The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2014 47 then something occurs—like an early Christmas morning indi- rect fire attack—to give us a taste of that 1 percent terror and jolt us back to the reality that there are people outside the wire who want to kill us. Given this, it is remarkable that we are able to conduct the work of diplomacy as effectively as we do. But the fact is that, although movements outside the compound are limited to “mission-essential” trips, officers from the senior leadership down to entry level are able to travel to meetings in Kabul to meet with their counterparts. Many also travel to our field locations in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Bagram and Kandahar; and our colleagues there regularly engage with Afghans. Some sections have developed creative ways to successfully conduct outreach and diplomacy via social media and hosting events and meetings on the embassy grounds. There have been some interesting debates in these very pages about the nexus between security and the ability to conduct effective diplomacy, but we are able to get the basic work done to support U.S. foreign policy. As one colleague notes, however, “What is missing here is our ability to develop deep, ongoing relationships with our contacts.” The “mission-critical” standard for travel outside the compound does not allow for this, mean- ing that we are not able to call upon close relationships to subtly shape issues as our colleagues serving in other countries can. Minimalist Living Living on a secure compound in a country at war is some- what surreal, with the barbed-wire walls, guard towers, ubiq- uitous (but overwhelmingly friendly) Nepalese guards armed to the teeth and frequent overflights from International Secu- rity Assistance Force helicopters. Although employees occupy- ing senior positions and married couples are all assigned to apartments right off the bat, the majority of staff here—about 80 percent—live in 10-by-12 (or smaller) Container Housing Units, referred to as CHUs or hooches (also spelled hootch, the word usually refers to a thatched hut and is derived from the Japanese word uchi). Most folks prop their twin beds up on foot-high leg exten- sions to allow for storage under the bed, a practical step. But if you are prone to tossing and turning, it is a precarious one. Some, however, are quite creative with their hooch décor, and the Community Liaison Office even sponsors a monthly “Bet- ter Hooch and Garden” contest that garners some interesting entries. As cramped as our living conditions are, they can be oddly comforting for some. Minimalist living has its advantages. Henry David Thoreau captured the essence of this in Walden : “I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night; and William Bent at the International Security Assistance Force base. Courtesy William Bent