Dear family, friends and interested readers,
Soldier and Chaplain Jim Krische in Afghanistan
Greetings once again from Afghanistan. Lining the interior hallway walls of one of our major headquarters’ buildings are various placards so placed as to educate passersby. Some placards show regional maps or how to say common English phrases in the Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtu. Others have pictures of beautiful local scenery or various ethnic people with descriptions of their tribes and particular customs.
A different but related placard on display in the hallways, gym, dining room and other parts of the building reminds all of us of our commander’s philosophy, which is: “Be a leader…Know your job…. Do your best…. We Can. We Will.” Such a philosophy gives guidance, motivates the personnel and instills confidence.
In the commander’s philosophy, the pronoun “we” represents a vast array of over 200,000 people here in country plus a multitude stateside as well as the Afghan people themselves who are committed to freedom and peace. More than 45 nations are contributing military personnel to this NATO International Security Assistance Force operation. The United States military personnel here, from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines serve in units that belong to one of three categories. They are: 1) combat units that engage the enemy and patrol areas to keep them safe 2) combat support units that provide intelligence, communications, disposal of explosives and engineering assistance and 3) combat service support units that make sure the first two groups are manned, fed, supplied and transported as needed.
The combat units and some combat support units live in small outposts on the edge of a village or town. The combat units patrol their sector or battle space by foot or by armored vehicles looking for explosives, weapons, drugs and the bad guys. Although rewards are given to locals for turning in explosives and weapons, quite often they are discovered when they are used against our troops. Another challenge is that the bad guys are not often identifiable until they are caught burying explosives in the road or shooting at our troops.
Many combat units, in addition to providing security, are also involved in training the Afghan soldiers and police to do the job as well as backing them up when they go out on patrol or get in a tough firefight with the bad guys. In my opinion, the true accolades for getting the toughest jobs done here in Afghanistan should go to the troops in those combat units who live out there on the battlefield, endure the most difficult conditions and encounter danger most often.
The major NATO base in the south known as Kandahar Airfield, where I am now based, is like a small city hosting close to 20,000 service members from more than 18 nations plus 11,000 civilians. Since the mission at this location is to support those combat units working out in the battle space, most military personnel here are part of the third group mentioned above, combat service support units. They have jobs such as: lawyers, doctors, dentists, nurses, pilots, intelligence analysts, military strategists, finance representatives, police, postal workers, veterinarians, chemical experts, truck and aircraft mechanics, construction engineers, cargo handlers, cooks, supply sergeants, Equal Opportunity advocates, administration office staff, fuel handlers, budget gurus, psychologists, provincial reconstruction teams, historians, liaison officers to Afghanistan and coalition partner military forces, civil affairs teams, military working dog handlers, public affairs reps, and of course chaplains.
The thousands of civilians who are also part of the “we who can and will” aid in the accomplishing of the mission either by bringing a certain expertise to the operation or by doing a job that frees up a soldier to do a more military one. Some of those civilians serve as: Department of Defense and State Department advisors, technology specialists, interpreters, teachers, auto and aircraft mechanics, cooks, store attendants, laundry workers, building custodians, construction workers, truck drivers, firemen, pilots, cultural advisors, security guards, barbers, supply warehouse workers, porta-john maintainers, provincial reconstruction teams, DHL shipping clerks, incinerator operators, electrical engineers, recreation center personnel, trash collectors, American Red Cross staff, water suppliers and USO center personnel.
Even though most of the thousands of civilians come from the States and other countries, the NATO coalition does try to hire local Afghans for the interpreter jobs and other positions that they are capable of doing in order to raise their standard of living. Each Afghan though must pass a background check and some need their tribal leader’s recommendation. Having personal contact with the good local Afghans gives the military personnel a real human perspective on things and develops better relations between the nations. Even if you are not an Afghan citizen, should any of the above positions sound enticing and you are looking for some adventure, then check out the job openings for Afghanistan listed on the internet. I would be happy to buy you a coffee if our paths should cross here and I’d expect to see you at religious services.
As the “we” of the commander’s philosophy refers to the many different people, the “can” and “will” parts speak to a multitude of missions whose purposes include not only establishing peace and security in this troubled land but also to improve the way of life for a people who have suffered for decades. Military teams and civilian experts are working to make improvements in such areas as: health, government, education, roads, agriculture, medicine, law, military and police force capabilities, communications, construction, utilities and services, business practices, opportunities for women, commerce, sports, natural resource development and aviation. The whole operation has the makings for a series of the “Extreme Makeover” show, “Nation Edition” which could include an interesting episode on the destruction of the growing of opium here.
As for my current part in all of this, I have established my combat service support operational battle rhythm, also known as a daily schedule. I head out on a Friday for 11 days of battlefield circulation by helicopter and armored vehicle convoys, eventually returning on a Monday. After 3 days of reset, which includes laundry, rest, resupply and reports, I head back out again. Getting to at least one military base each day is not always possible with transportation limitations, bad weather or roads being closed due to a heightened threat level of either explosives buried in the road or bad guys planning attacks.
At each location I offer Catholic Mass once or twice if work shifts prevent people from attending and make myself available for the sacrament of Reconciliation or counseling. I also try to visit with soldiers especially in guard towers and occasionally, as a way to see everyone on the base, dish out the food on the serving line at meal times. If there is a Protestant chaplain stationed at any of the locations, I spend some time with him or her as a way to offer fellowship, encouragement and some mentoring. For the recent feast of St. Blasé, February 3rd, we had a special Mass that included the Blessing of Throats. I believe in the commander’s philosophy especially concerning my mission and ministry, reminding myself that I can and I will because the soldiers and civilians deserve religious support as they strive to complete their part of the mission.
You may have heard in the news that the fighting season here in Afghanistan ‘ends’ with the arrival of winter. That may have been true in the past but this year I think the word ‘decreases’ is more applicable. Snow falls across the northern half of this country with night time temperatures dropping to the teens or single digits while daytime temperatures climb to the mid 30s if they are lucky. Fortunately such conditions make moving about difficult for the bad guys and the ground too hard to bury explosives in. In the southern region where I am located, temperatures move between 28 and 50 most days so the bad guys are a bit more active. Some perhaps come south for the cold months. The winter season does also bring a lot of rain to the south and as much as all the mud is a nuisance, the rain sometimes helps us by shorting out or exposing the explosives that are buried daily in roads somewhere about the region. Around my large base camp, the cold wet weather also limits our free time outside sport and social activities so the athletic fields, patios and streets have been rather quiet, especially at night.
Although the military personnel and civilians here are quite focused on their missions, Superbowl fever has spread across Afghanistan with sports shows on the televisions in the dining facilities, chatter about which team is better, and logos of the New York Giants and New England Patriots appearing about the bases. For this fever the docs advise avoiding stress, getting some rest and letting the fever run its course. I understand that to aid the festivities, the morale folks have prepared some special party kits with snacks and non-alcoholic beverages that on Sunday are being air-dropped by parachute to some of the combat bases. Given the time zone difference, the parties here are beginning at 3am, so for us it is technically Superbowl Monday. I imagine both teams also share our commander’s philosophy of “We can. We will” but time will tell.
To close out this update, I would suggest that if you are more curious about what is going on here in Afghanistan, that you to check out the NATO website http://www.isaf.nato.int/ or the American military newspaper Stars & Stripes website http://epaper.stripes.com/. It is our hope that the Afghan National Army and Police as well as the people of Afghanistan who desire peace and freedom will also not only adopt our commander’s philosophy of “We can. We will.” but will rededicate themselves to make it a reality now. I pray that each of those groups as well be successful. Thanks for following along and please remember our troops in a prayer, especially the injured and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
–CH Jim Krische
