Day 50 and 51-BBQ and KMTC

I took Independence Day off from blogging. We worked a bit that day since we had a meeting on Camp Eggers, but most of the day was spent relaxing. We were invited to a BBQ at the Afghan Engineering District compound next door to Eggers. It is a great little oasis in the middle of Kabul. My theory is that the Army Corps of Engineers picked the best spot for their compound when they got here. The tallest, and likely the oldest, trees are dotted throughout their outdoor space. Plus, they consistently have the best food around. I think I like their place better than the Alamo. However, I was at KMTC today finishing up their lab for them, and I got cheese sticks! I actually dipped deep fried cheese strips in cheese sauce at lunch time. I could feel my heart skip a beat each time I did it. Yum. I topped it off with a bowl of really good gumbo and pralines and cream ice cream for dessert.

Our trip to KMTC was uneventful, however we did get their lab totally done and turned over to the Afghans. They were happier with the outcome than I expected. I was told they plan to start using it right away, which is pretty satisfying. KMTC is a large basic training base for enlisted and officer recruits, and it is nice to be able to contribute to soldier training in addition to working with the cadets at NMAA.

GEN Petraeus took command of the coalition forces in Afghanistan today. After reading his confirmation hearing transcripts and his acceptance speech I'm encouraged. We have done a lot here, but really have a lot more to do. I'm starting to believe that the Taliban have infiltrated after regrouping in Pakistan far more than I did before. One of our team spent a week at a forward operating base south of Kabul helping with negotiation training. His stories of the interactions between the ANA, ANP, and the coalition mentors/trainers/soldiers are a bit disheartening. Basically, the population is scared to accept help from the government security forces and the coalition troops in many part of the country. We try and get out and about, but the fall back is to hole up in our secure compounds. When we're not out with the population, the Taliban is there threatening peoples families if they have anything to do with us. We've even seen it at NMAA, but that is a topic for another story.