IN EVERY ISSUE The Buzz
GI Joe
On almost any U.S. military base of any size in Iraq, Afghanistan, in Djibouti and elsewhere, a key reference point is the Green Beans coffee shop. Directions often sound like this: "You go down to the Green Beans and then two streets to the left."
Green Beans "is [like a] Starbucks that follows the military around," says Greg Grant, Government Executive correspondent who has taken three reporting trips to Iraq and two to Afghanistan between April 2003 and the summer of 2006. Often housed in CONEX (Container Express) shipping containers, the cafes transport a bit of America to service members abroad. Literally. Every coffee bean, napkin and cup served by the 55 shops in eight countries comes from the United States.
"Everything is shipped from our San Francisco warehouse," says Jason Araghi, president of Green Beans. "The containers are sealed in San Francisco and opened once they arrive in the base, eliminating the chance of any kind of tampering with the food product. We pay for all of our own logistics and shipping." Prices are American-style too, from $3.25 for a latte with a double espresso shot to about $5 for a mocha frappé with a quadruple shot.
Araghi says mochas are in demand in the winter and smoothies and frappés do best in the warmer months. Green Beans sells 300,000 pounds to 400,000 pounds of coffee a year. Folks at home can buy prepaid gift cards for their deployed loved ones in $20, $50 and $100 denominations. Araghi and his brother Jon, vice president of the company, opened the first gourmet coffee shop in Saudi Arabia, Art Nouveau Café, in 1996.
The buzz about the coffee spread to military officers at a nearby U.S. base in Eskan Village, and Army leaders invited the brothers to open a shop at the base. They did, the Air Force horned in, and in a year, they'd opened three more at Prince Sultan Air Base.
"We just expanded with the U.S. military after 9/11," says Araghi. "When we first started 10 years ago, there were no other companies out there doing this. We were the only source. Now, there are other players coming into the market, and it does become a competitive bidding system."
The brothers are bringing their success back home. A Green Beans Worldcafé will open in Fairfield, Calif., in late February or early March. Owned by the brothers, it will be a prototype store for the U.S. market. "We are hoping to use our military customer base to a springboard into the more diverse domestic coffee market," Araghi says. "The new look and feel is meant to attract a wider range of customers in a completely different environment. That said, we remain rooted in our military business and continue to give a percentage of our profits from all stores to charities that support wounded and fallen soldiers and their families." Starbucks, beware: The brothers are looking for franchisees.
Peacenik At Defense
Plumbing the thoughts of Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the new Pentagon pastime. A handy source is his book, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War (Simon & Schuster, 1996).In this passage, he could be describing his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld: "He was essentially at war with his senior managers, often the same people he appointed. There was a mutual lack of loyalty and trust. They would often stall when he called for change and find ways to circumvent his wishes. He, in turn, would find ways to override or go around them. . . . His failure to build a substantial internal constituency for his changes led to the reversal of his initiatives very quickly after his departure." In fact, Gates is detailing the failings of Stansfield Turner, CIA director from 1977 to 1981.
Given this section about Vietnam, is it surprising that Gates testified in January that U.S. troops could be coming home from Iraq by the end of 2007? "The war dominated everything by 1969. . . . I and virtually all my friends and acquaintances in CIA were opposed to the war and to any prolonged strategy for extracting us. Many from CIA marched in anti-war demonstrations at the Mall and at the Pentagon. My one and only was the May 9, 1970, demonstration after the U.S. military offensive in Cambodia." Special Forces troops gearing up for a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan this spring might want to review Army doctrine for the use of pack animals. Who can forget those photographs of dashing U.S. fighters on horseback accompanying Afghan warriors into battle? You might have thought this was an inspired innovation. But no, our soldiers don't grab the nearest equine and leap aboard. Like just about everything in the military, there's a prescribed way to handle beasts of burden. It's all in "Special Forces Use of Pack Animals," a 225-page field manual first made public in January by the Federation of American Scientists Web site, Secrecy News. The manual delineates the finer points of animal feeding, medical care and packing. There also are some particularly intriguing sections about the, well, personalities, of various animals. Mules, for example, "are intelligent and possess a strong sense of self-preservation. A packer cannot make a mule do something if the mule thinks it will get hurt." Llamas "have a delightful habit of coming close to sniff strangers. But despite your natural temptation to hug and cuddle them, they prefer not to be petted." Of special interest is the dromedary, or one-hump camel, found in Southwest Asia. Weighing 2,000 pounds, these "ships of the desert" can carry 600 to 700 pounds for 25 to 35 miles. Their habit of moving both feet on one side of the body, then both feet on the other, gives them a rolling gait that mimics a ship under sail. "Camels are clumsy-looking, rather ugly animals and have a lousy reputation because they are believed to spit and kick at people," the manual says. "This perception is not accurate because well-handled camels are safe to work with and be around."
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