A Interesting View In A C-130 Over Afghanistan

President Obama and Gen. MyChrystal have both stated that Afghanistan needs an army of at least 134,000 and a police force of at least 96,000. The idea behind this is so that those units can step up in this country and the Americans and other NATO troops can go home. Well, that is the idea anyway.

As I get ready to fly on a C-130 from Camp Kaia in Kabul to Kandahar, I noticed a group of Afghan member preparing to come with me. There were about 20 of these men, ages 20's to 50's. They are part of the Kabul police force that has been trained by coalition forces. They are flying down to Kandahar to train their counterparts in Kandahar.

As we wait for the plane, I notice these men talking together and taking pictures as a group with a couple of American troopers. It seems a lot like a graduation photo but it has a hard edge to it. Hard to describe.

As I jump on the C-130, I am surrounded by these men. I don't mind those close proximity as it was freezing outside and the snow was beginning to pile up. As we sat down, we do so in long parallel lines faces one another, so that our knees cross back and forth and back and forth like some strange human zipper.

One requirement in every C-130 I have ever been in is body armor. We all have to be wearing it. Kevlar vest and helmut. We all have them. And none of them match. We each acquired them in their own way. Their government. Their employer. Makes me think about the Sapi plates in my vest I acquired in Israel and the vest and helmet, Gosh know where. . .

As I look down the line of these men, intermixed with the occasional trooper from around the world, it occurs to me just how strange this group of men, me included, really are.