A Civillians Perspective in Afghanistan (standard:travel stories, 961 words)
Author: MarieGranados	Added: Jan 02 2009	Views/Reads: 3179/2	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
I spent 6 months working overseas in Afghanistan on a small military base called KAF as a civillian serving my Canadian troops, and troops from all over the world. This is my story from a civillian perspective on what it's like to be in a war torn countr

BEFORE: 

It took me almost a year before I even applied to the Canadian Forces
Personnel Support Agency for a position in Afghanistan.  I weighed my 
options on whether it was something I would enjoy and most importantly 
could I leave my kids for such a long period of time and whether my 
husband could handle the daunting task.  After weighing my options for 
nearly a year I decided that this was something I wanted and more 
importantly needed to do. 

I had worked or volunteered on every military base that we had been
posted to since becoming a military wife 14 years ago.  I had 
volunteered and worked with deployed military families in both Petawawa 
and Edmonton and felt that it was something very near and dear to me.  
My husband had also been deployed several times himself.  I knew what 
the families were going through more and more with each deployment, and 
felt I could offer something to them, knowledge, support, even if just 
a little empathy for what they were feeling at times when no one 
outside the military circle could understand, while at the same time 
supporting our troops by taking care of their families back home. 

For me, it was time to go in a different direction, supporting our
troops on the front line so to speak  “Serving those who Serve”, that 
is the motto of CFPSA and Deployed Operations in Afghanistan. I wanted 
to offer morale and welfare to our soldiers overseas.  I didn't know it 
at the time, after all we spoke only of the Canadian troops, but I 
would actually be providing morale to many more than just our 2500 
deployed soldiers in and around KAF.  We have British, Australian, New 
Zealand, Dutch, French, and American as well as a many other nations 
serving there, not to mention the many civilian organizations that 
provide services on camp.  All of which use our services, some more 
than others. 

Coming here provided me with the independence I so needed and couldn't
have otherwise with being a mom for the past 12 years. I love my kids 
just as much or more than any other mom, after all they made me grow 
up, made me look at things from a different light.  Before Robbie, my 
oldest, I was just a teenager without a care in the world.  I was 
skipping school, and didn't care about my grades, I didn't know where I 
was going in life, or what I wanted to be, and if I did I wasn't doing 
anything to help myself get there.  That all changed when I found out 
he was on the way.  All of sudden I knew I wanted to be something 
better.  I wanted to be something he would be proud of when he grew up, 
so he could say, no matter what, my mom made the best life possible for 
me.  With Anthony he provided me with a sense of calm.  Up until him, I 
had been temperamental and impatient.  He was a less than easy child to 
deal with and I had to learn quick to use other ways of dealing with my 
frustrations other than getting angry or being short tempered.  I had 
to use ration and reason. 

This was just another opportunity to better myself.  It's as if I
somehow I knew that I was capable of doing so much more, and doing 
something good, and better in my life.  At the same time, I'm 
travelling, and seeing things I never thought I would, and could only 
hope that one day my children can see the same things that I see each 
and every day here, that and more.  I've been able to see a different 
part of the world.  I can now say that the moon shines on the other 
side of the world, I can see the big dipper in the sky no matter where 
I am, and trees do still grow in the desert, yes they may be covered 
from top to bottom with dust, but they do still grow here. 

After finally applying for the position with CFPSA I waited another five
months before I even got a call for an interview, I had actually 
forgotten that I had applied.  The first phone call was short, just a 
call to ask if I was still interested in the position, to let me know 
of my telephone interview date, and advise me that I would have to 
recertify for my first aid and CPR, and get a passport, all this before 
I even knew if I would be selected to go overseas. Was I still 
interested?  Ummmmm yes, I guess I was still interested.  Honestly by 
this point I didn't think I had a chance, I thought my resume had been 
put to the side.  Let's toot my own horn a little here; I had the 
perfect resume for the job.  I had worked with military families before 
and soldiers, I had worked with deployment support services twice 
before, and I had worked Tim Horton's before; on a base at that.  I had 
everything going for me, so why wouldn't they have called me.  I was 
perfect for the job. 

A couple weeks later I got my telephone interview.  I remember answering
some questions so well, and then got stumped on another, I was brutally 
honest with one of my interview questions, and thought that I had just 
put the last nail in my casket.  When I received a phone call a couple 
days later and was invited to go to Kingston, I was speechless.  Out of 
Thousands of applicants, I had been one of one hundred and ten people 
that would be going to the almost two week Training session in 
Kingston. 


Tweet