I’m Here, They Are There

In Iraq and Afghanistan many soldiers have died; almost to the end of my service in UNMISS, the military component had not even fired a shot. When I was in Iraq, I was on the receiving end of several mortar attacks; in South Sudan, I never felt threatened and my weapon remained stored in a footlocker. Certainly the situation for UNMISS changed in December 2013, but I was no longer there. War fighting with nation-building versus peacekeeping while nation-building are two different missions. For regular infantry soldiers, peacekeeping can perhaps be a dull life in the field; a staff officer experiences different challenges. When serving in UNMISS, one could not forget the home front. Family life and what one leaves behind play a part in the missions equation and figure into one’s morale and how one approaches peacekeeping duties. An excursion back “home” from South Sudan helps complete the story since all soldiers leave families and friends behind when they deploy to a mission. Certainly my experiences in a peaceful mission do not reflect those of all UN peacekeepers by any means, but I would imagine the day-to-day routine of whatever sort dominates anyone’s time—especially the staff officers—in most missions around the globe.