Easing Into the Saddle of a Speeding Horse
I've taken the last two days to spend time getting to know my people, meeting the primary staff, finding my way around, and observing how things work. I was treated to a comfortable pace the first day but things began moving quickly today as newsworthy events took place around the country.
Yesterday I attended one of our thrice-weekly press conferences to observe how they are conducted. We had a packed house -- or should I say packed cafeteria as we use one of our dining areas to conduct these. We partner with the International Security Assistance Force on these press conferences since much of our work compliments one another. And it allows the reporters to hit both organizations at once with questions.
Then yesterday I experienced my first alert when a car bomb went off in front of an Afghan police training facility where DynCorp employees are working with the Afghan police force. The blast happened a ways from our compound and I did not feel or hear it, however others did. Most of those folks working at the DynCorp facility are retired police officers and it was certainly a tragedy for their lives to end in such a manner.
Security here is very tight and our guards deserve a lot of credit for being competent and thorough.
Various troops around Afghanistan had contact with militants today and we spent the day answering media inquiries, getting information from our various sites and fact checking. That is one thing that we are very vigilant about --ensuring that the information we release is accurate and as complete as possible. Unfortunately the media are often fed information from other sources that is not correct and then we spend even more time trying to correct it. But's that the life of a PAO.
I can tell that the hours will be long here since we are dealing not only with the time tables for middle eastern and European media, but also the time tables of US media.
On happier notes, I've managed to get my little half of my sleeping quarters organized pretty well. I ran into a KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) carpenter today and asked if he could come up with some wood blocks to raise up my bed about six inches so that I could slide my duffel bags under the bed and create some extra room. When I stopped off at my room after dinner, they were sitting by my door and they work perfectly! I also scrounged up three empty boxes and a board to make a combination table/bookshelf. Nothing like some scraps and a little ingenuity to make a comfortable hooch!
I like my room as it's quiet. The walls are painted yellow so it's also soothing. And I have a nice roommate -- a Navy medical officer.
We have a TV running in the office so we can catch the news, and are also trying to tune into the convention, but it's tough. It's on live tonight but it's too late for me and I'll miss the speeches. I love listening to speeches during the political conventions and I am sorry to miss them.
There are six of us in this office and it's a hub of activity as we deal with information in a variety of ways. But it's a fun group and there's never a shortage of things to brainstorm.
Tomorrow I will attend a ceremony and press conference to mark the conclusion of the cantonment of heavy weapons in the city of Kabul and transfer ownership of the 8th Division's heavy weapons to the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense. Many countries from the International Security Assistance Force will be there. The Coalition and government are making headway in getting people to turn in their weapons.
I'm not sure if you know this but the Coalition is made up of many countries with major responsibilities divided as follows: the UK is the lead in counter narcotics, Italy leads judicial reform, Japan is the lead for disarmament demobilization and reintegration (DDR), the US is the lead for training the Afghan National Army, and Germany is the lead in training police forces. Coordinating these efforts is a Herculean task and we work with the various public affairs officers in these groups and more to coordinate communications as well.
It's been a long day, we've put out our last statement just minutes ago, and I'm long past ready to turn in. Thanks for tuning in and for remembering me. I miss everyone.
Yesterday I attended one of our thrice-weekly press conferences to observe how they are conducted. We had a packed house -- or should I say packed cafeteria as we use one of our dining areas to conduct these. We partner with the International Security Assistance Force on these press conferences since much of our work compliments one another. And it allows the reporters to hit both organizations at once with questions.
Then yesterday I experienced my first alert when a car bomb went off in front of an Afghan police training facility where DynCorp employees are working with the Afghan police force. The blast happened a ways from our compound and I did not feel or hear it, however others did. Most of those folks working at the DynCorp facility are retired police officers and it was certainly a tragedy for their lives to end in such a manner.
Security here is very tight and our guards deserve a lot of credit for being competent and thorough.
Various troops around Afghanistan had contact with militants today and we spent the day answering media inquiries, getting information from our various sites and fact checking. That is one thing that we are very vigilant about --ensuring that the information we release is accurate and as complete as possible. Unfortunately the media are often fed information from other sources that is not correct and then we spend even more time trying to correct it. But's that the life of a PAO.
I can tell that the hours will be long here since we are dealing not only with the time tables for middle eastern and European media, but also the time tables of US media.
On happier notes, I've managed to get my little half of my sleeping quarters organized pretty well. I ran into a KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) carpenter today and asked if he could come up with some wood blocks to raise up my bed about six inches so that I could slide my duffel bags under the bed and create some extra room. When I stopped off at my room after dinner, they were sitting by my door and they work perfectly! I also scrounged up three empty boxes and a board to make a combination table/bookshelf. Nothing like some scraps and a little ingenuity to make a comfortable hooch!
I like my room as it's quiet. The walls are painted yellow so it's also soothing. And I have a nice roommate -- a Navy medical officer.
We have a TV running in the office so we can catch the news, and are also trying to tune into the convention, but it's tough. It's on live tonight but it's too late for me and I'll miss the speeches. I love listening to speeches during the political conventions and I am sorry to miss them.
There are six of us in this office and it's a hub of activity as we deal with information in a variety of ways. But it's a fun group and there's never a shortage of things to brainstorm.
Tomorrow I will attend a ceremony and press conference to mark the conclusion of the cantonment of heavy weapons in the city of Kabul and transfer ownership of the 8th Division's heavy weapons to the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense. Many countries from the International Security Assistance Force will be there. The Coalition and government are making headway in getting people to turn in their weapons.
I'm not sure if you know this but the Coalition is made up of many countries with major responsibilities divided as follows: the UK is the lead in counter narcotics, Italy leads judicial reform, Japan is the lead for disarmament demobilization and reintegration (DDR), the US is the lead for training the Afghan National Army, and Germany is the lead in training police forces. Coordinating these efforts is a Herculean task and we work with the various public affairs officers in these groups and more to coordinate communications as well.
It's been a long day, we've put out our last statement just minutes ago, and I'm long past ready to turn in. Thanks for tuning in and for remembering me. I miss everyone.
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