I completed my second mission today. The first was the mission to get me here from my helicopter site Tuesday morning from FOB Lagman. However, today was my first mission outside the wire here at FOB Smart with my PRT team. I accompanied one of my engineer counterparts, a USAF engineer. We were joined by multiple USAF and USA security personnel (professional airmen/soldiers) and certain Armed Forces nurses and doctors. We observed progress at the Zabul Provincial Hospital, which is about a 3-minute walk from our south gate here at FOB Smart in Qalat, AF. The main focus of today's PRT mission was to observe latent construction defect issues pertaining to a building within the medical compound that was recently turned over to the Afghans.
The Afghan children, playing or sitting within the hospital compound, were seemingly friendly and wanted to shake all of our hands. Some of the Afghan men were noticeably cordial. The Afghan women, while mostly covered in head-to-toe burkas, did their cultural best to avoid the physical presence of men in our group. When the men in my group were not seemingly looking in the direction of these Afghan women (a man should never stare at Afghan women in a sign of respect for their culture), many of these Afghan women could be peripherally observed to be staring at our every movement. My USAF counterpart later informed me that many Afghans believe that we were our darkened ballistic eyewear (tactical sunglasses) because they have capabilities to see through the burkas worn by their women. For any of your readers back home, this is simply not the case.
Today I gained such immense respect for the local culture and humility in my actions and thoughts while walking among the Aghan people at the hospital compound. I am proud to be here and honored to work in this humanitarian capacity, to win hearts and minds, and to help the Afghan people improve their quality of life.
143, K&K.
Good night and good day.
By the way, the last two nights I missed dinner at the DFAC. Tonight I did not! I had a delicious turkey meatloaf over rice with gravy and Louisiana-style (from Texas) hot sauce. I have been eating my vegetables too!
Peace from the Middle East, y'all.
Jason Stuart, you know this saying isn't just your saying, kid!
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