Mano3
King
Folks:
Below is part of a series from a USAF Historain deployed to Afghanistan right now. These are his personal (and unclassified) takes on his situation. Most of the attention is on Iraq these days, so I'm hoping, through the eyes and pen of a colleauge, that the situation in Afghanistan gets some spotlight.
If there's enough interest in this thread, I'll keep posting the letters as they come in:
All-
My impression of Afghanistan thus far is rather mixed. Flying in I was thoroughly impressed with the beauty of this place. We were at the average cruising altitude for a passenger jet and saw mountain peaks that reached up nearly coaltitude with us. Simply amazing.
Bagram Airfield sits in a bowl of sorts as it is surrounded on all sides by mountains. For those of you who have visited the Grand Tetons just imagine having the same size mountains all around you. For those of you who haven’t been to Wyoming, think jagged rocky peaks at least 5,000 feet above your location. And right now they are mostly covered in snow.
It’s really too bad that there is a war going on here. It strikes me as a back packers’ paradise or a skiers’ utopia.
I ventured outside the wire today for the first time where I saw things that further saddened me about the wars that have plagued this land for too much of its history. Not twenty feet from where a landmine had recently detonated sat two little girls. Both of them were no more than six years old. They were so beautiful and their innocence was such a striking contrast to the hardness of this place. Their eyes have literally burned a special place in my heart and seeing them immediately sent my back 10 years to my first deployment to Bosnia where I encountered others just like them. These two angelic faces were dirty and sad, but those eyes were so bright and full of something. Maybe it was hope or just life, but whatever it was has become more and more haunting with each hour that has passed since my return. Both had their heads covered in bright green scarves or shawls, but everything else about them was dark and dirty. It is winter here but their clothes were inadequate to keep out the cold. Neither of them had socks. Mittens are probably an unimagined luxury.
They were not alone. I was mobbed by scores of these sad little faces. The boys are more boisterous. One, tugging on my sleeve, kept trying to sell me some kind of food that he referred to as cookies. Another asked in surprisingly good English, “Sergeant Major, what is your name?” It was startling to think that he knows our rank system well enough to determine that I’m a senior NCO, even if he was off by two pay grades. I told him “Mike,” to which he replied “I have met many Mikes.” I’m sure he has. These kids have a hard life and have witnessed things that would send the average American kid into decades of counseling. They are tougher than they should have to be.
One amusing story. I was talking to some of the gate guards on our way back in and they described seeing flying cows over the field next to their checkpoint. I thought they were setting me up for some joke to mess with the new Master Sergeant. They weren’t kidding. Apparently that field has not yet been cleared of mines. Every once in a while a cow steps on a good anti-tank mine and soon finds itself launched into low-earth orbit.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll be going to bed soon. Hopefully the image of those two little girls won’t keep me up too long. They’ve given me a reason for being here that I’ve been missing. I’d like to think we can help them and also rid the world of the type of people that seem content to chain them with misery.
Until next time,
Mike
SOURCE: e-mail from MSgt Mike Sibley, #366th Wing Historian, Bagrahm AB
Moderator Action: I'm assuming this was not written by you. Are these e-mails that are being sent in? If they come from somewhere else, please provide a source.
Below is part of a series from a USAF Historain deployed to Afghanistan right now. These are his personal (and unclassified) takes on his situation. Most of the attention is on Iraq these days, so I'm hoping, through the eyes and pen of a colleauge, that the situation in Afghanistan gets some spotlight.
If there's enough interest in this thread, I'll keep posting the letters as they come in:
All-
My impression of Afghanistan thus far is rather mixed. Flying in I was thoroughly impressed with the beauty of this place. We were at the average cruising altitude for a passenger jet and saw mountain peaks that reached up nearly coaltitude with us. Simply amazing.
Bagram Airfield sits in a bowl of sorts as it is surrounded on all sides by mountains. For those of you who have visited the Grand Tetons just imagine having the same size mountains all around you. For those of you who haven’t been to Wyoming, think jagged rocky peaks at least 5,000 feet above your location. And right now they are mostly covered in snow.
It’s really too bad that there is a war going on here. It strikes me as a back packers’ paradise or a skiers’ utopia.
I ventured outside the wire today for the first time where I saw things that further saddened me about the wars that have plagued this land for too much of its history. Not twenty feet from where a landmine had recently detonated sat two little girls. Both of them were no more than six years old. They were so beautiful and their innocence was such a striking contrast to the hardness of this place. Their eyes have literally burned a special place in my heart and seeing them immediately sent my back 10 years to my first deployment to Bosnia where I encountered others just like them. These two angelic faces were dirty and sad, but those eyes were so bright and full of something. Maybe it was hope or just life, but whatever it was has become more and more haunting with each hour that has passed since my return. Both had their heads covered in bright green scarves or shawls, but everything else about them was dark and dirty. It is winter here but their clothes were inadequate to keep out the cold. Neither of them had socks. Mittens are probably an unimagined luxury.
They were not alone. I was mobbed by scores of these sad little faces. The boys are more boisterous. One, tugging on my sleeve, kept trying to sell me some kind of food that he referred to as cookies. Another asked in surprisingly good English, “Sergeant Major, what is your name?” It was startling to think that he knows our rank system well enough to determine that I’m a senior NCO, even if he was off by two pay grades. I told him “Mike,” to which he replied “I have met many Mikes.” I’m sure he has. These kids have a hard life and have witnessed things that would send the average American kid into decades of counseling. They are tougher than they should have to be.
One amusing story. I was talking to some of the gate guards on our way back in and they described seeing flying cows over the field next to their checkpoint. I thought they were setting me up for some joke to mess with the new Master Sergeant. They weren’t kidding. Apparently that field has not yet been cleared of mines. Every once in a while a cow steps on a good anti-tank mine and soon finds itself launched into low-earth orbit.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll be going to bed soon. Hopefully the image of those two little girls won’t keep me up too long. They’ve given me a reason for being here that I’ve been missing. I’d like to think we can help them and also rid the world of the type of people that seem content to chain them with misery.
Until next time,
Mike
SOURCE: e-mail from MSgt Mike Sibley, #366th Wing Historian, Bagrahm AB
Moderator Action: I'm assuming this was not written by you. Are these e-mails that are being sent in? If they come from somewhere else, please provide a source.
