Book Review: 'Afghan Post'

Review: 'Afghan Post' by Adrian Bonenberger

Distilling e-mails, journal entries, and letters he wrote home into new content, former U.S. Army Infantry officer Adrian Bonenberger has crafted a memoir of his journey from unfocused East Coast adolescent, to American warrior in the Middle East, to veteran returning home. The 414-page book is presented as a series of letters—the technical term is an "epistolary"—through which Bonenberger addresses with family and friends his evolving experiences and opinions about military service.

The result should be required reading for any future U.S. Army leader—junior officers and senior enlisted soldiers—as well as Army family members. In addition to illuminating the challenges of maintaining long-distance relationships, Bonenberger's meandering map of Army life illustrates the vagaries of military training, careers, and missions.

As such, it deserves a place alongside other titles often recommended to junior leaders, such as James R. McDonough's Vietnam-era combat memoir, "Platoon Leader." (Coincidentally, McDonough and Bonenberger each served in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. This is also the unit whose Afghan experiences were partially documented in 2010's "Restrepo.")

After graduating prep school in 1996, Bonenberger attended Yale University as an English major. He graduated college in 2002, then spent a short stint as an instructor of conversational English in Japan. He joined the U.S. Army in late 2004, and gained his commission through Officer Candidate School (O.C.S.). After branching Infantry, he graduated in succession the Army's Basic Airborne Course, the grueling 61-day Ranger school, and the 5-week Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course (R.S.L.C.).

In 2007 and 2008, Bonenberger deployed to Eastern Afghanistan's Paktika Province with 1st Battalion, 503rd Inf. Reg., 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. He was a platoon leader and a company executive officer. In 2010 and 2011, he deployed to Northern Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. There, he was a company executive officer and later, a company commander. (Readers of the Red Bull Rising blog may remember that 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division deployed to Eastern Afghanistan in 2010-2011—the times in-country overlap slightly.)

The letter-writing leitmotif is useful to non-military readers, in that the form requires Bonenberger to tailor both his language and his logic to specific audiences, one at a time. In a letter to a girlfriend or Army buddy, for example, he opens up emotionally. With his grandfather, he begins to compare military experiences. To his parents, he presents an indefatigable optimism.

Helpfully, throughout his prose, Bonenberger also air-drops thoughtful moments of plainspoken paragraphs. He consistently avoids sounding preachy or one-sided. Consider, for example, his clear-eyed take on how Army leaders have to toe the line in expressing their personal opinions:

You can't talk about how nobody knows why we're still in Afghanistan or if things continue on the way they are now well will certainly lose and the Taliban will win or Pakistan is Afghanistan's enemy. This is all heresy. So instead, now that we lack an official department of the censor, I consign it to personal correspondence. It's what everyone's going to be asking me when I get home for leave, right? [...] And I'll have to trot out the same tired smile, talk about the rights of women, educating little girls, blue jeans, bubble gun, and how most Muslims are just good ordinary everyday people, just like you and me. [p. 234; italics in original.]

Or, regarding service in an all-volunteer military:

In Vietnam you tried to avoid volunteering for anything; it was probably going to get you killed. We've kept the Vietnam idea—I suppose our fathers handed it down to us—so that volunteering for a task is a bad thing, even within the military, common sense says don't volunteer—but there's the fact that volunteering is what got you here, and is wrapped up in our idea of what it means to be a motivated or good soldier. [p. 140]

The letter-form and plain-prose aside, however, one other writing tactic proves less than successful for Bonenberger. Before each of the "Afghan Post's" four major narrative sections—those covering the author's civilian experiences in Japan, joining the Army, and his first and second deployments—Bonenberger presents a non-alphabetized "glossary" of acronyms, concepts, and jargon. The tone is conversational and informal. ("I don't know the difference between MEDEVAC and CASEVAC, but ..." is how one entry starts.) Many entries seem extraneous to their corresponding sections. Worse still, the information provided is often downright wrong.

The overall effect diminishes the author's implied expertise. Readers with military experiences of their own may find themselves cringing at factual errors. "Dust-off," for example, is not what soldiers call "brown-out" conditions of zero-visibility during helicopter landings. It's not the "101st Air Assault," it's the "101st Airborne Division." It's not "Bagram Air Force Base," it's "Bagram Airfield." That's why it's called "BAF."

The resulting impression is that Bonenberger's wonderfully personable, plainspoken correspondent may not only be an "unreliable narrator" (that, after all, is to be expected, given the epistolary form), but an inaccurate one, to boot.

Bottom line: Despite its technical shortcomings, Army leaders, families, and future recruits would be well-served by reading this book. In broad brushstrokes, it paints a picture of what a young active-duty officer's career and social life could look like. Civilians without military connections will likewise be rewarded with nicely framed and articulated insights into military life, and, specifically, observations of the United States' involvement in Afghanistan. A persistent lack of attention to military details, however, unnecessarily diminishes what could have been a definitive work.

In trade paperback, "Afghan Post" can be purchased via local booksellers near you, via Amazon, or directly from community-supported Philadelphia publisher The Heart & the Hand here.

Editor's note: A copy of this book was provided to Red Bull Rising for purposes of review.

Mil-blogger Surveys Iraq, Afghan Wars Through Arts

http://acolytesofwar.com/

"Time Now," a military blog that reviews "The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars in Art, Film, and Literature," has been added to the Red Bull Rising blog-roll. It appears in the right-hand column of the webpage, under a new "Military Arts and Culture Blogs" category. In past posts, blogger Peter Molin has considered topics including contemporary war poetry and literature, photography and cinema, and theatrical and dance productions.

Molin, a U.S. Army officer who served on Embedded Training Team in Afghanistan's Khost and Paktiya provinces in 2008-2009, also maintains an archived of his deployment experiences at "15-month Adventure."

Red Bull Rising blog readers may remember that Paktiya Province was the area of operation of the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Battalion, during the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division's (2-34th BCT) deployment in 2010-2011.

Unlike the standard "the views herein do not reflect those of the U.S. Army" boilerplate, Molin's disclaimer regarding his deployment is clear, conversational, and worthy of duplication by other mil-bloggers. Note how he blends both his blog's mission and intent:

I am an active-duty Army officer. I started this blog to keep friends and family informed about my deployment to Afghanistan in 2008-2009 as the leader of an "Embedded Transition Team." I have kept it going since because it gives me a chance to reflect on the experience and because at least some people say they still enjoy reading it. My intent is to write in interesting and original ways about the war without being critical of the US or the Army, without compromising security or operations, and without saying anything remotely unflattering about the great military personnel and civilians with whom I served.

Here are some of Molin's reviews of contemporary mil-poetry collections:

• Walter E. Piatt's "Paktika." Piatt deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once, when he was a battalion commander in Eastern Afghanistan Paktika Province. He is a past commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School, and is currently a deputy commanding general with the 10th Mountain Division. Unfortunately, "Paktika" seems to be out of print, but his 2003 collection titled "She Came to the Door to Wave Good-bye" is still available here.

• Paul Wasserman's "Say Again All." Wasserman is an Army Aviation NCO. His chapbook is available through Lulu.com here.

• Elyse Fenton's "Clamor." Fenton is the wife of a combat medic. The 2010 collection is available on Amazon here. Another review of her work, suggested by another Red Bull Rising blog reader, appears here.

*****

Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Review: 'Dudes of War'

Review: "Dudes of War" by Benjamin Tupper

In a second memoir generated from his experiences as a U.S. citizen-soldier deployed to Afghanistan--the first was "Greetings from Afghanistan: Send More Ammo," reviewed here--Benjamin Tupper presents readers with a rogues' gallery of his fellow soldiers: buddies and frenemies, gun freaks and mule-lovers, tobacco-chewers and pornicators. Tupper talks not only about about the guys who made war, he talks about the guys who made war hell for everyone else.

A New York National Guard soldier, Tupper deployed as a 16-member Embedded Training Team (ETT) to Ghanzi and Paktika Provinces. Before his 2006 deployment, he'd also worked in Afghanistan as a civilian non-governmental organization worker.

"Welcome to the war story where nothing goes bang [...]" he writes in his introduction to "Dudes of War." "This second book shoots an entirely different azimuth: To tell the story of the other 99 percent of the time we spend over there; the tasks, chores, and austere conditions that forge today's modern soldier culture."

To tell that story, Tupper profiles a cast of characters constructed of various callsigns, caricatures, and (in one or two cases) composites. Let slip the dudes of war!

The writer's trick is a useful one. By not-naming names, Tupper is able to distill truths good, bad, and ugly from a group of disorderly personalities, the traits of which range from the outrageous and to the compulsively routine. Although brutally candid, he never comes across as mean-spirited. He comes neither to praise these stereotypical soldiers, nor to bury them.

Rather than to air the military's dirty duffel bags, he's out to discuss a laundry list of hard-to-crack and almost-never-discussed topics. For example:

• Dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.), as an individual and as a unit.

• The downrange debates between those who loved dogs and those who loved to shoot them.

• The question of whether soldiers are in Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance or to play "Whac-a-mole" with Afghan bad guys.

"The longing for women, or beer, or other vices of American culture cannot be wished away by Army regulations. The hours of boredom that are the fertilizer for political debates, pranks, and ball-busting continue to fill the days," Tupper writes. "The American soldier continues to adapt to and overcome these challenges. The means and methods are sometimes morally questionable and the results sometimes problematic, but the outcome is never in doubt: Dudes will be dudes."

The dude knows what he's talking about.

Afghan Trainer: Values More Important than Tactics

Editor’s note: In 2007, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Courter and 15 other Illinois National Guard soldiers deployed to an Embedded Training Team (E.T.T.) mission in the Wor Mamay district, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Along with three other ETT members, he helped mentor a company of 35 Afghan Border Police (A.B.P.).

Since his deployment, Courter, now an Illinois National Guard recruiter and part-time seminary student, Courter has continued to wrestle with questions and insights he gathered in Afghanistan.

In 2008, he self-published his “Afghan Journal” notes as a book (available as paperback and in Amazon Kindle format), and continues to blog at: www.lifeloveandtruth.com.

Red Bull Rising invited Courter to share his thoughts with the recently deployed soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division. Some Red Bull soldiers will directly mentor Afghan police and army units. Others will fight alongside and support them.

*****

By Jeff Courter
To be effective at “how” we fight, we should begin with “why.” Some warriors emphasize tactics, and ignore the reasons we’re on the battlefield in the first place--as if they’re independent variables. They’re not. The right values can be the greatest tactical advantage of all, especially in Afghanistan. That’s because soldiers--whether U.S. or Afghan--will fight harder and longer when motivated for the right reasons.

Young soldiers may roll their eyes when old warhorse NCOs trot out the seven Army Values--“Loyalty. Duty. Respect. Selfless Service. Honor. Integrity. Personal Courage.” But face it: Values work. They work for individuals, as well as entire armies.

Sharing these principles with our Afghan colleagues is mission-critical.

Granted, progress may not be swift. It may even span generations. Whether you frame this conflict as multiple small wars--or a single very long one--the road to constructive, sustainable change won’t be straight, and can’t be hurried. Our enemies are patient, committed and ruthless. We must be patient, committed, and valorous.

Not all of your new Afghan colleagues may share your values or professionalism, but that shouldn’t deter you. Let your actions do the talking, no matter your assignment or situation. To paraphrase General Petraeus:

“Regular training teams can’t be everywhere, so units must help enforce local military standards, enable performance, and monitor for abuses and inefficiencies. Any coalition unit working with local security forces will be studied, emulated and copied--for better or worse. Therefore, we must always set the example. Any coalition unit operating alongside local security forces is performing a mentoring, training, and example-setting role.”

Think of Afghanistan as the Wild West. Think of the Taliban as a bunch of outlaws. And recognize that most Afghans are innocent townspeople, who just want to stay out of the line of fire.

During my tour, our larger mission was to secure the area from Taliban activities. We conducted hundreds of “presence patrols” among local villages. The ABP always joined us, to “put an Afghan face” on our operations. They were also there to learn first-hand how persistent police visibility can disrupt insurgent activities.

When our convoys rolled in and our ABP colleagues offered food, clothing, school supplies and medical assistance, villagers often greeted us warmly. But cautious tribal elders sometimes tempered their response, for fear of Taliban reprisals. Chieftains explained that Taliban fighters would steal into their villages at night and threaten them with violence. Some elders even spoke in hushed tones, fearful of being overheard.

Once, we circled back to a village that we had visited only days before. Surprisingly, we found a ghost town. While there, our unit repelled an ambush from an overlooking hill.
Later, we learned that Taliban fighters had stormed the village after our initial visit, demanding payment from the chieftain. When he refused, they threatened to kill him on the spot--until he placed a Quran on the ground and claimed that their actions violated Islam.

The thugs backed off, but promised to kill him if he and his family remained. That night, he packed his belongings and led his entire village to a distant hamlet. The Taliban simply waited for our return to the village, assuming we would investigate reports of its abandonment.

In many ways, the real enemy in Afghanistan is fear. The Taliban feed on it. But by demonstrating our values, by protecting people, and by “closing with and destroying” the bad guys, we deny our enemies an environment where fear can grow. It all begins with a spirit of trust.

When a seasoned U.S. law enforcement officer visited our Forward Operating Base ("FOB"), he emphasized the importance of gaining trust from the local community. Here’s his two-pronged approach:

• Give local Afghans a reason to believe that, whenever they share intelligence, you’ll respond as quickly and decisively as possible. It’s not about arriving immediately every time you’re called. That’s unrealistic. Rather, it’s about proving, over time, that you’ll strive to do your best when needed.

• Police can’t fight crime everywhere, simultaneously. So, when your resources are assigned to a specific area, stay focused on that area. Take control of territory you hold, and deny the enemy an opportunity to move freely in that space. It’s less about eliminating the Taliban altogether, and more about stopping them from operating in your local environment. Eventually, they’ll move on.

Bottom line: It’s not rocket science. It’s about walking a beat. It’s about making people feel safe, because you’re there when it matters.

Let me tell you about one day when it mattered:

Early one morning at our FOB, there was a commotion at the front gate, as a young man sought medical assistance for his very pregnant wife. Their young son had accidentally shot his mother with an AK-47. The bullet had ripped a hole through her abdomen, and intestines were spilling from her side.

Our medic was in his early 20s. Although he’d been trained to treat combat wounds when emotions are running high, he wasn’t prepared for this. As we waited for a MEDEVAC helicopter to airlift the woman to a hospital, “Doc” did his best to stabilize his patient. Language and cultural norms were a huge problem. Whenever Doc uncovered part of the woman's body, her husband rapidly covered it back up. Eventually, Doc blindly bandaged the wound from beneath a blanket.

The clock was ticking. Time was running out. The woman was nine months pregnant, and both she and her baby were in critical condition. Family members began to argue about whether she should be left to die at home, rather than being evacuated. Our ABP trainees stood-by throughout, ensuring crowd control and helping to maintain calm.

An hour later, the chopper swooped down and left in a cloud of dust, lifting its precious cargo along with our hopes and prayers. Later that afternoon, we received a radio update – mother and child were fine. We rejoiced along with the ABP. Their commander thanked us, insisting that our actions proved to local villagers that “America is good!”

That day, values mattered. That day, we scored a victory, without firing a single shot. We beat the devil at his own game. And we helped a woman and her baby cheat death.

Along the way, we forged a new level of trust.

It was glorious.

Making Connections: Events, Terrain, Media, Families

Next week, I plan to return to working through my notes from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division's (2-34th BCT) pre-Afghan training rotation at Fort Irwin, Calif. In the present-day, however, there are a number of recent media reports worthy of note.

As many of you are aware, the Red Bull has been on the move. Some units launched directly into Afghanistan from California. Others returned temporarily to the mobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss. According to previously published press reports, all 2-34th BCT units are expected to be in country by the upcoming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

According to the Nov. 11 Des Moines Register, the soldiers of Iowa's 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry "Ironman" Regiment (1/133rd Inf.) have hit the ground running in Afghanistan's Laghman Province. During a recent patrol to meet a local Afghan leader, Ironman soldiers engaged insurgent forces and captured one Taliban leader. The engagement included use of mortar fire and close-air support ("CAS," pronounced "kaz"). Guess all that training in the Mojave paid off.

It's important to remember that political and military conditions can vary greatly even between one Afghan valley and the next, much less between one province and another. In other words, don't read too much into adjacencies.

However, Laghman does share a short border with Kunar Province--the location of Iowa's 734th Agribusiness Development Team (734th A.D.T.)--the "Dirt Warriors." Kunar is also the general location of the 2007 events depicted in the documentary "Restrepo," which is to be released on DVD next month, as well as the books "War" and "Infidel." If you're looking at pictures from any of these sources, MAYBE you're looking at similar conditions, peoples, and terrain to that of Laghman.

Not all the Red Bulls are heading straight into a fight, however. Supporting October comments by the commander of 101st Airborne Division, the commander of Vermont's 86th Brigade Combat Team (86th B.C.T.) indicated that conditions in three other eastern Afghan provinces--Parwan, Panjshir, and Bamiyan--are secure enough to potentially warrant transition to Afghan control.

The 86th BCT, "Task Force Wolverine," is currently transitioning these provinces to the 2-34th BCT, "Task Force Red Bull."

According to a National Guard Bureau press release earlier this week:

"In Panjshir, they just opened up a marble mine factory that is really providing a lot of revenue as well as jobs for the locals," [Col. William Roy, commander 86th BCT] said. Tourism signs are beginning to pop up in Bamyan, he added. The future of Afghanistan lies in small business, Roy said.

"When I was here in 2002, when you went from Kabul to Bagram, there was virtually nothing on the road," he told reporters. "Now, in about an hour-long drive, you get the development all the way along -- businesses growing up, gas stations on the side of the road."

Afghanistan's ability to self-govern is moving slowly, but steadily, Roy said, noting that Bamyan has Afghanistan's only female governor, representing the Hazara population. Panjshir's ministry of agriculture put together a budget, sent it to the central government and received the budget back to put in place in the province, he added. [...]

"The governors that we have in all three of our provinces understand what the requirements are to oversee the needs of the people," Roy said.

"It's the Afghans who are leading the way," he added. "And it's been that way for quite some time."

In related news, the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press reported Wednesday that Roy had indicated "security for two of the provinces under the responsibility of Task Force Wolverine — Panjshir and Bamyan — was turned over to Afghan forces in the past month, a sign of stability in the region. Parwan province, where Bagram Airfield is based, should follow suit soon."

Other connections to be made:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa's KCRG-TV9/The Gazette multimedia reporting team has added an RSS feed to its continued "Operation Enduring Freedom" blog coverage of the 2-34th BCT's mobilization and deployment. If you use a news reader, you know how useful this is for keeping up on the latest.

The KCRG-TV9 team also recently aired two additional reports regarding the Red Bull's training and subsequently deployment from California. Check them out here and here. Consider that your Fort Irwin fix for the day.

Des Moines-area WHO-TV13 has continued its coverage of the Red Bull homefront with its "Iowans at War" series, including stories regarding how families are coping with separations caused by the deployment.

While Steve Hartkopf has been deployed, his wife Sophie Hartkopf has given birth to their first child. (Both Steve and Sophie, by the way, are Iowa National Guard soldiers.) The baby now rocks to sleep to the recorded sounds of Steve's electric guitar.

In other recent "Iowans at War" story, Christine Refsland musters three kids everyday while husband Nik is deployed. The kids try to help each other out where they can, but it's controlled chaos. "My daughters are twelve, eight and four, all going on 16," Nik says in the report.

Text and video at links, above. The amount of helpful, insightful, and friendly media attention being focused on our Red Bull soldiers and families is gratifying. Please check it out when you get a chance.

'Screaming Eagles 101,' Part 2

Excerpt of Afghan political map (above) from www.understandingwar.org.

Continuing the format of yesterday's Red Bull Rising blog post, the following presents annotated and excerpted comments from Maj. Gen. John Campbell ("Eagle-6"), commander of the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" Division. The division is currently deployed to Regional Command-East (RC-East), Afghanistan. Dated earlier this month, these comments were part of a regular series of publicly disseminated messages from the commander.

These remarks are of potential interest to Red Bull Rising readers, given the likelihood that all or part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division will, upon arrival to Afghanistan, work under Campbell's command. In short, it provides a "Screaming Eagles 101" primer on the Red Bull's future operational environment.

Red Bull Rising notes on acronyms used in this message:

• "C.A.B." (pronounced "kab") stands for "Combat Aviation Brigade." Because of its historical role in fulfilling helicopter-borne missions, The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is the only U.S. Army division to include two aviation brigades.
• "FOB" (pronounced "faub") stands for "Forward Operating Base."
• "GiROA" stands for "Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan."
• "ANSF" (sometimes pronounced "an-sif") stands for "Afghan National Security Forces," and includes both army and police units.

Eagle-6 sends:

The Currahees are now in charge of their battlespace, the Paktika Province. They assumed their battlespace on 8 September. They are the final piece of the "surge", I have mentioned continuity in previous updates, and how we are trying to maintain as much continuity with units as we can, and the Currahees are a prime example. 1-506 is back in Sharana ... where they were on their last deployment, and 2-506 is back at FOB Orgun-E ... also where they were before. About 60% of the battalions were on the last deployment, and have rekindled relationships with Afghans they met on the last deployment. The Currahees complete the deployment of Force Package 3, the last of President Obama’s surge announced earlier this year.

We now have the 101st Division Headquarters, Bastogne (1BCT, 101st), Strike (2BCT, 101st), Rakkasan (3BCT, 101st), Currahee (4BCT, 101st), and Destiny (101st CAB) in Afghanistan. The Sustainment Brigade Headquarters will join us here later this fall, and 159th CAB will replace the 101st CAB in the JAN/FEB timeframe. This makes the first time that an entire US Division is deployed to Afghanistan.

Bastogne (1BCT, 101st) has received 1-61 Cavalry Squadron from the Currahees, and has conducted operations in Laghman Province and Nangarhar Province to set conditions for TF Panther. They continue to face a determined insurgent force in their area with increased IEDs on southern routes and attacks on COPs and FOBs in Kunar Province.

Strike (2BCT, 101st) continues to improve security in the Maiwand, Zharey, and Arghandab Districts of RC-South. They recently bid farewell to 2-508th Infantry who redeployed to Fort Bragg, and recently welcomed the 1-66 Armor from the 1st “Raider” Brigade of 4th ID.

Rakkasans (3BCT, 101st) continue to face a determined enemy who, as mentioned above, is suffering from a failed attack. Rakkasans have relinquished Paktika to the Currahees, and now focus on Paktiya and Khowst Provinces. 3-187 has moved to East Ghazni, and will work for Task Force White Eagle, the Polish Brigade. 1-187 will go down to RC-South to assist in operations there.

Bayonet (173rd Airborne) focuses on Logar and Wardak provinces. They have helped GIRoA respond to the flooding in their area of operations. Recently, 60 farmers in Wardak attended agriculture training designed to improve their farming methods. Like the rest of CJTF-101, they are preparing for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Lafayette (the French Brigade) remains focused on conducting operations to disrupt the insurgents’ ability to impact Highway 7. In the Kapisa Province, they have conducted operations in Alasay, Bedraou, and Tag Ab valleys. Tracing the roots of the French working with the 101st back to World War II, they are very proud to be working with us again, and can frequently be heard saying, “Air Assault!”

White Eagle (the Polish Brigade) has received 3-187 Infantry from Rakkasans, and is conducting operations along Highway 1 to disrupt insurgent IED cells. They are also preparing to transition in the next contingent of Polish forces who begin arriving later this month.

Wolverine (86th IBCT- Vermont NG) continues to conduct operations in Parwan, Panjshir, and Bamyan. Partnered with governors and ANSF leaders, their civilian led Provincial Reconstruction Teams continue to make positive progress in the most stable provinces of RC-East.

Falcon (3rd CAB) and Destiny (101st CAB) both continue outstanding support to conventional and special operations forces [S.O.F.] in both RC-East and RC-South respectively. They routinely coordinate for nightly contingency operations while maintaining the flexibility for time-sensitive targets as required. SOF missions account for 52% of 479 missions flown over the past nine months by 3rd CAB in RC-East and 69% of 216 missions flown in five months by 101st CAB in RC-South. They manage to do this while providing lift and attack helicopters to support the rest of the Coalition Forces in RC-East, RC-Capital, and RC-South.

Back at Fort Campbell, the Lifeliners (101st Sustainment Brigade) and Eagle Thunder (159th CAB) continue their preparations for their upcoming deployments. Lifeliners just completed their Command Post Exercise, and are in their final preparations for deployment as they prepare their colors casing and block leave in October. Thunder is conducting off-post training events in preparation for an air training exercise in December. They have a little more time to train, and will deploy after the New Year. [...]

Book Review: 'Afghan Journal'

'Afghan Journal' by Jeff Courter

Illinois Army National Guardsman Jeff Courter weathered a 2007 deployment to Afghanistan with plain-spoken good humor, quiet faith, and a passion for trying to put it all together. A former Marine cook and Navy Reservist, he deployed to Afghanistan as an Army communications sergeant. Along with his Embedded Training Team (E.T.T.) mates, his mission was to train Afghan Border Police (A.B.P.) in Southeastern Afghanistan's Paktika Province, along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The ABP were even less-funded, -trained, and -equipped than the Afghan National Police (A.N.P.). At one point, the ABP personnel at Courter's location mutinied and disappeared. (Courter later found out the police revolted after a self-serving translator had knowingly driven a wedge between ABP and their American allies.) Throughout his time in Afghanistan, Courter struggled to do what he could to make a difference. At the same time, he maintained a blog called "Afghan Journal," which he later collected and published as a book.

As the title promises, the organization of the book is chronological. Sometimes, this can prove deadly for a writer--writers get caught up in the mundane details and forget to breathe, and to add perspective for those of us who weren't there to see things first-hand.

In delivering his punchy posts, however, Courter successfully avoids this pitfall. All along the way, he probes his own assumptions, questions his own observations, and even lays his views and traditions alongside those of his Afghan hosts and European colleagues. There are a few choice war stories, of course, including one about renting camels for an anti-Taliban patrol that, if you don't mind me saying, had me on the edge of my saddle.

The result of Courter's efforts is a conversational, easy-to-read chronicle of how one man and one Army approached a "war on a budget" in 2007. Because of its simple-but-not-simplistic approach, I think it one of the first I'd recommend to those Red Bull friends and family with only a casual knowledge military life and purpose.

Toward the end of his Afghan journey, Courter was able to start making sense of it. Not only for himself, but for others:

I was talking to a young U.S. Soldier who was complaining about the local villagers who come to our front gate. He asked, "what would they do if we weren't here? They should do whatever they would do if we weren't here!" I told him that some of those villagers would die [...] He did not seem concerned about that fact, so I went on to say that we can't ask what would happen if we weren't here [...] The question to ask is what we should do, now that we are here. [...]

I asked the Solder how many times [Forward Operating Base] Waza Khwa had been attacked this year, and he replied it hadn't been attacked at all. I suggested that the jobs we provide for local laborers and the medical support we sometimes give may make many of the local villagers reluctant to help our enemies. After considering this for a moment, the young man agreed.

I've been in official counterinsurgency (COIN) briefings that were less applicable and understandable than than Courter's quick, common-sense counseling session with that young soldier.

Courter later resolved to continue telling the story of our involvement in Afghanistan, not only through his book, but in his ongoing "Life, Love and Truth" blog. He's also now a recruiter for the Illinois Army National Guard.

His journey continues, as does ours.

---

By the way, Courter's book is recently available in an Amazon Kindle version! I mention this because so many of my Red Bull buddies are apparently considering deploying with an e-reader of some sort, whether a Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony Reader, or similar device. It's tempting--I know that I, for one, both deployed and returned home with too many books my last time around. I'll keep you posted on what we learn!

News from Iowa ... and Iraq

Lots of news about and around the Iowa National Guard this week. And, I'm pleased to report, the Des Moines Register is mostly doing us citizen-soldiers proud this news cycle:

IOWA SOLDIERS TO ASSIST AFGHAN FARMERS

Sure, quoting U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (and former Iowa Gov.) Tom Vilsack regarding the upcoming mission of an Iowa National Guard Argicultural Development Team (A.D.T.) was a little well, corny: "We're not trying to turn Afghanistan into an Iowa cornfield," Vilsack said. "The emphasis will be on traditional agriculture." But hey--it's not like marketing Iowa pork is going to "play in Peoria." Or Paktika. Or Paktiya. Or ... OK, I'm done with the provincial names now.

Vilsack observed that the 60-soldier team from Iowa will be be working to wean Afghan farmers away from growing poppies--which are used in opium production--and toward growing wheat, pomegranates, and saffron. (I don't know about you, but I'm just wild about saffron.)

IOWA SOLDIER PETITIONS AGAINST 'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL'

University of Iowa student and fellow citizen-soldier Dan Tallon, 21, a political-science major who is slated to deploy to Afghanistan later this summer, recently told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that he plans to petition Iowa lawmakers to avoid enforcing the Department of Defense's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The policy is currently under DOD review; President Obama called for its revocation in his 2010 State of the Union speech.

Tallon is apparently not gay (not that he'd be able to tell, under the "D.A.D.T." policy--and not that it would matter), but has family members who are.

I've served with soldiers that I've known to be gay, and no doubt, there are more that I don't know about. Personally, I figure that if I don't want to have other people poking around in my personal business, I shouldn't go poking around in theirs.

I don't know Tallon, and I don't know his politics. But I'm proud of any citizen who raises his or her hand and pledges to defend the Constitution, prouder still of a college student who has the courage to stand up for what he believes is right, and proudest of all that he is an Iowan and a fellow citizen-soldier. To paraphrase a little faux-Voltaire: "I may not approve of what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it."

IOWA GOV. CULVER SIGNS FOUR VETERANS BILLS

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed four bills into law Tues., April 22. According to the Des Moines Register, these were:

Senate File 2226, which will allow a parent is in the U.S. Armed Forces to ask the court to transfer his or her child-visitation rights to another relative while the military member is deployed.

Senate File 2274, extending college benefits for military members and their families living in Iowa or on the Rock Island Arsenal.

Senate Files 2318 and 229, which are intended to improve military readiness by preventing utility companies from shutting off gas or electricity at an activated service member’s home, allow Iowans on active duty suspend payments on their professional liability insurance coverage.

FROM IRAQ WITH LOVE: WRAPPING UP 'MILITARY CHILD MONTH'

In an April 27 essay on the Des Moines Register's opinion pages, Iowa Army National Guard Capt. Tim Mills reflects on April as the "Month of the Military Child." Mills is commander of a public affairs unit currently downrange in Iraq:

When a soldier deploys it affects the whole family. I don't know the total "cost" this deployment will have on my family. Society recognizes there is a cost and many people are quick to shed a tear, shake a hand or share a smile in honor of my service. I'm grateful and will always return a warm thanks. What goes overlooked is that my wife and kids sacrifice the same valuable resource I do--time.

April is the month of the military child, and I want to recognize my kids. I want my kids to know that I realize they've sacrificed a large portion of their young lives to support the work of maintaining America's freedom--and I'm grateful. I want them to know that even though they stand shorter than most men and women in uniform, their love for their country is measured by their heart not their height.

In my absence, my wife continues our noble responsibility of raising four grateful, God-fearing Americans. She teaches them to honor their father's service - a lesson my World War II veteran grandfather taught my mother, which my mother instilled in me and that I hope my children carry on.

During the few days left in April, my hope is that Americans will recognize military children and their support for soldiers.

My kids represent four of them, and I am extremely grateful for their sacrifice.

Amen to that!