Month 5 Day 12

Notebook entry
Seven reports to the Afghan National Army. Reception, Staging, Onward movement and Integration with map grid, land navigation, Samir refused to work in the morning because Major Hesco yelled at him, Finished instructor class, eleven graduates.

Journal Entry
Major Hesco yelled at Samir in the Afghan staff meeting. I guess Samir leaned back in his chair in a way that 0-60 didn’t like and he started yelling at him. Predictably, Samir was dishonored and embarrassed, so he didn’t want to work. He also didn’t want to work with me, because he said all Marines are in the same organization and are all the same. This is a bit childish of him, but I think he is trying to get me to bring Maj Hesco to speak to him. I tried, but Maj Hesco was too proud of himself. He had yelled at a shitty Afghan officer, and when I suggested that he should apologize, or at least tell him that he is a valuable member of the team, he laughed at me. I am flabbergasted. Just because you outrank all of the Marines here, and have the right to say anything, it doesn’t mean that anything you say is right. He just spoiled at least a whole day of training. I was trying to get new personnel, equipment, and generally work with the guy. Yah, he’s a piece of crap, yah he’s lazy, yah I’d like to punch his stupid face in most of the time too, but that wouldn’t actually help me train the guy. What makes you feel good is not the point. I have yelled at Afghan’s before, but I learned my lesson, one of them was a carpenter who was cutting wood in the [Afghan] CoC [Combat Operations Center], and I told him to go outside, when he didn’t I yelled at him over the din, then grabbed the desk and took it outside. The guy did nothing, just sat and stared at me the whole day. That was a private, how much worse for their officers in front of his peers. I thought Maj Hesco would have learned his anger-management lesson when he broke a chair, screamed at the S-1 [admin officer] and had to apologize because Maj Valquist forced him to. There is a reason that Maj Valquist said that no one should yell at the ANA without his approval, but I guess there is a ‘new dog in town’ since Maj Valquist left and he feels like he can do anything.

Two other things while I am thinking about it. 1 I had to talk to the BDOC [Base Defense Operations] guys and tell them to tell their gate guards not to call our Afghan school headmaster (the one in charge of the literacy training) a mother fucker. He can speak a little English and was pissed off. I told my peer at BDOC, he wanted to know if “his feeling are hurt” in a condescending way. I reminded him that some of these guys don’t become terrorists for no reason…let’s hear it for the true character of a man is shown by how you treat those who have nothing to offer you…2. The Gunny Defended the Major’s outburst, but he hasn’t spoke his his guy in basically two months, he outright says that he can’t train him, and the Majors basically accept that. The Senior Enlisted thing deference is a bit retarded.

Oh and Jamal, the head contractor, gave the General all the hometowns and families of all of his contractors. Awesome…what is he going to do with that, run a background check? Fucking idiot, you just opened these illiterate guys up to extortion.