Training for Afghanistan

[marct]

Hi RR,

I have to agree with David on his assessment of the training plan - a touch on the "Lite" side. It's actually rather hard to know what is involved in the actual training without looking at the CC training CD's, but I don't know how much good it will do, at the gut level, given how it is spread out.

I know we have talked about who gets what training, but it might be worthwhile to look for people at any rank who have the same predispositions as Anthropologists - extroverted introverts with high empathy, skills at improvisational acting / performing, and strong skills at pattern recognition. Language skills are a benefit as well . Look for people who schmooze well - you know, the type who can walk into a completely new city / town and end up "chatting" with the locals in a bar.

Just a quick general note, from what little is in the training plan, it appears that there is a danger that "culture" may be presented as static. This is a real problem given the AO. Some cultural structures (in the Levi-Straussian sense) are fairly static, but most institutions will shift rapidly when under major stress, and 30 years of war is a major stress!

On a semi-related note, I was watching a documentary called The Taliban Generation on Monday that has some interesting insights into how they are effecting culture change. It may be worth contacting CBC and seeing if you can get a copy of it, since it doesn't seem to be available online yet.

[davidbfpo]

(Taken from) On a semi-related note, I was watching a documentary calledThe Taliban Generation on Monday that has some interesting insights into how they are effecting culture change. It may be worth contacting CBC and seeing if you can get a copy of it, since it doesn't seem to be available online yet.

Team,

The documentary was broadcast in march 2009 here, on Channel Four, but is no longer on the Despatches website to view: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/d...ban-generation There is a very short clip: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/d...ruitment-drive
and an interview with the reporter: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/bl...anas_tali.html

Found a copy, ignore the adverts: http://www.ninjavideo.net/video/20184 Looking onwards there are other sites with it too.

For RR the production company is UK-based and has done several other Afghan documentaries: http://www.octoberfilms.co.uk/index.php Might be best to ask them for a copy?

davidbfpo

[Red Rat]

Attached has just gone out around the bazaars, supplementary to the reading list.

Aim is to gee up the Int and Influence people to use open source more and to start to accurately track what is out there and provide near real feedback as we get closer to deployment. Initially I am just happy to get the systems up and running!

RR