Wednesday Hero

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Olga Elliott


Chief Warrant Officer 2 Olga Elliott, a Multi-National Corps-Iraq human resources technician, poses with MNC-I Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe after finishing the Bobby Crim 10-Miler Aug. 22, at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Elliott, a San Diego native, finished the race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 57 seconds, earning her top female honors.

Photo Courtesy United States Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

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God bless the children - and our troops

A column via Helmand Blog which shows exactly what our troops are doing. From Padre Mark Christian:

Friday, December 25, 2009

Giggling sounds of children playing

Every time a soldier loses his life we gather at our headquarters to remember them, to honour and respect them and to pray for their family and friends. Last week, at the end of one such service, our brigade commander came off the parade and said to me 'listen to that Padre'. I wondered what he was talking about. I listened. I could hear the sound of traffic from the town that surrounds our base, but then I became aware of the laughing and shouting and squealing and the giggling sounds of children playing. The brigadier commented that we wouldn't have heard that three months ago.

I went to the garden outside our church and reflected on the sounds of those children. I allowed my mind to travel home to my children. Another Christmas apart. They are adults now but I miss them as, all of our soldiers miss their families. One of my daughters will give birth to my first grandchild in February. I will miss that too....

This truly is a MUST READ! Go - now and read the rest here.

H/T The Thunder Run

Learn to be still

Eleanor Roosevelt:

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

Iran: The world IS watching

"...And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak..."

Iran today.

Women Have the Power in COIN: Female Engagement Teams

From the Combined Arms Center Blog:

USA and USMC Counterinsurgency Center Blog

Women Have the Power in COIN: Female Engagement Teams

In 2005, I was sitting under a tree at Shira, in Kapisa Province with Minister Stanakzia who was in charge of the Disarmament of Illegally Armed Groups (DIAG) program. I was struck by the fact that there were no women to be seen anywhere. I mentioned this to the Minister and he explained to me that although there were no women present, in Afghan culture they were quite powerful in the home. He said that the great interest in cell phones and the riots that had taken place because of a lack of phone cards was generated by Afghan wives pushing their husbands to keep up with the Jone’s, or in this case, the Barakzias. Being married, I knew exactly what he was talking about. In spite of the fact that I was a rough, tough army guy, I too seemed to make very few decisions at home. It seems gender dynamics were not that different even in the backwaters of Afghanistan.

After eight years of engagement with the Afghans, someone has finally realized that we have been missing out on 50% of the population who have an enormous influence within the family and especially on adolescent males who make up the recruiting pool of the insurgents. Best of all, the Taliban by culture cannot talk to Afghan women and therefore, we have a monopoly.

The best way to exploit this is the Female Engagement Team (FET). A FET is a small, all-female element, 4-6 members, with the task of engaging the Afghan female community. This construct needs to be better exploited in order to communicate and win the support of the most influential part of the population. We should start integrating this more into our training and TTPs. Your thoughts?

LCol JJ Malevich (Canadian Exchange Officer), Director of COIN, US Army/USMC Counterinsurgency Center

(source) There is a lively debate going on in the comments on this piece. Follow the link and check it out.

H/T The Thunder Run

Music and Me

:)

For my bratchild

I love you more than anyone else in the whole wide world. To infinity and beyond. Yes, this much...