Day 21 - Cruising Around Kabul

Back to work finally. Saturday is really the start of our week, so we treat it like a Monday. Each Saturday morning we have a meeting at 0830 to discuss the required events, tasks, and missions for the week. After this morning's meeting we had to go to Camp Eggers (mostly south of NMAA about 2 miles), and then on to Camp Pheonix (about 3.5 miles mostly East of NMAA). All our routes were cleared up after the Peace Jirga. They were rated Amber, but they always are. We made the trips without incident. I've been driving a lot more on the missions so I learn my way around Kabul. The traffic rules (or really the complete lack thereof) and all the pedestrians are a challenge. Essentially, only mothers watch out for traffic if they have their kids with them. Otherwise, everyone else, especially the men, just walk anywhere they want and step out into traffic at any time. I locked up the brakes on our Land Cruiser today so hard the ABS kicked in. These up armored Toyotas are really heavy. I'd say 8,000 to 9,000 pounds. Needless to say they don't handle, accelerate, or stop like a stock one would.

We met with the NTMA C-7 today. NTMA is the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan. They are our higher headquarters (aka boss). The C-7 is charged with developing literacy in the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP). Essentially, they help fund our programs. It was a productive meet and greet, plus we got to visit the Base Exchange (BX), and eat a good lunch. BX visits are always a good reason to visit Eggers. At the very end of our meeting with the C-7 staff they asked if we needed any funding for anything else. I of course said we could use some up-armored Corvettes, but they didn't think it met the military necessity test. I tried to argue that the key to safety on our trips around Kabul was speed and mobility, but my arguments fell on deaf ears. I persisted that a Z06 would really slice through traffic, but the pot holes might be a challenge. They continued to deny the request. I guess my idea for convertibles to better facilitate returning enemy suppressive fire is out too. Rats.

I got my second care package from Gina and the girls today. I'm well stocked with junk food, chocolate, and soft toilet paper now ... My no salad decision is paying off as well, but that's enough detail.


Here are a few pictures of Ada and I travelling around Kabul. The first is called "gator alley," which is the main drag on Camp Eggers. The second is a picture at Camp Phoenix. It was quite cool coming through the main gates of Phoenix. There is an Afghan guard that works the gate there for no pay. All the GI's have nicknamed him "Rambo." He has single handedly stopped two separate Taliban attacks on the post. In one of them (the story goes) he saw a suicide bomber trying to detonate his bomb vest, and he rushed him and beat him down with a stick/bat and stopped him from blowing up. Our team chief slipped him $20 as we drove through the gate. His appreciation of the gesture was priceless and was just one of the significant memories I'll leave with.


Also, while we were on Phoenix, we saw a US HMMWV ambulance leave post in a hurry, and then two UH-60 Blackhawks flew over with red crosses on the side. I haven't seen or heard anything on the news, but those typically aren't good signs. On the way out the gate to return to NMAA we saw an Afghan on a stretcher in bad shape with CPR being administered by a US soldier. All of this was a bit sobering as we left base to head back.

It's good to be back to work. More tomorrow.