We were supposed to fly to Kabul this morning but the flight got cancelled. It was pretty foggy so I guess the crew from Kabul couldn't come get us. The plane finally arrived around 1100. It was a small fixed wing prop plane with a British crew. They dropped off some people and weren't going to let us on because we weren't on their manifest. After a few phone calls we got the OK and boarded. Here is how a ride from Bagram to Kabul is done: 1. Input the coordinates to Kabul airport in the Garmin GPS (I'm not kidding, it was a little bigger than a car Garmin and showed terrain instead of roads). 2. Take off. 3. Climb hard and fast while making a sharp U-Turn as soon you are sure your wing won't hit the runway. (ok, I exaggerate a little on the height before the u-turn, but not by much). 4. Keep climb until your get over the top of the mountain. 5. Once over the top of the mountain point the nose down. But make sure you clear the next ridge in front of Kabul. 6. Once over the ridge bank left. 7. Perform a 1/2 circle to the right. 8. Land on the runway (20 minute flight). 9. Slam on the brakes because you almost missed your turn off the runway, however you do make the turn (give yourself a pat on the back). That's it, anyone can do it :)
The fun part of the flight was that no one arranged for Force Protection to pick us up. So we waited next to the plane just off the runway for 1.5 hours. The pictures above (L to R) are of the area around Kabul, me waiting next to the plane, me in front of the military helicopter graveyard (I think), and the area across the runway and how closer we were to the runway. No airport security there. Notice the guy to the right clean the helicopter blades. That must be his only job because that was all he did the whole time we were there.
Once force protection arrived we climbed into the up-armored Suburban and Expidition. I was the only person in my truck other than the driver and shooter. So my safety breifing was basically 1. Don't open the doors no matter what. 2. If the driver is hit, pull him out of the way so the shooter has a clear shot. 3 Take the M-4, load and defend. 4. Next, take the 9mm and hit the red button to call for help. Then we took off.
We've all read and seen pictures about poor place and deplorable living conditions. Well, they have it here, at least on the way to Qalaal House (Corps Headquarters). There were destroyed homes/buildings along the perimeter of the airport. The guardtowers/lookouts were basically CMUs stacked with a machine gun and shooter behind them. All the buildings are made of mud bricks or CMU and a stucco of some sort. For the most part they were all rundown or half destroyed. Cows were stacked in empty lots. There were alot of peddlers along the road selling mostly food or some sort of pots. There were kids everywhere. Some had backpacks. I don't know how many actually go to school, but 1:30 in the afternoon they were all out in the street. There is a ton of people in general out milling around.
After passing through about 8 checkpoints/drop arms we arrived at Qalaal House. Nothing exciting to report here. Just a lot of buildings in a really small space, an acre or two. I have training for a few more days and then hopefully I'll catch a transport to Shank on Saturday.
That's about it for now.
HOME FRONT UPDATE: Sera was horrified about the video I sent her of the bidet and how it operated. She was relieved when I showed her that I had roll of toilet paper. This morning I emailed her and told her that in Afghanistan people use their left hand to wipe their booty and it was offensive to them if you used your left hand for anything. You always have to use your right hand. Katy said she had a look of terror on her face that transformed to panic and she said "How's Daddy going to go 3 months with one roll of toilet paper?!".
OUT.
