Month 3 Day 17

Notebook entry
Spoke to the Afghan Executive Officer regarding Dinar, played Soccer

Journal Entry:
Lost to the ether

Edited to Add:
When I say spoke I mean spoke, it was a one-way conversation. The Executive Officer was calling over our lead linguist all of the time to run messages to the Team Chief, Major Valquist. This was keeping him up all night, and he was tired. He complained to me, and I told the executive officer that our linguists were not his errand boys, and that if he wanted to talk to the Team Chief, then he should come out of his container, walk across the street, and talk to him.

The Major told me not to beat up the Executive officer about these things, he was an 'ally.'

In retrospect, the Major was probably right. I needed Colonel Sarwar's help a lot later in the deployment. This kind of "I'm an American Lieutenant, and you are an Afghan Colonel, but you need to listen to me" stuff was a bad idea, even though it felt good. There is a time and a place, but this is not it.

When I say we 'played soccer' I mean we got our asses kicked.

Major Valquist, in Afghan garb, goes to meet with the Executive officer, note the high-water pants, he was around two heads taller than any Afghan soldier so they didn't make them in his size. 

Looking out of place in the name of partnering...