The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 43 Recognizing that burnout could become a problem, I volun- teered to provide relief trips to other staff to ensure they got proper midshift rest and sustenance. Whether by transporting people to food and food to people, or ensuring people rotated through the air-conditioned office with refreshments, I ensured a lifeline that managed to keep teams fed, rested and ready to work. Paul Dever is the senior general services officer in Riyadh. Since joining the Foreign Service in 2002, he has served inManila, Kabul, Baghdad, Bogotá, Suva and Pretoria. His public service began in 1987 as a Peace Corps volunteer inMauritania. BORDER/TRANSIT COUNTRIES Little Afghan Refugee TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN Azam Abidov A little Afghan refugee Sleeps in the very crowded plane She knows nothing about where they are heading It does not matter: Her mother is with her. She is not afraid anymore of the AKs or war That made her heart hard Very hard. Still there is a tiny place in it For love and light. The little Afghan angel Sleeps in the very crowded Military plane. The only thing she sees in her dream is— Air. Azam Abidov is an information assistant at U.S. Embassy Tashkent. The first Uzbek participant of the Iowa International Writing Program, he is the author of more than 10 poetry and translation books. A Last Heroic Act by Afghan Pilots TERMEZ, UZBEKISTAN Sandra Jacobs In the chaos of Aug. 15, approximately 500 U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and other personnel fled over the northern border into Termez, Uzbekistan, aboard 46 Afghan military airplanes and helicopters. For the Afghans, this was one last act in service of their partnership with the United States: They left their families behind to prevent the aircraft from falling into Taliban hands. Their arrival kicked off an intensive, monthlong diplomatic process that led to securing non-refoulement commitments from the Government of Uzbekistan, ensuring safe lodging in a temporary residential camp, making contact with the pilots and other personnel, collecting biometric data for the entire group and, ultimately, manifesting and checking in our Afghan allies on three charter airplanes out of Uzbekistan. As a part of the embassy’s interagency team led by Political- Economic Chief Matt Habinowski, I joined my U.S. diplomatic and military colleagues in Termez for an intense final push to relocate these vulnerable allies to a safe location. From the check-in at the camp to a final wave as they boarded the charter Uzbekistan Airways flight to the United Arab Emirates, our Afghan allies demonstrated courage, dedication and commit- ment to service. One pilot had a bullet lodged in his back. Another suffered a back injury when he was forced to eject fromhis A-29 Super Tucano. Among this crowd of Afghanmen, our embassy team took special care of one former Afghanmilitary officer who had escaped with his wife and three small children. Their presence was a heart- Sandra Jacobs (center) with members of U.S. Embassy Tashkent’s “Team Termez” at the airport in Termez, Uzbekistan. UKTIRBEKTADJIMOV