a few days, and the base seems to get smaller with every day. I try
to blow off some steam by working out, but my workload (which is
smaller now because the guys I am relieveing are still here) is large
enough to keep me busy until at least 9 every night. Once they are
gone, I think I will be working every day (no rest) at least 12 hours
a day. Which is no more than I was working on the sub, but there is a
great difference. I was locked in the sub. Opening the door (esp. at
several hundred feet) was not really a preferred option. Here,
however, where there are missions outside the wire every day, there is
a wide world outside, but I sit like Budda in a six-foot cell (10
points for the correct reference). But my job is managing contracts
more than visiting the jobsites, so I get to get out of "the wire"
much less often. It's amazing how I can be no more than a few miles
from downtown, but the bustle and the people are a world away as soon
as I get inside the walls. I'm sure I will feel much differently
about the FOB the first time my convoy gets attacked (hopefully
never). Then it will have walls that protect instead of walls that
ensnare. But for now all I want to do is be outside the base, and all
I usually am is inside. Ah well....
I am really learning a lot about the mistakes of the past when it
comes to reconstruction efforts. When the PRT's came into Afghanistan
(starting around 2005), the emphasis was on dollar amounts.
Relationships were formed with local leaders, but they were centered
arond "what can we do for you?" rather than the more important
question of "what is wrong with the Afghan government". We placed
ourselves first, with several American assumptions in our minds. The
first was that we were the solution for all the problems of this
country. The second was that we had all the answers, and that
American answers work the best. What this attitude has created is an
Afghan government that is highly adept at living off of American money
and not one that is capable of running itself. It doesn't matter that
all the money in the central government is American, what matters is
that the government has the ability to split up and spend its
resources effectively, which it currently does not. In my province,
the PRT has spent the last nine months getting the provincial and
district governments to take a hard look and decide where to best
spend the money available to it (READ: PRT Money). Now the challenge
is to get them to learn to effectively use the systems in place in
their government to get the money (STILL AMERICAN MONEY, REALLY) from
the central government. Concurrent with that, we are going to try and
get them to learn what an operating budget is, and how if they show
the central government that they will need that money next fiscal
cycle, they might even have it before they need it. Maybe we can get
the director of Public works to use some of his money in the budget in
order to actually buy oil so it can be in stock when the road
maintenance equipment he has (from us) needs regular preventative
maintenance (imagine that).
If you ever really want to get depressed, just let me tell you dollar
amounts....
That's all for this update from the Wall.
Via con juevos....
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