Army: Afghanistan Number 8

POST 8 WEEK 10: Ok, so it has been a couple of weeks, so I know it is time for a new post.  For the last week I have been out traveling around Afghanistan.  I have been to Kabul, Bagram, Shank, Sharana and back.  I have several places left to go but don’t know yet when I will be traveling again.  The main purpose behind my travels has been my lean six sigma project, but also to meet our Soldiers where they work out of.  Another big reason for the travel was a quick best practices conference to help create some standardization in our operations despite having people all across Afghanistan. 

But, per my usual style, I will give you a broken down update of life in Afghanistan.

Where the Taliban live

Financial: Oh, the frustration.  My plan was to do my investing before I left for battlefield circulation (what we call it when we travel around to see our Soldiers).  Unfortunately, USAA had other plans.  I did not know that it would take a week before the funds I transferred into my USAA account would become available.  So while I was out and about, I only managed to do some investigating once or twice and for a short amount of time.  So now I need to start my research over and find some stocks to invest in this week.  We shall see how it goes. 

Physical: So, I this week I plan on taking another diagnostic APFT.  My run time is improving (I think) but I honestly need to work on my upper body strength the most.  The other day, one of my workout partners decided it was time to do pull ups and dips and I was sad to see where I was at.  I used to be able to do 8 pull ups straight and now I am pulling out about 3.  So I need to work on that more now, since I have about a month before I will probably be taking my PT test.

Emotional: One step forward, two steps back this week.  I haven’t hardly been able to talk to Kevin while I was traveling since I can only really get a hold of him at night his time.  Normally when I would have been able to call him, I was traveling so it made everything more difficult.  But, what I am also struggling through is hearing the issues he is having at home without minimalizing them based off of what I am experiencing here.  For example, there have been some issues at work and with my chain of command that is resulting in some drastic changes on top of some already necessary changes.  2 out of 3 company commanders in our battalion are changing out because their time in command is up and two of our field grades are leaving the unit.  Just like every other Army unit, people are fluid and constantly changing.  And, like any unit experiences, there are ethical issues, moral issues and flat out legal issues we are dealing with on a daily basis.  And it is not that things are terrible here, nor even out of the norm (I think a lot of units experience similar issues down range.  It’s what makes deployments so hard).  On top of that, we get to deal with rocket attacks and the like on a fairly regular basis.   So when Kevin complains about something simple, like his grad school homework load, I find my patience growing very short and my temper rising.  I am guessing this is a similar reaction to what I have heard from before out of other Soldiers.  But, I know I get no excuses and I have to be respectful of my husband regardless. And there really aren't any good excuses for being impatient towards any one, because everyone is going through something and there are many, many people who have it far worse than me.  So for now, I am going to focus on being more patient and loving.  And to also be more open with Kevin about how I feel and what I am dealing with.  It is honestly hard to share what I am going through day to day because after the living the day once (and It is frequently a very long day), I do not want to talk about it and live through it again. 

My Life= Containers

Mental: So…. Lean Six Sigma.  I am finding my motivation leaving me as I sit through more and more two hour classes that start at 8 pm and I have to finish my work after them.  It doesn’t seem that there are enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished and the week before I left, I stayed at work until after 1 in the morning at least 3 days and didn’t get out before 11 pm for the other 4.  So, the idea of tackling something else is mentally draining right now.  But, after actually getting out and talking to the guys on the ground about movements of containers on ground across Afghanistan I realized that my project is a necessary one because there are issues everywhere. So, I guess my motivation has picked up a bit to get back out there and figure out what’s actually happening and how we can save Soldiers time and maybe the Army some money. 

Spiritual: So, despite traveling around the country, I have not missed a night of prayer nor reading my bible.  I am really enjoying the chronological bible, but I am not sure I will ever fully appreciate the genealogy in the bible.  It always just looks like lists of name I can’t pronounce in an order I find hard to understand (multi-echeloned and linear).  But, at least that is broken up by the stories of these people.  I find my prayers becoming more frustrated as I continue to pray for one of the guys in my unit who seems to have no more inclination towards Christianity than when he first got here.  He seems very bitter against God, but is also the type not to share anything personal.   I know that this is a matter of faith and patience on my part, to continue praying and leaving it in God’s hands.  But I think I better understand how God must feel to be constantly revealing His majesty and His love with people and still leaving the choice to them.  To know what’s best for someone and let them make their own decisions is probably also going to be my hardest parenting decision.  To love someone so much and only want the best for them but respecting their right to choose for themselves what they think is best when you know better and then not holding their choice bitterly against them is one of life’s hardest lessons and can only come through unconditional love.