5 Years in Kabul:  Everything My Children Won't Find in Their Textbooks
Nov 29, 2022 11:45 AM
Nick Miller @DMGCC
5 Years in Kabul: Everything My Children Won't Find in Their Textbooks

Meeting location at Des Moines Golf and Country Club (thank you for hosting us!)

Address (click for driving directions):
Des Moines Golf & Country Club
1600 Jordan Creek Pkwy
West Des Moines, IA 50266

 

Speaker Bio:
 

We know we were "there," and we know that one day, we suddenly "weren't there," but what did it really look like?  Who was involved in what, how did daily operations proceed, where did all the money go, and what interesting tidbits never made the national/global news cycle?  US Embassy Kabul was a fantastic cultural microcosm.  The nightlife was more akin to College2.0 than you'd think, with a very real security threat looming that could sometimes instill fear, but more often offer a sexy bullet point on a resume and a scintillating backdrop to an otherwise dusty, destitute foreign land.  It was my job to analyze threats, prepare for all conceivable dangerous situations, and gently control the movements of US diplomats/aides so that I could best protect them from harm and embarrassment. 
Bio: 
Nick is a former Force Recon Marine, having served two tours in Iraq in '04/'06.  He left the Corps to pursue a career in education and earned a degree from ISU.  After only one year teaching he decided to pursue a significantly better salary in private security as a Protective Security Specialist/EMT.  During his time in Kabul he worked for almost every team on the Diplomatic Security program at US Embassy Kabul, constantly training in tactics and educating his teams in tactical medicine.  He personally protected everyone from the US Ambassador down to the lowliest paper pusher, often including the SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction).  Nick left security in early 2020 and has been teaching Tactical Medicine internationally since.  When Nick isn't working he enjoys getting lost in the mountains, over and over again.  He secretly loves FaceTiming his mother from the tops of mountains so that she can also see the incredible views.