Operation: Love Boxes for our Troops’ sole mission is to encourage American citizens to fill a box and mail it themselves to a Soldier far from home. 

Operation Love Boxes for our Troops’ motto is “We aren’t a company or an individual – it is an idea. 

From the Love Box website the story of how it all began:

My wife and I became acquainted with Bill and Jan Schutz through the friendship of our daughters at school and at our church. Early in 2005 Lt. Col. Bill Schutz volunteered to go to a combat zone. He didn't have to go. He had already been through one deployment and spent months away from his family at that time. I couldn't understand why a Soldier who had fulfilled his duty would volunteer to place himself in harm’s way. The last time we saw each other before he left, I presented him with a flag and asked him what could be done. All he said was to send him an e-mail every so often and we left it at that. Bill arrived in Baghdad, Iraq and sent the first e-mail with pictures to his friends on April 29, 2005. Bill said that all his needs were met and that he was doing fine.

Four months went by with very little communication because my life was busy with a family business, a wife who has a demanding career and three teenagers at home. In September, I called Jan and asked her what I could do for Bill beyond what I was presently doing, which was nothing. Jan gave me Bill's address and suggested that I go down to the post office, pick up a domestic flat rate box and for very little postage, mail some items to him. Armed with a box I went to my grocery store and began walking up and down the aisles trying to decide from the packed shelves what to include in the box. I suddenly realized I had taken for granted that the groceries would always be there, that the success of my business or the safety of my family was in my control, and how trivial my "problems" were in comparison to those of the military families. The box in my hands was now not big enough to say thanks to Soldiers like Bill.

On October 1, 2005 a single box was mailed to Baghdad filled with granola, snacks, canned goods, and a book on CD and one week later I received a most grateful and heartfelt e-mail from Bill. If one box is so fulfilling an experience, what about a few dozen? The pastors and staff at Morningstar Community Church in Salem Oregon were excited about the idea of asking the church members to send boxes to deployed Soldiers that were from families within our membership and to their buddies within their units.

On November 14, 2005 with a pile of 147 boxes, prayer support from friends, and a hope that 50-75 people would take a box, the project was presented in our first service. The boxes lasted 6 minutes. Some grateful spouses of deployed Soldiers were in tears, and many a veteran expressed their thanks to the church for this effort. After second service, the sign up sheet contained the names of members requesting 246 more boxes. The Lord had answered our prayers. We began to receive thanks from Soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Bahrain. On December 4, 2005 with a mountain of over 600 boxes, the members took over 500 home with them. It became clear that this was a larger project than just one church. On that day Operation: Love Boxes for our Troops was born. Its sole mission is to encourage American citizens to fill a box and mail it themselves to a Soldier far from home. The two purposes it serves are to thank the Soldiers and their families for their sacrifice on our behalf and to raise the awareness of those of us at home the debt of gratitude that we owe the men and women who put on the uniform. Now, thousands of boxes later with other box efforts starting up all over the area, this website is for the use of every American to start their box project in their own city or state. But if you do, be ready to see tears from veterans that were never thanked for their service, be forewarned to gracefully accept the appreciation of deployed Soldiers families, and be prepared to understand why American Soldiers continue to volunteer to place themselves in harm’s way.

I spoke to John recently to find out how things were going.  They are planning for their monthly "Love Box Packing Party".  Along with encouraging and inspiring others to get involved John holds a packing party once each month at his office.  He told me they recently shipped out their 20,000^th box from packing parties.  WOW!  Twenty thousand that he knows of that have been shipped.  There’s no telling how many more have been sent because of this great idea that was started in Salem, Oregon.

I’m on John’s month email list.  I received an email today and would like to share just a part of it with you:

Here are last month’s accomplishments:

 Radio Interviews with KPDQ and KPAM

Presentations to:

Oregon Legislature (Thanks to Rep. Kevin Cameron and the Oregon Association of Realtors)

Salem Chamber “Show Biz”- 256 boxes and many DVD’s handed out.

Love Box Packing Party at the Capitol- Approx 400 boxes sent to Oregon National Guard in Iraq and Georgia

Leadership Salem- 25 boxes handed out

Jackson County Association of Realtors- 91 boxes and some DVD’s

NW Regional Meeting of the Exchange Club- Look for the project to get started in Tacoma, Wash. 45 boxes and DVD’s now out to chapters all over Or and Wa

Conversations with the following organizations who will be adopting the project:

Coos County Association of Realtors

East Metro Association of Realtors

Grants Pass Association of Realtors

The Oregon Association of Credit Unions

The Oregon Democratic Party

The Oregon Patriots

Walters & Wolf Curtain Wall in Mukilteo, Washington

Plus multiple individual calls!

John also shares emails and letters his organization has gotten from those who receive packages.  Those notes of gratitude can be viewed on the website.  This month, along with many “thank you” emails and letters John also shared the following in his monthly email:

Last month my daughter Summer and I attended our first Love Box packing party.  We had such a great time that she would like to make this event part of her senior project for Silverton High School next year.  She would like to host a packing party next fall, and would like any information (one of the CD's maybe) that she can present to our local community to help raise awareness and support for future mailings of goodies for our troops.  Her big sister Autumn is a member of the National Guard and enjoyed receiving these special boxes when she was deployed (and actually Summer is planning on joining the guard herself).  Please let us know if you can be of any help in this endeavor...Thank you for all you do,  we are energized and so impressed by your continued support of all of our men and women in our military;  you inspire us to help as much as we can...

Always,

Robin and Summer

AND:

Good Morning

I live in Puerto Rico.  My boyfriend is in Iraq and I have a few friends serving our country.  I just want more information how can I start a program here to send a little of happiness to our soldiers.  I saw your website and you guys are doing an excellent job.  I’m so proud, our soldiers need all our support.

Thanks,

C. Rivera

Puerto Rico?  The word about Operation: Love Boxes For Our Troops has made it from Salem, Oregon to Puerto Rico! 

Now you know why John Baker and all of those who support and participate in Operation: Love Boxes For Our Troops are Great American Supporters.

The Center for a New American Security has released a report on US efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan called "Triage: The next twelve months in Afghanistan & Pakistan". The report represents a look at what the concept of Smart Power means when applied to this situation. There is plenty in the report to agree with, but it also showed why CNAS is thought of as the Obama adminstration's go-to think tank. 

Michèle Flournoy is the Co-Founder of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She served as President of CNAS until February 9, 2009, when she was confirmed as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy under Secretary Gates in the Obama administration.

That is not a bad thing, but worth noting as we look at this report. The  authors are Andrew M. Exum, Nathaniel C. Fick, Ahmed A. Humayun, David J. Kilcullen.They begin with some policy recommendations.

In Afghanistan:

Adopt a truly population-centric counterinsurgency strategy that emphasizes protecting the population rather than controlling physical terrain or killing the Taliban and al Qaeda.

They present this as an either-or and that is fundamentally flawed. Any policy must be a combination of both balanced due to the particularities of each area. In addition physical terrain control is a major part of how you protect a population. You can't control all of it, but there are always key pieces that must be dominated to even consider safeguarding a populace.

Use the “civilian surge” to improve governance and decrease corruption in Afghanistan. Place civilian expertise and advisers in the Afghan ministries and—to a lesser degree—the provincial reconstruction teams, rather than in the embassies.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, but I doubt the ability to implement it. The risk-averse mentality of the State Department and most other civilian agencies is the main reason the military has taken the lead in virtually all elements of our policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The military does not want to do this and we heard this directly at a journalism seminar from LTC Brian Mennes CDR, 1st Ranger Battalion who stated that he was forced to do many of the tasks that should fall under these agencies because they would not leave the embassies. I also asked the State Department official directly responsible for these efforts Amb. John Herbst if they were willing to get some foreign service officers killed, because if not they were not going to be effective. His stammered answer was not really, but we are working on it. They are attempting to recruit several hundred more civilian experts but not having much luck. That has been the problem with our efforts in far too many conflict zones and is unlikely to change significantly. Many of the people they have been able to recruit for these positions are military reservists who have the civilian specialties necessary.

In Pakistan:

Strictly curtail the counterproductive drone strikes on non-al Qaeda targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). The expansion of the approved target list for U.S. drone attacks to include non-al Qaeda individuals should be reversed.

I would challenge the assertion that the drone attacks have been counterproductive. We have killed scores of senior al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders and that is quite productive. The question is whether they create more ill will among the populace than their value in eliminating terror leaders and greatly hampering their ability to plan. It is a question worth considering, but to present it as a decided issue is not helpful. The enemy attempts to influence the information war by misrepresenting civilian casualties in these strike and we have been deficient in countering those claims.To say we should categorically restrict a very effective tool is not good advice and speaks again to the smart/soft power mentality espoused in this report.

Strengthen the Pakistani police, with an emphasis on areas—such as Punjab and Sindh—where the Taliban has not yet exerted control.

Absolutely.

They open their situational assessment with a stunningly dense statement from a group of folks who ought to have more common sense than this.

In counterinsurgency campaigns, if you are not winning, then you are losing.

I don't know how this bit of tripe made it past any marginally competent editor. I will go out on a limb and state that in a football game, if you are not winning (or tied) you are losing.Let's move on.

A swift victory over the Taliban regime in 2001—facilitated by Special Operations Forces and airpower acting in partnership with local Afghan allies—was quickly followed by an  insurgency of increasing intensity. After late 2002, the vast majority of U.S. assets and attention were focused on Iraq, while Afghanistan was relegated to an “economy of force” mission.3 Safe havens in the neighboring tribal areas—the likes of which facilitated the September 11th attacks—are expanding, not contracting.

This is where the talking points mentality rears it's head. That paragraph reads like a Democrat campaign speech, Bush took his eye off the ball and let Afghanistan fester because of an obsession about Saddam Hussein. The problem is this is not an accurate description, as the insurgency did not follow quickly after the initial toppling of the Taliban. It actually leaves out a huge contributing factor to the deteriorating conditions there, Pakistan's agreement ceding control of the tribal areas and allowing them to become safe havens. From CFR.

In 2004, the Pakistani government reached a deal with Pakistani Taliban led by Nek Mohammed in South Waziristan whereby the militants agreed to live peacefully and not use Pakistani soil against any other country. Hailed as a breakthrough, by late 2007 the deal was regarded as a failure.

It was a complete failure and a major reason why the Taliban and al Qaeda were able to regroup, recruit and retrain. Then they simply went back over the border and started back to their old game in Afghanistan. To ignore that is to falsely blame a lack of focus on Afghanistan i.e. invading Iraq for the deterioration of conditions. A fair analysis would include this Pakistani decision which the US opposed. More Triage.

While much of the U.S. military establishment is prejudiced in favor of enemy-centric operations, political wars such as the one being waged in Afghanistan demand a focus on the population. Because populations in civil wars tend to side with whichever group exerts control, the population in Afghanistan can be expected to react positively to a persistent presence by security forces. Forces able to create conditions under which the people feel secure will reap the rewards of the population’s participation in security operations and the political process. Only by securing large swathes of the Afghan population,thereby denying their passive or active support to the Taliban, can the coalition create conditions conducive to the kind of negotiations necessary create stability in Afghanistan.

I don't know how they determined the prejudices of much of the military establishment, but it does seem like an anecdotally, accurate idea. The question is whether that stops them from adapting to use different strategies and tactics. We moved quite well to a combination of kinetic and population-securing efforts in Iraq and that would be the proper move in Afghanistan as well. You cannot say it is a choice between one or the other. Limiting civilian casualties is a vital piece of the puzzle, but they seem to ignore the fact that killing bad guys helps in that. 

At this time, it is the Taliban, unpopular as it may be, that exerts greater control over larger numbers of the population. As a result, it is the Taliban—and not the government in Kabul—which enjoys the greater degree of the public’s collaboration and cooperation. The United States and its allies must demonstrate to Afghans that a persistent U.S. and allied presence means decreased Afghan civilian casualties; the coalition will then reap the rewards of the cooperation and collaboration of the Afghan people against the insurgents.

The statement that the Taliban exerts control over larger numbers of the population is hard to swallow. They control zero major cities and their influence is highest in the sparsely populated areas along the border with Pakistan. They have infiltrated some of the poppy growing areas but it defies bleief that they exert more control than the government and coalition forces.

Open source reports from Pakistan suggest that drone strikes there since early 2006 have killed
around 14 terrorist leaders and more than 700 Pakistani civilians, or just over 50 civilians for
every militant killed—a hit rate of less than 2 percent.45 U.S. officials vehemently dispute these
figures, and it is likely that more militants, and fewer civilians, have been killed than is reported by
the press in Pakistan. Nevertheless, every one of these dead non-combatants represents an alienated family, a new revenge feud, and more recruits for a militant movement that has grown exponentially even as drone strikes have increased.

I mentioned before that the enemy has learned to use the media to spread misinformation about civilian casualties. There is no question that dead civilians are a contributing factor to enemy recruiting, but the numbers cited are fantasy and steal credibility from this report by their inclusion. Additionally saying the militant movement has grown exponentially is ridiculous. Words have meanings and the growth has been linear and not all that steep a line at that.

As of mid-2009, the situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is dire and getting worse. In both
countries, strategies must be adopted which recognize the state of the insurgency today. That means adopting a form of triage—utilizing an ink blot approach at the strategic and operational levels—which prioritizes the security of the population over other considerations while setting the stage for strengthening the institutions of the Afghan and Pakistani states.

Agreed and the first time they acknowledge that population security and "other considerations" are not mutually exclusive.

All in all the report is worth reading and is certainly getting considerable thought with the national security team. I didn't see much in the way of original thinking, more of a rationalization for the shift from kinetic to COIN or even to soft power. That should certainly be a goal, but I question the idea that you can make this shift without first inflicting some serious kinetic damage to the enemy.

Without further ado I'd like to introduce you to Howard and Connor Love.  Howard (the grandfather) sent me the following email:

I read your request for stories about supporters on the WLF website and thought I would send mine. I have been sending packages to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for 5 years. My biggest helper with the shopping and packing is my grandson Connor. On payday I have 12-15 caring coworkers ( Jim, Pete, Art, Dave C, Jules, Frank, Don, Jeff, Pam, Shellee, Dave E, JR, Eli, George, Tom, Rico (all co-workers)  that bring me some money (and they never forget) and I go shopping and get the boxes together for shipping. I also have one Vietnam vet (ELF) that raises money to help me by having a pistol shoot twice a year.  UPDATED at the request of Howard:  Could you add my chiropractor Dr. Dave to my supporters he waves my co-pay and collects supplies from his other patients for the troops.  End Update Last year we sent 320 boxes and this year are up to 152 already. It is a lot of work and time consuming but not as much work as those soldiers and marines are putting out to protect our country and I am grateful and honored to be able to this. The pictures are of Connor helping with the packing and with one of the soldiers we supported.

Thank you, Howard Love

I spoke with Howard (Connor just calls him Papa) by phone today and found out many interesting facts about Connor and him.  Howard served in the Navy on an aircraft carrier from 1965-1969 during the Vietnam War.  He has a son who is in the Air Force and currently deployed. 

Howard and I had barely begun to talk when Connor decided to say hello.  Quite outspoken for a 5 year old young man.  I asked Connor why he wanted to send packages to the Soldiers.  His reply, "Because they have bad food over there."  He was off the phone about as quickly as he got on it. because he had packing to get done.

Howard and Connor have been involved in sending care packages to deployed personnel for about 5 years now.  Howard says that each payday, without fail, each member of the group he lists in his email voluntarily hands him a donation.  Each gives the same donation every time which makes it easier for Howard to plan his shopping and postage expenses.  He and Connor do all of the shopping.  Once they adopt a Soldier, Marine, Airman or Sailor they send a box every two weeks as long as that person is deployed.  Connor helps with shopping, packing, mailing and quality control.  If Howard goes shopping without Connor he hears about it for days.  Howard reports that if this duo receives a donation of some new food, particularly candy, that Connor isn't familiar with Connor will try it out and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. Some candies just don’t cut the mustard and never make it into the boxes.  Connor won’t allow candy that he thinks is “yucky” to be sent to his Soldiers.

 

Connor is a very patriotic lad.  He recently attended Memorial Day ceremonies with Papa who reports that Connor ALWAYS wears his “Soldier hat”.  A Marine approached Connor at the ceremony and slowly saluted Connor.  Connor now mimics that slow salute.  He even salutes his mother each time she leaves him for “duty” at Papa’s house.  He won’t stop saluting until she returns the salute.

Connor has been visited by several of his adopted military personnel.  Some have driven hundreds of miles out of the way to meet the little guy from whom they have received packages and with whom they have corresponded.  One Soldier gave Connor his survival map along with a few lessons about how to read it.

Connor has also been invited by his battle buddies to several special events.  One particular invitation was to a Marine’s wedding.  Howard reports that Connor was a little confused about the attire the men were wearing and turned to him to say, “Papa, those boys are wearing skirts.”  It took a little explaining about Kilts.  Howard isn’t so sure Connor really understands the concept yet. 

Along with packing and sending care packages of edible goodies to deployed personnel Howard and Connor have also adopted children of deployed personnel at Christmas time.  One year they used the generous donations from the co-workers mentioned in Howard’s email and others to purchase 86 gifts for children of moms and dads who couldn’t be home for Christmas.  One mother had a request for a specific type of doll for her daughter.  She wanted one with really soft hair.  Papa and Connor spent two hours shopping before finding the perfect doll.  That’s commitment! 

Apparently Connor stays on top of things and gets quite irritated with Papa if he packs boxes without Connor’s assistance.

Howard wouldn’t let me hang up before reminding me that this is a team effort.  It’s not just about Connor and him.  It’s about all of Howard’s co-workers who donate EVERY payday and about Teri.  Teri works at the Post Office in Mesa.  Howard takes his boxes in, hands them over to Teri along with a blank check.  Teri takes the boxes to the back, works her Post Office magic and writes out the check.  Howard returns later in the day to pick up the receipt and copies of the customs forms.  Yeah, Teri gets my THANKS, too!

Now you know why Connor, Howard and their group of friends are Great American Supporters.