Marc, I needed to borrow some of your text for the subject line. Thanks !

So I left Africa with two things: an incredible appreciation for the size and scale of Africa and its people; but also with an understanding that its dictators were cruel and petty, and would probably not make much out of the resources they had. That was 88, so its been a little while - and I spent allot more time trying to know the Italian/Ethiopian gal then to get to know about the country (my loss, but at age 21 - well you do what you do). If I get the chance I'll go back though, I asked Tom Odom for some good reads on the rest of it.
Rob,
Sounds like you are already fully qualified for another fun spot You probably won't find any relative "religious belief-driven folks" in Sub-Sahara, but you will definitely come out of it with even greater experiences and hopefully pass these on to our fellow NCOs and Officers who will one day really appreciate it.

Tom is like one-stop shopping for info on Africa. I would however stay away from addressing "perceiving disaster groupies". You'll get more than you bargained for.

Looking back, they were more like draft horses with blinders on in a constant imperceptive state, with their disorderly attention to things and people around them. Not something you should do in the middle of an African civil war and refugee crisis. I enjoyed however having these perceptive folks around in Africa. So many fell victim to African and Africans and that kept me both amused and busy

Regards, Stan