SHOP TALK - U.S. Army 1st Lt. Larry Baca meets with Afghan shop owners in a town near Forward Operating Base Lane, Afghanistan, Feb. 17, 2009. Baca is assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Adam ManciniFrom McClatchy Newspapers:
MAYDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Crowe trained to obliterate distant foes with high-explosive shellfire. But in this mud-washed, mountain-framed provincial capital in eastern Afghanistan, he is learning to be a diplomat, urban planner, construction manager, humanitarian worker and politician.
As the overseer of the first sustained American aid effort launched in the city eight years after the U.S. intervention that drove the Taliban from power, the 32-year-old artillery officer is having to master skills that he's not been taught by the military.
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My Comment: The military is always fighting a past war and/or conceptualizing large conflicts. The Captain on the ground is always faced with reality .... this story illustrates this disconnect perfectly.
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