Hill Testimony, Anti-Corruption Ops and Look, It's December!

Hi All,

I know I seem to say this with every posting, but I can't believe how quickly the weeks fly by. Since the last posting, most of my time has gone towards standing up the ISAF Anti-Corruption Task Force, formulating the associated policy, talking points, framework, etc. What an interesting adventure. I work with some amazing people within the task force ranging from the US Embassy to EUPOL, USAID, Threat Finance and a myriad of others. There have been a couple of arrests and removals thus far and others are in the queue but GIRoA will be combatting this issue for years to come. It's certainly an interesting job and not one that I would have the opportunity to do Stateside. Our task force received some coverage on NATO tv as part of a larger story on corruption in Afghanistan. Thought you might like to see it, so I've attached the link below. http://www.youtube.com/user/ISAFMEDIA#p/f/4/27lDkl8-h5Q

Along with the anti-corruption task force ops, we've also been busy prepping the boss for Hill testimony and the senior leadership's trip back to the Beltway. I have a much better appreciation for the hours and hours of research and prep that leads to the testimony. I wouldn't wish an appearance on the Hill on anyone. Not certain if you saw our Commander on CSPAN. We received limited coverage via the BBC. Guess Tiger Woods and his infidelities gained greater tv coverage than the war.

I also had the honor to award Joint Service Commendation Medals to two of my departing Airmen. I've attached a couple of pics of the J2/Intel team. We don't get many social events, but we try to make the farewell ceremonies extra special. We didn't get out for a team dinner during Thanksgiving because the day was quite hectic, but we did manage to make time for a team gathering to farewell MSgt Meredith and SSgt Dinslage.

I'll make up for lost time with a few posts while I'm home for R&R. I have a conference in Tucson and will combine R&R with it since I'm already Stateside. What a nice holiday surprise!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are getting into the spirit of the season!

Love and miss you,

Andrea