# In the army you become used to the fact that there are varying degrees of suck



## GAP (26 Aug 2008)

In the army you become accustomed to the fact that there are varying degrees of suck  
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'All of the sudden the Earth opened up and spat us out' 

Posted: August 25, 2008, 1:30 AM by Ronald Nurwisah, Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — My mother always says I live my life with a noose around my neck and a horseshoe up my ass, but I've never felt both being tugged so hard in different directions as I did Sunday.

I was travelling back to Kandahar Air Field in a supply convoy in the Panjwaii district with eight others, including Canadian Press reporter Tobi Cohen, who was celebrating her 30th birthday, when our vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

There were six other vehicles in our convoy, but it was our armoured personnel vehicle, which is typically used to transport troops, that was targeted by the Taliban in this strike.

We were coming back from a major operation in the Zhari district of Kandahar, where the Canadian and Afghan forces led a three-day campaign into the centre of the Taliban stronghold, fighting insurgents and confiscating large weapons caches, IED materials, and Taliban communications equipment along the way. 

During the mission I was embedded with the Canadian mentor program for the Afghan National Army — or the OMLT (pronounced omlet), as it's known here, which is short for operational mentor liaison team.

The head of the mentoring program, Maj. Bob Ritchie gave me a bit of advice during the three days I spent embedded with the Canadian Forces and their Afghan counterparts in the field. 

"When you're in the army," he said, "you become accustomed to the fact that there are varying degrees of suck. When you think something can't get any worse, you can always find something that sucks more, and you probably will."

After spending three days without a shower, eating only rations, using a plastic bag as a toilet, and living in a mud hut with six other guys and their stinky feet, I thought I'd hit rock bottom and was looking forward to my bed at the base and my desk to write at.
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## medicineman (26 Aug 2008)

Ain't Mr Murphy's nose really big AND always in your business?

MM


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## Bruce Monkhouse (26 Aug 2008)

Sums it up quite nicely....




> *As the chopper blades soothed my racing mind, I marvelled at what a beautiful place this is and what it could be if it weren't for the scourge of the Taliban*.


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