Adaption

Last night while I was talking to my wife on the phone a horrendously loud siren started going off. I reacted almost without thinking and threw myself on the ground. But I kept right on talking to her until the noise drowned us out. The alarm for incoming rockets is something that has reached a level of normalcy. Last night at dinner it went off and the sound of the explosion was lost in the sound of several hundred metal chair legs scraping over concrete as their occupants jumped to the ground. Yet, a minute later the din of conversation had once again taken over the small dining hall.
There is often some sort of explosion going off on the range outside the base so that a distant “Whump” is not an unexpected thing around here. As I ate breakfast outside this morning I heard a different sound accompanied by a jet engine noise and looked up to see four MRLS rockets zooming into the atmosphere. The Canadians playing floor hockey barely stopped to notice. It seems that in this world where everyone carries a weapon and extra ammunition we have become inured to the things that would stop most people in their tracks.
The ability of humans to adapt to their surroundings has impressed me since I’ve been here. Here I am in a place that at first glance seemed like one of Dante’s levels of hell, yet now it seems almost normal. Is there no other way to get to work than to ride on a bus with no air conditioning over potholed dirt tracks choked with dust that coats you and your lungs? Is it unusual that I must wipe off this computer every few minutes so that the keys don’t stick as I type? Are there really lush green forests somewhere that I once walked through? Or mountains covered in magnificent trees turning colors other than brown? Is there truly liquid that falls from the sky? Or clouds? Or stars that aren’t washed out by the glare of yellow sulphur lights?
All this is just the way it is and we work and thrive in whatever environment it might be. The men sheparding the camels in herds outside the gate certainly don’t know any difference. A friend who is heading home today after six months told me it felt weird to be leaving. “This is more real than what I remember about back home,” he said. “I’ll probably walk into a Wal-Mart and just stand there overwhelmed and wondering what I’m supposed to do.” It has certainly given me a new appreciation for certain things. This morning broke clear and cool and I thoroughly enjoyed myself taking my Styrofoam breakfast plate outside to eat on a bench and enjoy a rare moment of quiet. Aside from the rockets, of course.

Why I'm Here

Lunch yesterday was at the Australian SAS compound at a base in Uruzgan province. We had to go through a locked door to get to their part of the base which the Sargent escorting us said was less for security than to keep the other troops on base away from their chow hall which he said was the best in the region. He was right. I had brought my team in order to meet with some of the units that we support and find ways to better work with them and accomplish our respective missions. It was very helpful and we will be working more important missions in the future. After our meeting, we enjoyed a lunch of herb crusted lamb chops and fajitas with .50 cals chattering in the background. I ended up eating with one of the JTACs that I had been talking to on the radio during an op last week. Then he had been whispering as he and a few others were laying in a cornfield setting an ambush for an enemy commander. At lunch however we had to talk louder to be heard over the occasional explosion outside the fence. He told me that even though we had found the enemy they wanted they were unable to get clearance to fire at the time. Later that day the same guy had caused the death of an American soldier. Though he has since been tracked down and killed it is frustrating to know that sometimes even though we do everything we can it is still not enough or timely enough to stop yet another graveside flag to be presented. On the flip side of that, I am reminded that when things do worked out and we have a successful mission it's not just another training sortie but an action that allows more of our troops to go home to their families, to hold their wives and watch their children grow up.
That's why I am here.