My work day started with a bang. Literally. A bang followed by a whir from the street about 800 meters from the Afghan building in which we work. It sounded like a cartoon version of the sound of a rubber band snapping, except this was a real bullet fired from a crew-served weapon mounted to a Coalition vehicle. A shot was fired, perhaps directly up in the air, but we had no idea of the trajectory at the time.
As the excitement unfolded, we were just unloading out of our trucks, had removed our protective vests and helmets, and were locking our vehicles to walk into our building. Within about a second of the discharge, one by one, members of my team hit the deck in various defensive positions, and I heard the rippling sound of six M-4 rifles being charged in anticipation of a need to return fire.
We crouched for protection behind our behemoth vehicles. We flipped on our optics. And we waited. Patiently, yet with bated breath. We silently wondered whether we were about to enter our first firefight and we rehearsed our responses in our minds.
The city of Kabul is preparing for the Loya Jirga, which begins tomorrow on the west side of town. Think of a Loya Jirga as a national leadership referendum of sorts on topics too politically sensitive or controversial for President Karzi to decide independently. He's called the tribal and political leaders of Afghanistan...more than 2,000 of them...to come to Kabul to provide their feedback on topics such as Afghanistan's relationship with Pakistan, the Coalition presence in Afghanistan and a handful of other politically toxic subjects. The conference is scheduled to last at least four days, halting traffic and all other regularly scheduled affairs in Kabul. The Loya Jirga is not a regularly scheduled event, so the hype (and subsequent threats to the city) is a bit unnerving to Afghan citizens and the Coalition alike.
With that frame of reference, it's easier to imagine why we were all balancing on pins and needles. And yet again, today we all validated the need for significant training before we send anyone on outside-the-wire missions like the ones my team and I perform every day.
Today we heard our first gunshot. No one was injured. Everyone responded just at they should have. In retrospect, it was just another day in Afghanistan. Something weird happened. We dealt with it. We moved on. And we didn't let it ruin our day. And tomorrow we'll wake up and do it all again.
"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."
-- T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men
As the excitement unfolded, we were just unloading out of our trucks, had removed our protective vests and helmets, and were locking our vehicles to walk into our building. Within about a second of the discharge, one by one, members of my team hit the deck in various defensive positions, and I heard the rippling sound of six M-4 rifles being charged in anticipation of a need to return fire.
We crouched for protection behind our behemoth vehicles. We flipped on our optics. And we waited. Patiently, yet with bated breath. We silently wondered whether we were about to enter our first firefight and we rehearsed our responses in our minds.
The city of Kabul is preparing for the Loya Jirga, which begins tomorrow on the west side of town. Think of a Loya Jirga as a national leadership referendum of sorts on topics too politically sensitive or controversial for President Karzi to decide independently. He's called the tribal and political leaders of Afghanistan...more than 2,000 of them...to come to Kabul to provide their feedback on topics such as Afghanistan's relationship with Pakistan, the Coalition presence in Afghanistan and a handful of other politically toxic subjects. The conference is scheduled to last at least four days, halting traffic and all other regularly scheduled affairs in Kabul. The Loya Jirga is not a regularly scheduled event, so the hype (and subsequent threats to the city) is a bit unnerving to Afghan citizens and the Coalition alike.
With that frame of reference, it's easier to imagine why we were all balancing on pins and needles. And yet again, today we all validated the need for significant training before we send anyone on outside-the-wire missions like the ones my team and I perform every day.
Today we heard our first gunshot. No one was injured. Everyone responded just at they should have. In retrospect, it was just another day in Afghanistan. Something weird happened. We dealt with it. We moved on. And we didn't let it ruin our day. And tomorrow we'll wake up and do it all again.
"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."
-- T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men
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