Run to Home Base

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common injuries for soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Some estimates put the rate as high as 30% of all combat related injuries.  The problem with TBI, and its more prevalent cousin, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is that the symptoms can remain hidden for months or years.  Mass General refers to these injuries as "the invisible wounds of war."

My own experience with mTBI as a victim of IEDs here in Afghanistan allows me to relate, in some small way, to those who suffer from more significant cases.  The short term memory loss following the event and the ever present question of whether there is long term impact are real effects that should not be ignored.  Research is critical to improve not only treatment, but accurate diagnosis of TBI.

I am honored to support research again in 2012 with the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital by participating in the Run to Home Base race at Fenway Park.  I would appreciate once more the support of my family and friends that have been with me through this deployment for this important cause.  I ran the race in 2010 and it was a great experience for important research.

Please click here to make a donation, or for more information on the research at Mass General, please click here.

Thank you for everything you've done to support me and my family, I look forward to thanking you all in person in 2012!

Klondike Derby

I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a young Boy Scout in February of 1983.  The Boy Scouts have an event in the winter called the Klondike Derby where the troop heads out into the woods to learn cold weather skills and have fun in the snow.  That year we headed into the mountains north of Albuquerque, a bucolic mix of pinon and ponderosa where the sweet scent of sap floated on the brisk, cool air. 

I arrived and setup our camp with my three tent mates on a fragrant bed of pine needles in a small clearing that had a commanding view of the sloping hillside and mountains beyond.  We found stones to build a fire ring and had just enough time to collect some firewood to keep warm before crawling into our sleeping bags for the night.  I remember the purple and orange hues of the pine cones burning and popping in the fire as we enjoyed a clear night sky.

The morning was a big surprise, our tent was surrounded with two feet or more of fresh snow, the inside of our tent colder than the outside air with the bright morning sun.  We dug our way out of the tent and cleared away the fire pit to try and get warm and make some warm breakfast.  Though the air was cold, the snow deep and the activities difficult in the new snow, it was only a weekend in the snow.

The landscape is beautiful but forbidding

I recently traveled to a remote COP (combat out post) here in Afghanistan that, at over 9,000 feet, is even higher in elevation than my main base.  This is a real Klondike Derby where the temperatures are below zero Farenheit during the bright, sunny day and brutally cold at night.  The heaters for the tents are simply inadequate to keep the temperature above 30 degrees inside, and the buildings where the Afghans work are even colder without working windows or doors.

A few curious boys in the local bazaar

The view from this COP is beautiful as it looks out over the frozen valley to the mountains.  But it's a frozen wasteland, devoid of enough trees to burn for the locals to keep warm.  We visited the bazaar and you could see the cold, hard and almost powdery texture of the faces of the children that were there.  It was obvious they were incredibly cold as they attempted to sell their wares.

The growing teenagers wore sandals with thin socks, their pants reaching down only to their shins as they were growing faster than their parents could provide clothes that fit.  There were several signs of frostbite and we invited a few of the children to come to the COP for medical care.  A small and inadequate gesture that would not solve the root problem, but may provide at least some temporary relief.

A young boy with some frostbite on his knuckle

I spent the nights in my tent with layers of polypro, waffle thermals, a long sleeve shirt, two pairs of wool socks, a cold weather sleeping bag, and my fleece cap - and yet I still shivered most of the night.  The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared," and I completely failed.  I had not been that cold in a very long time.  Thankfully, I was only there for a few days and like the Derby, I was able to head back to a warmer, more inviting place.  The fact that I think my FOB is a warm and inviting place should tell you something about life for soldiers on a mountain side COP.

One of the benefits of my job here working with the government officials is enjoying traditional Afghan meals.  While away at this COP, I had a very delicious dinner with the District Sub Governor as he hosted me and my team.  For a people that have very little themselves, they are exceedingly hospitable to their guests.  The dinner, a richly flavored rice dish with local vegetables was delicious.

Traditional Afghan meal with local fruits and vegetables

Following dinner we enjoyed the traditional Chai tea; however, the governor thought we would enjoy sugar in our tea which is very Western and not at all Afghan.  The gentleman who served us the tea must have put 4 tablespoons of sugar in each tea cup.  It was very hard to drink, but we accepted graciously.

My friends that are there will live in that harsh, cold environment through Spring when the thaw arrives.  It only continues to remind me to appreciate what I have when I have it.  You never know if you'll end up on a proverbial COP, pining for what once made you comfortable.

A remote village in the moutainns cut off from
the main roads for some of the year

An endless landscape of cold

Helicopters are sometimes the only
way around the mountainous landscape

Hope is in the children's eyes

The differences between districts and villages are astounding.

The Bazaar

Down the hill from our FOB is a very active and prosperous bazaar, one of the busiest and most profitable in our area of responsibility.  There are dozens of shops that sell produce, essentials, pharmaceuticals, meats, shoes, auto supplies, etc.

A few of the bazaar owners talking with us about how their
businesses are doing. Most of the supplies are bought in Kabul.

The bazaar was very busy today and we had a great time walking and talking to local Afghans.  One gentleman I spoke to had a cobbler shop just outside the main bazaar.  His "store" was essentially a small hole about four feet deep and wide, and two feet high.  He locks up his tools and supplies and works right out on the sidewalk.  He is a from a village that isn't very close, yet this bazaar is the only way for him to earn money for his family.

The temperature was about 20 degrees today and he was working with his bare hands.  At least in the sun it felt a bit warmer, but you could see the years of toil his hands endured.  The heavily calloused and cracked fingers still maintained their dexterity as he carefully threaded a new sole on a shoe.  The white hue on his finger tips were a sign of just how cold his hands were, yet he kept working.  He was polite, but I didn't get the sense my intrusion was welcomed, only tolerated.

We continued to walk the bazaar and spoke with a number of other people.  One gentleman we encountered wanted to ask us more questions than we asked him.  His first question was direct and to the point - if we are losing soldiers in Afghanistan, why stay?  The question took me a moment to try and formulate an answer, mostly because my gut response was "I wonder the same thing!"  I explained to him that we continued to support the Afghans and wanted to work and fight terrorism side by side with them, eradicating the cancer that has consumed their country for decades.

He then asked why we didn't do more to kill the Taliban.  This was a more difficult question to answer because most of the men at FOB Airborne want to do just that, it's their whole reason for coming to Afghanistan.  But I had to explain to him how difficult a task that was without hurting other people.

A few of the men anxious to be rid of the Taliban.

The Taliban are exceptional urban survivalists.  They fight amongst the people, use homes and civic buildings for cover, and are hardly ever out in the open.  When they are out in the open, it's like fish in a barrel with our advanced technology.  But when not, it's extremely difficult to isolate bad guy from good guy.

One example of this is a recent mission to a highly kinetic area.  We were building a clinic there to try and bring health care to people in a very rural area that were far from any other clinics or services.  During this mission, the Taliban opposed our movement and took up a fighting position in the clinic.  The clinic was targeted by our aircraft and nearly razed, a clinic that was 90% complete and a year in the making.  Had there been people in the clinic, we would have had even fewer options.  But such are the actions of cowards, putting innocent lives in danger in order to pursue their own goals.

The man agreed with my assessment and described at length his hatred of the Taliban.  The destruction they bring to villages, the intimidation, the arrogance.  He agreed with me that the Afghan people need to do more to drive out the Taliban from the village strongholds but we also agreed that the Taliban terrorize their own people as much as others.  We parted company and I wished him health and happiness as we promised to look for each other when I visited the bazaar again.

Buying some fresh, hot naan from the bazaar. We spent
about 1,000 afs at four shops today. Most businesses
here sell approximately 3,000 afs worth of goods per day.

Most shops are run by older men doing business there for years, yet there is no shortage of shops run by teenagers.  I had the pleasure of meeting one of these young gentleman today who is from a small, nearby village.  He is in the tenth grade, only fifteen years old and spends his time between school in the village and the shop in the bazaar.  His English is very good by village Afghan standards and he has a smile that is as welcoming as it is big.

Many students in the U.S. that work during high school do so because they help pay for car insurance, need gas money for driving to and from sports or a little extra cash for weekend nights out with their beaus.  I know that was me.  My first car cost only $25 and was missing part of the floor under the back seat, but it still took money to run.

A determined and intelligent young man with a bright future.

This young man commutes to the bazaar on his bike and the money he makes helps support a family of eight.  This is in addition to working hard in school, something that is evident from his excellent English skills and his ability to calculate an exchange rate from dollars to afs in his head.  He is working hard to make the most of his future and hopes to attend a university someday.

It was a wonderful day in the bazaar meeting a young man like this whose own vision of his future is still bright, still full of promise.  I look forward to going back and saying hello to him again.