10 More Dari Phrases (Nice to know)

One of my most popular posts is one from a while back on Dari Phrases You Need to Know.   In case it’s not obvious, this is the sequel:  Ten phrases that can take you beyond the “minimum essential” and into the “nice to know”… Mushkelnest – No problem. Qabelishnest – You’re welcome. Zhwan! – Energy/life.  Soldiers will often say [...]

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Your Experience May Vary poster

A few folks have stumbled upon this blog while searching for “Poster Experience May Vary”…you may even have been one of them! And though they found a bunch of cautiously optimistic posts (and a few snarky ones), they never found the poster they were looking for. Until now.  Here it is, the official Afghanistan: Your [...]

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More Kudos from Afghanistan

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve got a GREAT team of Coalition Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines in my organization.  But three have really stood out recently: IT2 Gonzalez is a communications technician working in my Current Operations section.  He is directly responsible for providing mobile comm support for LTG Caldwell, the Commander of NTM-A and [...]

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The Contest for Respect and Trust

There was a great article by C.J. Chivers in the NY Times earlier this week about the Afghan National Security Forces operating in Marjah. It’s a great article NOT because it’s got great news.  On the contrary.  It’s great because transparency about ANA and ANP deficiencies is the first step to fixing them.  Some excerpts: Fundamental to plans for undermining [...]

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100 Days of NTM-A Comms

Yesterday marked 100 days since the formal activation of NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan. The first 100 days have been pretty amazing…from Washington DC to London to Brussels to a dusty town in Helmand Province, everyone is working together to enable accountable Afghan-led security.  And Afghan and Coalition communicators are working together to connect the [...]

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