Greetings from Kabul

Hello! Greetings from the Afghanistan Engineer District in Kabul, Afghanistan. I arrived here day before yesterday via "hardened vehicle" from Bagram AFB. My first experience with the "road" network in the 5th poorest nation on Earth. I'm now convinced that battle with the Taliban is a much safer endeavor than driving on the roads here. :-) I was squeezed into the back seat of an up-armored pick up truck in body armor and helmet. And I do mean "squeezed." I barely fit and the idea of even being able to reach my weapon, let alone unholster it and fire it if we took any fire wasn't even a consideration. When I mentioned to the driver that I didn't have any clips and ammunition on me and wouldn't that be a good thing to have at this time I was told not to worry about it as he and the front seat guy had enough hardware to deal with any unexpected events. Okay......

The SOP is to drive really fast, not stop for anything, and weave around and through the traffic while communicating with the vehicle behind you so it can stay close. The condition of the road ranged from barely passable to almost okay - lots of potholes, no center line, small children and various people on bikes and on foot walking along the shoulders of the road, us passing trucks and dodging oncoming traffic which didn't really notice that driving towards us in the middle of the road was not a real safe thing to do. I just held on and said my prayers thankful that I had my helmet on tight as I was repeatedly bounced off the ceiling of the cab. It took us about an hour to reach Kabul and 2 days for my concussion to subside...


The country in this area reminded me a great deal of the terrain around Ft. Bliss - sparse vegetation and low mountains and hills all around. I kept waiting for my old First Sergeant from Bliss, Ben Lebron, to pop and scream four letter words at the troops and I'd realize I really was back in Texas. Similar weather to Colorado -hot days and cold nights as we're at 6000 feet elevation here. Have had lots of sinus trouble the whole trip from the States due to constantly changing weather conditions and areas with lots of dust in the air. Took a Benadryl last night and that seems to have done the trick - some good sleep helped too.

The Engineer compound here used to be the Iraqi embassy. It's well protected - high walls, razor wire, cameras, etc. with Afghan guards armed with AK-47's providing security. When you get inside it feels like you've arrived in the courtyard of a mediteranean villa - really very cozy. Lot's of construction going on inside the compound - the Engineers love building things which is a good thing because they usually make themselves very comfortable wherever they put down roots. The food here is awesome - mixture of local specialties and U.S. style foods and the cooks are super. I understand how people can gain weight. Too bad my stay here is only temporary as I'm slated to head North to Kunduz after I'm fully inprocessed here. Lots of DA civilians here - they outnumber the military probably 2 to 1.

Word is I'll be staying at the German compound in Kunduz which seems to have a good reputation. For once the military actually studied my background and saw that I spoke some German, hence I was tapped for that assignment. (My son would disagree, however, as my grammar is pretty awful after years of not speaking the language much) My commander here looks like a really clever comic that had a TV show years ago - his name was John Byner I think. I keep waiting for him to break out in a monologue. Seems like a very low-key, competent commander with lots of common sense. Haven't had my initial sit down with him yet but that will happen before I head up North. Looks like my initial projects will be finishing the bridge into Tajikistan and working on an Afghan Military Barracks. 
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All the military here are armed 24/7 with loaded clips in the weapons - another reason no alcohol is allowed....(hey man - were you looking at my girlfriend's picture!, why you SOB....bang, bang, bang-bang) and we have to be in helmet and body armor anytime we leave the compound, even if it's just to cross the street to an adjoining compound. The North of the Country is supposed to be fairly quiet, so Mom can relax. However, the Germans were on a foot patrol a while back thru the local bazaar and a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up in the middle of the patrol causing some casualties. So don't expect me to go shopping for any Afghan rugs while I'm here....you can order them on line. Don't know if it made the papers back home but they also kidnapped 2 Italians who were rescued today by Special Forces troops - the Italians were wounded in the exchange but it sure beats having your head mailed home in a seperate box. I get the impression the majority of the population here likes us and are grateful for the rebuilding we're doing for them. Unfortunately, there are evil men everywhere and Afghanistan has its fair share too. The impression is they are targeting the European troops since they were able to drive the South Koreans out by kidnapping their citizens and think they can do it with some of the other foreign troops too.


I'd attach some more pictures but I'm alone in my room and without a real adult around to supervise me all I'll be able to accomplish by trying is to melt down the entire secure computer network for Operation Enduring Freedom. Maybe one of the IT guys will feel sorry for me and I can send them later. Picture mom home alone with 3 TV remotes......nothing good can come of it. ;-)