We got to the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT) building about an hour early and I set up all my equipment. I got the tripod ready and positioned the wireless microphone on the podium. Since there was no microphone in place, and nowhere for me to clip my own microphone, one of the German officers went into the building and brought me out a tack. He pushed the tack into the wooden podium, giving me a place to clip my microphone. "Thanks," I said as he walked away with a smile on his face. That was pretty cool of him to do.
I was ready to go about twenty minutes prior to showtime. Rohullah Amin and our ANA guys were supposed to meet us at 0945 the office to be at the event at 1000 to setup. They never showed.
At 1100, General Murad showed up and so did our ANA guys. The event started and I could still see Rohullah Amin setting up his camera. He had missed the beginning. So, as you can imagine, I'm already not happy with him. I told him yesterday that I wanted him to be here with me an hour early and I was going to watch him set everything up. Obviously that didn't happen. It's getting to be a habit that he doesn't listen to me. That will change.
As the ceremony progressed, I watched Rohullah Amin. He kept his camera locked in on General Murad sitting as a spectator, and didn't move. I finally got his attention and told him that I had my camera on the main speaker, and he needed to use his camera to move around and get shots of the formations, flags, and anything else that would help support us editing the video. He gave me his typical "I know what I'm doing" look, and I could really feel my blood start to boil. Finally, he took the camera off the tripod and moved around.
Eventually, Rohullah Amin ended up back at his tripod with the camera pointed at General Murad. He just doesn't get it. That event wasn't about him. It was about the incoming and outgoing mentors that are going to be working with him. The mentality in this PA office needs to change. They are not General Murad's own personal photo and video service. They aren't doing their jobs getting the word out to the public about what's going on.
With about twenty minutes to go in the ceremony, General Murad's aide went up to him at his seat and shortly after that, the General left. Now...can you guess what our ANA PA guys did? Of course. They left too. Are you serious? You're all just going to leave in the middle of a ceremony? It was bad enough that General Murad disrespected them by leaving himself, but the PA guys left too? ALL OF THEM? so much for that story. Hell, the incoming senior mentor didn't even give a speech...why would he when his "mentee" isn't even there to say anything to? At this point, I was very angry. There was no organization, no efficient way for our guys to handle two events at the same time. As it was, LtCol Naim was there with a still camera shooting photos (like we told him to never do again), and only Rohullah Amin was there shooting video (after we told them to have one video and one photo person IN ADDITION to LtCol Naim the day prior). Frustrating. I still can't believe they all just up and left. The video Rohullah Amin shot is worthless without the entire event being captured. When will they realize that their job is not all about their commander? I did a four minute video on the event, and you know how much of it contained General Murad? Eighteen seconds. I can't wait to tell them that. It was never about him. Are these PA guys ever going to change their way of thinking? We'll find out tomorrow. I've had enough. I went ahead and did my own thing.
I shot what cutaways I could to make the video work, and put it together tonight. It worked. The problem is, that's not what the Air Force sent me here for. I can still do my job and do it well. I know how to do this stuff. THEY don't. 
I'm here to teach, not be just a videographer. I don't mind just being one, but that's not what I'm here for. I really need these ANA guys to help me, help them.I didn't run today. My knees are ok, but I'm really just being lazy. I'll make up for it tomorrow hopefully.
The day was frustrating, but I'm not down about it. Tomorrow, I'll deal out some "tough love" and see how it goes. Right now, I just don't know what they're thinking. I'm going to be straight-forward and honest and not worry so much about being "social" and saying the right things. I can't coddle these guys orelse they'll never change. I'll give it to them straight and see if they can handle it. Only time will tell.
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