i'm not going to get into specifics in this diary because of the nature of it but i did want to share some interesting things i have heard from a relative of mine who has a relative stationed in afghanistan.
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as those of us who know about the military, troops are often rotated on different shifts. some come in and then others go out. but often the command of the stations stay in place. in the case of my relative's relative, this person is on their second tour of afghanistan and is pretty shocked at what this person has been seeing. recently, there was a troop change in this person's station where the old troops were moved and others were brought in. needless to say, the change hasn't gone well.
first, the new troops refused to obey dress commands, saying that their commander - stationed at another location but below the command of the station they are currently in - told them they could wear what they wanted to. the command however, runs a tight ship and orders them to wear the proper clothing and gear, which they refused to do. there was an ensuing reprimand, which ticked off the new troops, but who cares, right? it's war and whatever. so, the troops started to wear their proper clothing.
then, they said they didn't have enough room in the barracks and wanted to move a bunch of bookshelves out of the barracks. the bookshelves had contained two years worth of reading materials sent from relatives and families to the troops to keep themselves from going stir crazy. my relative had spent hundreds of dollars for new books since their relative had been stationed in afghanistan, as well as others who sent books and magazines to the troops. the bookshelves also had a bunch of kid's books which were being circulated to afghani youth in the area, where the troops had begun reconstructing buildings.
well, the new troops asked to move the bookshelves but the command of the station denied the request and told the troops to live with the room that they had. hey, the previous grunts in the barracks didn't have any problems with the size of the barracks, these guys should be able to live with it. however, these guys seemed a tad arrogant ... and ignored the command.
a handful of them took the bookshelves and everything on them and threw them into the dumpster!
when the commander returned and saw the bookshelves thrown away, along with all the books and magazines, he order the troops involved to go dig them out of the dumpster and put them all back. well, the troops dug them all out of the dumpster and instead, set them on fire! the commander was fumed and pulled the troops in again for another reprimand.
there have been other problems which i'm not going to go into because it could give away the specifics of this case and i don't really want this relative of the relative to get in trouble for sharing this information. but, i found all of this was pretty disturbing because american troops are supposed to be there encouraging people to read and not burning books! is anyone else shocked by this?