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News from our Man in the 'Stan!

By The Armorer on September 2, 2007 | | Comments (22)

An activity for the Labor Day weekend! Our landlocked Sailor emails from the Fobbiton:

The job of an officer is to make tough decisions, that’s what the pay and privileges are for. You never know when or where the hard ones are going to come your way. You can only pray that your training and experiences make you ready for it when it comes, as it comes for us all.

For a NATO staff officer in Afghanistan . It comes like this.

Joe

Now this is a hard choice. A very tough choice, and, quite possibly, the success of the mission rests in the balance.

So, drop below the fold, into the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry, and see what Joe has to deal with... quite possibly on a daily basis.

So, click on the "Flash Traffic" link below...

Hosting provided by FotoTime

Your job? Help Joe decide.

Make your choices, and offer your reasoning.

You - yes, you! Could directly affect the course of the war in Afghanistan.

A weighty responsibility. Don't assume the duty lightly.

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22 Comments

By BillT on September 2, 2007 10:30 AM
There are some decisions all the military schooling in the world can't prepare you for; that's why you're making that big non-com dust, Joe. Meantime, you've reminded me of the existence of beer. If they ever put extended-range tanks on these Cobras, there won't be any decision-making necessary on your part. Except for whether to toss the empties as they're produced or wait until I'm finished...
   
By Grim on September 2, 2007 1:43 PM
I trust the decision being made is, "Which of these shall I drink first?"
 
By TigerHawk on September 2, 2007 2:15 PM
I love a good pilsner and Beck's is very good, but I switched to Pilsner Urquel when I committed to drink only "Coalition of the Willing" beverages back in 2003. The Merkel government has been cool enough, though, that Beck's is back on the list. The Belgians still aren't there, though. So, Beck's first. After that it really doesn't matter.
 
By UN Observer on September 2, 2007 2:44 PM
ONLY FOUR???!!!! What a wimp.
 
By GreenmanTim on September 2, 2007 4:53 PM
They are much better cold, Joe. Get four clean socks, soak in water, put one can in each, and hang out in that desert air until evaporative cooling works its magic. Don't tell me only Marines know this trick!
 
By Lloyd on September 2, 2007 5:28 PM
Not Foster's. As an Aussie friend once told me, "We export Foster's so WE don't have to drink it!"
 
By Papa Ray on September 2, 2007 5:51 PM
Us rednecks don't worry about small decisions like this. But if it makes it easier, go for the simple solution. Hide them all from your buds, drink them one at a time disguised in your canteen as water. And who cares if they are cold? Papa Ray West Texas USA
 
By Assistant Village Idiot on September 2, 2007 6:45 PM
The John Smith's is a best bitters, and deserves pride of place because A) the UK has been our best ally and B) it tastes better. I don't like Foster's, myself. Just be glad our allies the Romanians aren't supplying. Both Ciuc and Ursus are terrible.
 
By BillT on September 2, 2007 7:35 PM
If there are any Aussies in the 'hood, try to score some Victoria Bitter!
 
By CDR Salamander on September 3, 2007 2:49 PM
Stella is Belgian! Tigerhawk looses both JMPE I AND has to do his Beer PQS all over again.
   
By Lucius Vorenus on September 3, 2007 3:31 PM
A) the UK has been our best ally Gosh, I hate to rain on what has been a pretty happy parade up until now, but there is a deeply disturbing new story making the rounds today: 'Brown and Bush haven't spoken for five weeks'
 
By Steve Schippert on September 3, 2007 4:03 PM
Joe's surely being polite in his ponderance. Smelly sailors, airmen, soldiers and Marines in the field most assuredly do not drink the ever-evasive beer for flavor. (Some skilled military patrons perfect this approach at home, as well.) While Smith's, Stella and Beck's are all fine (though somewhat tamed) brews, they are alas each European. And, particularly in Afghanistan, most (though not all) Europeans leave us, militarily speaking, somewhat 'flat.' Based on Basra alone, Smith's is sadly out, which is a shame because it's a fine choice otherwise. But the clear choice should be Foster's, even warm, from our unwavering Aussie allies. It's perhaps a small nod (or rebuke), but a required one at that.
 
By Steve Schippert on September 3, 2007 4:09 PM
Too bad Joe doesn't have a Zywiec to choose. Tough call. I'd have to drink both and be happy about the conundrum on several levels.
 
By Al Maviva on September 3, 2007 4:57 PM
Ahh yes, the difference between an NCO and an officer. The oficer wonders "which one," or if he is a Good Officer, "which one first, and which should I share with my NCOs?" If he is a Really Good Officer he first asks the NCOs for input on the decision. The Good NCO, meanwhile, would know instinctively which one to drink, and in the time it takes to ask this question would finish all four, a second and a third round, have a few more with some passing Australians, get kissed by some random girl, and would by now be looking for a couple shots to help wash a little snack down. A snack comprised of two or three more beers, of course. The Good Junior Enlisted Man, in contrast, didn't ask, drank whatever he could get his hands on with whomever was there, booted, rallied, drank some more, and is already on Post Detail as minor NCO punishment for throwing up on the Sergeant Major's neatly painted rocks, which, coincidentally, the Good Junior Enlisted Man painted and arranged in a neat circle 'round the flagpole on a prior Post Detail.
 
By Instapilot on September 3, 2007 5:34 PM
What? No Weed? (Those who know, know.) Instapilot
 
By James S. on September 3, 2007 9:31 PM
Don't drink the stuff in the white can! We had it while I was in Khandahar in '02. It's horrible! I've had German beer (Good!), American Beer (Meh), and Korean Beer (blech), but that Belgian crap in the white can is the worst beer I've ever had!
 
By Eagle1 on September 4, 2007 8:03 AM
Judging by the open tab on the Foster's can, someone made a decision...
 
By Tall Chick on September 4, 2007 10:45 AM
None of the above. Even good beer tastes bad out of a can.
 
By MMarty on September 4, 2007 11:53 AM
The swabbie's drinking in the wrong place. Any decent slop chute would have to have some Yankie beer.
 
By Navig8r on September 4, 2007 4:16 PM
I have it from Aussie authority that Fosters is not fit to drink. They brew it for export to commercial-watching Americans, only!