Hello from LT Miller October 25 2006

Hello from Herat Afghanistan. Had a rare event yesterday, 100% cloudy and a whopping 2 raindrops. I thought for sure we were going to get our first rain. I was hoping we would for the farmers but no luck. For us it is good because we do not need any humidity. The temps are falling and we have not hit a 100 for a week now. We have even been in the 80's a few days.

Have been on some rather interesting missions. One is working on a dam that the Soviets destroyed and we are supporting the Afghans in rebuilding it. The key is supporting. We need to make them take charge of these projects and provide them with assistance. Like any man when dirt starts moving and boulders are being pushed it makes you feel like a little boy in one gigantic sand box. In this case it is a gigantic sand box. I guess if any one asks me from now on, are you a dam expert, I could say as a matter of fact I am! Actually I could use a dam expert so Betsy Grom if you could spare a couple of months you are a dam expert! (She really is no joke). I have also been on a number of other missions working with the villages and as always I gravitate towards the children. I guess I feel the adults can take care of themselves if they tried a little harder but the children are stuck in this mess not of their doing. I had one little girl just climb up on my lap and sit there. I was awe struck; she just wanted to be held. Talk about breaking my heart. I did not want to let her go. We think she is an orphan but it is hard to tell. The Elders really do not like to give much information about the children but she did not seem to be with any of the adults there. They are concerned that people might try to take the children. I guess many children have been taken and sold in other countries. I would have just picked her up and taken her home but adoption is illegal here. I can understand with all of the corruption that kids would be taken from families and said to be orphans and sold. Hard to imagine people being so sick but it happens.

Back on to the farmers. The UN has asked for $43 million for food, because as the Afghan government claims the drought has severely curtailed the food crops. Funny how the drought has not curtailed the poppy crop! I feel bad for anyone that goes hungry but when your government allows hundreds of thousands of acres and millions of gallons of water to be used to grow an illegal drug crop it is time to pull out the old tough love card. I also work with training the Afghan Army and in their dinning facility they waste 25% of the food. It is one of the challenges I am working on but they do not seem interested because we just give them more food.

On another note the U.S. Army is finally getting rid of the slogan "Army of One" I guess they finally got tired of me giving them crap about if they are an Army of One then why do they need me, sounds like they only need one. It seems to be universally hated so it just proves that just because you paid a consultant millions that does not make it a good idea. How about this one, have a contest in the Army to come up with a slogan and pay that soldier $250K. We save money and pay a soldier a well-deserved bonus. I would be willing to bet the person at Leo Burnett Chicago who came up with the Army of One idea was never even in the Army. It is now Army Strong.

The Italians opened up a pizzeria. It is really good. 12-inch pizza for $4 to $5. It would be nice with a cold beer but no alcohol for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. It is the only place we have to buy food or drink so it is a welcomed addition. The food is not bad here; it is just nice to have something different once in a while.

Finally much to my disappointment the military no fun patrol informed us that bingo is gambling so we are no longer allowed to play bingo. I guess the $1 per card and outlandish prizes like lawn chairs and pool cues is pretty serious. Now that bingo has been suppressed the war should be over shortly. I would like to see them try to tell my grandma no more bingo. She would certainly open up a serious "can of whoop ass".

Take care and please get involved and vote!

Keep in touch.
LT John Miller US NARMY

Hello from LT Miller Oct 7

Hello from Herat Afghanistan. The 120 days of wind are officially over so only one big dust storm in the past two weeks. Temps are moderating in the 90's with cool 60's nighttime. Still dealing with the flies. They are kind of like the Taliban you just cannot kill them all. They just keep coming.

We are continuing work with the wells and tunnels.They are progressing rather nicely. Five out of 65 are cleared out and we are hoping by early next year they will be all cleared and water will flow into the valley. Since it is an interconnected system all of the tunnels have to be completed before any water can be tapped into. Hard work for the villagers, it is all manual labor. We are providing them with tools, supplies and guidance. It is a good project to bring the village together since it will take everyone's effort to make it work. Afghans are a different people however. Now they want the U.S. to pay them a daily rate for the work they are performing. I have explained to them that this project is for their benefit and that we will not pay them to work on a project that is for their village. This is very typical of the Afghan culture. No matter what you give them they will always ask for more. Villages also get very jealous of other villages so we have to make sure we provide support for all of them. We will be going into more villages soon. The idea is to provide all of the villages in our area with a clean source of water and a school with supplies. The long term plan is that this will help to make them self sufficient and educated. Which in turn will make them less dependent on others like the Taliban and drug lords for support.

I have also been working on the Afghan base with training of the Afghan Army. It is still like potty training, until they want to learn I am not sure we will have much success. I have a real good Afghan officer that I am working with and hopefully he can transfer some of his efforts to his men. Most Afghan soldiers do it for the money not for the good of their country so it will take some time and a lot more tough love. There are lots of times I just have to say sorry I cannot help you just suck it up and figure it out.

I also spent a day driving General Durban around the city of Herat. He is the second in command in Afghanistan. Tough character. We had some interesting conversations. He likes to smoke and swear. By the way I do not know were the saying swears like a sailor comes from because the Army has the Navy beat hands down in that category. It was actually the first time for me into the city itself. We usually work around the out skirts and to the south. Actually looks like it could be a very nice city. There are beautiful large trees all over the place and a really nice park in the center of the city. Too bad people have to worry about when the next explosion will be. I did not get a lot of good pictures since I was driving. I thought about asking the general to take some snap shots but decided against it.

We had a bingo night and I won a pool stick and carrying case. Not that I play pool but it was fun winning. I will have to use it for trade for something else. We also have a daily bingo game with one number a day drawn and I won a folding chair, now that I can use. I thought I would be in my 70's before I looked forward to bingo night but our entertainment options are limited. My grandma would be proud. Remember the election is coming up so pay attention and vote. Support our troops by holding our elected officials accountable.

Take care and keep in touch.
LT John Miller US NARMY