Scotland Brave

My introduction to the works of Robert Louis Stevenson was not, as is I assume is more common, through a reading of Treasure Island or Kidnapped, but on the wall of a Hardee's restaurant along Routes 11&15, the major thoroughfare that leads into my hometown of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.  Connections between fast food restaurants and literature aren't easy to come by, but for some reason our particular Hardee's was decorated with a lithograph image of man in silhouette, resting his arm upon an oar dipped into the river flowing gracefully beneath his boat, with a fairly recognizable landscape of the surrounding valley stretching into the distance around him.  And beside this image were these words:

And when I had asked the name of a river from the brakesman, and heard that it was called the Susquehanna, the beauty of the name seemed to be part and parcel of the beauty of the land. As when Adam with divine fitness named the creatures, so this word Susquehanna was at once accepted by the fancy. That was the name, as no other could be, for that shining river and desirable valley.

The quote was attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, and from that day forward I've always made the connection between that author and the river that defines the region in which I grew up.  I'm not even sure when I learned that Stevenson was a Scot, growing up in Edinburgh but leaving later in life to seek out a climate more agreeable to his poor health.  His journey took him across North America and eventually to the Pacific island of Samoa, where he died at the age of 44.

I am currently in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland,  the "Athens of the North"; and my route to the National Archives every morning takes me past the home of the Stevenson family, a large Georgian structure that has fallen on hard times; I gaze into boarded-up windows and over cracks yielding to sprouts of grass on the front landing.  There must be a story behind why, in a city so cognizant of its history and tireless in its outreach to tourists, this building is not the site of a museum, or at the very least a trendy Stevenson-themed pub, but I haven't come across it.  I did learn that Robert Sr. was a notable engineer, responsible for building some of the world's most advanced lighthouses of the age.  His only son, however, turned away from studying engineering at the University of Edinburgh to pursue his passion for literature. I learned this from the cab driver on the way from the airport to my rented apartment in a neighborhood just a short walk from Edinburgh's Old Town and famous geographic landmark, Arthur's Seat.  From the pinnacle of this hilltop one is offered one of the most spectacular views in Europe; the sturdy stone of the past, in the shape of the city's ancient Castle and the time-worn buildings aligning the Royal Mile, is surrounded by the encroachments of the vibrant present in the thrusting height of apartment towers, the massive arenas of modern sport and the pathways of progress, those cluttered highways and reaching train routes.  It's a beautifully mad mosaic.

So, what am I doing here? Researching Scotch whisky.  That's "whisky"- without the "e" (an Irish and American addition to the word, which itself is a made up concoction deriving from the Gaelic "uisge beatha" - from the Latin "aqua vitae" (water of life!))  Whatever you call it, it's a splendid spirit.  More on that later.  My objective over the next few weeks is to delve into the history of the Scotch export trade.  Scotch whisky currently makes up over 23% of all food and drink exports for the UK, producing an extraordinary amount of revenue for the state, and maintaining the livelihood of 1 out of 50 people in Scotland.  This commodity has had a fascinating history at the nexus of agriculture, economics, social behaviors, religious beliefs, popular culture and my particular interest: empire.  I am researching the archives of Scotch whisky distillers, blenders and agents (sellers) in order to learn more about the significance of international trade to the Scotch business in the early decades of the 20th century, when the British Empire brought its products and habits to locations all across the globe.  In particular, I intend to describe the arrival and growth of the Scotch whisky trade in Iraq, and the factors that led my good friend, Subhy al-Meshadani, Baghdad Provincial Council member, to tell me that no Iraqi today would throw a good party without serving Johnnie Walker...

Much thanks to the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Rooms Scholarship program and to the Scottish Room grant committee under Robert Murdoch, Esq.

From The Daily Item: Sunbury,PA

Siblings pay tribute to veterans

By Tricia Pursell

The Daily Item

November 10, 2009

— SELINSGROVE — Selinsgrove native and Iraq veteran Dan Bisbee knows how important it is for small-town residents to step out and support their country.

“So much of our foreign policy right now is dependent on people who grow up in small-town America,” he said. “They do matter on the world stage.”

Bisbee is managing director of the Bisbee Project, which seeks to develop effective leadership, responsible government and global awareness.

He began the project in 2006, along with his brother, Steven, also an Army veteran.

“We started looking for ways we could continue our service,” Bisbee said.

Through fundraisers and donations, the project gathers money for scholarships for high school seniors who are pursuing a career in the service by enlisting in the Army, Navy or Air Force ROTC, attending one the nation’s service academies or entering service in a local, state or federal government agency after graduation.

Now in its third year, Scholarships for Service is awarding 19 scholarships, each worth a couple of hundred dollars, Bisbee said. In addition to the money, the students are selected and then recognized in front of their peers.

“For us, Veterans Day is about paying tribute to the greatest generations that have come before us, but it’s also a moment for us to inspire and encourage the next generation who are going to carry that torch into the future,” he said.

The Bisbee Project also raises money for Preserving Pennsylvania, aimed at historical preservation and natural conservation.

“I have a soft spot in my heart for the Susquehanna Valley,” Bisbee said. “I’m really fond of the place that made me who I am. When I was overseas, it was definitely a place I thought of getting back to very often.”

Bisbee graduated from Selinsgrove Area High School in 1990. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994, he was commissioned an officer in the Army and served at Fort Hood, Texas, as well as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He later received a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he specialized in transatlantic security and intelligence policy.

In 2005, Bisbee returned to active duty to make his first trip to Iraq as an Army officer. He made his second trip to Iraq in 2007 with the U.S. State Department, serving on the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team. He is working on a doctorate in history at the University of Pittsburgh.

Steven Bisbee, president of the Bisbee Project, is a 1993 Selinsgrove graduate. He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and served in Bosnia and Kosovo. He later was employed by the Department of Defense and now serves as vice president of S&A Homes Inc., a residential home-building company headquartered in State College.

It's Not Just Lunch

Counterinsurgency is a full spectrum activity. While I typically discuss the political and social aspects of the campaign I was involved with during the surge, called the Baghdad Security Plan, or Operation Fardh al Qanoon (Arabic for "Enforcing the Law"), it is important to understand its critical security components as well. We talked about these "kinetic operations" at the Q&A session following my talk at the State College Rotary Downtown Club meeting on Thursday. The Downtown Club is one of five Rotary Clubs in the State College area, attesting to the strength of community service in the region.

Reacting to the unconventional nature of the military's role in Iraq, units deploying there began organizing themselves differently than they typically would for the large-scale combat operations that standard doctrine calls for. These novel adjustments, over several years of deployments, crystallized into new standard operating procedures that assigned certain units and staff positions to supporting either "kinetic" or "non-kinetic" operations, simply meaning those during which you intend to shoot bullets and those where you don't. In most Army divisions you would now find a two-star general in command, a one-star in charge of kinetic and another one-star responsible for non-kinetic operations. My work on the PRT in Baghdad was intricately linked to this one-star general and his staff as we developed the strategies and policies related to rebuilding and supporting Iraq's government service infrastructure and civil-society institutions. But we never worked in a vacuum; our strategies were closely coordinated with the kinetic operations that involved raids on insurgent strongholds, cordon and search missions and the security of key infrastructure facilities.

I was asked about the foreign fighters that served as main driver for the insurgency, and where they were now that the levels of violence have decreased. I replied frankly that our operations successfully neutralized a number of these fighters, and broke up the networks they used to plan and execute attacks on US forces and Iraqi civilians. A typical set-up involved a foreign fighter, backed by al-Qaeda funding, sub-contracting his work out to local Iraqis. These locals would be employed to set IEDs for passing US convoys, sometimes making a hundred or two hundred dollars for a successful attack, a substantial sum in Iraq. Getting the video of the attack could double that amount. Our counterinsurgency strategy involved getting intelligence on these networks, killing or capturing the foreign-financed leader, and then making an effort to create alternative employment opportunities in those areas where local Iraqis may be susceptible to the financial incentives of supporting the insurgency.

Therefore our overall strategy involved an extraordinary amount of coordination between the combat operations, and the campaigns of economic and political development targeted to support the ability of Iraqi government institutions to effectively and equitably provide services to the population.

This week's horrific attacks in Baghdad underscore the fact that while the insurgency may be down, it is certainly not out.

A few weeks before I left Baghdad, I was invited downtown to one of the city's notable social clubs. I visited with some of the middle aged and older professional gentlemen that made up the bulk of the club's membership, many of whom were enjoying a mid-day Scotch. We had lunch in the club's dining room, and then popped our heads into the main ballroom, where there was some kind of festivity occurring. It turned out to be a graduation ceremony for the Baghdad School of Dentistry. About a hundred or so of Baghdad's future dentists were having a party with their families, celebrating the completion of their training and the beginning of their new careers. I like to relate this anecdote when I talk about Iraq because it reflects what I refer to as the surprising element of the mundane to be found there. Over the past few years we have been made painfully aware of the roadside bombs, the suicide market attacks, and the strife of sectarian violence. But there's a lot going on there that we don't hear much about, that frankly may have a lot more impact on Iraq's long term future. Like dentists.

As always, we enjoyed the opportunity to visit with the community leaders found within the ranks of the Rotary Club; people who know that the future of a great community like State College doesn't stay great without the hard work of selfless individuals. Special thanks to Cathy Brown and Don Bedell, pictured here with me and Steve.

Huntingdon is a Cool Town

During my haitus from Baghdad in the summer of 2006, when I was visiting Steve in State College (he refers to this period as "the occupation"), I spent more than a few afternoons riding my motorcycle around Central PA, touring the countryside at an appropriately leisurely pace. I ride a Yamaha V-Star, which falls into the "cruiser" category of bike, and that acurately describes the particular attitude I have towards riding. A network of lesser-traveled roads stretches out from State College connecting tiny hamlets, winding along streams, carving through farmland and rolling up and over the surrounding hills. You must remain very alert when riding, and this diligence is rewarded in the rich detail you observe in the passing terrain. The road takes on a familiarity that is unknown while traveling the same route in a car. Your relationship is more intimate, and the results of a misunderstanding therefore more potent. Moreso than you ever would in a car, you appreciate air. It's thick, and doesn't like to get pushed around. You feel it change temperature while passing a wheatfield or rounding a shady turn. In short, motorcycle riding makes you become more aware of variables. The essence of cruising is therefore to be found in the fact that even if it's the same road, it's not the same trip.

On one of these jaunts I rolled down Rt. 26 into Huntingdon, PA near Raystown Lake. I eased past the campus of Juniata College and through downtown and pulled over at the point where Standing Stone Creek pours into the Juniata River. A few old railroad bridges cross the creek at that point, and there's a little trail down under the trestles to the edge of the river. Maybe it was the similarity to my hometown of Selinsgrove, with Susquehanna University, that struck me but in any case I took an immediate liking to Huntingdon. "Cool little town," I thought as I remounted and headed east on 22.

On Thursday, Steve and I paid a visit to the Huntingdon Kiwanis Club to give our "What Matters" presentation, and as I rolled into town I saw the banner in the above photograph. Seems like I'm not the only one who got a good impression from this great PA town. Budget Travel magazine put Huntingdon in this year's list of the top five "Coolest Small Towns in America." Cool.


We had a great lunch with the Kiwanis members, and really enjoyed talking about the challenges and rewards of local government with Huntingdon's Mayor-elect Dee Dee Brown and Borough Council President Glenn Stampfle (pictured here). Special thanks to club member Mike Boyle for all the extra help.

State College... and the "Surge"

Last week we delivered our Summer 2009 presentation "What Matters" at the State College Rotary Club. "What Matters" briefly lays out the connections that can be made between a foreign policy issue such as counterinsurgency in Iraq and the importance of community service in Central PA. Sound far-fetched? Not really. Using the events in Baghdad during the "surge" of 2007-08 as a backdrop, we stressed that in order to appreciate when a community is functioning in a positive and progressive way for its citizens, you need to understand that "history" matters, that "service" matters, and that "local" matters.

The surge strategy emerged when thoughtful reflection on "history" provided guidance on what had - and hadn't - been working to bring stability to Baghdad since the 2003 invasion. Policies and operations put in place supported "service" through enabling the return of Baghdad's mid-level officials to their positions in government and enhancing the efforts of civic-minded individuals to bring positive change to their communities. And major improvements were made to the security situation when the "local" concerns of Baghdad's citizens were addressed in important ways.

While many of the challenges faced in Baghdad differ from our day-to-day lives in Pennsylvania towns, a common thread is to be found in how solutions to our problems can be found in a deeper appreciation of the heritage of selfless service cultivated among the men and women that choose to see their personal well-being as intimately connected to the well-being of their local community - and beyond.

Thanks to the State College Rotary Club for their hospitality; and we want to express a special note of gratitude to club member (and retired Marine Corps Gulf War veteran) Eric Loop for making it such a great evening.

Dropping in on Philipsburg, PA

Continuing our tour of service groups located in the communities of Central Pennsylvania, we stopped by for a luncheon meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Philipsburg, PA last week. Nestled into the Moshannon Valley a few miles west of State College, Philipsburg has a history that dates to its founding as a frontier settlement in 1797. Even following the well-worn path of US 322, one still gets a sense of the wildness that must have greeted the area's original Indian inhabitants and early Pennsylvania settlers.

Steve and I have spoken about The Bisbee Project at a number of venues, and when I speak I generally relate our efforts to support local activism with my experiences in Baghdad during the "surge." It's really not as far a stretch as it may sound. While the security aspects of the surge, including the increase in combat power committed to Baghdad, have often been stressed, a lesser-known story involves the degree to which the successes of the surge were a result of local Iraqi leaders and mid-level government officials stepping forward to get their communities back on the right track.

One of the key episodes that I relate involves our efforts to combat the black market oil economy in Baghdad. In mid-2007, we recognized that a militia-run "extra-government" existed in Baghdad. Running parallel to the legitimate government institutions responsible for providing services to Baghdad's residents was a network of alternative institutions subverting government resources to serve criminal and militant ends -- whether offering services to a select loyal constituency, or to the highest bidder. One of the most pervasive, and profitable, networks dealt in the corruption of the oil products distribution system.

The Iraqi state has a system by which it provides oil products (gasoline for cars, kerosene for heating, propane for cooking, etc.) at a very low subsidized rate to its citizens. But to run such a system, you need strong government controls. Without those controls, corrupt officials on the inside and criminal networks on the outside have a huge opportunity to divert wholesale products to a retail black market. Citizens are often willing to part with a little more cash than to ask too many questions about where the oil they are buying came from.

A real success story of the surge came during the fall and winter of 2007/08, when a team of Iraqi government officials at the local, municipal, provincial and national level came together and coordinated an effort to deliver oil products at the official government rate to several Baghdad neighborhoods. This coordination reached across multiple civilian and security agencies and took place among individuals of many different political backgrounds. Success at this effort created a boost in confidence in the Iraqi government at a critical time, and established important precedents for inter-agency coordination within the Iraqi government.

There are lessons to be drawn from Baghdad during the surge, and these lessons are meaningful to the communities of Central Pennsylvania. While it is common to reflect on the great leaders and grand strategies of a moment in history, it is important to recognize the rarely-noticed decisions and actions of committed individuals at the local level -- individuals who take an active part in strengthening their communities. This is the message I brought to the Kiwanis Club of Philipsburg, and this is the message of The Bisbee Project.

Our thanks go out to Emily Getti-Doyle and the rest of the Philipsburg Kiwanis for a great afternoon, and we hope that O/P Senior Prom goes well! We would also like to take a moment to recognize Merle Butterworth, pictured here. Long before serving as a Kiwanis member, he served in the 3rd Army Division, taking part in the Battle of the Bulge during his three years in the European theater of WWII. To Merle and the generations who served before us, your example will never fail to inspire. Thank you.

The view from Tyrone, PA

If you've never driven the section of Route 99 between State College and Altoona, PA in the early morning hours, you've missed some of the most beautiful scenery in Pennsylvania. Nestled into a ridgeline that creases down the center of the state, 99 winds south towards the turnpike while presenting commanding views of the hills and valleys that roll out to the west as far as the morning mist allows you to see.

About 15 miles to the north of Altoona lies the town of Tyrone, PA, an important community in the history of Pennsylvania's coal economy and home to the always popular Gardner's Candies. Steve and I dropped in to Joe's Place on Old 220 to visit with the Tyrone Kiwanis Club during one of their regular breakfast meetings. Steve talked about our ongoing efforts to build connections with service-oriented groups, like Kiwanis clubs, across the central PA area.

Steve explained part of the rationale of The Bisbee Project's Scholarships for Service program that I think is important to reiterate here. High school graduation season is approaching, and we make every effort to attend every ceremony where our scholarships are awarded. We think it is extremely important to recognize the young people who have decided to pursue careers in service in front of their peers, and make note of how crucial getting good people into positions of responsibility is for our society.

The recent NFL draft drives home a few points about what our society values, in our view. Now, we love pro football as much as anybody, but it is striking when you sit back and think about how much attention is paid to the development of our athletes -- and how haphazard is our society's approach to developing its public servants. For days we are glued to our TV sets watching the draft, and now many of us know exactly where last year's college football stars are playing in the next NFL season. But how many of us can name a single brigade or division commander serving in Iraq or Afghanistan? We can easily list off the names of the top three wide receivers or defensive ends snapped up with multi-million dollar contracts, but do we know who's running for our local school board in this spring's primary? Just something worth thinking about...

We want to thank Bill Ellenberger and the rest of the Kiwanis members for welcoming us to Tyrone. Community service may not be as glamourous as the NFL, but it certainly is essential. Thanks to everybody out there who understands where our real priorities are.

From the WSJ Opinion page (April 8)


Harvard and the Marines
Why not give our officers the best education?


By JOSEPH KRISTOL and DANIEL WEST

'ROTC must go because we oppose the policies of the United States and we oppose the military that perpetrates them. The lines are clearly drawn; the time to take sides is now."

It was the spring of 1969, and the leaders of the Harvard chapter of Students for a Democratic Society were (with the above statement issued to the student newspaper) agitating to cleanse their campus of "imperialist exploitation." To opponents of the Vietnam War, members of the military -- even students in the Reserve Officers Training Corps -- embodied the policies they despised.

Forty years ago tomorrow, April 9, 1969, this sentiment culminated in a mob of students storming University Hall. Eager to be at the forefront of radical activism, they turned to violent protest. Arsonists torched a Marine Corps classroom, and the administration buckled. ROTC was purged from campus, symbolically repudiating the Vietnam War.

Today, America congratulates itself for having overcome the knee-jerk radicalism of that era. "Support the troops, oppose the war" is the modern battle cry of the antiwar movement. Americans seem to recognize that those in uniform shouldn't be blamed for policies set by elected officials.

But not at Harvard, where ROTC remains officially unwelcome.

The students of 1969 have become the faculty of 2009, and today students who wish to participate in ROTC are forced to train at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We are pawns in a political chess game. The issue is no longer Vietnam, but President Bill Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars gays from openly serving in the military. Because of that policy, the university classifies ROTC as a discriminatory organization and has severed all remnants of support.

So Harvard today happily pays for future bankers to take accounting courses at MIT, but refuses to pay for aspiring military officers who take ROTC courses. Since 1994, anonymous donors have generously picked up the tab, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for Harvard's ROTC students.

Sadly, the number of Harvard students who choose military service has dwindled. Harvard, where ROTC was founded in 1916 and which once boasted over 1,000 participants, is now home to only 29 cadets and midshipmen, spread over four years and four branches of service. Recruitment opportunities are deliberately limited, and the student handbook cautions students against joining ROTC, remarking that the program is "inconsistent with Harvard's values." And cadets begin every semester seeking to avoid the professors known to exhibit hostility toward students who wear their uniform to class.

Rather than embracing the mutually beneficial relationship Harvard might share with the military, the faculty prefers to stand in the way of progress, abdicating its responsibility to contribute to one of our nation's most important institutions. The same Harvard that once produced 10 recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and warrior-scholars such as Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, now turns its back on its proud, patriotic history.

But there are reasons to be hopeful that the 40-year exile of ROTC may be drawing to a close. Today, the faculty is out of touch with a student body that is generally supportive of ROTC. The support that both Barack Obama and John McCain expressed during the 2008 presidential campaign for the return of ROTC to elite college campuses showed Harvard's stance to be far from mainstream.

We are also fortunate that Harvard's new president, Drew Faust, has privately praised and met with cadets and midshipmen, and publicly stated her hope that the day ROTC returns to campus is not far off. Though she remains bound by Harvard's discrimination policy, she spoke at last year's commissioning ceremony and expressed her desire to see our numbers grow.

This is encouraging, but it falls short of the appropriate policy: support for the military and those who serve in it, regardless of federal policies. ROTC should be fully and unequivocally welcomed back to Harvard. Accomplishing this would take leadership and courage from President Faust. Perhaps she will be inspired to show this leadership as she joins Gen. David Petraeus in recognizing the ROTC graduates at our commissioning ceremony in June.

Messrs. Kristol and West, seniors at Harvard University, will be commissioned second lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps in June.

Serious Comedy

A shameless plug for Mask and Wig ComFest 2009

Eleven years ago, Mask & Wig established an annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival to showcase the talent of the nation’s best collegiate sketch comedy troupes. The mission of the festival is not just to put on a hilarious show that cultivates new talent, but also to honor and showcase a well-known comedian. Past hosts include Ana Gasteyer, Bob Saget, Kevin Nealon, Stephen Colbert, Tim Meadows, Gilbert Gottfried, Dan Bakkedahl and Kenan Thompson.

This year's host is Judah Friedlander of NBC's "30 Rock"

Visit www.CollegeComFest.com for more details!

Date:
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 at 8:00 PM (ET)

Location:
Zellerbach Theater
3680 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104

A Visit to Mount Union

We followed the winding path of the Juniata River deep into scenic Huntingdon County to pay a visit to the Kiwanis club of Mount Union, PA on March 24. We always enjoy the opportunity to meet and share our experiences with groups dedicated to serving their communities. This meeting was very special for us, because it marks the launch of our annual Scholarships for Service season. Over the next few weeks we will be working with high schools in the Central PA area to identify candidates for this year's awards.

After being warmly greeted by the club's President, Mary Trice, we chatted about the Mount Union area with club members. Like many areas in Pennsylvania, Mount Union has seen its industrial base wane over the past half century, but it remains an attractive business and residential community. The area is surrounded by natural beauty and possesses a rich historical legacy. Nearby is the site of Fort Shirley, one in the chain of the many frontier-era forts that stretch across Pennsylvania.

Steve offered some remarks to the group about our work with The Bisbee Project, and our commitment to building stronger ties with other groups dedicated to service. An important task these groups accomplish is to set a good example for the young people in their community, setting the stage for the next generation. Dan followed up with some remarks about his time in Baghdad during the "surge" and how small-town values have an enormous impact on the implementation of foreign policy. When units, such as those from the Pennsylvania National Guard, deploy overseas the soldiers and officers from those units become the face of US foreign policy. The experiences, values, and knowledge they bring with them directly effect how they perform their missions. Mount Union currently has a number of its sons and daughters deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They carry with them the values instilled in them by their community. A commitment to making our communities strong has consequences far beyond the town limits of a place like Mount Union, PA.

We enjoyed the opportunity to visit Mount Union, and we thank Mary and the rest of the Kiwanis club for their hospitality. See you again soon!

March for Babies

Our family was blessed with the arrival of Chase a little over two years ago, but he had a very rough start to life. Thanks to the support of organizations like the March of Dimes, my nephew Chase is doing well, getting big, and is ready to take part in this year's March for Babies (well, maybe not the whole 6.2 miles!). Below, my brother-in-law John Kelty talks about Chase and our family's reason to support the March of Dimes. Please consider visiting Chase's March for Babies website and making a donation to this worthy cause. It would be greatly appreciated by John, my sister Sarah, big brother Cameron, and of course, Chase, as well as the whole Kelty/Bisbee clan. Thanks!

Hello Friends,

Another year has passed; I hope this message finds you and your families doing well. Understanding that times are tough, I would just ask that you consider supporting me in the upcoming March for Babies sponsored by the March of Dimes. This year′s walk holds special meaning to me, as I will be able to bring my son Chase to the event and watch him walk with his older brother. Chase is a living testament to the role that this charity plays in funding research that saves lives!

My son was born very unexpectedly at 23 weeks old, weighing a mere 1lbs 4oz. He spent the first six months of his life in NICU, enduring countless surgeries and blood transfusions on top of being ventilated due to severely underdeveloped lungs. Even after being released from the hospital, he spent the next five months on oxygen.

When we walk on 4/26/09, Chase will be celebrating his 2 year anniversary of being released from the hospital. I am excited that he has been getting stronger each day and one day this will just be a story my wife and I tell about our miracle child and his overcoming extraordinary odds at birth to become a healthy young man.

There is nothing in life harder than having an extremely ill child. By supporting the March of Dimes you are helping to fund valuable research that may prevent another family from having to experience what we did. Again, I ask that you consider supporting me in this campaign to give children a healthy start to life.

My personal web page address for donations is:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/chasekennedy

John Kelty

Save the "Govies"...

Pennsylvania, like all states, is facing some pretty big financial challenges but a particular cut in the proposed state budget that will eliminate the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence has motivated a number of alumni to create an advocacy movement intending to prevent the demise of what we believe is an amazing program. On Tuesday March 10, a rally in support of the Governor's School program will be held on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg.

I attended Governor's School for the Arts in 1989 as a theater major. I can say without hesitation that it was the most significant formative event of my life. The skills and training I received at PGSA supported my later collegiate experiences in theater at the University of Pennsylvania where I was a member of the Mask and Wig Club, Penn Players, Arts House Theatre and a number of other student performing arts organizations.

While living in Austin, Texas I performed with a number of companies, including the Austin Shakespeare Festival. Teaching junior high school at St. Mary's Cathedral School gave me another outlet for my experiences in the performing arts; I started a theater program at the school and directed students in a number of productions, including my adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, entitled "You Gotta Be Frank!"

Many who know me for my experiences in counterinsurgency may not know about my background in the performing arts, but I have always seen a direct link between these facets of my life. Directing a play is about convincing people to take risks and do unusual things under stressful circumstances; the many lessons I learned in this field definitely served me during my career as a military officer.

Steve is another product of the Governor's School program, having attended the Governor's School for Business. He went on to attend Wharton at Penn and now has an MBA from Smeal at Penn State.

To my fellow Pennsylvanians, please consider contacting your local state leadership and voicing your support for the Governor's School program. It has made a difference in our lives, and we are certain that it makes Pennsylvania a better state.

For more information, visit the 'Save the Govies' group site on Facebook.

Penn State over Michigan (46-17)

For those of you not in the know, we tailgate at Penn State games with the "BIZHub" crowd - (Purple Lot #4797) - and let's be honest, this is turning out to be one fantastic year for Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions. The quote of the day comes from Nate, who said: "The last time we beat Michigan... I was eleven years old."

September Update

Fall is always a busy time of year, and there is definitely quite a bit to report on here at the Project. We'll be catching up with some our Scholarship winners to see how the new school year is treating them. We'll check in on some of our favorite historical preservation projects to get a status update. And of course, we'll be reporting on the gatherings hosted at the BIZHub -- we are proud to be a part of the Penn State tailgating community and offer an open invitation to anybody to swing by the BIZHub (Purple Lot #4797) before or after any of the Nittany Lions home games this season. We are also entering the home stretch of a very busy political season -- we will continue to provide updates on events in Iraq and elsewhere in order to provide as much useful information as possible about the activities and policies of our government here and abroad. Thank you for your support during the past year - and here's to another great year for The Bisbee Project!

Lessons Learned

On Monday, I traveled out to the Army post at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to participate in the School for Command Preparation held there. The Army has a number of professional development courses that officers take in the course of their careers; a stint at Leavenworth prior to taking command of a battalion or brigade combat team is a common experience for many officers. There is a real desire among Army leadership to improve "interagency cooperation" between the military and civilian agencies; hence, the invitation to discuss the good, bad and ugly of the coordination I witnessed as part of the PRT on the ground and in the Embassy in Baghdad.

The PRT is an organization founded with the express intent to improve interagency cooperation at the tactical and operational level; however, the challenges we face in Iraq - even after three years of PRT implementation - are massive.

The crux of the problem comes from the inherently different perspectives that our three major institutions of foreign policy possess. I am referring to the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of State (DoS), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID, the agency responsible for the administration of US foreign aid to other countries, is technically a part of the State Department, but there are significant differences in how USAID officers and State diplomats go about their business.

The DoD is responsible for equipping, training and deploying the forces we need to fight and win wars. State is responsible for our diplomatic efforts in Embassies across the globe, keeping Washington informed of the political and economic conditions in foreign countries. USAID spends our foreign aid on development projects intending to serve the citizens of foreign nations while promoting American interests and building goodwill towards our government.

Each of these institutions has its own culture and its own bureaucracy which enable it to perform superbly the many tasks each was designed to accomplish. However, outside of a 'normal' scope of responsibilities, these institutional cultures and bureaucracies work to inhibit the performance of the additional tasks demanded by an unusual situation.

Iraq is an unusual situation.

The military is coping with duties that fall outside typical warfighting training and doctrine. The military brings enormous resources to the table and a rapid and disciplined methodology for problem solving. Unfortunately this drive and energy that thrives on immediacy and efficiency often works against the processes of development that require a longer-term horizon or a more subtle approach to complex problems.

Diplomats with experience in well-established foreign governments are rarely prepared for the dynamic environment of a politically unstable Iraq. A culture that values informed and nuanced reporting enables the production of reams of information about Iraqi politics, but is hard-pressed to develop empowered junior leaders with effective decision-making skills and the confidence to guide, coach and mentor a new generation of Iraqi leaders.

USAID development specialists, while often working in under-developed parts of the world, have struggled to operate in such a hostile and unpredictably violent environment. A system of spending aid money through local “implementing partners” lacks accountability because of the unpredictability of the security situation, and contracts for long-term development projects are often not flexible enough to take advantage of shifting tactical realities on the ground.

My talk with the Army officers at Leavenworth centered on how we at the PRT worked to synergize the strengths, and overcome the weaknesses of each of our institutions in our work to stabilize Baghdad and facilitate governance capacity within its institutions.

The key was in working to unify our planning process. The Army provides direction to subordinate units through a complex system of Operation Orders. Staff officers and NCOs work round-the-clock at each headquarters to plan, produce and disseminate documents that lay out what units are to do, when they are to do it, and what resources are provided to accomplish their missions.

The State Department generally produces consensus on objectives through discussion and argumentation before the publication of broad policy papers.

USAID develops contracts with its partners establishing developmental goals for each project and outlining expected timelines for achieving results.

Working with military, diplomatic and development experts assigned to the PRT, and reaching out to elements of their respective ‘home’ institutions, enabled us to develop a joint planning document that outlined tasks and objectives for the PRT, based upon the guidance and directives of each institution.

While the document was valuable in itself, it was merely the product of a process that fostered greater interagency cooperation – the true goal of the exercise.

While pursuing our various objectives in Iraq, whether defeating an insurgency, facilitating the establishment an effective democratic government, or producing economic growth and participative civil society, our government’s agencies often find themselves competing over bureaucratic turf or at odds on policy specifics.

The key to reducing this interagency conflict is through a more effective planning-to-execution cycle at the tactical and operational level.

When we fail at this, we add to the number of already difficult challenges we face in Iraq. However, where this can be effectively achieved, our success becomes much more likely and much less costly.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Wayne Laepple from the Daily Item and we talked about Iraq. Wayne reports on military and foreign policy issues for the Item. A number of local Reserve and National Guard units from Central PA have done rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Wayne reports on both the larger political issus and the personal stories involving these deployments. Below is a Wayne's recent posting in the Daily Item.



Selinsgrove native: Future looks positive for Iraq
By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item
June 15, 2008

— SELINSGROVE — Baghdad was on the verge of anarchy when former Selinsgrove resident Dan Bisbee arrived in February 2007.

There was sectarian violence in the streets, with various religious groups fighting one another, suicide bombers an everyday threat, and everyone was shooting at Americans.

Survival was the prime concern.

By the end of his tour of duty last month, much had changed. Community services such as electricity and water were becoming available. The political parties were making deals with each other, not killing each other.

“The city government was discussing how many swimming pools would open,” he said. “They were holding policy debates.”

Bisbee was a U.S. Department of State employee, a member of the Provincial Reconstruction Team advising the government of the Province of Baghdad. He was one of about 100 American civilians, from the state, defense and justice departments, working with Iraqi-American translators and Iraqi professionals, helping the Iraqis in charge of the city and province to build their own democratic government.

Bids for attention
He first visited Iraq in February 2005 as a U.S. Army captain, working with Baghdad city officials as an officer in the Army’s civil affairs branch, and after his deployment to Iraq was completed, he went back as a civilian.

His job with the PRT coincided with the U.S. military surge in Baghdad, analyzing how the surge worked and how troops and U.S. civilians would be deployed in and around Baghdad.

From his time in the military, Bisbee was familiar with how the various factions worked. Their interactions and interests were much more varied than many in the U.S. understand.

“There are differences between the insurgents and the extremists,” he explained. “The extremists want a change in government to their advantage, while the insurgents want to destroy the government and replace it with their vision.”

In the simplest terms, Bisbee said, the violence is a bid for attention.

Sometimes the different factions work together if they have similar goals, but at other times they may fight one another. One example he cited was how some of the insurgent groups were allied with al-Qaeda earlier in the conflict but turned against al-Qaeda when they tried to enforce strict Islamic law.

“They weren’t interested in that at all,” he said.

Stability and credibility
Stability is coming to Iraq as the people recognize that its leadership is gaining credibility.

“When Prime Minister Maliki decided on his own to go after the Sadrists in Basra and in Sadr City, that was huge,” Bisbee said. “The people want a strong government.”

Bisbee believes the people in Iraq are among the smartest and toughest in the Middle East, which he thinks gives the nation the best chance to develop a democracy.

“They recognize they have to get away from identity politics — religious or tribal — and instead focus on ideas and issues,” he said. “It’s not about sectarianism. It’s about upgrading economically.”

While he has seen progress in the 29 months he’s spent in Iraq since 2005, there are bumps in the road ahead, he said.

“The Sunni question will come back later this year,” he said. “When the money runs out, then what?”

He explained that massive amounts of money have been given to Sunni factions to encourage them to cooperate with the Shiite national government.

And with the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, there is strong pressure to bring American troops home.

“We’re missing the point if that’s what we focus on,” he said. “It’s much more complex than that. What do we want our policy to achieve?”

Committed to the future
But from his own perspective, from knowing Iraqis personally, he is optimistic.
A month before he left Baghdad, he said, he was invited by an Iraqi colleague for a drink after work.

“We went to a social club in downtown Baghdad. It looked like a bar here, with guys sitting around talking and smoking, with their beers and whiskeys,” he said. “They were all professionals, doctors, lawyers and so on. They’re all there because they are committed to the future of their country. These were guys who could have left, but they stayed on.”

A few days later, he attended the graduation of Baghdad University’s school of dentistry.

“These were young people, in the middle of a war, who still believe in the future.”
At the university’s school of fine arts graduation, Bisbee saw young painters and photographers and film makers.

“It looked like an art school graduation here in the U.S., with lots of interesting clothing and use of hair products,” he said. “They haven’t given up on their country. They see a future there.”

Road to recovery

I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to help out an Iraqi boy injured in a horrific suicide bombing at a Baghdad market back in February. While shopping at the market, Mahmoud, the nephew of Ms. Shatha al-Obedie, the Press Secretary for the Governor of Baghdad, was severely injured in the blast of a suicide bomber belt worn by a mentally ill woman who was no doubt unaware that she was being used by al-Qaeda terrorists to carry out their attack.

Shatha is a very good friend of mine and truly an example of an Iraqi patriot, working against incredible challenges to serve the people of Baghdad and get its government back on its feet. Immediately after the blast she called me to see if there was any way to help Mahmoud.

I am very grateful to so many colleagues in the Embassy and the Army for the remarkable compassion and professionalism they displayed in helping Mahmoud. Through their efforts, Mahmoud was stabilized and is now on the road to recovery. It is an honor to serve here with such great people.

Mahmoud wanted to pay a visit to the IZ the other day to thank those who helped him survive his trauma.

The Daily Item of Sunbury, PA posted Mahmoud's story on May 9.

Iraqi teen saved
Selinsgrove man saves Iraqi teen left for dead

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A Selinsgrove resident on Thursday said he acted after an Iraqi teen was told by doctors overwhelmed with suicide bombing casualties that his leg injury would probably cause his death.

Dan Bisbee, who grew up near Kratzerville and graduated from Selinsgrove Area High School in 1990, is a U.S. State Department employee working in the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baghdad. Bisbee was able to arrange for Mahmoud Hassan al-Hadi, 18, to be treated in an Army combat support hospital after a February suicide bombing in Baghdad.

Al-Hadi, 18, was seriously injured Feb. 1 in an explosion at the Rusafa market. The attack, which killed 60 people and left more than 150 injured, became notorious when it was learned that a mentally ill woman had carried the explosives into the crowded market.

Al-Hadi was at the market that day with his aunt, Shatha al-Obedie, press secretary to the governor of Baghdad Province. Moments before the blast, he stopped to look at birds in the pet market while his aunt continued on.

Shrapnel from the explosion ripped his torso open, shattered his leg and resulted in internal injuries. His aunt was uninjured.

He was one of many victims rushed to the trauma center at Medical City in downtown Baghdad, where, according to Bisbee, doctors told his distraught aunt that the leg could not be saved and he would likely die from his wounds.

“They were just overwhelmed with casualties and could only do so much,” Bisbee said Thursday by telephone.

Al-Hadi’s aunt called Bisbee and asked for help.

Bisbee, who said he considers al-Obedie a friend and works with her daily, said her request was reasonable, both as a humanitarian issue and because of his high regard for her. “I had to do what I could to help out,” he said. “I spoke to the ambassador's office and he signed off, and then contacted the Combat Support Hospital in the Green Zone.”

Al-Hadi was brought by ambulance to the hospital and rushed into surgery, where Army doctors were able to save his leg and repair his internal injuries. After a few days of recovery, he was released to an Iraqi hospital to recuperate.

On Tuesday, al-Hadi and his aunt returned to the Combat Support Hospital to visit doctors, nurses and staff who had saved his life.

“I cannot find the words to express my gratitude for saving my life,” he told the group. “I will never forget you.”

Bisbee said everyone in the room was teary-eyed as the young man, who is still on crutches and has more months of recuperation ahead of him, entered the room.

“He was happy to still have his leg,” Bisbee said. “He’s starting to gain back the weight he lost after the injuries.”

Ranger challenge

Greg and Jeff Soule, two Army officers representing the ROTC program at James Madison University, recently took second in the Army's annual Best Ranger competition. Greg is an old buddy of Steve's from Air Assault school and ROTC Ranger Challenge competitions - they've kept up over the years as their military careers took them down separate paths. Below is the Army Times article describing their superb performance during this grueling challenge.

The Bisbee Project contributed to their training expenditures and is proud to support these great American warriors and the ROTC program that produces leaders of such high caliber.

FORT BENNING, Ga. — Within minutes of winning the Best
Ranger Competition, Staff Sgts. Michael Broussard and
Shayne Cherry, both 24, emerged from a medical tent
looking like they were ready for another obstacle
course.

After embracing family and friends, the members of
Team 5 representing the 75th Ranger Regiment spoke to
members of the media in relatively dry shirts with
hardly a bead of sweat across their brow.

“I feel good,” Cherry said.

Broussard and Cherry emerged victorious in the 25th
annual David E. Grange, Jr. Best Ranger Competition at
Fort Benning, Ga., following a grueling three days of
field exercises and obstacle courses. Only 16 of the
28 teams that entered the event finished, with many
exiting slowly from the medical tent with white
medical gauze on their arms from intravenous
injections — evidence of the physical tax of the
competition.

Coming in second place were brothers Capt. Jeff Soule,
25, and Maj. Greg Soule, 32, of Team 3 representing
the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps at James Madison
University in Virginia. The two were separated nearly
all of training, with Jeff in Georgia and Greg in
Virginia.

“I definitely didn’t expect to be finishing second,”
Greg said as he pushed his 3-month-old baby, Addison,
in a stroller toward the awards reception. “We didn’t
have any time to train together really, about a few
days a month. I was expecting to have a few more
blisters on my feet.

“But what we did this weekend, my whole body is beat
down,” he said. “I just want to go sit down. I’m
walking around like I got pins sticking into my feet.”

His brother, meanwhile, walked to the awards ceremony
and barbecue afterward with a limp and lingering
cough. When one of his family members asked if he
wanted food, he said, “Yeah, but not coleslaw, just
meat.” Greg said he was most looking forward to a
beer.

Finishing in third place were Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah
Beck and Sgt. Jeremy Billings, 23, of Team 9
representing the 75th Ranger Regiment.

The first-, second- and third-place teams ran across
the finish line together. Many teams finished with
their rifles held high in the air. The soldiers,
family and friends attended an awards ceremony
afterward with barbecue food, cold ice tea and beer.
Gifts were distributed to the 16 finishing teams.

Cherry and Broussard won the bronze boot award for the
road march, a nighttime trek that took place on Friday
night. This year’s march came after a day of grueling
activities beneath an aggressive Georgia sun. All 12
teams that didn’t finish the competition were
eliminated during the road march, which was shortened
from the scheduled 30 miles to just 16 miles due to
the high dropout rate, soldiers said.

The Soule brothers won the competition’s award for
orienteering after an impressive showing in Saturday
night’s land navigation course. Soldiers were required
to find points they plotted on a map across miles of
difficult terrain without flashlights or any kind of
illumination devices.

“They’re not allowed to turn on any lights,” said
Capt. Kent Keirsey, a Ranger instructor for the 5th
Ranger Training Battalion. “They’re only allowed to
use ambient light, so they have to be spot on. … They
had great illumination last night. That moon was up
all night.”

FAIR GAME with Faith Salie 1/16

I didn't realize Congressman Charles Rangel was planning on trying to reinstate the draft again, until I was asked about it today during my interview with Faith Salie on her new PRI program called Fair Game with Faith Salie. Looks like a great new radio news show for the 'hip' crowd, who enjoy a little humor with their news. I had a great time talking to Faith, a very funny and smart host, as we reviewed Rangel's latest proposal, discussed the new 'surge' for Iraq, and talked about my experiences working with politicians in Baghdad.

You can listen to the show at the link above or here. (My interview is about half-way through.)

For the record, I believe Mr. Rangel's desire to see more people in government service is laudible, but coercing people into the military based on the assumption that that will somehow force Congress to be more deliberative in their votes on matters of war doesn't convince me. My suggestion: if Rangel is serious about getting people into government service, and making Congress look more like the America that makes up the U.S. Army - then we should just draft people into Congress and cut out all the intermediate steps. Maybe the problem is not that we don't have enough rich people in the army, it's that we don't have enough poor people in Congress...

SUE'S STORY

I first met Sue floating in a jacuzzi. I can't say that that's the ultimate basis for the longevity of our relationship, but I do believe that there was a certain auspiciousness about our meeting. Within minutes of meeting each other we discovered that we share the same birthday. I have to say that I think we hit it off rather famously right from the start. Sometimes you get lucky, and you really connect with someone right away – and you’re not really sure why. That’s how it was with Sue and me; striking up that conversation while floating in a hot tub has changed my life, and has given me an extraordinary friendship.

Now it’s at this point that I should note that although Sue and I share the same birthday, we weren’t born in the same year. Or decade. In fact, Sue got a head start on me by about 45 years. And although she keeps fit and active in her mid-70’s, I would have to say that our attraction was largely intellectual. I don’t think I’m her type anyway.

And let me say for the record that my interest in the hot tub in a retirement community was purely for its therapeutic benefits. I had just returned from my six-month trek through Europe, and was spending some time recuperating with my folks at their place in North Carolina.

Retirement does interesting things to people. My mother is now a certified water aerobics instructor. My father grows and sells carnivorous plants. Sue had been living in the coastal Carolina area for the past few years, and had recently rekindled her interest in something that she had not practiced for many years – her love of art. She had begun painting again, and doing some sketches. But she also wanted to express herself in a different way – she wanted to write her memoirs – and she had recently signed up for a writing class with a local author.

BOGUE BANKS, NORTH CAROLINA COAST

Many people facing retirement and perhaps spending quite a bit of their time reflecting on their lives probably believe that there is something instructive, or cautionary, or even entertaining about their stories that might prove interesting to others. Yet perhaps the act of putting one’s experiences to paper is more a benefit to the self; an act of identification, of self-definition; of facing one’s demons from the past and making peace with one’s regrets and failures and ‘what-ifs’; or perhaps giving sound to a feeble trumpet heralding the quiet victories of an anonymous life.

Sue, with a characteristic understatement that I have always since found both charming and humorous, said that she had lived a pretty full life.

So I asked her to tell me about it.

They tell you not to stay in a hot tub for too long. But as Sue began relating the events of her fascinating life, I became completely absorbed in her story. I was immersed, you might say. Sue described scenes of deep personal tragedy, loss, heartbreak, and the questioning of faith. Yet she spoke with the grace of a woman blessed with serenity and fortitude and, of all things, humor. In her presence, I was made strikingly aware of my own relative youth, as I sat in awe at the vast continent of experience another human has traveled in her lifetime.

I began making regular visits over to Sue’s place, and we began the process of collecting her stories. Eventually, we will realize Sue’s dream of publishing her memoirs. But this project, as well as Sue’s life – remains a work in progress.

Below, you will find an article we wrote for the local Beaufort, North Carolina newspaper. The first installment, if you will; a mere glimpse at the story of this amazing woman.

Also, you will find stories about our recent trip to Pentrefoelas, Wales, where Sue spent much of her youth – and as she says, her ‘happiest days’.

So I’d like to dedicate this section – this region of Dansylvania, and thus, a significant area of my life’s geography – to my good friend Susanne VanDyne.