Kandahar, finally

Well, Followers, I am here. I arrived in Kandahar on July 19. Let’s start with the flight in. As you may remember my numerous diatribes regarding battle rattle, this was another fine opportunity to test our mettle. Me and one other person from my team were lucky enough to get seats on a C-130 aircraft with approximately 65 of our Army brethren. I know many of you have never flown on a military aircraft, let alone a C-130. Let me set the scene. There are no seats, per se; they call them jump seats. Similar in comfort to a lawn chair; stretched cloth seat with a webbing back. They set them up along the outer walls and back-to-back down the center of the plane, essentially two rows facing each other. The distance from the front of one seat to the front of another is, I’d say, about 24”. It is very difficult to sit right across from one another; you sort of have to interlock knees. A C-130 will carry about 40 people relatively comfortably – you can get up and move around. We had just under 70 and we were wearing our gear. I had my computer back-pack as a carry on. Most of the Army guys had their rucksack (think back-pack on steroids). It was tight. All I could do was stand up and twist by body to stretch. We were like that for three hours. The approach/landing into Kandahar was quite the ride also. They do a “tactical approach”, which is the closest thing a C-130 can do to dive-bombing. We went into a hard left downward spiral. Thank God for Dramamine! ‘Cause I surely would have lost it.

As I mentioned in some e-mails to folks, Kandahar airfield (KAF) is hot and dusty. Every day since I’ve arrived has been over 100 degrees. It hit 110 the other day. I sweat just standing still. Luckily our office spaces are air conditioned. It is also very dry. With all the vehicles driving around, the dirt is crushed into a powder the consistency of talcum powder. And it gets everywhere. My boots look white, not the nice suede tan. But by far the worst thing here is the smell. The “poop pond” – waste water treatment plant evaporation lagoon - is rather close to the modular housing. Now everybody has smelled poop before, but imagine the stench from over 15,000 people. The plant was originally designed for about 9,000 people, so it is overburdened. At times, depending on the wind and time of day, it’s nauseating. There is a new water treatment plant in the works, but it won’t be on line while I am here.

Our office space is fabricated from some steel shipping containers stacked together. Each has a door and window cut into it and a split a/c unit installed. They are comfortable, but small, so we’re cozy. We’ve been starting at 0730 and go until you’ve had enough, which for the most part has been after 2100 (9:00 pm). There is really nothing else to do. There are gyms and a “boardwalk” which has shops and such - Pizza Hut, Tommy Horton’s, Burger King, and Subway along with some trinket shops. They offer some distractions, but we’re staying busy trying to keep up with the projects around here. I’ll go into that in a future post. I should also have some pictures to post soon. So until next time, take care!

-Dave