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My appreciation for identifying and protecting cultural sites was developed
when I was conducting missions
in Macedonia. The US and UN were establishing a buffer zone between Macedonia
and Serbia.
It is a very historic and culturally rich area,
for example, out in the middle of nowhere were Medieval castles,
old Roman tiled roads, churches that pre-date the Renaissance,
and many monuments; many of these sites were just
open to walk through or if not knowing and not aware,
one could park on them. The locals knew of and respected the boundaries of the
sites, like an invisible fence, but the
average American soldier or international soldier didn't see the
invisible fence.
They didn't see the restrictions that existed. As an engineer officer
conducting humanitarian operations with all the goodwill in my heart,
with all the best wishes for the human population, I could face monumental
failure and cause irreparable bad will in the community
if my soldiers drove a Humvee, a dump truck, or anything
over what looked like a sandy road, but in reality the sand was a protection
device
for the old Roman road. These types of things lead me down
the road to appreciating engineer intelligence and trying to bring my peers
into an understanding that
the broader aspects of how the protection of critical infrastructure
needs to include the cultural infrastructure as well.
We cannot ensure the viability of a project without considering both.