I went in to the office, where I began working on developing a Master Training Plan for the ANA guys much like the one I developed for my own Airmen at home in Illinois.
I thought a lot about things as I laid in bed frustrated last night, and the one thing that kept popping into my head was that I needed to be more proactive in training these guys. I think I've been too laid back and I've been letting them dictate to me when and if training was going to take place every day that I've been over there so far. I decided that things need to change. It started with this Master Training Plan. Every day that I've been over to the ANA PA office, I've not really had a plan on what to train them on. I've said I'll train them on "shooting" or "editing" or "basic shot techniques," but I've never really gotten myself into specifics, which I think has allowed them to kind of get me off track. With this training plan I've developed, it spells out exactly what is to be learned, how it is to be learned, and how long it should take. I mirrored their plan with the Air Force's version of the Master Training List, but obviously had to take out things that don't apply to the Afghans. Obviously, the U.S. Department of Defense policy on ethics and archiving guidelines don't apply here. As well, many of the references we use for those things and others don't apply. All in all, I widdled down our three hundred plus task list down to just over two hundred tasks. That should be a good start. I'm back on track...watch out!I received a box in the mail yesterday. Now this is something pretty amazing. My old boss, Rich Kaminsky, told me about a woman who had taken great care of him during his deployment a year or so ago. Rich hooked me up with Karolle via Facebook, where I talked to her a couple times about various things. Now Karolle is a loyal follower of my blog, and has asked me if it was ok for her to share some of my experiences with her church in their weekly newsletter. Of course I obliged...and Karolle, I hope you'll share this part with them as well. Karolle has been sending care packages to deployed troops for some time now, and lucky for me, I'm now one of those people. I couldn't help but get a little emotional as I went through the box (the sight of the Butterfingers alone made me cry), and it's even a little emotional for me now just thinking about it. In front of me right now are letters and cards and drawings; a beautifully colored drawing from James (make sure he sees this photo!)
...a paper with cut-out hearts and decorations with comments such as: "Thank you!! You are our heroes! God Bless you! Helen" and "Thank you for your sacrifice! Come home safe to us! Bless you! Dottie." You see those things all the time, but when they're written directly to you, it really hits home. A nice, hand-written letter - with "Dear Dave" at the top - from Shirley Allsman also came in the box. Shirley is a retired junior high school secretary, who absolutely loved what she did, loved her staff, and loved her kids. I felt an instant connection with her, as she explained that she had three daughters just like I do. Of course,hers are a little older I assume, as Shirley is also a grandmother! She went on to say that her grandson is in the Army and has spent some time deployed as well. So, she knows how this military thing works. WOW. My eyes filled up with tears, as it just blew me away...to think that Shirley thought enough about me - someone she doesn't even know - to take the time to sit and write this letter...to me. It means a lot. More than she will ever know. Another thing that meant a lot to me was inside a small manila envelope in the box. Inside was a laminated prayer written specifically for me.
It was accompanied by a card that read: "The enclosed prayer has been written specifically for you. The person who signed your prayer is committed to praying for you daily throughout your deployment. We are grateful to you for your service to our country. We ask that God keep you in His loving care and bring you home safely." I couldn't believe it. Just when I thought I couldn't get any MORE emotional about this box, I did. I won't get into what my very own personal prayer says (there's a photo of it), 
but I will say this much about it. Thank you Mike Hyland. The fact that you're there praying for me means a lot. I will do my best to be the best person I can be to be worthy of all this. I promise you that. The card is in my ID card holder that I carry around my neck with me everywhere I go. Know that you and all the people of Christ Lutheran Church in Valencia, California will always be close to my heart - literally. I can't thank you all enough. And Karolle...God truly has blessed me with an angel. I can't thank you enough for what you do - not only for me - but for all of us who are in harm's way. I'm so very thankful for you and for all the people of your church for thinking of me, and of us, as we do what we were sent here to do. Know that I am very grateful; as I'm sure everyone is whose lives you've touched with blessings such as this. One day I hope to be able to visit Christ Lutheran Church...there'd be no better feeling in the world than to see the smiling faces of those very people who helped me get through my time here.
I honestly believe that the box and the blessings inside it were right on time, as I felt completely lifted out of the "funk" I was in yesterday when I woke up this morning. Thank you ALL for that...and thank you Karolle...thank you for all this...and for just being my friend. No words will ever be able to tell you how thankful I am for that.This afternoon, I went to the gym for a run after a couple days off. My knees felt fine, and the stretching I've been doing has obviously helped. I only ran for three miles today, as I just want to ease myself back into it. It's strange for me to say "only" three miles. It seems so easy now to do that after running seven plus miles for almost a week straight, to include that ten mile day - something I've NEVER done before in my life. My knees felt fine throughout, and still feel fine now. I just have to let my body talk to me and, of course, I need to listen. That's my biggest problem. Next week, I'll start two-a-days in the gym, running early in the day and lifting later on in the evening. I'm feeling some motivation now on many fronts...so I have to take advantage of it any way I can. When I go home, I want to feel accomplished...not only professionally, but personally as well.
I went back to the office, where I continued to work on the Master Training Plan (MTP) until it was finished. With that completed, I was able to create Individual Training Plans (ITPs) for each of the Afghan soldiers. The MTP is the guide that I follow to train each individual. The ITP's are pretty much the same as the MTP, only the ITP's have dates, annotations made about particular training, signatures, etc.,etc. Each person progresses on their own at their own level. Some of the stuff they might all learn together and be able to be signed off on together...other stuff one of them might get faster than the others. It's all on them. Regardless, now I will have a good gauge on who's doing what and I've established a better way to keep me FOCUSED. I think that was my problem before. I wasn't focused on anything. My thoughts were kind of all over the place - as far as training goes - due to the barriers I have to deal with there on a daily basis. Since I can't control the barriers, I decided to do something about the things I CAN control. I think this plan will work out well. In addition to that, I think I'm going to start pulling one or two of them over to our camp and train them in our office once in a while. That was actually Sandy's idea. She's noticed my frustration, and has done everything she can to help. I would work for her anytime, anywhere, any place. She's a great boss who really knows her stuff. And, she lets me do my job. I have so much respect for her, as she's just a great PERSON in general. Anyway, bringing them to the office will give me more individual time to train, without the annoying distractions that we've been having. That's the plan as of now anyway. We'll see how it goes. Again, I'm motivated now, and I just don't think I was thinking clearly before. I can't fail these guys though, and certainly can't fail those above me in the office, at IJC, or in the Air Force, who have put full faith and trust in me to do what I'm best at. I will not fail. I will not let these ANA soldiers fail. I'm back in business. It feels good to be back on track again.
Another mission outside the wire is coming up. As my faithful followers already know, that's all I can say about that. Just know that if the blog isn't updated for a few days, there's a good reason for it. I'll be typing on my own laptop in MS Word, or writing the old-fashioned way - with pen and paper - keeping up with my daily events while I'm gone; whatever it takes to keep this thing going. I'll get the site updated as soon as I'm able, and I'll let everyone know what happened afterwards. I'd love to share it with everyone ahead of time, but it's just not safe for me to do so. Once it's over though, I'll tell you what I can.
As you've all seen, my emotions continue to go from good to bad, satisfied to frustrated. This life I'm living right now is unlike anything I've ever gone through. I'm a positive and happy person for the most part, so it's hard on me some days to feel the way I have. It definitely wears on you to feel so much negativity and feel like there isn't much you can do about it. One thing is for certain though. I have to be true to ME, no matter what or who I come across. I'm probably learning as much about myself right now as I ever have. Some things I like and some things I don't. I'm hoping that once all this is said and done, I'll have discovered a way to rid myself of the things I don't like. I'm getting there. Again, this is definitely an experience for me at this point in my life and career. It's nothing like I ever expected, and I don't think I was prepared for that. But as I've said numerous times, I'm taking things day by day and trying to keep my head up. I continue to put my full faith and trust in God that He will lead me down the right path and help me get to where I'm supposed to be going in all this. That, coupled with listening to words of wisdom from a few friends...I know I just can't go wrong.
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