Thank you, Brian Rees '71 for these beautiful, thought-provoking photos.
. . .the bad guys must recognize they get most of their effect from catastrophic kills, so not much point in smaller detonations. so, bigger IEDs. not much to do about that either but hope the engineers have done a good job clearing routes. so, couple days ago went out (obviously, no IEDs, catastrophic, vehicle borne, or otherwise) to look over the construction site for the new Nursing and Midwifery Institute, almost $3 million project. (and went around to three mosques and another project, quite a tour of the town, that's where i took the photos of the children etc.) thank God it wasn't too hot, but i will not miss wearing the body armor when i'm done with it. (Excerpt from Brian Rees' email to Ed Lamoureux, 11/6/10.)
Update: Brian on his way home!
Last week we got a sneak viewing of “Restrepo,” a documentary that national geographic sponsored or somehow got us a copy of… I can recommend it. It’s not gory or shocking so anyone can watch it (it’s supposed to be in theaters back home soon if not already there). It does give an unvarnished look at a US rifle company in 2007 in the Korengal valley up northeast of here near the Pakistani border of course. Without explicit violence it manages to convey the circumstances that clearly have left many of the soldiers with ptsd. It also shows the difficulties that infantry soldiers, even officers (maybe especially officers) have in fighting an insurgency.
You can see that their training, which is basically to kill people and blow stuff up, and temperament, which tends to be aggressive, are essential to their survival, but not necessarily the best skill set with which to thrive in a COIN environment. They could have used some more civil affairs assets… the whole country could use more civil affairs assets. I’m ambivalent about leaving, much more so than in past deployments. Not dealing with detainees was a break, and the mission of the unit I’ve been in these last months is one I can muster enthusiasm for. I wouldn’t mind coming back here to be with them if I could swing it, they’re really a great bunch.
It’s day-to-day when we’ll leave here and fly to Kuwait. I doubt that anything particularly interesting will occur between now and then or while I’m in Kuwait, so this may be the last note from me for this deployment. Then again, I may find myself bored to tears for days waiting for a plane in Kuwait and the muse may strike. If you don’t hear from me, thanks for all the support and emails, I have loved getting them.
All for now, and all the best, Brian
