Stay Alert, Stay Alive! Lesson 1

Island-Life has added a photo to the pool:

It's not uncommon to see minor mistakes that can lead to the quick and needless death of an individual during the first few seconds of an enemy engagement. I've seen many of these mistakes throughout my travels here in Afghanistan - can someone tell me what the mistake is this young Afghan security contractor is making?

The man pictured bending over with his AK slung around his back isn't working for the Afghan National Army or the Afghan National Police. The man is working for a private security company out of the United States. Usually there is one U.S. Citizen in charge of a team of Local Nationals (LN) with Nepalese supervisors. The particular company this LN was working for is a piss poor excuse of a security company and should have its contract with the U.S. Government taken away ASAP!

I flew out to an area to conduct a security assessment of a specific site and had the misfortune to find the above mentioned contracting company charged with the security of this area. The LN guards were basically left to their own accord with little to no training and were all improperly equipped to conduct effective, professional security operations. At some static posts I was the first American the guards saw and they believed I was their boss! Haha! No shit! Things got so bad I ended up having to hump cases of water to the guards. The guards spoke absolutely no English so communication was achieved through hand gestures and noises. It was hot, dusty and the guards were thirsty and hadnt seen any relief all day. To this day I still believe they all think I was their boss! LOL

Anyway, I had a hard time finding the U.S. Citizen char! ged with leading this rag-tag team of LN security guards. When I did find him guess where he was at? He was in his personal living quarters with air conditioning watching TV and surfing the internet. The man was so overweight it appeared he was incapable of even exiting his living space, let alone climb ladders carrying water and other supplies to his personnel. I never did locate one of the Third Country Nationals (TCNs) who were supposed to be caring for these guards as well. Needless to say, I noted discrepancies and forwarded them to the appropriate channels. Dont worry; I made sure to give this EXPAT a piece of my own mind before I departed his Area of Operation (AOR).

I was really pissed to see the blatant neglect of these LN guards. I would have loved to be the teams manager. I love working with indigenous peoples. So far I have been pretty good at it. What upset me the most is that I knew most of these guards would be killed or wounded in the first few minutes of an organized, well lead enemy attack against them. These men deserve the best leadership and logistics available (all men and women do), yet they were unlucky and found themselves being lead by a poser who only cares about the money he makes off the unfortunate events that continue to plague Afghanistan: greed, corruption, incompetence and piss poor logistics.

Believe it or not, I had full command of this guard force! LOL!!! I know some who would have taken advantage of the situation. Instead, I gave the team some flashlights and a couple pair of binoculars. I always carry cheap, extra gear to hand out to the locals a lesson I learned in the Balkans. To me these items may be cheap however; to the LNs they are a God send that helps them conduct their duties. Their wages are so low there is no way they could afford the cheapest gear on their own. Their money goes to the bellies of their families. And what most seem to forget is, these mean really do want to do a good job. But what is one to do when his or her leadership wont even pr! ovide th e correct tools for success? Eventually the employee begins to not care, and when one does not care, complacency sets in. Give the troops something to be proud of! Given them the proper tools to succeed!

The guard above, I asked to see his AK. He tried to hand it to me however, a loose buckle on his vest was caught in the trigger guard and he couldnt get it free. It took him about two minutes to get that green plastic buckle loose. Luckily the weapon was on safe HAHA! Dont worry, I checked before I asked him! The young LN learned a lesson that day and hopefully when the time comes that he will have to quickly and affectively employ his weapon against enemy forces, he will be able to do so without hesitation. Its only a matter of time before their team is engaged by the enemy.

Stay Alert! Stay Alive! Lesson 1:
Keep your weapon readily available and free from tangling with your other gear for immediate employment. It's how you respond and react in the first few seconds of an attack that will either determine survival or death for you and or your buddy to the left and right of you.