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Hi All,
I cannot believe it's been a month since my last post. Okay, actually I can. Know that you've been getting your taxpayers dollar's worth out of the ISAF staff here in Kabul:-) It's always busy as you can imagine, but the last month seems to have been more so. Between the on again, off again Presidential election and subsequent announcement of no election and related fraud/corruption...well, we've had our hands full. As you might have seen on the news yesterday, we had the Presidential Inauguration. Fortunately, we only had one rocket attack in Kabul during the ceremony and it fell short, causing no casualties. I've now seen the inner workings of how to pull off an inaugural ceremony in a combat zone. I'm sure the American press had nothing but negative news to report about the event, but know that the Afghan Security Forces and partnered ISAF military forces worked their tales off to ensure security was maintained before/during/after the event. I was even able to deconflict my inaugural ball gown with Secretary Clinton...okay, a little deployment humor for you.
I've been plugging and chugging trying to gather intel on the Taliban...know that your military forces are kicking some butt on the insurgency here, whether the press like to tell you that or not is another story. Do we still have an occasional suicide attack in the city, yes, but the command and control network is getting dismantled each day. Trust me on that one. We're all awaiting the word from President Obama on what force package we're going to receive. 40K, 30K, who knows? I'd anticipate we'll know in the next week or so. We need more boots on the ground to accomplish our mission, that's for certain.
You may also have been tracking the talk from the Beltway and across our coalition that we have to do better against corruption within Afghanistan's government (GIRoA). Well, my life took on another amazing challenge 3+ weeks ago as I was named the lead for ISAF's Anti-Corruption Task Force. Hence, no blog post for the past month! The short version is we've assembled a team of investigators, police, intel analysts, operators, national agency folks, embassy reps and a laundry list of enablers to assist GIRoA in rooting out corrupt officials at the provincial and national levels. Soooo, I'm now the ISAF J2 Operations Chief, Plans Chief, and Chief of the Anti-Corruption Task Force. But no worries Mom, I'm still getting food and sleep (albeit less occasionally). I'll sleep enough when I'm dead (was it Garbo or Monroe that said that?)
As I wrap up here and head back to the office, let me thank the amazing friends and family that have sent cards, letters and care packages over the past month. Know that you're not only bringing a huge smile to my face but to my Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen as well. Each package gets shared with the troops. From snacks to fun magazines and books to toothbrushes and hygiene items. All of it is put to good use. I also love all of the fun pics and stories sent. From bras made out of peacock feathers to fun family pics, they are all great morale booster!
Pics from this week include some local Afghan pics from my ventures into Kabul; pics from a farewell to one of my co-workers; a pic from a recent hail storm with the roses in the foreground; our ISAF J2 cat had kittens so the "family" pic is enclosed as is a picture of one the kittens who snuck into my boss' office and decided to keep his chair warm. He hates cats which makes it even more hysterical.
I hope you all are well. Please keep our troops in your prayers. We're still conducting an operation to recover a drowned trooper who dove into a river to save his squad mate. This valor and courage is all around us...I am fortunate to be surrounded by such amazing folks.
Thanks to you too for being amazing friends and family!!
Love you,
Andrea
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