For the Love of Porcelain

April 3, 2011, South Panjwai, Afghanistan

Another beautiful day in Afghanistan. Waking up here is both surreal and grounding: there is calmness in the country-side with the fields turning green and the birds chirping but this is in contrast to the seriousness of the mission. The fact that we’re in the middle of a war zone where IED explosions and the occasional shooting is ever present is a great reality check. Nothing like painting a pretty water-color of a nearby village only to be interrupted by a plume of smoke in the distance from some ordinance being detonated. Surreal and grounding.

Today Shaun went out on a dismounted patrol with some engineers. Again, he took some great photos and was treated very well. He got to experience what many who come to this country as a soldier never experience and I think he was pretty happy for it. While he was outside the wire I was up on the high feature in the FOB watching his progress at a distance. I took the time to work on a modest little landscape-watercolor that will eventually be turned into something more grand in the future. Working on watercolors and sketches here is difficult due to the environment (dust, wind and harsh sun) and the distractions. I try to cram in some work when I can but there is so much to see and do and I can’t sacrifice opportunities to talk and capture photos that will be more useful to me in the long run. We’ve been able to capture a lot of stories here and some of them will be worked into the paintings. Some will not because they are too personal and I’m just not comfortable sharing them (even though the soldiers shared them with us).


One lesson I’ve learned here is that nothing is what it seems and you can’t take anything for granted. I guess that’s a pretty cliché point of view but some of the stories we’ve heard here really cement the cliché. Personal relationships at home, internal conflicts and external recognition are common themes. Probably the funniest story came from a troop that was providing security for Shaun on his dismounted patrol. He was going home soon for his HLTA (mid-tour leave) and was complaining that as soon as he was home, his wife wanted to go camping. Imagine roughing it in a FOB (and outside the FOB) for six months only to go home to more camping. Too funny. As one MCpl mentioned, as soon as he got home he was going to kiss his daughter, his wife and his porcelain toilet (not necessarily in that order). Security, safety, hot water and a comfortable bed to sleep in are not things these people take for granted. Everybody should have to experience what they experience, if only for a week or two.

This might be our last day in the FOB: extenuating circumstances that we have no control over and no, it was not Shaun’s behavior (although he risks much with the SgtMaj.) Whatever happens, we’ve accomplished at lot in the short time we’ve been here and if we never get another chance to get outside the wire, we still have captured everything we needed.


Lastly, I wanted to thank the Arty troop that hosted us in the FOB. Frank, you have an amazing team. Thank you so much for taking care and putting up with our antics (mostly Shaun’s antics ;). Andy, thanks for great stories and banana bread (I’m pretty sure we’re the only embeds to leave a FOB with a care package). Look out for Gille. Buzz, thanks for setting us up and making sure we didn’t blow anything up. Seriously, I didn’t know grenades would come tumbling out of that seacan when I opened it up. Bon Chance my friends.

Going on Patrol

April 2, 2011, South Panjwai Afghanistan.

Today Shaun and I headed out with some Infantry folks from Quebec for a mounted patrol. We moved from our FOB out to provide security and support for engineers who were building a paved road north of our position. Paved roads might sound frivolous in a place that struggles to provide clean water but paved roads really deter the planning of IEDs. As much as we westerners think that IEDs are bad for our troops, we are reminded that for every soldiers killed by and IED, 25 Afghans also lose their lives to them. IED’s are a terror weapon and paving the roads is a great project to protect solider and civilian alike.


In the district we are in the Canadians area responsible for patrolling the roads. This task falls on the engineers and infantry with the support of the ANA and ANP. If I were to assess risk in Afghanistan it would start with an administrator sitting in an air conditioned trailer in KAF and end with the engineers and infantry outside the wire, driving or walking the roads. I don’t assign importance as every role supports the end goal but after riding in the LAV out on these rough roads, one develops a certain appreciation for the risk these soldiers are taking. Very gutsy stuff. Shaun did a brilliant job capturing images of the soldiers on the move, during dismounts and when we hit various smaller patrol bases (austere indeed). All in all it was a great day and we captured enough info for at least 3 paintings.

I might start to sound like a broken record but again today we were amazed at the level of cooperation with the soldiers we were attached to. Nothing but love. All the troops we worked with were happy to see us, happy to have us along (although a little amazed that we’d want to go outside the wire) and more than a little interested in what the end results would looks like. Shaun spends a fair amount of time over here getting some of the photos ready to hand back to the soldiers. They focus on their jobs and don’t really get a chance to snap pictures and to boot, Shaun’s photos are better than anything they’ve ever seen. While in the FOB we are attached to the gunners (also from Quebec) for accommodation, care and feeding and they have been exceptionally accommodating. A happy, professional crew who, at over halfway through their tour, are still keen and ready to dole out a world of hurt when called on.

We were informed today that for reasons I can’t go into here, we are ordered back to KAF. Can’t release the details but its quite a bit ahead of our original schedule. Its bittersweet as we’d much rather stay in the FOB than in KAF. We’ll miss this place (and Shaun will waste away with the loss of the flying kitchen) but we have captured a lot of content and I’m confident we’ll get another chance to get outside the wire before heading home.