Battleland

Meanwhile, Somewhere in Southwest Asia…

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Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera

Dan Ginsberg, assistant Air Forcer secretary for manpower, somewhere in southwest Asia as the Air Force opened its first Airman and Family Readiness Center in the region last Wednesday.

The Air Force just opened an Airman and Family Readiness Center for the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing somewhere in southwest Asia. But it won’t get any more specific about where it’s based, apparently because the host nation doesn’t want it disclosed.

So much for loyal allies willing to stand up and be counted.

This kind of stuff has gone on for decades. They’ll sell us their oil and embrace the protection our military might offers them, but shy away from connecting the two. While it might be forgiven for a limited period of time, these kinds of games have been going on for decades.

It seems even more ridiculous now that spouses and kids are joining their Air Force dad or mom to live on the base. “With more families joining service members assigned here, there is now a greater need of extended services to support those families,” an Air Force story about the Aug. 29 opening said. Such centers are designed to link military members and their families to a wide variety of programs, including counseling, financial and career guidance, and help for those planning to leave the military and return to civilian life.

Guess those family members will be sworn to secrecy, too.

We apparently expect kids to keep secrets just like former SEALs.

You can imagine them in two or three years, showing friends digital images from their time in Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, or one of the other nations leery of being seen as too close to Washington: “Here we are swimming at the pool,” they’ll say, “at an undisclosed base somewhere in southwest Asia.”