Apparently, it's Monday (14 Jan 2008). We actually arrived in Afghanistan (Bahgram AB) on Saturday night from Manas AB (Kyrgyzstan). Upon arrival we are considered transients because we are continuing "down-range." The flight from Manas was only two hours and I had hoped to sleep a bit because at that point I had only had about 4 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours or so (it's go, go, hurry, hurry, wait, wait). Let's just say, that I've never been so uncomfortable on a plane flight ever (even compared to my T-38 incentive ride when the instructor purposefully tried to get me sick!). I had plenty of room, but it was so loud and the side seat I was on just wasn't comfortable. I dosed for a few minutes, but the rest of the time I read a book about Karzai and just watched the other 200 troops sleeping - mouths gaping upward in exhausted bliss.
First order of business when we arrived to Bahgram was to get in-briefed to the ROEs (rules of engagement for the base) like if you wear your athletic gear, you have to keep your shirt tucked in and all customs and courtesies are in force (like saluting). I don't remember mentioning it or not, but there are very few field grade officers (Maj and abouve) around, so I and Lem are quite busy returning salutes. The next order of business was to get our gear (four bags at this piont, because we got two more bags at Manas full of Chem-gear and cold weather gear, which it seems we'll need). After about an hour searching for bags in the giant mass (refer to Manas photo for a repeat) there were about 6 of us that were missing some/all of our bags. Most likely, they would be coming in on the next flight from Manas in a couple of hours. While waiting for the bags, we took up at the nice warm USO facility - phone lines and wireless kept us going for a bit, and I've taken up drinking coffee to help stay warm.
That next flight was right on time and we got the rest of our bags and put them all in a staging area in the PAX (passenger transfer) terminal for our departure flight which was scheduled for 0230 (yes, that's two o'clock in the morning and just a couple of hours from when we retrieved our remaining bags.) So, we went to the chow hall for the midnight meal and then back to the USO to wait. Here's a shot of inside the USO - lots of people sitting around sleeping, phoning, watching TV.
BTW, if anyone is considering organizations to contribute to for charity - I highly recommend the USO. They have been a welcoming sight for us on this trip and an especially welcoming haven for the so many young soldiers coming and going. We boarded our C-17 plane on time and then sat on the runway with engines roaring for 5 hours, but not moving an inch. Just writing it so matter-of-factly does not and can not convey the surreal torture that it actually was. Apparently there was some sort of instrumentation problem, but they didn't take the time to tell us that until we asked. Again, another frustrated experience in which all our expectations to gain something from all the hurrying, and waiting, and waiting would actually come to fruition. But alas, thwarted again and still no sleep. The only positive thing about the experience was that we got to see the sun rise around Bahgram through the two little round windows in the cargo bay of the C-17. We had heard abou tthe mountain ranges and that they were so spectacular, but until that morning (yesterday?!!?? - I'm not sure) we had traveled only in the dark and didn't see any of the countrysides along our long travels. Let's just say, I've seen a lot of mountains, but the ranges around Bahgram and Kabul are truly amazing. Both locations are in valleys and are completely surrounded in all directions by mountains (I'm not sure how high). Bahgram and Kabul are in very flat areas and you can see for miles and then the mountains just rise steeply and immediately and they are quite jagged. I couldn't take any good pictures yet, but when I do, I will post them. Here's a couple of shots that probably doesn't do the entire range justice ... 
De-pallatize our gear - again ...
So, that flight was a bust and the next one out wasn't until 1230. While we waited, we went to the "village" located on Bahgram that had the familiar American fast food shops (Popeye's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, western-style coffee shops) intermingled with local merchants. It was truly a cosmopolitan feel with so many ethnic groups and cultures represented, but in a wild west or Star Wars Tatooine bar scene sort of way (for those of you that know of the show Firefly - that's what I'm talking about). And again, there are all the young soldiers carrying their rifles on there soldiers - laiden with the responsibilities that we have placed on them. Again, lots more saluting - my arm is getting tired, but it seemed to me that a lot of the kids seemed to like seeing some of "the brass" out and about. In addition to the salutes we'd get greetings like "all the way, sir" or the familiar "who-a."
Oh, one more thing about the village. Seeing all the fast-food joints I couldn't help but to think how incredibly un-mindful (insensitive may be too strong) it is of us to bring these aspects of our American culture to another country. I know it is woefully appreciated by our troops to have these familiarities and safer in some respects to relying on local arrangements, but it seems to me we could better our cause and build better trust by embracing the local customs and culture more. Just a personal thought. And then there's all the trash we make too with all that Americana - don't get me started on that ...
After getting another meal at the chow hall (tuna casserole for lunch) we boarded our flight to Kabul relatively on time, this only after having to drag all our gear to get palleted up again.
The actual flight time to Kabul is only 12 minutes long because it is only about 26 miles away to the SW of Bahgram. However, the total time to get the gear set, get on the plane (a C-130 this time), get the plane ready to go (system checks, etc.) and taxing - the "flight" took about 1.5 hours. But, as you probably can imagine, it would surely beat convoying on the only road that exists between the two cities!! Here's a picture of Lem and me - on the C-17 actually. 
I think I dosed off for about 7 minutes of the 12-minute flight ...
We arrived at Kabul Afghanistan International Airport (KAIA) or sometimes KIAA or KIA - depends on the sign at about 1700 (5:00 pm) local time - nearly a week from the start of our trip. The three of us were jazzed though to finally be here and we were running on strictly adrenaline and were severely sleep-deprived. We got our gear and our Army hosts picked us up to take us to our rooms.
The rooms are little "boxcars" about 7 feet wide and 18 feet long. Two rows of 8-10 of these are placed side-by-side with a hallway down the middle and then this setup is repeated for a second story of rooms. Our little boxcar complex is called the Blue Oyster (painted blue on the outside). Similar complexes adjacent are the Peach Pit and the Green Apple. We also have the Red Barn with phones and a computer cafe. The interiors are paneled and we have furniture and beds - really quite nice (and warm) compared to anything else we have encounted so far. And, there is a shared shower and toilet room on each floor, we have a pretty good wireless connection too.
First impressions of KIAA is that it is a complete hole - a dirty, dusty, up-scale shanty town of a place at the foot of majestic peaks. Again, think of any port of call in the show Firefly and you'll know what I mean ... The thing about KIAA is that althouth it is a very small base, it is an international base with some 20 countries represented - the U.S. being only one and only a small contingent at that. So, the chow hall has more international fare, there are Thai, French, and Afghan restaurants in addition to the chow hall and several bars that have been established by the various countries (it is American policy that we are not allowed to partake of any alcohol, but we can frequent the establishments).
Where we will actually be working - the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) across base - is supposed to be even worse as far as facilities go. After showering last night and getting settled into our rooms, it wasn't hard for us to fall asleep. We slept for a good 7 hours or so and the bed felt quite nice indeed. We don't have any responsibilities this morning, other than just getting oriented. We're going to head over to NMAA later today to see where we'll be working.
In all the time it took to get here, the biggest thing we craved was some routine schedule and confidence and comfort in that routine. I guess, in a way we had a routine (hurry up and wait!), but it will be nice to get a real routine going. Finally, we're here!
First order of business when we arrived to Bahgram was to get in-briefed to the ROEs (rules of engagement for the base) like if you wear your athletic gear, you have to keep your shirt tucked in and all customs and courtesies are in force (like saluting). I don't remember mentioning it or not, but there are very few field grade officers (Maj and abouve) around, so I and Lem are quite busy returning salutes. The next order of business was to get our gear (four bags at this piont, because we got two more bags at Manas full of Chem-gear and cold weather gear, which it seems we'll need). After about an hour searching for bags in the giant mass (refer to Manas photo for a repeat) there were about 6 of us that were missing some/all of our bags. Most likely, they would be coming in on the next flight from Manas in a couple of hours. While waiting for the bags, we took up at the nice warm USO facility - phone lines and wireless kept us going for a bit, and I've taken up drinking coffee to help stay warm.
That next flight was right on time and we got the rest of our bags and put them all in a staging area in the PAX (passenger transfer) terminal for our departure flight which was scheduled for 0230 (yes, that's two o'clock in the morning and just a couple of hours from when we retrieved our remaining bags.) So, we went to the chow hall for the midnight meal and then back to the USO to wait. Here's a shot of inside the USO - lots of people sitting around sleeping, phoning, watching TV.
BTW, if anyone is considering organizations to contribute to for charity - I highly recommend the USO. They have been a welcoming sight for us on this trip and an especially welcoming haven for the so many young soldiers coming and going. We boarded our C-17 plane on time and then sat on the runway with engines roaring for 5 hours, but not moving an inch. Just writing it so matter-of-factly does not and can not convey the surreal torture that it actually was. Apparently there was some sort of instrumentation problem, but they didn't take the time to tell us that until we asked. Again, another frustrated experience in which all our expectations to gain something from all the hurrying, and waiting, and waiting would actually come to fruition. But alas, thwarted again and still no sleep. The only positive thing about the experience was that we got to see the sun rise around Bahgram through the two little round windows in the cargo bay of the C-17. We had heard abou tthe mountain ranges and that they were so spectacular, but until that morning (yesterday?!!?? - I'm not sure) we had traveled only in the dark and didn't see any of the countrysides along our long travels. Let's just say, I've seen a lot of mountains, but the ranges around Bahgram and Kabul are truly amazing. Both locations are in valleys and are completely surrounded in all directions by mountains (I'm not sure how high). Bahgram and Kabul are in very flat areas and you can see for miles and then the mountains just rise steeply and immediately and they are quite jagged. I couldn't take any good pictures yet, but when I do, I will post them. Here's a couple of shots that probably doesn't do the entire range justice ... 
De-pallatize our gear - again ...So, that flight was a bust and the next one out wasn't until 1230. While we waited, we went to the "village" located on Bahgram that had the familiar American fast food shops (Popeye's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, western-style coffee shops) intermingled with local merchants. It was truly a cosmopolitan feel with so many ethnic groups and cultures represented, but in a wild west or Star Wars Tatooine bar scene sort of way (for those of you that know of the show Firefly - that's what I'm talking about). And again, there are all the young soldiers carrying their rifles on there soldiers - laiden with the responsibilities that we have placed on them. Again, lots more saluting - my arm is getting tired, but it seemed to me that a lot of the kids seemed to like seeing some of "the brass" out and about. In addition to the salutes we'd get greetings like "all the way, sir" or the familiar "who-a."
Oh, one more thing about the village. Seeing all the fast-food joints I couldn't help but to think how incredibly un-mindful (insensitive may be too strong) it is of us to bring these aspects of our American culture to another country. I know it is woefully appreciated by our troops to have these familiarities and safer in some respects to relying on local arrangements, but it seems to me we could better our cause and build better trust by embracing the local customs and culture more. Just a personal thought. And then there's all the trash we make too with all that Americana - don't get me started on that ...
After getting another meal at the chow hall (tuna casserole for lunch) we boarded our flight to Kabul relatively on time, this only after having to drag all our gear to get palleted up again.
The actual flight time to Kabul is only 12 minutes long because it is only about 26 miles away to the SW of Bahgram. However, the total time to get the gear set, get on the plane (a C-130 this time), get the plane ready to go (system checks, etc.) and taxing - the "flight" took about 1.5 hours. But, as you probably can imagine, it would surely beat convoying on the only road that exists between the two cities!! Here's a picture of Lem and me - on the C-17 actually. 
I think I dosed off for about 7 minutes of the 12-minute flight ...We arrived at Kabul Afghanistan International Airport (KAIA) or sometimes KIAA or KIA - depends on the sign at about 1700 (5:00 pm) local time - nearly a week from the start of our trip. The three of us were jazzed though to finally be here and we were running on strictly adrenaline and were severely sleep-deprived. We got our gear and our Army hosts picked us up to take us to our rooms.
The rooms are little "boxcars" about 7 feet wide and 18 feet long. Two rows of 8-10 of these are placed side-by-side with a hallway down the middle and then this setup is repeated for a second story of rooms. Our little boxcar complex is called the Blue Oyster (painted blue on the outside). Similar complexes adjacent are the Peach Pit and the Green Apple. We also have the Red Barn with phones and a computer cafe. The interiors are paneled and we have furniture and beds - really quite nice (and warm) compared to anything else we have encounted so far. And, there is a shared shower and toilet room on each floor, we have a pretty good wireless connection too.First impressions of KIAA is that it is a complete hole - a dirty, dusty, up-scale shanty town of a place at the foot of majestic peaks. Again, think of any port of call in the show Firefly and you'll know what I mean ... The thing about KIAA is that althouth it is a very small base, it is an international base with some 20 countries represented - the U.S. being only one and only a small contingent at that. So, the chow hall has more international fare, there are Thai, French, and Afghan restaurants in addition to the chow hall and several bars that have been established by the various countries (it is American policy that we are not allowed to partake of any alcohol, but we can frequent the establishments).
Where we will actually be working - the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) across base - is supposed to be even worse as far as facilities go. After showering last night and getting settled into our rooms, it wasn't hard for us to fall asleep. We slept for a good 7 hours or so and the bed felt quite nice indeed. We don't have any responsibilities this morning, other than just getting oriented. We're going to head over to NMAA later today to see where we'll be working.
In all the time it took to get here, the biggest thing we craved was some routine schedule and confidence and comfort in that routine. I guess, in a way we had a routine (hurry up and wait!), but it will be nice to get a real routine going. Finally, we're here!
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