Field Notes
About
Dr. Jeff Armstrong worked for seven years (2012-2018) in Afghanistan, first as Senior Manager for Associate Degrees and as Senior Manager for Academic Leadership and most recently as Senior International Advisor to the Ministry for Higher Education, all as part of USAID cooperative agreements. Dr. Armstrong was granted a two-year leave of absence from EICC to work in Afghanistan. Previous to his experience in Afghanistan, Dr. Armstrong served in various positions at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, most recently as Vice Chancellor for Education and Facilities, in addition he served as campus President and Dean of the College at Muscatine Community College one of the three EICC campuses. His career at the Eastern Iowa Community Colleges spanned 33 years. In addition, he served as the Chief Academic Officer for EICC, 1994-2010. He also served as Provost of the Northeast Iowa Community College, 2014-2015, before returning to Afghanistan. He has been involved in numerous international activities supporting the development of community colleges, workforce development and market-oriented institutions of higher education. Most recently, Dr. Armstrong spent 2019 in Erbil, Iraq working for the British Council as an International Advisor on a variety of projects.
Dr. Armstrong earned the EICC Chancellor’s Award, the Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished Administrator Award, the Muscatine High School Hall of Honor Award as well as being awarded an honorary doctorate by Ivan-Franko Pedagogical University (Drohobych, Ukraine).
Entries in these journals or Field Notes were made every day I was on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq. Most entries are trivial observations about life in a “war zone” or more profound. My opinions about organizations etc., are my own and should be taken with a grain of salt. The reader will notice entries about my health beginning in 2016 and continuing through 2019. I was diagnosed with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma in September 2020. I left Iraq in December 2019 and the British Council closed their office in January 2020 due to security issues and then later COVID-19.
The web page represents a kind of archive and place holder for the Field Notes and anything else I may write between now and the inevitable. I’ve included some recent poems and the songs, my friend Tim McFate turned into music. I am impressed by his ability to take my words and make them something else.