Coffee, The Boys, and God

Things here are busy, as usual. There seems like there is never time for a good break. I managed to get some coffee today at the Brigade FOB, they have such better facilities than we do here in cowardly valley. (I wonder that is? (REMFs).

The boys are doing great. They complain, get this, when I keep them on the FOB too long. I try to rotate platoons on a mission/alternate mission/FOB duty cycle so that they don't get burned out. Basically mission platoon get whipped like a mule, alternate mission gets 1/2 of the number of missions that mission platoon gets, and duty sucks down all the FOB taskings (like perimeter guard and detainee guard). They all want to stay out in sector and go on patrols. God, I love these soldiers. They're a pain in the ass at home (actually, I've been blessed there too) but they are really wonderful here. Everyone's morale is high, they are mission focused, and they perform better than I have ever seen. My PLs are the go to guys that I can give a task to and let them run, and they just execute.

I was detaining a guy the other day and as I went to speak to his wife/aunt/sister/UBO (they don't wear the veil here, just the burka and a scarf) she said "How can you do this? Don't you believe in God?"

My response:
I believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

And then added, "So eat shit." The really fun part is that my interpreter is a Christian Arab. So once I started on the Nicene Creed, he just rolled with it.

I left the lady completely bewildered. You would puke if you saw how these people live. This house not only had a chicken inside (like in the hall) it had some chicks chasing it around and was fed in there. No coop, nothing. Just chicken and chicks walking around, shitting on everything. It boggles the mind. Rotten food in the kitchen/living room/bedroom. Random shit scattered everywhere. Imagine if you left the house as is after a party, let the kids play with everything, didn't touch a thing and left for a month with the cats locked in the house. Your house would still be cleaner than these dumps. It's creepy.

Chuck