KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – After almost three years in Afghanistan, an American is returning home.
Interpreter Sabour Raouf works as the cultural adviser and command linguist with the Regional Support Command-South at Kandahar Air Field. Looking back on his time here, the name of the unit hasn’t always been the same, but the job was always important.
“When I started with Afghan Regional Security Integration Command-South, we had the mentorship as well as the logistics side of the mission and we used to travel a lot and meet with the key Afghan military leaders and discuss the operations as well as the logistics,” Raouf said. “Then we started training the army and the police here in southern Afghanistan. So we used to meet these leaders on a weekly basis and discuss the mission with them so I got to know everybody and most of them are still in Southern Afghanistan.”
Having a close relationship with the local leaders has paid off for RSC-S as well as the Afghan National Army and Police.
“Sabour Raouf is without question the best linguist with whom I have worked in five countries and through five deployments,” said RSC-S commander, Col. Greg Baine. “Through his expertise, maturity, and understanding of the environment, he has developed relationships among senior ANA and ANP officials that have facilitated extremely smooth communications and significantly enhanced our operations. Sabour consistently demonstrated his expert knowledge of the tactical situation.
“He has a masterful ability to accurately translate not only words, but intent. Afghan National Security Force leaders trust him. Sabour’s professional demeanor and complete translations significantly increased the effectiveness of shuras (meetings) and key leader engagements.”
Raouf accompanied the commander on battlefield circulations and provided Baine with ready access to all senior Afghan officials because of the respect that the ANSF leadership has for him.
Raouf turned down positions in Kabul, in order to continue to make a difference on the ground in southern Afghanistan for the past three years.
Raouf is originally a native of Kabul, but he’s been a resident of New York City for almost 30 years. After a long career in accounting and mortgage brokering in 2008, the business was grinding to a halt. It was time for a change. As luck would have it, he had been receiving phone calls about becoming an interpreter in Afghanistan.
Starting out as a linguist didn’t come easy. On one of his first battlefield circulations, he began to translate for a visiting two-star general.
“He stood up and started talking to the crowd, thanking them for the great lunch he had. I got up and I repeated in English the same thing that the general just said. And he looked at me and he said, ‘Well, I just said that. You have to translate that in Dari.’ I’ll never forget that. People started laughing and I started translating back in Dari.”
Despite a rocky start, Raouf takes great pride in what he’s accomplished in Afghanistan.
“I definitely think this is a great thing for all the Afghans who live abroad, to come and help their people and try to make a difference. The people are great. We had good teams here, working hard every day, traveling and doing things.”
In a few days he’ll make the trip home that Soldiers anxiously await.
“The hardest part is being away from the family. We’re here six months and then we go home for two weeks. Two weeks is not enough to go home. Because we stay here for a longer period of time than the army or air force or coalition service,” said Raouf.
“Soldiers that come here, they serve for six or 12 months. But for us, it’s a longer period of time. Going home for two weeks, it’s not enough. It goes by so fast and then you have to come back. That’s the tough part.”
Raouf, however, will be able to enjoy his homecoming as long as he wants. His next career move is still up in the air.
“I’ll take a couple of weeks off maybe and then I have to look for another job. I will try to land a job in the same field, linguist either in Virginia or Washington or somewhere else. That’s the plan. Hopefully it will work,” he said with a smile.
| Date Taken: |
05.31.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
05.31.2011 11:38 |
| Story ID: |
71368 |
| Location: |
KANDAHAR, AF |
| Web Views: |
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