Sayonara Kabul

Well, today was pretty much my last day here. We had a nice farewell luncheon with most of the team (picture below). I'll finish up a few things tomorrow and then head to Bagram the day after.

I had a nice meeting with a few colleagues tonight. Actually the new Greek group at KAIA (base I'm at) who have only been here since the first of the month. Somehow I evidently 'made an impression' on them, or maybe it's just their inherent hospitality. But they bought me a soda, traded emails and gave me a small parting gift (something I'll have to enjoy at home). It was really very nice and got me thinking about a quick trip to Greece (I can still get to Souda Bay for free on a military flight once I'm at home).

Also amongst them was Heida, from the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU). The ICRU is a division of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the closest thing to a military they have. Heida does four months here at KAIA, then four months at home (vacation) before returning to the same job at KAIA for another four months. Her and another guy have been doing this for the past 2 and a half years, with plans for another two years. They both love it and they provide KAIA with a lot of historical expertise.

Finally, I was talking with Thomas from Luxembourg. Luxembourg's entire military is about 1,000 soldiers strong, with precisely 9 here in KAIA (and Afghanistan in total) and 25 in Bosnia. It just amazes me that Thomas' only wish (okay, not only wish, but one of them) was for the military to be a bit bigger so that they could do more frequent (and larger) rotations as part of NATO. Anyway, interesting night.

Bagram, here I come...(as long as the aircraft doesn't break before Saturday)

Last days in Kabul

So I figured I'd get in a quick update. I stayed an extra few hours at work (it's now just past midnight) pretty much finishing up the last of my work duties. Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll start checking out (about 20 different signatures required on a a piece of paper), mail out my last box of stuff and attend a little 'Farewell get together'. Friday I'll finish packing up (it's our typical half day anyway) and finish last minute business before I leave Kabul on Saturday (assuming no aircraft issues)

It's a bit exciting to be winding down at work, though it's still a week from leaving here and a couple weeks from finally being home. But at least it's getting closer.

That's about it; I'll post once more before leaving here. Below is a picture of Simon (Team UK; recently replaced Gordon) and two local gentlemen who work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where we do some of our business. Kind of a crappy picture, but I got a kick out of it (in the shadowy basement of the building they work in, actual attitudes bear no resemblance to this picture, etc). Anyway, g'nite.

Packing

It's amazing to find out how much 'stuff' you've acquired in a pretty short amount of time. To be fair, I had to come out here with a lot of gear and have received many nice things from care packages from friends and family (and strangers). But as I start to go through stuff, as I know it will take some time to sort throught everything, you always wonder why you kept a random piece of wood for the past 5 months, always intending to turn it in to a magnificent shelf. Do I part with it now? Or do I give it to my replacement in hopes he will finish the task I left undone? He'll probably think I'm just weird, so I'm trying to throw out many things like this.

I have two sea bags already packed and inventoried with gear I haven't needed thus far and certainly won't need in the next month. Stuff like biological response gear (gas mask, suit, gloves, etc in case of a chemical/biological attack) and plenty of cold weather gear (parkas, long johns and more gloves). Of course all of this prep and organization will be for not, as I'm sure when I arrive in Kuwait I'll have to hurriedly dump everything out for customs inspections. Oh well.

Did I tell you I'm not looking forward to lugging around like 5 full sea bags? And it's not like I have to do it just once. I'll have to do it at least three times; in Bagram, Kuwait and back in the States (including moving over from the military contracted flight to some small commercial carrier). At least I'll be on my way home.

Anyway, that's my thought for tonight. Probably only have one more post in me before I leave Kabul, as I focus on finishing up work, turning over to my replacement (not in yet) and packing up.

Don't have any new pictures, so I found this old one of the 'CJ4 Battle Wagon'. She's quite a beauty!

Winding down

So things here are winding down a bit. I'm officially less than 2 weeks left in Kabul. I must add that it will take me another week between when I leave Kabul and when I arrive in the States; but less than 2 weeks of work left, nonetheless.

Today we had our farewell for Gordon (Team UK) who leaves here tomorrow. His replacement, Simon, is in and accompanied me the last few days on a Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) trip. It will be quite a change to say the least.

Also, unexpectantly, Bruno (Team France) broke his leg while on a TAD trip to Mazar-e-Sharif (picture below). They have some wicked concrete culverts around the base, and it's very dark at night. Guess he made a bad step and cracked his leg pretty good (compound break in 3 different places). So he will be returning to France early, probably sometime this week. We visited him at the hospital here in Kabul (the accident happened yesterday and he arrived in Kabul today). He sure isn't happy; but we did our best to lift his spirits.

So between Gordon and Bruno leaving, as well as myself in 2 weeks or so, we'll have quite the turnover here. Add in the terrible news about the Polish President and it's been an interesting / somewhat somber last day or two.

Anyway, another day closer....

Weird weather and one big aeroplane

Okay, just a quick post tonight and a couple of pictures. First, we've had some freaky, short hail storms the past two days. It's cooled things off here and it certainly clears the air for a bit, so no complaints from me.

Secondly, we had an Antonov-225 here today. I guess I could say the Antonov-225, as there's only one in the world. It's pretty darn big and it's amazing that thing can get in the air. It brought in some helicopters (note the plural 'helicopters') for somebody.

Alright, that's about it for tonight.

The last month

I must start out by saying that I can now say "I'm leaving here this month", which is never a bad thing. I'm scheduled to leave Kabul on the 24th (of course it'll take another week or so before I'm back in the States), so it's all about turning over things at work and trying to wind things down.

Anyway, on top of that, April 1st was a bit of a busy day here. First, control of KAIA (base where I'm at) was turned over from the Spanish contingent to a Greek unit. Nothing too major there (aside from seeing many more Greeks around base and fewer Spanish) but it's always interesting to see subtle differences in leadership/management styles and it was a bit sad to see some of the Spanish guys go (they weren't too sad to be leaving!)

Also today, two major contracts here on base switched contractors. Our laundry service is now provided by Sodexo (instead of Ecolog). That means new laundry bags (much smaller) and new turn-in/pick-up procedures (scan a barcoded card, etc). Nice to see the local workers stayed the same, just a new shirt for them and they say they get paid a little better.

The other contract that turned over is the 'Integrated Logistics Services' or ILS contract; KBR-UK took over for Supreme. The biggest change there is the new menu and DFAC (cafeteria or chow hall) operations, with much better food already today. ILS also includes building/vehicle maintenance, garbage collection, general cleaning and I'm sure some other things. KBR-UK brought in their own folks (mostly Sri Lankans; NATO/World heath regulations prevent local Afghans from handling/serving food due to immunizations, etc). The past week or so, the base has been really crowded (both KBR-UK and Supreme workers, as well as the Greek and Spanish contingent) so it should really thin out now over the next couple days.

Guess that's probably not big news to anyone else; just what's been going on around here lately.

I guess I'll just post a random smattering of some vehicles I took while in Mazar-e-Sharif.

The grind continues....

So, another day here and not much different. Things at work are picking up a bit, which is a good thing since it makes the time go by faster. Larry (Team USA) left for two weeks of R&R (rest and recuperation leave) back in Germany (where he's stationed and his family is). Can't remember if I've already covered this, but R&R policies between countries is a bit interesting. For Team USA, you get 2 weeks for 12 months deployed. Hence why I do not get any (only a six month deployment). On the other end of the spectrum is Team Norway who get four weeks (on up to three different trips) for a six month deployment. So you throw a couple of travel days on either end of each trip and the Norwegians are gone for six weeks out of their six month deployment. On top of that, they get paid something ridiculous like an extra 300 Euros ($500) per day. Not too shabby.

Tonight we did have a USO Tour stop through. Again, one of my favorite charities. Rose McGowan (Gilmore Girls, I think), 'Tony' and 'Paule' from the Sopranos, and a New Orleans Saints football player (an offensive linemen who didn't even have his Super Bowl ring) were on this trip. As always, despite jetlag and general exhaustion, they put on their best show and graciously signed autographs and took pictures. Always nice for any break in the monotony here.

I traded Bruno (Team France) an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) for one of the French rations. I'll have to get a picture here soon and post. It cracks me up as it's relatively big and heavy because "we must have our wine" as Bruno tells me. I think I'll bring this one home and have a romantic MRE dinner with the wife.

Anyway, apologize for the random and 'non-flowing' thoughts. Oh, thank you Sebastian, Cheryl and Melissa for posting a comment; nice to know someone is bored enough to read this :)

I'll post a few pictures tonight while the connection is good. One is me and Paule from the USO tour tonight. One is a couple of local 'Afghani muts' who call KAIA home. And the last two is of our wonderous NATO medal parade which I'll have to explain more on another post. Hopefully you can figure out which picture is which :)