After one week....

Open-Mindedness..summarizes my first week in Afghanistan. Survival in such a potentially harsh, unforgiving environment fundementally requires open-mindedness, vigilance, and patience.

Thinking matters through before we act is always difficult and often consumes alot of our time and patience, but it is simply not possible to be a person of integrity without doing it.

Despite the fact that we are in a very precarious environment and the totality of circumstances surrounding us appear grave at times.. 'Ain't nobody worryin'. We carry about our daily business and remain open-minded!

Tonight the great American that I replaced here, departed for the U.S. to reunite with his family after many months serving our great Nation and aggressively searching for and acquiring the best medical technology and resources to diagnosis and treat our warriors in the battlefield. Nearly missing his flight, he wanted to ensure that I had all of the contacts and resources needed to be as effective and efficient as possible to continue the mission. He reminded me to remain open-minded, remain vigilant! Most importantly to "keep my head down" and continue to get on the ground when I hear the words uttered "rocket attack, rocket attack", the difference between doing so or not could be profound. We smiled and he departed!