Springtime, Time for Blast Wall Renovations

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We were a little worried about our neighbors down the street from the radio station.  Their blast wall was hauled away the other day. Why remove so much concrete? Was the Afghanization of security so effective that it was no longer needed? Maybe they fell behind on their rental payments.

Then, a few days back, new, higher concrete slabs arrived. It was clear that this was a renovation intended to maintain their status in the neighborhood. They had probably been intimidated by our thicker and taller walls. With these new units in place they no longer have to feel embarrassed at the next homeowners meeting or block party. Urban tourists will feel right at home in these concrete corridors. A new sense of security now pervades this little corner of Kandahar Airfield.

New barriers being lifted into place around the perimeter of the Six Flags Over KAF compound

New barriers being lifted into place around the perimeter of the Six Flags Over KAF compound

The end result of the refurbishment project. The neighborhood never looked better.

The end result of the refurbishment project. The neighborhood never looked better.

 

Ken Nordine – Radio Rebus

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These tracks have been MP3s for some time. I have been negligent in getting these posted. The original vinyl was something languishing in the record library of the radio station where I worked during high school. I don’t believe these ever made it to the air on WCLO, Janesville. Pity.

The US Army has done some innovative work with media to encourage enlistment. These spots were done for Vietnam era recruitment. I would offer this vintage 1960s material as some of their most interesting done for radio. In this same period Now Nordine was featured on WBBM, sandwiched between Rudy Orisek’s Rhythms Round the World and Music ’til Dawn with Jay Andres, brought to you by American Airlines. I had to stay up past my bedtime to listen to Ken Nordine on the radio.

I can’t express how impressed I was when my wife told me that the family cottage she visited growing up had the Nordines as nearby neighbors. This is the Spread Eagle referred to in Devout Catalyst.

Enough reminiscing, here are the tracks done by Ken Nordine for the US Army;

Radio Rebus – World on Fire

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 Radio Rebus – Haunted Future

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Radio Rebus – Lady Luck

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Radio Rebus – That Hunted Feeling

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Iran Pipeline – The Sum of all Fears

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Last week saw the addendum to Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book Little America as USAID handed the work to complete the Kajaki Dam project over to the Afghan government.

This week, it was a major current in the book Ghost Wars that saw a major twist in the news headlines. The Unocal trans-Afghanistan pipeline that played so strongly in the activities in Steve Coll’s book was upstaged by the announcement of the agreement that will see the completion of the pipeline connecting Iran and Pakistan, skirting Afghanistan’s southern border. The agreement flies in the face of current sanctions directed against Iran by the United States who maintain that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons technology.

Just when you thought politics in this part of the world could not get any more complex. Right at the time when US and Pakistan relations have cooled enough to allow land transport for all the materials the US wants to withdraw from Afghanistan over the next few years.

On the brighter side, maybe we can view this as an easing of the strain in the relationship between Sunni and Shia elements.

I first saw this story reported by Al Jazeera;

Pakistan defies US with gas pipeline to Iran

 

Helmand River Kajaki Dam – Little America’s Final Chapter?

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I was planning on sending home my copy of Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book Little America several months back. Instead, today it passed into the hands of the the fifth reader. I am glad to have chosen the hardbound copy. It may go through many more readings before it leaves Kandahar Airfield.

Last week the book’s author wrote an article for the Washington Post describing what is probably the last episode of USAID involvement in the development of the Kajaki Dam on the Helmand River. This dam dates back to US development aid to Afghanistan in the 1950s and was part of the irrigation scheme devised by the Morrisson-Knudson firm. The dam construction was completed in 1953. Two of three turbine generators were installed in 1975 with the goal of providing hydroelectric power for the city of Kandahar.

Now, sixty years after the dam’s completion, USAID is walking away from the project. They will task the Afghan state electric company with installation of the problematic third turbine and fund them for the remaining work which is estimated to cost 70 million US dollars. The area of the dam and access roads have been secured at the cost of the lives of more than fifty US troops. Security concerns will be passed to the Afghans for the completion of the project.

This is an embarrassing conclusion to the story of the largest monument to American development aid to Afghanistan. I am sure that other readers of Little America will want to read Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s description of the hand-over of the project as it appeared in the Washington Post on 04 March 2013.

 

Prophetic Voice for the Non-Sentient

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I first ran across this story in Stars and Stripes, one of the better newspapers I have read in recent years. It comes from the Orlando Sentinel and describes the “Spiritual Triage Trainer.” Perhaps a corollary to battlefield engagement with drones, this trainer allows Army chaplains to hone their skills in ministry to wounded or dying soldiers by working with a training simulator.

This story comes on the heels of another about a new medal to be awarded to those who fight wars as drone pilots, possibly thousands of miles away from the scene of the conflict. The new medal has been termed the “Purple Buttocks” by its detractors.

Here is the link to the US Army chaplain school story, High-tech training for chaplains questioned.

 

Drink Tequila – Benefit South Sudan

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You normally would not associate the purchase of tequila with the alleviation of ethnic cleansing and combating war crimes. In the case of Casamigos, that should be one of the intended effects. The new brand of tequila is described in a story found in mother nature news.

Profits from the Casamigos brand will fund the Satellite Sentinel Project which keeps an eye on the disputed territory between Sudan and the world’s newest country South Sudan. Perhaps George Clooney, who is behind both the Satellite Sentinel Project and the Casamigos brand, was inspired by the chant from Haxell Wexler’s Medium Cool, “the whole world is watching.”  The idea with SSP is “to hold perpetrators of alleged mass atrocities accountable by documenting human rights crimes as they develop and unfold.” Ideally, the violence is stopped because it is known to be immediately visible to the entire world.

The best description of the Satellite Sentinel Project can be found at its own web site.

Now that you know the benefits to non-combatants in this region of the world, are you more interested in trying this Jalisco product of the blue agave plant?

 

Kandahar Crossroads Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

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Now that there is a separate place for items that are primarily photographic, Travelblogue.co, I will use this blog for more traditional blog entries. That includes links to material from other writers as well.

One of the highlights of my week at Kandahar Airfield is the Sunday morning service of the Kandahar Crossroads Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The “crossroads” in the name befits the short length of stay for many who are part of this group. There are four pictured in this January photo who are now back home or at their next assignment, including Chaplain Chris Antal, the Unitarian Universalist Minister who was responsible for bringing the group into existence at KAF.

[23 March update – five now back home or re-deployed from our group of eleven]

photo by Army Sgt. Eric Skoog

photo by US Army Sgt. Eric Skoog

In the current issue of UU World, Donald E. Skinner offers some more details about this group; In Afghanistan, UUs light chalice in new congregation

Another curative aspect of Reverend Antal’s ministry was the establishment of a Zen meditation group on Saturday morning. This has served to expose some people to the practice and to provide others with the support of a sangha, including those from other traditions.

Those who did not need to hurry off to work at 0700 following meditation were invited to take part in a Japanese tea ceremony. This was my first exposure to this tradition.

Photo from Mark Rhodes

photo by Mark Rhodes

I am very happy to report that several members of the group have completed the work necessary to become Religious Service Lay Leaders so that these activities did not stop with the departure of Chaplain Antal. Robert LaVallee will be able to insure continuity of the Sunday service. David Graham has taken over leading the meditation practice. He even has begun to offer the tea ceremony at the end of zazen.

Most of the people working at Kandahar Airfield have their home thousands of miles away. The sort of activity established by Unitarian Universalist Minister Chris Antal has helped provide a spiritual home for those who will spend six months, a year, or longer here at Kandahar Airfield.

 

Jedi Knights

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Perhaps the newest religious preference which is cropping up on soldier’s dog tags is that of Jedi Knights. I had thought that this would be a tiny minority of persons serving at Kandahar Airfield until I noticed this sign which offers the Jedi Knights their own preferred parking locations.

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May the force be with you.

Travelblogue.co – Photos Only Site

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I came across a site built on SmugMug and so liked the style that I got a site for myself. There are a number of blog items here where the text is nearly superfluous. The format of this blog makes browsing through a large numbers of photos rather tedious.

The fix for displaying a large collection of photographs conveniently is the gallery style. I have begun to add my recent (and 1975 Afghanistan) travel photos to this new site which can be found (appropriately) at    Travelblogue.co

I will update the collection there as I do more traveling and whenever I can get the slides in Kodak Carousel® trays digitized. Please take a look.

 

Immovable Object

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This sign that I walk by every day at Kandahar Airfield makes me ponder what sort of equipment is available here that I have never seen.

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Can you imagine what kind of thing would be required to tow one of these monsters or how you could get it on and off a parking lot with a tactical vehicle in tow?

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I think these are considerably over the carrying capacity of even the twin-bladed Chinook helicopters. If I ever see one of these getting towed from an illegal parking spot I will try to get a picture of the equipment doing the towing.