What's it like here?

Well, I've been here awhile, and I'm sure everyone is curious what it's like.

How to describe life here? Well, the first challenge when you arrive here is adjusting to the time. I work the "Day" shift. That means my schedule is as follows (adjust it as needed to your time zone):

2315Z - Wake Up
0000Z - PT
0100Z - Personal Time for Hygiene (Shower)
0330Z - Breakfast
0400Z - Work
Lunch is anytime between 0730 and 1000Z.
I usually get off work around 1300Z. Can work until 1500Z.
Usually in bed by about 1600Z or 1700Z.

So, what makes the time interesting is the Zulu part. For example, PT is at the equivalent of dawn, but the watch says midnight. Going to bed at 4 in the afternoon gets a little disconcerting.


Temperature. It's above 100 most days. 0% Humidity. Very, very dry. Not a cloud, not a wisp in the sky. Can see for miles. At night, it gets downright chilly. It's very windy here, especially during the summer months.

Dust. It's everywhere. It gets into everything, and there's no avoiding it. Had the start of my first dust storm today. Normally, I can see mountains that are miles away, and even see the flight line, which is half a mile away. Walked outside today and could barely see half way to the flight line.

So, what's it like? We keep very busy here. Kandahar is a large base. It is multi-national. So far, I've spotted Brits, Afghans, Canadians, Dutch, and Romanians. Rumor has it that there are others, but... haven't seen them.

I get to work on our AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters. Thus, I'm right out on the flight line. When I say that, I mean that it is not at all unusual for me to be working with a helicopter's blades turning directly overhead, or for birds to be passing by (very windy), or even for jets to pass by on the runway a few feet away.

It's quite a collection, too. We get to see C-17's, Predator (UAV), Chinooks, P-3s, A-10s, British Harriers, BlackHawks, PaveHawks, and of course, my baby, the Apache. Those Harriers are LOUD. Blast your eardrums everytime. The C-17 is always a joy to see, especially the ones with the Carolina Palmetto tree on the tail... those are from Charleston... home.

There's also one plane daily that everyone looks for... the bright yellow DHL plane. It's arrival means Mail's Here!


We live nicely. We have modular barracks, 7 rooms, 4 persons to a room. One wall locker and nightstand, and bed per person. If it doesn't fit there, then we just don't need it. We DO have Air Conditioner, though it often fails. In our room, we actually have three refrigerators, all full with .5 liter bottles of water.

Bathrooms ("latrines") come in two varieties - Port-a-lets (those wonderful things everyone avoids at public places everywhere) and shipping containers converted to bathrooms (real porceline-like plastic that flush!). None are especially close by, so anytime that nature calls, it's often long-distance.

Showers are a bit of a hike, too. Also, converted shipping container. But, showers are semi-private, and hot... so, not too bad. Also, there is something to be said for showering, and then hiking back with a bit of a breeze...

Chow. Chow is great. Food is top-notch here. The military goes through great lengths to give us absolutely great chow. Every few weeks, we even get steak and lobster. However, believe it or not, you do get tired of it after awhile...

Getting around... well, there's gravel everywhere. It takes a lot to get used to walking on it. Many people seem to twist or sprain ankles. By the way, this is not gravel like you're used to. These are HUGE rocks sometimes... Barracks to work is about 1/2 mile. To the PX is about a mile... mile and a half. Small PX, so... once you've been, it's just not worth the hike.

There's no humidity here, so usually the sky is crystal clear. Not even wisps of clouds.

It gets VERY hot. Even by breakfast (0330Z), it is already warm... And work continues through the heat of the day. It's really exciting to be working out on the aircraft, concrete aprons, metal airplanes... we get bonus points when it's spewing hot exhaust out onto us and we have to stand in it because that's where the part is. You just keep drinking water...

Every place on post, wherever you go, has refrigerators. All are stocked with water. Bottles upon bottles... Can't get enough of it.

Coming soon, more about life here in Kandahar.