Afghanistan Update, Issue II

[Alhazen]

We left Kyrgystan on an air force C-17 Globemaster aircraft, loaded up inside like paratroopers in a world war II movie, holding our bags and stuff in our laps. The inside of the bird is skeletal and full of wires and stuff, and is really loud, especially when the engines whine up. The take off is intense, with a rapid acceleration and nearly vertical climb. We flew into afghanistan at 735 miles per hour. When it lands, the aircraft circles in a giant corkscrew pattern, turning round and round.

We got out at Khandahar air field, or KAF, the center of coalition operations in southern Afghanistan. When we first emptied the plane, I was surprised at how normal things looked. If youve ever been to Arizona, it looks just like that. Feels about the same too, nice cool, dry air. Mountains in the distance, flat brown horizon. KAF is a huge place, the base is miles of gravel roads, Hesco barrier walls, telephone wire, freight trailers, concrete and metal buildings, and rows of tents. Soldiers from Canada, Britain, Australia, Romania, New Zealand, France, and other countries all walk around with their own vehicles and equipment. there are a few old buildings that were bombed out when the war started and the American forces first radied the airfield. The admin building is called the TLS (Taliban Last Stand) because it is where taliban fighters defended in place for 5 hours after the rest of the field was taken over.

Khandahar was surreal. Just outside the wire, there are car bombs and people who want to kill you. Inside it was compeltely different, people grilling, playing volleyball, sunbathing..So many units and countries its basically a small city of its own.

Took a couple of days, but I got bumped up to get a flight out of that place to my final destination on the 14th. The chalk was two chinooks and an apache escort. It was cold as hell when we left that night, and very dark. The chinooks are known as "shit-hooks", and they earn the name. They rattle, are very drafty, and break down constantly. Packed in as tightly as we were, if anything happened we all would have been dead. We left with about 30 people, a shitload of bags, and two dogs. The crew had a machine gunner on each side and we flew blacked out of course. Flying over the afghan mountains at night was disturbing, especially when we started seeing tracer rounds in the hills as taliban guys tried taking popshots at us as we passed. Every valley the machine gunner would open up and fire some bursts to deter them.

Luckily we landed safely enough in Zabol province at FOB Laghman. Now Im here, and finally settled in. Laghman isnt bad, its built up on a rocky outcrop north of the capital town o f Qalat.Its basically a little dirt castle, with towers and central buildings for different purposes. Theres a nice gym in dirt walled builing, a small internet place with some phones which ill never use since i have them in my office. we have a bazaar where afghani vendors try their best to haggle with you and sell you all kinds of shit, from cheap watches to antiques, hand made carpets and pillow cases to 18th century muskets. The children are cool, they speak english well and are funny as hell trying to get you to buy stuff. The black market dvds are cool, u can get like 5 or 6 movies for 2 bucks, new releases stuff. My new "house" isnt bad either.. being in the intelligence cell is nice, we have a wooden shack big enough for 6 people with only 4 living in it. we've got heaters, A/C, a refrigerator, carpets, beds, and lockers and a nightstand and stuff. not bad at all...we're working on getting some internet hooked up in the room too. Work has been busy, we have a pretty nice office adjacent to the TOC.. Got 9 detainees just lats night and interviewed them all, marked the evidence and processed them for intel. Its gonna be an exciting year or however long, it seems.

Gotta go, getting sleepy, but ill update again in a few days

[Singleton Mosby]

I would like to see Afghanistan once on a vacation (in the far, far future), maybe best to join the US army, doesn't sound that bad.

And could you send me one of those 18th century musktes? They are beautifull

Nice to hear (read) from you once more and I hope there will not be too much trouble.

[stnylan]

Good to hear you are still with us. Long may that continue.

[Mettermrck]

Hey, Alhazen! Glad you're still hanging in there!

[cthulhu]

Nice to hear from you, Alhazen. It's fascinating to read about your stay in Afghanistan. Quite the contrast to the average forum member's typical day.