School Construction

School Construction Assessment with the Sea Bees in Comoros. The two civilians are from the State Department.

Faces of the the Soccer Ball Drive

Children of Djibouti

Chaplain’s Assistant at School dedication, shaking hands with the future grads

Outside the Wire

The Navy Chaplain having story time with the kids.

Well Dedication ceremony, Djibouti.

REALITY CHECK

I have had more than a few comments on how this particular deployment resembles more a vacation or a documentary one might see on the Travel Channel. Ok. You got me with that one. I won’t spend one minute denying that we in the C26 Detachment have it pretty good here. Primarily any deployment where the locals aren’t shooting at you or detonating car bombs in your immediate vicinity, then one cannot complain. In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, the US Navy has put a tremendous effort in taking care of us. They have really done an outstanding job. Our job is easy…but not everybody has it as good as we do.

I cannot begin to describe the poverty I have seen here. It is a overwhelming, crushing type of poverty that robs people of the will to live. Lack of water, lack of basic infrastructure, lack of food, medicine…the list goes on and on. We live in a completely different world. In fact, we might as well be on another planet all together. There is untold violence here, such as the ethnic cleansing in Sudan, and diseases and parasites we in the West have never seen before. It is not a pretty picture. Outside the major cities there are no malls, drive through restruants, a general lack of paved roads, electricity, sewage service.

Yet, despite all the hardship the people here (particularly the Djiboutians) are friendly and maintain an upbeat attitude. It’s like that in many of the countries I have been too-they just keep working against overwhelming obstacles to get the same thing we want back in the U.S.-having a family, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a truly humbling thing to view the world through this perspective.

You folks out there in Blog land actually reading this should know of the efforts of the other personnel on here at CJTF-HOA. These folks are here doing the real work. This is truly a combined effort here, with military personnel as diverse as combat engineers, civil affairs teams, The Sea Bee’s (the US Navy’s combat engineers…although, don’t tell them they are in the Navy. They consider themselves to be their own entity, and let me tell you…they are some of the hardest working people I have ever met) Combat Camera (and Air Force media unit) Military Vets, Doctors and the Chaplin Corp. We also have some US Army Infantry units from Guam and some Marine Infantry working with the Task Force. (These folks not only provide us with force protection and security, but they also train with the forces of the nations we are working with here in Africa). All of these soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen are actually out in the ‘bush’ as we call it-working hand in hand with local populations. It is tough, hard work that is rarely if ever mentioned in the mass media. While these folks are not chasing down terrorists, what they are doing is a vital relevant mission.

Most of these service people spend very limited time here in Camp Lemonier. The vast majority of their time is spent outside the wire, enduring the same harsh conditions as the locals (no hotel rooms for them…most of them live in tents or locally aqquired housing) eating MRE’s if they are lucky. They have little or no access to the luxuries we take for granted here at Camp Lemonier. But, despite the conditions, I rarely if ever hear them complain.

The missions are almost too numerous to mention. Some of the major ones include drilling wells, building schools and infrastructure projects, medical missions and vet missions call MEDCAPS or VETCAPS (performing simple medical procedures on people and animals that you and I take for granted but are almost unheard of here in Africa). It is hard, thankless work. But, to a man (or woman) they all LOVE the mission they are doing. Many of these people tell me it is quite rewarding to be hands on involved in helping the people from the host nations attain a better life. It is an amazing display of the American Spirit….and it is an important tool in the fight against extremism. You should all be very proud of what the military is doing here. Watching these young service people at work here really does put a dent in the media portrayal of the youth of America as wholly lost and stuck on watching MTV all the time.

It is my intent to document more of this, and get some more of the gritty stuff so you all can see a little better picture of reality here on the ground in Africa instead of documenting all the different hotel overnights of we C26 Guys.

Soccer Ball Drive Update

Well folks, A quick update on the Soccer Ball drive: Two days ago(on the 12th of December ) we received our first two boxes of soccer balls from you folks back home. We received one box from Super Stacey and another from Janet Abbazzia. So that gives us a total of 18 balls received so far. So we are well on the way to the start of a great Soccer Ball Drive!

A quick admin note: The Navy has informed me of an address change. Our new address is:

CW2 Alton G Chapman

C26 DET
FPO, AE 09363-9998

It goes into effect in approximately sixty days, so you should be good if you use the old address until then. However, I think that using the new address will be fine. After 60 days you will have to use the new address. Thanks for all your support! It is going to be a great drive!

Another Djibouti Poem by the Stump (AKA Mr. Hovis)

So what the hell, I think its swell, that you're full of Christmas Cheer.
But you're there in Djibouti, doing your duty, and I know you'd rather be here.

The guys in Iraq are given no slack, and the same can be said of you.
You can still go jog or work on your blog, and still be serving too.

No matter the task, they have only to ask, and the Guard will be ready to go.
Your lives on the line, for your country and mine, ready to fight any foe.

Our Christmas, I fear, will lose some of its cheer, knowing that you won't be at the table,We're proud of you all, for standing so tall, you've been ready, willing, and able.

So MERRY CHRISTMAS to you, THANKS for all that you do,
Don't cut those bad guys no slack. Have fun in Djibouti; you're doing your duty,
Be careful! We want you all back!

Twas the Night Before Christmas - Djibouti Style

Twas the night before Christmas - Santa wanted to hide,
He had just taken and failed his yearly check-ride.
The examiner said, trying not to sound sappy,
Your takeoff was fine, but your landing was crappy.

“The children!” said Santa, “will have nothing to savor,
What's the chance, just this once, of getting a waiver?”
“No way!” Said the FAA-man; you must make other plans,
To deliver your toys to all of the lands.

While down in Djibouti, all snug in their beds,
With visions of home going round in their heads,
Was a unit from Georgia of the Army National Guard,
No mission too small, No mission too hard.

While Santa was thinking, this is a heck of a fix,
When he suddenly thought of the C26
I'll bet that this unit is looking for action,
And I with their help, I'll get satisfaction.

Santa reached for the hot line, and his eyes got all steely,
And he said to himself, I'll just call John Ely.
There are children all over from Djibouti to Fargo,
Looking to you guys to carry my cargo.

Then Chief John told the group, we will do what we can,
To deliver their toys to kids all over the land.
Then Jeff told Hardy, I'm feeling down cast,
Cause to cover the world, we can't fly that fast.

Then Kimberly said, don't be an old Grinch,
I'll tweak up the engine with elf dust and this wrench.
You can depend on me to do my duty,
I'll have this thing ready to fly from Djibouti.

Big Al and Dupree got their maps in a pile,
And both of them said, "This might take a while"
Then Al had a thought that was very pleasant,
I have a GPS I was giving as a present.

We will do what we can, and do our darn best,
We will start in Djibouti and then deliver the rest
Al said, “I will run, swim or fly
Whatever it takes, I will give it a TRI

They pushed up the throttle, and started their roll,
It looked like the guys had it under control.
The plane started airborne and away it flew,
With a plane full of toys and St. Nicolas too.

While Santa, in back was checking his list,
Thank God for the Guard, no child will be missed.
Then I heard him exclaim as they flew out of sight,
“Merry Christmas from Djibouti…Ya'll have a good night!”

Keep Those Soccer Balls Coming!

Friends,

The outpouring of support has been great! The Soccer Ball Drive has gotten off to a very successful start. We have received support from the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Region 2, the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Atlanta Chapter, the folks at Heery International, Foster & Company, Barton Malow, Albany Brick Co. and so many more - thank you! We have also been collecting toothbrush kits, individual toothbrushes and toothpaste as well as sunglasses as requested by the Chaplain.

If you don't mind, if you are sending soccer balls, please let Stacey know - she is keeping a log of how many are coming our way. Thank you Anna for sending some pumps and needles! Those are great and necessary and we will probably need more. Sports Authority online will ship directly to Djibouti and have balls for as little as $8.00. The address to send to is:

CW2 Alton G. Chapman

C-26 CJTF-HOA

APO AE 09363

Many Thanks to everyone! Happy Holidays!