2 1/2 Weeks To Go
May 22nd, 2006Berkeley, CA – 1500 Hrs.
Najla and I are less than three weeks from taking off for Djibouti City and I’ve been trying to get in shape for the trip. Biking, jogging, pushups… not quite basic training but good enough for civilian work.
Still not sure where we’re going with “HOA”—the Combined Joint Task
Force, Horn of Africa—but looks like Yemen and Ethiopia are on the top
of the list. Still curious to know what they have going on in Somalia,
if anything, given Osama’s recent call-to-arms. Either way, it’ll be
interesting to talk to locals along the way and find out how they feel
about the American presence. According to the PAO at Camp Lemonier
(HOA’s base) in Djibouti, the work they’ve done has been very well
received. East Africa faces its worst drought in two decades and,
according to the PAO, HOA troops are digging water wells where there’s
never been water before, in addition to other humanitarian-like
missions usually reserved for Peace Corps. On the other hand, I’ve read
that locals in Djibouti are frustrated that they haven’t received many
jobs on the base. That was, however, years ago, so the situation may
have changed.
It’ll be interesting to see what life is like for the young enlisted
personnel in this far-flung corner of the globe. I doubt they came in
with a lot of cultural knowledge (I could be wrong), but either way,
they’re doing a lot less fighting and more of what they call “waging
peace”. The results are tangible: built schools, orphanages, water
wells, etc.
Not a story often covered by mainstream press.
Aaron Selverston, in the TV Lab/Berkeley
