“Ninety percent of what we do is about having a worthwhile mission and good leaders. Ten percent is the other stuff.”
Many of you have heard that there are plans to shut down some of the “amenities” throughout Afghanistan. This is not rumor. It is fact. This is a warzone – not an amusement park. From the moment GEN McChrystal and I arrived in Afghanistan last summer, we began looking for ways to do things more efficiently across the battlefield – the optimization of ISAF. This effort includes moving and reallocating resources to better accomplish our mission.
One of the ways we’re going to do that -- in order to accommodate the troop increase and get re-focused on the mission at hand -- is to cut back on some of the nonessentials. That includes some of the morale, welfare and recreation facilities throughout Afghanistan. In the coming weeks and months, concessions such as Orange Julius, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and Military Car Sales will close their doors.
Other changes will not be so obvious. We will also reduce the amount of canned and bottled goods coming into country, as well as first-run movie showings and non-USO entertainment shows.
What it comes down to is focus, and to using the resources we have in the most efficient and effective ways possible. Supplying nonessential luxuries to big bases like Bagram and Kandahar makes it harder to get essential items to combat outposts and forward operating bases, where troops who are in the fight each day need resupplied with ammunition, food and water.
Some concessionaire contracts will remain although there are many that may not be renewed as the terms of the agreement expire. Commanders across the battlefield are implementing additional cut backs while still providing services within individual nations’ interests and regulations. Green Beans Coffee will remain at bases across Afghanistan. Bazaars and businesses which employee Afghans and feed the local economy will still continue to operate.
What won’t change or be diminished are the facilities that cater to service members’ well being and morale. Physical fitness centers will be equipped with cardio and weight equipment. We are working hard to get more bandwidth in country so we can provide troops throughout Afghanistan with faster, more reliable and more affordable (perhaps even free) Internet services and access to phones to stay connected with loved ones.
Some will say the decision to do away with these amenities is meant only to make things harder for deployed service members, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Closing these facilities will free up much-needed storage facilities at both Bagram and Kandahar, space which is critical as 30,000 additional American and up to 7,000 international troops flow into Afghanistan over the next several months.
As the expansion continues, especially throughout the winter months, having a place to secure equipment will prove vital to outfitting units with basic items and essential equipment. These closures will also lessen the amount of flight and ground convoy traffic across, and in and out of, Afghanistan, reduce both local and military security requirements, free up ramp space on airfields, and drastically reduce the water and electricity needs required to operate these businesses.
We have an important mission here in Afghanistan, and its one the world is watching and paying attention to. We have a responsibility to outfit our troops with everything they need to be successful. Efficiently providing troops what they need to accomplish the mission is the right thing to do.
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