Headed South

From 11-14 DEC, I'm in RC South.

I'm hear because I need to make sure MC2 Ramirez, who will be joining Cprl Rafoss, actually gets put into a room. Since Rafoss arrived nearly three weeks ago, he has been living in a transient tent. This is a large open bay tent that's shared by roughly 100 other guys. You sleep on cots and there's no way to secure your belongings. It's meant to be a 1-3 day temporary situation, not a permanent fix which has been Rafoss' lot in life since he first arrived. On my first day here, I got Ramirez into a room so this is not impossible. Rafoss can bunk with Ramirez when he comes back from the operation he's covering out in the field.

The other reason I'm down here is to play politics. The RC South PAO doesn't like the standard operating procedure (SOP) we have in place for my guys when releasing stories, pictures and video. Col. Kolker wants to add several layers of people in RC South to read, edit and approve the stories before they're sent to me... where in turn I read, edit and approve it before sending it to the headquarters... who read, edit and finally release it. If we allowed this, it would take three weeks to get a single story released through all those filters. I'm here to tell him his opinion matters, but only HIS opinion. In the military more than any other career field I have ever worked, there's a lot of teritorialism. We talked this issue out last night and I think we have come to an understanding. If I'm ever nominated for Secretary of State, I now have enough experience to put on my resume.

Last night was also a fun night for watching fireworks. Opps, that was a rocket attack. Around 0200 came the announcement over the loud speakers, "Take cover, take Cover, incoming attack. Take cover, take cover." Never a dull moment in Kandahar.