Ladies, Gentlemen, Dopers, and everything in between . . .
I am proud to announce the first post ever from Afghanistan, thus bringing yet another country into the light ‘o’ Cecil.
Yes, I’ve been here for a month or so now, but I just shelled out quite a few bucks to get an internet connection of my own (that the government won’t block out half of my favorite sites just because the word “hockey” seems to equate with “entertainment”), and thus can now deliver ‘frontline reports’ from an antiquated Soviet airbase at the foot of the Hindu Kush.
Well, in all honesty, I shelled out the dollars to finish an online course in my spare time, rather than hanging out in my office for 18 hours a day. Being able to post here again on my deployment is a fringe benefit.
So there you have it. Mark your calendars so you can tell your grandchildren where you were when you “heard from that guy, who posted something about Afghanistan.”
Tripler
::sniff:: This moment brings me to tears. . . ::sniff::
jfranchi, I’m current Active Duty Air Force (819th RED HORSE–combat engineers), and am up here to do some serious construction work. I’ve got one other Captain with me and three lieutenants, but my particular project is building facilities in a cleared landmine field. Good times all around.
GusNSpot, this commercial company opened up in the BX a few weeks ago providing private internet services. It’s too fast to be dial up, so I think it’s satellite. Whatever the hell it is, it’s better than playing cards all day on my day off.
Oh man, this base is so cool. I’ve already gotten my hands on a Soviet Officers’ “Fur Hat/Toque”. Hell, you can see old MiG engines in the minefields. There’s some wild sh*t here!
Tripler
. . . and plenty of Soviet landmines to go with.
The other day I posted to NADS from 11,000 metres above Afghanistan (the plane from Singapore to London had wireless broadband) but I didn’t post to the SDMB, and I’ve never been on the ground there. Nice one, and keep safe.
I haven’t gone “outside the wire” yet (my construction is on base), but the view here from any part of the base to the valley is absolutely gorgeous!. On a clear day, you can see the mountains–which climb from the airfield elevation of 4800 ft to 16,000 ft–snow capped and highlighted in the dawn and at sunset. It really, really is a gorgeous place!
For those interested, this base is rarely attacked with what I call “incoming over the wire” anymore. The last attack was something on the order of months ago, but that’s not to say it couldn’t happen. We’re happily employing a majority of the locals in the valley, and I doubt they’re likely to put up with any other locals forcing the base to close off any outside employment. The main threat here are landmines, primarily from the Soviets, but which were dug up and relaid by the Taliban, the Northern Alliance after that, Taliban again, Northern Alliance again, and vice versa again until coalition forces took the base in '03. There’s literally hundreds of thousands of them in the valley, and with all of the garbage strewn about it’s usually very tough to discern what’s “hot” and what’s not. Even though most of the area is marked, I’ve told my guys time and time again to assume it’s “hot” until it’s confirmed otherwise.
Beyond that, it’s cozy here. I can see why the communists invaded the place.
Tripler
I’m not kidding: imagine being on the front range of the Rocky Mountains.
It sounds amazing. Since the Hindu Kush is part of the Himalaya, I can vaguely imagine what it must be like, since I was at Everest earlier in the year. Post some pics if you can!
I hope it gets safe enough for you eventually to leave the compound and meet the people. I’m sure it will be an interesting, if not rewarding, experience.
The first doper in Afghanistan…you need to grab a flag and declare the country Dopestan. We’ll even let you be the first Exalted Ruler of Doperstan ( until the revolution).
Well let anyone person who has been banned or is about to be banned do the mine feild clearing.
How’s the weather?
Stay safe and land mines give me the willies.
Funny you should ask, Shirley. We just got 2" of snow . . . with another 4 - 6" predicted overnight. I hate snow. :mad:
But I’ll take some pictures soon, and post 'em (somehow). There’s ancient (well, ancient to me, anyway) mud huts to the East of the base, which are just fascinating. Too bad we can’t go into 'em and look around. . .
Tripler
It’s nighttime here now (GMT + 4.5hrs), but trust me, during the day the mountains are pretty.
Yes, it’s cleared to 6"–safe for foot traffic, vehicles, and the heavy equipment we’re using (bulldozers, graders, etc.). Just as a precaution though, everyone on equipment is still wearing their flak jacket and helmet in case there’s still something nasty underground. Even the EOD guys here admit that while it’s been cleared, only the Almighty himself knows if every little piece is safe. God forbid we do find something rather unfriendly, there’s solace in the fact that there’s 15 tons of bulldozer between the driver and the device.[sub]But if Cecil wants in on the “Almighty” bit and can assure me it’s cleared to 3-feet, I’ll still have to insist my guys wear their gear anyway. . . No offense, Sir.[/sub]
We really can’t go off base without a damned good reason, and even if we do, we’re wearing our gear and are armed to the teeth. There are convoys that do go down to Kabul every so often (it’s only 50 minutes away), but I doubt I’ll be on one. The base is still interesting though–plenty of Soviet influence to see, and lots of history in the valley to read about: Alexander the Great supposedly passed through this very valley back in the day.
But yes Duke, this is definitively. Let me put it this way: I did Thanksgiving in Balad, Iraq (even got attacked at dinnertime) and I vocalized that this year, I was thankful that I was in Iraq and not Clovis.
Tripler
I try to make sense of all the Russian signs and paperwork left behind, but it’s all Greek to me.
