A year in Afghanistan: A Little Excitement in Afghanistan

As I said before, a lot of people live for mail around here. I have been getting mail pretty much every day for the past 3-5 days. But, the mail I had been getting, while still exciting, was no comparison for the mail I received today! Up until today, all the mail I had been receiving was stuff that I purchased on the internet. Today, I received 3 care packages, and there is a HUGE difference between the two.

With care packages, it's like Christmas morning, because you have no idea what you are going to get. When you get something that you ordered online, you already know what is in the box, so while still fun to get, the experience completely pales in comparison.

Things are picking up at work. Since we have been in country a lot of commanders are going a little crazy with stupid policies. This is making my life hell. As they all think they have the best ideas, but in reality what they are trying to do is not legal. Sometimes, they still want to go ahead with the policy anyway. I try to explain to them that it is a horrible idea to have a policy that can't be enforced legally. For one, the first time somebody violates it and nothing happens to them, it shows others Soldiers that it is open season to violate that policy. Second, it also puts all the policies that are actually legal in doubt with all the Soldiers. Both of these things essentially undermine the command, and isn't the ideal situation. Usually after I explain that to them, they see my side of things, and take my advice.

The zombie issue (because it just keeps coming up and won't die) that I keep having to deal with, is the searching of mail. Now, in the military commanders have a pretty broad authority to search Soldiers belongings. It's not like in the civilian world where the police have to get a warrant if they want to search a persons belongings. In the military, if a commander has probable cause, he can order a search. And even if the commander doesn't have probable cause, he can inspect his Soldier and their belongings for the health and welfare of his unit. There is certain criteria that have to be followed so that it is a true inspection and not just a way to get around having probable cause. But, this isn't really a legal lesson, just trying to give you a little context. All that being said, "mail" is a special thing, and it cannot be searched without a warrant. Of course it is only mail while it is in the mail system. Once it has been delivered to the Soldier, it simply becomes the Soldier's personal property, which as I said, is always subject to inspection by a command. So of course, every commander wants to do a mail inspection policy.

Now that I have put you to sleep with search/inspection mumbo jumbo, here's some pictures....