Clear-Hold-Build

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours and I do believe it's Presidents Day back in the States. For all of my federal and state employee friends, enjoy your day of rest.

You may have seen on tv or on the web that we've commenced OPERATION MOSHTARAK down in Central Helmand Province (Southern part of the country). From what I've seen of the media reports, they're actually quite accurate. We have a bunch of imbedded reporters which always seems to help the messaging (well, usually). This is the largest Afghan partnered operation since the start of the war. It may not mean much to the folks at home, but trust me, it means a whole heckuva lot to the government of Afghanistan, our ISAF troops and more importantly the Afghan troops and people of Central Helmand. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and ISAF troops (mostly British troops and US Marines) are fighting through quite possibly the most heavily mined and IED laden part of the country. I am amazed every day at the bravery these young troops display. They're living in mud houses, in their vehicles or in dug out fighting positions in weather well under freezing temps all the while being shot at and wondering if their next step is over the top of a pressure plate IED (improvised explosive device).

It's also been really interesting watching the Afghan government officials (Governor Mangal, Ministers of Defense and Interior, etc) step up to the plate. I don't want to be overly optimistic (you all know I'm the realist in the bunch:-) but if we are to secure the population enough to get the government to provide for its people, this is the way to do it. It's going to take some time. You may hear the phrase "clear-hold-build". First we clear the area of insurgents, then we hold the ground by occupation of security forces and then we build the governance within the area through aid projects, hiring teachers, nurses; building schools and the like. It's not a quick turn event, but it's how you make a difference in a counterinsurgency.

The pics from this week are quite varied. A quick story on the first one. One evening I commented to the troops that it felt like finals week since we'd been going through some long days, had been eating junk food, some needed to shower, etc and I commented that all I was missing was some cold pizza and a beer with someone's cigarette floating in it. Lo and behold, I return from a meeting later that night and found the following scene at my desk. They'd gone to the dining facility and retrieved a couple pieces of pizza, found a near beer at one of the national support element MWR room and threw a cigarette in it for good measure. Gotta love the creativity of the troops!

The other pic is from our two barracks kittens (Blackjack and Checkers...I know, tough cats:-) whom I found taking cover from the recent snow storm in our barracks atop our boxes of water. No the one cat isn't grey, she's white...really.

The other pics are from Kabul city...view of the homes in Kabul, the view from the rooftop of the US national support element bldg here at ISAF Hqs and battle remnants outside of the city from their days of the Soviet occupation.

The last pic reflects some of the best time of the day...mail call! My battle CPT, senior Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) and one of our Irish Sergeant Majors enjoy opening a box of goodies.

All for now. I hope you're digging out of the snow in DC and SD and hoping that the groundhog was wrong about 6 more weeks of winter. As I reminded a Soldier this morning when she commented about how cold it was as we walked from our barracks to the ops center, many of our troops dug their own bed last night; shaved out of a canteen cup and are heating their breakfast on an engine block. It puts much of our daily grind in perspective. Please keep our Soldiers in your thoughts and prayers and know that we all look forward to coming home soon.

Have a great week and stay in touch!

Love,

Andrea