary of the Navy John Lehman under President Reagan was charting the course for a 600-ship navy. Today, we struggle to meet half of that. In a world with much more uncertainty, and a nation certainly less sure of itself and struggling financially, there is a great need for leaders who will return to the foundational pillars that built a great and strong (not borrowing) America.

LT Stephen Decatur - those of his ilk, the Navy - the nation - calls you...

Norfolk

10 Jul 2009

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February 16, 1804

The most daring act of the age

During the First Barbary War, U.S. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur leads a military mission that famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson calls the "most daring act of the age."

In June 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were often abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the United States at an exorbitant price. After two years of minor confrontations, sustained action began in June 1803 when a small U.S. expeditionary force attacked Tripoli harbor in present-day Libya.

In October 1803, the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan gunboats. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be both a formidable addition to the Tripolitan navy and an innovative model for building future Tripolitan frigates. Hoping to prevent the Barbary pirates from gaining this military advantage, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured American vessel on February 16, 1804.

After disguising himself and his men as Maltese sailors, Decatur's force of 74 men, which included nine U.S. Marines, sailed into Tripoli harbor on a small two-mast ship. The Americans approached the USS Philadelphia without drawing fire from the Tripoli shore guns, boarded the ship, and attacked its Tripolitan crew, capturing or killing all but two. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American. The Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its gunpowder reserve was lit by the spreading fire.

Six months later, Decatur returned to Tripoli Harbor as part of a larger American offensive and emerged as a hero again during the so-called "Battle of the Gunboats," a naval battle that saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the Tripolitans.

from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=4768