About this column:
Walter J. Biner, a Scotch Plains-Fanwood native, writes about his experiences serving in Afghanistan as a captain in the United States Army. To contact Walter with any questions, suggestions or comments, email walter.j.biner@us.army.mil.I would like to start out by apologizing for the length of time it has been since my last column. Things have been busy where I am, to say they least, and many times I have chosen to sleep instead of write. I have, however, had time to think about what I would write about this time, and that topic is the people of Afghanistan and how their culture affects what we do here. Where I work, the people are Pashtun, which is the ethnic group that President Hamid Karzai belongs to. The area I am in can best be described as a mountainous desert. The people here are mostly farmers, or nomadic herders. …
My name is Walter J. Biner, and I am a captain in the United States Army. I am a graduate of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Class of 2003, and I still call this area home. Growing up, I worked at the JCC and the Highland Swim Club, I ran cross-country and track, and I participated in the student government at the high school. After graduating, I attended the University of Massachusetts on an Army ROTC scholarship. I continued running cross-country and track, and I earned a bachelor's degree in history. Upon graduation, I received a commission as an armor second lieutenant. I was …
