Hello to all! I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to update the blog. October proved to be a very busy yet exciting month. We celebrated many birthdays. Ricky is now 4, I am a year older, but the most exciting was my mom's 60th. My siblings, my father and I managed to pull off a surprise birthday party for her at my house. We ended up having a perfect day for an outdoor party. We had a marvelous time but most of all we were so happy to see mom having fun!
Now November and December will be about nesting with my boys and staying close to family and friends. I hope to create a very spiritual experience of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will miss Pete terribly during this time. As we have learned we can use this time to draw closer to God and to our family and friends.
Now an update on Pete. He is at Camp Black Horse just east of Kabul. Here is an update in his own words from an e-mail he sent out a few days ago. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of his message for his new address.
It has happened, I have finally made the move to Camp Black Horse. This was initially to be my duty station, but upon arrival at Phoenix it was determined that I would remain at Phoenix. After two weeks at Phoenix I was then informed that I would in fact be going to Black Horse. After six weeks of waiting I am now here.
I am now with the 201st Corps, 2nd Brigade. The 201st is responsible for eastern Afghanistan which includes Kabul. The Afghan government has divided Afghanistan into five regions. Each region has one Afghan Corps that we are training to be able to protect the people of that region. The 201st has eastern Afghanistan, the 203rd has south eastern Afghanistan, the 205th has southern Afghanistan, the 207th has western Afghanistan, and the 209th has northern Afghanistan. We are called Embeded Training Teams (ETT's). The ETT I belong to now has the responsibility of mentoring/training the 2nd Brigade in the Afghan Army's 201st Corps. At this time the 2nd Brigade is training and preparing our Afghan counterparts to replace the 3rd brigade which is currently deployed outside of Black Horse. This means I will once again be moving from Black Horse with the 2nd Brigagde when it deploys. I work under an Army captain and a First Class Petty Officer in the S2 Shop (Intelligence for the Brigade). Both seem to be top knotch. I have already attended two meeetings with our Afghan counterparts, which have been unique experiences. My new position has far more responsibilities and requires applying skills which I have only used in training. Right now I am in that uncomfortable state of learning my new job and proving my capablities to superiors and peers. I have said so long to my "office job" and now I am dusting off my memory banks for all that fine training I received at Ft. Riley.
Friday is our day off. This is because Friday is the holy day for Islam. This being the case, this is when our religious services are held. I just want to thank again all for your thoughts and prayers. This week will mark my fifth month in the service of Uncle Sam. I have to say that looking back, your prayers have been answered in many and unique ways. First, of the three training locations for ETT's (Ft. Riley, Ft. Dix, and Ft. Shelby) I have had the fortune of training at Ft. Riley which (after speaking with many who went through training at the other bases) has the best training. You would think the training would be standardized, but it is not. Second, the shop I worked at at Phoenix had its tensions between the Army and Navy folks that were there before I arrived. With the arrival of Petty Offiicer Wroeble and myself, and the previous Navy folks leaving for home, the atmosphere of the shop changed - the tensions between the Army and us new Navy disappeared. Before I left Phoenix my supervisor credited this change in the atmosphere of the shop to the efforts and work ethic of Petty Officer Wroeble and myself. Third, the primary reason a unit loses its ability to perform are problems facing families back home. Unfortunately, I have witnessed two incidents where marriages are experiencing trouble. I thank you for you prayers for Cristina, Ricky, Paul, and me. If Cristina is having a bad day, I am having a bad day. Over the last five months we have received much assistance and support from family and friends. We have rekindled old relationships, developed new relationships, and strenghtened existing relationships. Thanks once again for your prayers and support.
Black Horse has a small contingent of NATO troops here, just about 100. There are foward operating bases (FOB's) scattered throughout the country with as few troops as twelve (advising Afghan units). As a consequence of this, and a shortage of Catholic priests throughout the armed services, Catholic Mass is not able to be performed here at Black Horse, as well a a host of other FOB's. I had the fortune of attending the Protestant service today and was able to devote time to God with other Christians. Chaplin Darden also prayed that more Catholic priest would be made available to minister to us Catholics. Despite the joy of being able to worship together with other Christians, the inability to receive the Eucharist was felt. At Phoenix Father Benedict would pray weekly for Catholic soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who were unable to attend Mass and receive the Eucharist. I would ask that your parishes and churches also pray for those of us "down range" unable to attend Mass. I would also ask that you continue to pray that God inspire more fine men to become priests and ministers. I would like to send out a thanks to the French. The French area of responsibility is the City of Kabul. Because of this their chaplins, who are predominately Catholic, have been the priests performing Masses for us American Catholics.
Let me leave you with three more resources that I have found to be enlightening. The first is Robert Redford's new movie called
Lions' and Lambs. The movie is about our military action in Afghanistan. I have read the plot, and despite disagreeing with Redford's world view, the movie looks to thought provoking. The second is another article by Ralph Peters called the "Atlantic Century"
(http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/03autumn/peters.htm). This article is in line with my last email (Stories and More From Afghanistan). It focuses on the value Peter's sees in Africa and Latin America - and that the United States should be energetically developing relationships with these two regions. Hopefully the newly stood up Africa Command (AFRICOM) is a step in this direction. The third article is from Britain called "The New Taliban" (
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2190875,00.html). It is a good overview of what is happening in Afghanistan today.
My address:
Peter Zakis
2/201st Corps ETT
Camp Black Horse
APO AE 09320
I miss and love you all,
Peter
(Don't worry if you sent a package to his old address, it will get forwarded to him.)
I want to once again thank you all for your support. I feel the positive effects of the prayers daily. I know that God is gaurding our hearts and minds to stay positive and hopeful.
May God bless each of you and your families with much love and faith!
Love,
Cristina
