Sunday, July 31, 2011

Busy Skies


Kandahar Airfield is the busiest military airfield in the world. Planes and helicopters take off and land around the clock. When I talk to Bret I can hear them in the background. Between the generators, the aircraft and the firing range just outside 'the wire', it is a very noisy place.
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Only 30 years apart!


This is Bret with a 2nd LT that he met at Chapel. He is a West Point grad class of 2010 (and, it appears, very, very tall).
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Hooah

I emailed this photo a while ago but I think it's my favorite. When I look at it I know immediately why Bret is enjoying his time 'in the sandbox'.


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New and Improved Hot Metal Box (I mean, bedroom)

This is one view of Bret's new and improved room-yes-it is so big he had to take photos from a couple angles. Notice his clothes folded next to his bed. They are sitting on the box spring since he has a queen size box spring (courtesy of the previous tenant) but only a twin mattress (courtesy of the Dept of Defense... your tax dollars at work). He's grateful for the 'shelf space' on the box spring because his room doesn't have a wall locker he would normally store his clothes in. It does, however, have an old gym style locker with hooks so he can store his work out clothes in that. He normally keeps his clothes covered with an extra sheet to keep the dust off them.
Notice he also has a window behind the headboard. It is currently covered to keep out the sun and the heat (and for privacy since people walk right outside).

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A new fridge!



BIG SCORE! Bret got a refrigerator to have in his 'Deep South' office (the container that's out near where the new supply yards are moving to). He chose instead to put it in his room. A bathroom, two windows and a fridge. really, what more does he need? (Except his family).
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Free water and blast walls

Here is a shot of some of the free water that is everywhere. Behind it you can see some of the blast walls that surround buildings. Apparently the rainy season starts in November.. Bret hears it is a mess.




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The Boardwalk

This is "The Boardwalk'. There are little shops here (on Saturdays the Afghans are allowed in and they sell their wares like at a bazaar). There are also some American concessions like KFC as well as stores that cater to other countries (Canada, France etc). All the soldiers have patches on their sleeve that says ISAF which stands for International Security Assistance Force, a NATO operation. Their other sleeve has a patch of the flag of the country they represent. The Boardwalk surrounds an area that is used for sporting events.
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Storage containers and rats


Even though 150 containers are refrigerated, there are a lot more that aren't but still contain food products. Bret asked if there were any problems with 'pests'. It turns out there is a whole unit devoted to controlling pests on base (there are some really big spiders among other things). One container that had been in Kuwait for a while finally arrived at KAF and when it was opened a whole bunch of rats came running out... that's disgusting.
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Chapel

Here is a picture of a service in the 'Chapel". Bret loves being able to slip away from his duties and attend chapel. If it weren't for chapel on Sundays, I would think it would be really easy to forget what day it was. It's like Groundhog Day, every day is just like the day before...
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Supply yard


This is part of the supply yard. There are (something like) 600 containers of which about 150 are refrigerated. The supply yard was originally at the edge of the base but the base has grown so much it's now closer to the middle. Since the supply yards are one of Bret's responsibilities he is currently working on a project to move the yard to another part of the base, again, on the outskirts. They have to make sure everything is in place (especially electrical and generators) before they move. the move was scheduled to take place Nov-Jan but it's been moved up to begin in Sept so they are hustling.
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Spacious! (containerized housing unit)

This view of  Bret's room was taken from the bed. It's at least twice as long as his first room. The door on the right leads outside and the door straight ahead leads to the shared bathroom (now he doesn't have to make midnight trips outside, downstairs and around the corner to go potty-luxury)! And remember, a lot of the people (and maybe all the troops) sleep in giant tents-about 40 bunk beds to a tent. You won't hear Bret complaining!



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