Why We Serve - Captain Doug Traversa (Afghanistan Without a Clue)

February 6, 2007 By DougT
Posted in Guest Blogger, Why We Serve

[Continuing on with the "Why We Serve" series is Doug from Afghanistan Without a Clue. This is an excellent post and you can get updates from his experience in Afghanistan from daily updates on his blog.]

My path to military service and my current assignment in Afghanistan is rather unusual, but it just shows that those of us defending our country are as different and unique as the general populous. When I was growing up, joining the military did not seem so far-fetched. My father was an Air Force officer, and I was a huge military buff most of my childhood through high school and college. I studied World War II, built models from the period, and memorized all sorts of military trivia.

Yet, soon after I graduated from college (with a degree in English Education) I became a high school teacher. I also got married, and after four years of teaching, I was tired of poverty. I had a wife and two kids to take care of, but there isn’t much you can do with an English degree other than teach. But I did discover that you could join the military and go to Officer Training School with any degree, assuming you scored high on their tests and were selected by their board.

My wife Jancy was an Army brat, and of course I was an Air Force brat, so we both knew how tough a military life could be on the kids, as they switched schools over and over again. We weren’t keen on going back, but we weren’t keen on being poor either, so I took the plunge and joined. I have never regretted it.

The Air Force has indeed been a tough life. After our last move a couple of years ago, we both never wanted to move again. But we’ve had the pleasure of living in Germany, as well as many places in the US, and I’ve been fortunate to have a series of fascinating jobs. The pay is pretty good too, and after twenty years, you can retire and get half of your basic pay for the rest of your life. Not too shabby.

So far I sound more like a mercenary than a patriot, but economics does lead many people into the military. However, it isn’t mere money that keeps people serving year after year. Since being deployed to Afghanistan for eight months so far, with four to go, I have changed quite a bit.

It all started about a year ago. The Air Force was going to be filling Army positions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. That meant that not only would we be deployed for a year, we would have to go to Army Combat Skills Training first. We would be wearing body armor, carrying weapons, and going into harm’s way. You can’t imagine how shocking this was to us in the Air Force. We didn’t do that sort of thing. We did our fighting from airplanes, and those who didn’t fly were stationed well behind enemy lines at air bases. Now we were being thrown into the Army. Yikes! This was scary. I was certainly afraid. In fact, my current boss, Maj Apple, is filling a slot that was turned down by six previous majors. By that I mean they decided to get out of the Air Force rather than do this job. These are guys with 12-15 years of service, and they got out. I don’t say this to insult them, just to show how frightening it was.

I had almost 18 years in when I got tagged, and for me it was an easy decision. Even though I was 44 years old, I’d take whatever the Army was going to throw at me. I wasn’t real excited about it, but I was going to stick it out. I’m glad I did, and not just because I’ll get my retirement pay either.
Arriving in Afghanistan was like going to another planet. You can check out my blog for daily descriptions of the culture shock I experienced as I tried to adapt. But I have learned so much here, made good Afghan friends, overcome my fears, and generally become a better person (at least in my humble opinion). I’ve also come to more fully appreciate how precious our freedoms are, and how vigilant we must be to protect them.

Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic, which means the laws are based on the Qu’ran. If any Muslim leaves the faith, they can be executed. Anyone who admits to being a homosexual will probably be killed by their own family, but if they survive that, they will certainly be arrested and probably executed by the state. Trying to convert someone to any other religion will either get you deported, jailed, or executed. Many women are still treated more like property than like human beings. It was even worse under the Taliban, and it’s pretty bad now. It is people with this mindset that we are fighting, and they aren’t going to go away.

We often talk with our interpreters, or the Afghan soldiers we work with, and try to explain things like freedom of religion or equality of the sexes, and I think while they understand the words, they don’t really understand the concepts. But they do understand that we are one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and Afghanistan is one of the poorest.

Virtually everyone here would move to the US in a second, given the chance.

With all our problems, America is a fantastic place. Our freedoms and prosperity offend the Islamists that seek to destroy us. We have a long way to go before we dare relax. If they ever get a nuclear weapon, they will not hesitate to use it. Do not be deceived; they hate us that much. I’ve seen first-hand how much the Taliban hate their own people.

I’ve rambled a bit, but now to the crux of the matter. I now serve with a new sense of pride that I am contributing in a small way to the protection of our country and the rebuilding of another. I have no desire to die here, and I hope to return in one piece and enjoy my retirement. But for these last two years in the Air Force I am part of something important and essential. I will have amazing stories to tell, and I have been changed for the better. As I say to my men as we drive around Kabul, It’s hard to believe we get paid to do this.