The Bamyan PRT is staffed by the New Zealand military with a few civilians sprinkled in from the US and New Zealand. It was nice to hear that their military active duty and reserves totaled about 4,000. It makes sense doesn’t it? An isolated nation, surrounded by allies, without much of a threat, hmm, doesn’t that apply to…oh, nevermind. Maybe I should make sure to never go to New Zealand. It is wonderful to have met many people from a country and not found any of them to be the slightest bit disagreeable! They are a great people. I’m not just saying this cause of the awesome tattoos I saw while guys were shaving. To illustrate their awesomeness, the PRT is often asked about why they have a “chicken” (kiwi) on all of their things. They explain it is the national bird of New Zealand and their symbol…and one of the Majors shared that when the kids near the Forward Operating Base (FOB) ask him, he points to the 8 ft. kiwi statue on the roof of the gate and says, well, they are really about the size of that one, much much bigger than a chicken and explains how they are quite scary because they are always snatching up and eating small children! Oddly enough, there is a small pocket in Afghanistan where this tiny bird is feared and greatly respected as a result.
Peace...
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