"This Troubled Ground" – Les Carroll

“This Troubled Ground” by is part memoir/part fiction. Les served our nation for 28 years, beginning with four years in the active duty Air Force and the remainder in the National Guard. He retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel in 2013. Dover Air Force Base is often the first domestic stop for the remains of the fallen coming from overseas. During the height of the Afghanistan War, President Obama changed the policies to allow families to have media presence if they wished. This required a public affairs team to be present on the ramp for the dignified transfer. Les was one of the first public affairs officers to arrive following the policy change and estimates he oversaw over 100 dignified transfers. He also participated in the dignified transfer of the team of CIA officers. Les emphasizes that “the job is NOT for everyone. You are going to witness some of the hardest things in your life.” His publisher calls “This Troubled Ground” an autobiographical novel. Les says it was the product of a combination of his experiences at Dover and his deployments to Afghanistan. While deployed he was attached to the International Security Assistance Force, facilitating interactions between our foreign allies and the Afghan media. He says for the most part he was privileged to work with some amazing leaders. An overriding theme of “This Troubled Ground” is the question of whether “Afghanistan was worth it?” The book takes us from a family member asking that question on the ramp at Dover to the second time Les deployed to Afghanistan. Even though he swore he would never go back, Les DID volunteer for a second deployment and suggests it was because he might have been searching for the answer to that question. Though “This Troubled Ground” is a fictional story, one of the families he met on the ramp at Dover specifically asked him to use the real name of their fallen son so that he wouldn’t be forgotten.