Staring at the Sun…

This morning my walk to work was surrounded by a beige world… not just a color but a thickness. You can tell a storm is coming. The air is full of… well dirt. It’s so substantial it actually filters the sun. I looked at the sun for minutes with no eye protection. It was this brilliant white orb just above the palm trees. I stood there and gazed in fascination for several minutes in awe that I wasn’t going blind. Sometimes the simplest things provide the most pleasure...

I’ve been in an email chain over the past couple of days with a good friend who informs me his boss (a marketing exec) wanted to do something for the troops. While the gesture seemed considerate, the offer of support was so disconnected from the reality of the needs and wants here that I was shocked and in disbelief. It was based on marketing analysis from the states that don’t work here. It was a real eye opener… It forced me to realize everything I now know and understand is completely disconnected from the world I’ve left behind. And that the reverse is true. The folks back home have little to no comprehension of the real situation here. It is jarring.
Things here are intense and we soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are now immersed in the same anxiety and terror tactics the Iraqis have been forced to deal with for a lifetime. The folks back home are immersed in the cultural “comforts” of home and security that most here can’t even imagine.

My shocking realization more than anything tells me our time here is limited regardless of the actual gains we are seeing in Al Anbar and notwithstanding a real need to finish what we started. Despite any words to the contrary, Iraq is simply not a priority for the US public as a whole. They just do not understand the situation here or the ramifications of an early exit. Simply put, it does not directly affect their day to day lives now or in the short term foreseeable future. As a marketer I always have to ask myself if it will play in Middle America. For me I always base my assessment on my sister… She is my “US public.” A car bomb in a market is a horrible side note to her day and a group of soldiers blown up in a HUMVEE gives her a moment of grief and empathy - BUT - It does not directly affect her ability to get to her son’s soccer game. It does not directly interfere with her ability to keep up with what so-in-so is doing on her favorite Prime time TV show. It doesn’t even begin to get in the way of meeting up with her close friends to go shopping next week. Please understand this is not an indictment on her way of life… it’s just the reality.

The US is really too busy living their lives (rightfully so) and too tired of this struggle to be overly engaged in the fight. Unlike previous wars this operation is both too complex to understand and to disconnected to make any reasonable sense. (I believe less than 1% of the US public has any direct relationship to someone in uniform.) Meaning the US population as a whole is not as aware or mobilized for a real slog. For most life continues on at home as if there was peace on earth while both the people of Iraq and Coalition Forces struggle to figure out what their future really means.

DUSTWUN

The work was already intense… But I was in the center of a fire storm and didn’t even realize I was tasked to drive it forward. Saturday morning early our troopers took a hit that would eventually turn into 3 soldiers Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown… and the boss was chosen to speak to it. Of course he would be… He is the spokesman. This is crisis management. This is what the news looks for. This is what we’re hired for. For every minute you see or hear him in the media there are hours – no days – spent getting it all ready to roll. Typically this is the environment I thrive in. Sad part is… I was exhausted long before this event. And now I have to jump into action with even less sleep, less confidence, less... Trying to muster my faculties is nearly impossible - this place has made me dumb; literally. It’s difficult to clear the cob webs. It’s tough to see beyond the fog. I know I’m not providing my best work. I realized the other day I a have acquired an interesting stutter. A very intriguing side effect of my mind searching while my mouth moves in the general direction I thought I wanted it to go before the words come out. I just give up talking.
I can write something witty… I can provide some deep observation… I can try to convey what it means to be here… But I will pass. Just know that I am still here… I’m accustomed to the thunderous incoming booms… appreciate them in a twisted way actually. I am still trying to make a difference… a little dumber at some things… perhaps a little more indifferent to others… and surely a hell of a lot more defiant to the rest.

We interrupt this programming with...

We interrupt your regular programming to bring your attention to Military Appreciation Month of May.

Did you know that Congress has designated May as National Military Appreciation Month? It recognizes those on active duty in all branches of the services, the National Guard and Reserves plus retirees, veterans, and all of their families - well over 90 million Americans and more than 230 years of our nation’s history.

Be sure to thank and appreciate your fellow military folks, their spouses and families this month! To read more, please visit: http://www.nmam.org/about2.htm