Gordon and I have finally been getting out on missions this past week, and while tagging along on guard detail during a Afghan ceremony in Gardez I saw this guard with an RPG standing watch on a wall:
He didn't speak English but I was able to ask him to stand with me wearing my new hat (a floppy "boony" hat) for a photo anyway. Well, as soon as we came to that agreement using sign language, another Afghan officer came running up wanting to be in the picture. Unfortunately, when the third Afghan security man insisted on joining in, the second started getting his hackles up -- so Gordon took the shot in a hurry and we left them behind to sort out whatever differences without me being stuck in the middle.
At any rate, it is a bit strange seeing Afghan security forces carrying around AKs and RPGs so casually, not exactly approved weapons for the US military personnel responsible for training them. It's an interesting situation that leads to show-and-tell moments for both sides (the man shown here in the blue shirt is a "terp" -- short for interpreter -- who arrived to translate for the occasion):
I'll be posting more photos soon, meanwhile, take a look at Gordon's latest post on our trip to Forward Operating Base Chamkani!
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