I spent some time with a reporter from a decent sized Texas newspaper. He used to write for Stars and Stripes and spent a significant time here in Afghanistan in the past.\u00a0He is by far one of the most gracious and appreciative reporters I have ever worked with. Every interaction I have had with him, he thanked me for working to coordinate all his travel and interviews – basically for doing my job. The focus of his story is on Texans deployed to Afghanistan, under the umbrella of an overall update on what US is still doing here. We had him here at HQ for a broad stroke interview with the general, then he went down to Kandahar to track the 36th Infantry Division, a guard unit from Texas, and then up to Jalalabad to observe the 3rd Cavalry\u00a0deploying from FT Hood and interview the MajGeneral who heads up East area of operations.<\/p>\n
I hope he gets the story he wants to tell and I hope to work with him again. I also hope the story matches his demeanor and paints our troops and this mission in a positive light.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.expressnews.com\/news\/local\/article\/Afghanistan-15-years-of-war-9517608.php<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I spent some time with a reporter from a decent sized Texas newspaper. He used to write for Stars and Stripes and spent a significant time here in Afghanistan in the past.\u00a0He is by far one of the most gracious and appreciative reporters I have ever worked with. Every interaction I have had with him,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9IVlY-J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/09\/wapo\/","url_meta":{"origin":45,"position":0},"title":"WaPo","date":"October 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the reporters I escorted to the PEH was beginning a 10 day embed that we had planned\/coordinated for him. PEH Afghan Air Force school was not the story he wanted to tell and he made that very obvious throughout the tour of the school. Aloof and uninterested, he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/04\/brothers-in-arms\/","url_meta":{"origin":45,"position":1},"title":"Brothers, in Arms","date":"September 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night I got to fly in a Blackhawk at night back down to Bagram. The trip was justified because I helped LCDR Tillery and CDR Flesvig, with all their bags on the first leg of their long trip home. Secondly, I was encouraged to find and meet the Air\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image-1-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":112,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/07\/wapo-part2\/","url_meta":{"origin":45,"position":2},"title":"WaPo part2","date":"December 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember my post about TM? Well, after he returned to the states, he wrote this article: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/checkpoint\/wp\/2016\/10\/16\/band-aid-on-a-bullet-wound-what-americas-new-war-looks-like-in-afghanistans-most-violent-province\/ Resolute Support leadership had a conniption, removed two colonels from their posts, launched an official investigation (15-6) and created an environment where all subordinate commands are afraid to talk to the media and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/10\/wtf\/","url_meta":{"origin":45,"position":3},"title":"WTF: Merica, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me","date":"November 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On November 9, a huge bomb detonated. It wasn't something I was prepared for; a situation pushed to the back of my mind because the chances of it actually occurring seemed so unlikely, nearly impossible. Then it happened. Shock, disappointment, helplessness,\u00a0fear and a few other unfamiliar emotions I don't know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/07\/pbs\/","url_meta":{"origin":45,"position":4},"title":"PBS","date":"September 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There has been a lot of terrorist activity in Kabul since I arrived. My first night at RS, the team was dealing with media inquiries regarding the first American casualty from hostile fire since the beginning of the year. 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