Giving culture lessons to the troops

He's been called a nomad by his daughter.

His mother-in-law calls him Gulliver, the lead character in "Gulliver's Travels," who spends years going on a series of fantastical voyages.

By comparison, Edmund Campbell's latest travels during the past few years haven't been as zany. They have been serious and perhaps even life-saving for several U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

It is Campbell's job to educate them on the country's culture.

His efforts, along with efforts from others on the Human Terrain Team, seem to be working, he said.

Afghani citizens in the provinces he visits have been noticeably amenable to the U.S. military presence there. It is rare, maybe once a week, he encounters someone who wishes they would leave, he said.

"They've been very receptive," Campbell said. "They realize we're here for their betterment. They realize we're not looking for much over here. We're not here to steal any of their resources. We're here to make life better for them."

Campbell, of Weeki Wachee, is a civilian who works for the U.S. Army. He was a police officer in Chicago and Key West and spent four years working for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

For the past nine months, he has been traveling across four provinces - Bamiyan, Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir. He is roughly 60 kilometers north of Kabul, the country's capital.

He contacted Hernando Today on a satellite phone Saturday morning. He recently has seen nighttime temperatures plummet toward 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Not long ago he was stomping through 1 foot of snow.

The sun came out that morning and most of the snow from earlier in the week had melted, but that meant he had to trudge through thick mud.

He didn't feel like sympathizing with his family and friends at home. They might be living through one of Florida's coldest winters on record, but the weather conditions there have been far worse. He joked about it.

Campbell couldn't talk about some of his more treacherous missions, but said most of the time he feels safe. He is visiting villages in out-of-the-way places, far enough from the more dangerous zones in the larger cities.

He said there are more citizens there who are probably less accepting of the U.S. military.

"There are parts of the country, like Kabul, that are more westernized, more modern," Campbell said. "Down there it's more built up and all, but it's still pretty primitive here. There's no plumbing really and there's limited running water. Electricity is sparse in some areas or there's none in other areas."

He talked about limited phone services, but that is only for landlines.

Cell phones are a big deal in Afghanistan.

"They've been able to build up cell phone services here pretty quickly," he said. "It's pretty high speed."

The women mostly wear burkhas in the provinces he's visited. In Kabul and other larger cities, many of them prefer not to wear them and are not forced to do so. Either way, Campbell noticed, it is a male-dominated society.

"When the troops go into the villages, we tell them how important it is to respect the elders," he said. "If they invite you to sit, talk and have tea, you have tea with them. Just the fact they offer you tea is a big deal ... A lot of the troops here have learned that and are good with it.

"Sometimes when you see the women, they will turn from you and step aside," he continued. "When you speak to the elders, you ask them about the family, but you don't ask them about their wives. If they want to talk about their wives, they will. In America, people do that all the time ... But (in Afghanistan), it's not like you can go, 'How's the wife?' You don't do that."

Campbell, 58, moved to Weeki Wachee in 1989. After he left the sheriff's office, he spent some years "bouncing around," he said. He spent a year as a police officer at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport. He sold cars in Homosassa and was a newspaper delivery route manager.

He found out about overseas training programs, which suited his skills and experiences.

Since then, he has traveled to Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.

His latest trip to Afghanistan is his third job in the Muslim country.

The first time he was training members of the Afghanistan National Police. His second time was for a longer period - from 2005 to 2007. It was then he took part in a road-building project.

So far, it has been his most dangerous job. He was part of a security company that heads some of the road crews.

"The Taliban was still very strong at the time and they didn't want to road," Campbell said. "Crews were attacked."

His crew was attacked several times.

Campbell's life in Hernando County, he insists, is satisfying. He moved to the area for the weather, fishing and reasonable cost of living. He enjoys his moments at home. He just prefers to work, even if it takes him into the occasional war zone.

"I get home as often as I can," he said. "My family's OK with it. They know I can take care of myself and I don't take chances I don't need to take."