Wayward

Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more

Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son

Dispatches

"In war more than in other life you really don't know what you're doing most of the time, you're just behaving, and afterwards you can make up any kind of bullshit you want about it, say you felt good or bad, loved it or hated it, did this or did that, the right thing or the wrong thing; still, what happened happened."

Michael Herr: Dispatches

An A-Z of Afghanistan

A. Allah (supposedly). Almonds. Apricots.

B. Bribes. Bodyarmour. Bees.

C. Corruption. Coal mines. Chapans

D. Dust, everywhere. Diarrhoea. Donkeys.

E. Earthquakes. Emergencies.

F. Floods. Flash floods, especially.

G. Guns. Grenades. Grapes.

H. Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin. Hashish. Helmand.

I. Improvised exposive devices. ISAF=In Shorts And Flip-Flops.

J. Joy. Joints. Joint patrols.

K. Kites. Kabul. Kandahar.

L. Landmines and landslides. Locusts. Lies.

M. Mountains. Mosques and Mullahs, Madrassas and Mawlawis. Mud.

N. Naan. Nights.

O. Opium poppies.

P. Palau. Pashtuns. Poverty. Pistachios. Peaches.

Q. Qesel Quduq.

R. Rusty Russian armour. RPG's. Ramadan.

S. Snakes. Scorpions. Spiders.

T. Tchai. Talibans. Turtles. T.I.A.=This Is Afghanistan.

U. Uselessness.

V. Violence.

W. Wars. Weather conditions.

X. The X-factor. ("In Afghanistan you will be surprised. If you're not surprised - be surprised.")

Y. Youth. Yalla.

Z. Zarangs. Zig Zig. Zenith.

Paddy's Lament 2010

Hear ye boys now take my advice
To Afghanistan I'll have you not be coming.
There is nothing here but war where the murdering cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Finland.

Adapted from Paddy's Lament (Irish trad.)

Travel Day

I got up at 0440 local time. There was an assembly at 0510 and check-in was at 0530. We got to board at 0635 and the plane took off on scedule at 0700. The Germans have their regulations, and they certainly do follow their regulations. There must apparently be a regulation against passengers moving on foot at the airfield, so all movement is done by bus. All movement is done by bus, even if the distance is less than 300 metres. All passengers are to be transported to the aircraft by bus. By bus.


The distance from the terminal to the plane was this short (approximately 300 metres), but two buses were used to shuttle the passengers to the plane. Ordnung muss sein.

During the flight I tried to sleep a little, but didn't succeed too well. The two meals and the movie kept me posted of where and how the journey was progressing. At 1600 local time we finally touched down in Pirkkala.

Time will tell how soon and completely I will manage to let go of my duties in Afghanistan, or to adapt to my new duties in Finland. So far I've no plans or intentions of going back. Time will tell.

This post concludes my blog, or at least the diary part of it. Thanks for reading.

Final Day

My last day in Afghanistan was much like yesterday. I spent most of it in the horizontal position, either asleep or watching movies on my laptop. At 1300 we weighed our luggage. The limit per person was 20 kilograms. My bag weighed in at 21.35 kg, but it was accepted. At 1800 there was a briefing for the travellers and the security check of the luggage. A dog sniffed all bags for narcotic substances and another for explosives. Later I went for a beer in the German medics' mess "Sansi Bar". I withdrew to my quarters in transit tent 1 to finish watching a movie. At about midnight, when I went to have a shower in the Norwegian hygiene containers, the full moon was shining and the night was warm and quiet.


The narcotics dog, and old male Belgian Shepherd, was not that interested in working.


The explosives dog, who was a much younger male of the same breed, was much more enthusiastic about his duties.

Lazy Day

I stayed in bed until lunch, sleeping and watching movies. It was strange but somehow I managed not to feel guilty about being lazy. After lunch I walked to the container shops to buy some items. I walked backt to the tent and took an afternoon nap. I woke up to the noise of the Latvian soldiers watching a Russian comedy on someone's laptop. The volume was high so that everyone could hear the jokes, and obviously they were, cause every now and then they would all laugh. Sleeping was out of the questions, so I played a computer game until dinner. There is a poker turnament in the evening, but I don't enjoy poker. Perhaps I'll watch another movie. One Finnish soldier was brought to the hospital in Marmul today with injuries in his leg. We all were worried and waited for news about his conditition.


Good advice. It's an armoured car, you know.

Parade

I slept late enough to miss breakfast. We walked a tour of all the staff offices with the new commander and second in command to say hello and to introduce the new guys. At 1100 there was a parade in which the deputy commander of the PRT (who is at the same time the commander of the Finnish contingent) handed over responsibility to his successor. The parade was refreshingly short and the strong wind blowing across the parade field made the the air feel reasonably cool. The ceremony was followed by a Finnish lunch with plenty of everything. Before we left for Marmal I handed in my ID-card and said hello to MOT D, who were returning from Shibirghan.

I camp Marmal I helped the new 2iC to fill up the PO cash at the Swedish paymaster's office. Then I said a final hello to the Aibak crew and they drove off. We waited for a couple of hours for the NSE personnel to get ready at the stores and then started handing in our equipment. After three hours I only had one set of bedsheets and my uniform left. I packed my bags anew, trying to make everything fit. The NSE was having a barbecue. I was not surprised to find that there was plenty of food to go around. The sauna was crowded so I walked over to the Norwegian hygiene containers to have a shower. I found a bed in Transit tent 1, which was half-full with Latvian soldiers.


There seems to be alternative routes to choose from when running the lap around Camp Northern Lights.


The parade line-up.

Transfer of Authority

I woke up for the last time in Aibak and went for a run on the treadmill. After breakfast I washed some laundry and packed my equipment. I sat down with the new commander to discuss and tried my best to answer his many questions. After lunch it was time to leave for Mazar-e Sharif and Camp Northern lights. We took the shortcut to avoid the centre of MeS, even though traffic was light. CNL was overcrowded and our accommodation was in the spare tent. At 1500 we joined the FIN-brief which was followed by coffee with cake. The transfer of authority (or TOA for short) ceremonies started at 1800. With that I was no longer commanding officer of the provincial office but became "unemployed" instead. At 1900 the CO PRT wanted to see all his new commanders in his office. I joined that meeting, because a private feedback between the commander and myself was scheduled to follow. I got good feedback from the colonel. When I asked him if he would be willing to recommend me for international duty in the future he agreed and told me to send him an email.

There was free pizza for all at the Finnhouse. I had one beer with my slice, smoked a cigar and went to bed. In the night the wind increased to gale force. The tent shook and flapped in the storm so that some guys moved their beds to the middle of the tent to avoid the noise of the tent tarpaulin flapping against their beds. Of course the air was hot, dry and thick with dust.

Farewell Party

We left for a patrol around Aibak city at 0800. The plan was to visit the Provincial Council, the Independent Election Committee, and the Department of Women's Affairs. We had made no appointments - instead we just drove up to the gate and asked if they happened to have a few minutes to spare and were willing to meet us. Of course they were: No-one is ever really in a hurry in Afghanistan, and no-one certainly ever fails to be hospitable. In each meeting I introduced the new PO commander and second in command, and gave some kind of simple farewell present. At the receiving end, the Afghans could of course not keep from giving me some kind of present in return. The people from the Provincial Council had to come all the way to our gate to give their return gift.

In the afternoon we had a short defence exercise, and wrote reports on the morning's meetings. After an earlier than usual evening brief (which by the way may very well have been my last one!), we prepared for a foot patrol to the provincial governor's residence. He and the chief of police had insisted on organising a farewell party for me. Among the guests were administrative staff from the governor's office, police officers and some friends of the governor from the president's office in Kabul. The meal was excellent and the atmosphere relaxed.

When we arrived on foot to the gates of the safe house there were some men in the street who wanted to talk with me. They complained about Isaf the dog, saying that she was pissing and shitting in the ditch from which people take their drinking water and in which they wash themselves. I said that Isaf is a street dog: she can come and go as she pleases and she only likes us because we give her food and don't kick her like the Afghans do. I said that she is free like the birds and like the 20 other stray dogs that live in our street. One man, who turned out to speak English, was especially keen on getting rid of the dog. I said that it's not our dog and that we could shoot it but we have no bullets to spare. Later the guards told me that last night he had been trying to persuade our neighbours not to take part in our dinner, and today he had been angry with some of our neighbours who had been to our dinner party, saying that they should not have accepted food from the PRT. The man insisted that we at least take the dog house that Isaf lives in away from the street. That I agreed to do tomorrow - it's too hot in there anyway now and Isaf sleeps in a hole in the ground. Perhaps the guys can put it back out when it starts snowing.

There was parliament candidate speaking against the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan in the Mosque across the street yesterday. The man said that we are just driving around in our armoured cars, sitting in meetings with important people on soft couches and not doing any development projects. He's perfectly right, but at least we don't even try to please everyone. The locals campaign to soften up the new commander seems to have started just a few days too early. The moods here can change swiftly and one must never let one's guard down.

All put together, today I got two chapans, a handcrafted handbag and a box of dried fruit. After all the acclaim that came my way today I had to check that I was alive - in my experience only dead people are spoken so well of.


The Provincial Council members and their staff insisted on having a group picture taken.


The farewell dinner at the provincial governor's residence was plentiful and really tasty.

Propaganda Posters

Admin

Before brunch i exercised for almost two hours in the gym. Then I had a briefing for the new rotation about the contingency plan of the PO. The provincial office's new CO (commanding officer) and 2iC (second in command) spent most part of the day familiarising themselves with the administrative duties of the PO, such as cash flow, local employees' salaries, material administration, logistics, maintenance etc. There's surprisingly much paperwork involved in running even the simplest military unit.

MOT Z left and the JTAC (joint tactical air controller) team from MeS came to use our shooting range. In the evening we had invited all our neighbours for dinner. I thanked everyone for the good relations that we have had during the year and introduced the new commander.


There were more guests than we had set the table for, but our guards soon brought an additional table for us to sit at.

Reporting and Planning

We stayed in for the most part of the day. I tried my best to convey the secrets of writing reports and plans that would appease the taste of the PRT HQ to my successors. MOT E went on a short patrol in Aibak, while MOT D was still away to another PO. And we had guests, too: four staff officers paid us a visit. We discussed some issues concerning the upcoming Wolesi Jirga elections as well as a recent task of evaluating the districts and provinces. Oh, and MOT Z also came over to use the shooting range. When the staff officers had left, we went out for a spin and showed the location of all the helicopter landing sites and emergency rendez-vouz points to the newcomers. And, it was barbecue night. Looking over the city from the sundeck, the air was so full of dust that you could barely see the setting sun.

Introductions

Today I introduced my successor to the OCCP, the chief of NDS, the ANA company commander, the ANA recruitment officer and the chief of police. After lunch there was barely enough time to write a report about the meeting with the chief of NDS. Then I took him and the other guys of the new rotation to a tour of some points of interest. These included Takht-i-Rustam and the GSM-mast outside the city, from which there is a magnificent view. I skipped dinner (which unfortunately was lasagna), because at 1900 we had a dinner party for the local employees. The food was excellent. Sadly, some of the personnel of the new rotation did not show up for dinner, because I consciously chose not to order them to participate, as this local employees' dinner was by definition supposed to be a voluntary, relaxed event. There is a rumour going around the men that local food can give you stomach flu. That might very well be true for some, but I must have had a dozen local dinners and have never fallen ill. On top of it all, the guys made up some excuses not to even come and introduce themselves to the local employees. Poor men, they missed out on some excellent meatballs.

Flatbed

Up at 0600, running on the treadmill for an hour, breakfast, patrol training for the new guys, security meeting (the governor promised to arrange me a farewell party!), lunch (spaghetti), live-fire exercise, dinner (tuna steak), three reports, two phone calls, shower and to bed at 2330. It's all in a day's work.

MOT D went to Marmul on a flatbed. It was their turn - compared to the number of times that MOT E has hitched a ride to maintenance Delta has still had good luck with their vehicles (or Echo has had bad luck, rather). But this time they had managed to BOTH spill the break fluid AND to get a flat tyre - on the same car!


Some ants at the shooting range were busy, too.

NSE visit

I started my day with a basic briefing for the new rotation about Samangan province. Then the Americans from Dynacorp came for a visit. Just before lunch the Finnish national support element rolled in in two APC's (armoured personnel carriers). There was 20 of them in all, and they wanted to see everything. We showed them everything, which took about 4 hours. After they had left I gave a briefing about the organisation and the job descriptions of the provincial office to the new rotation. MOT D came in from their joint patrol with ANSF (Afghan national security forces) in the evening - one vehicle towing the other. The brakes on one of their vehicles had broken.

Replacement

In the morning I moved my last belongings to the container in the yard. I had cleaned it yesterday and sprayed a little insect spray here and there, but now the smell of the pesticide had faded. Then I vacuumed and dusted my accommodation space for the new arrivals. At 1000 we left for Camp Marmul, where we picked up a trailer, a spare wheel for MOT D and the equipment of one soldier. We also dropped off MOT D's interpreter. We had bami goreng and surimi salad for lunch at the German mess, which was full of Americans. At Camp Northern Lights we picked up the equipment of six more soldiers and the soldiers themselves, too. We picked up a new interpreter for MOT D. We drove back to Aibak and met the usual number of mildly suicidal Afghan motorists on the way.

At the evening brief we had a round of introductions with everyone present. Then I did a camp walk with all the new arrivals. A phone call from G3 with bad news interrupted me. In the evening I spent almost an hour looking for something without success. Perhaps a new day will shed some light on where the lost item has gone.

Changes

We went to the OCCP meeting to make a plan about a joint patrol, like we had agreed three days earlier. It turned out that there was not going to be any patrol, at least not in the direction that we had talked about, and not on the day that we had planned. Well, no suprise there. The chairman of the local IEC (independent election committee) was not available for a meeting at 1000 like we had agreed. No surprise there, either. We visited the ANP HQ and ran into the Dynacorp guys.

In the afternoon I moved house to the EUPOL container in the yard. It's more spacious than my previous accommodation, and quieter, too.


The latest model of combat bathrobe is equipped with a holster for your sidearm.

Ramadan Brunch

It's the third day of Ramadan, and the locals aren't supposed to eat or drink anything between 0500 and 1900, or as long as the sun is up. Smoking or chewing gum is no-no, too. Yet, as we were having our traditional Friday brunch today, which includes fried eggs, deep-fried everything, cheese, fruit, and the lot - our two interpreters present surprised everyone by coming into the dining hall and filling their plates with food. When they left the dining hall, carrying their delicious-looking brunch plates, they turned and said without flinching that they'll save the food for tonight. Yeah, RIGHT!

Nothing much happened today. The CO called and wanted an update on the situation in Samangan. He sent his greetings to everyone. I managed to get funding for an upcoming event. The provincial governor called us in the evening and told us some good news.


MOT E has switched to heavier equipment - they now move around with the 8-ton RG-32 instead of the 4,5-ton MB280G.

Softs

I got up at 0615 and went to the gym. After an hour and a half on the exercise bike it was time to unload the food trucks, first the frozen food and then the fresh stuff. To everyone’s surprise, there were again soft drinks in the delivery! The support branch should really make up their minds about the matter. After the unloading I did some stretching on the sundeck. It was hot but I didn't care. I had hoped to schedule some meetings for today, but the first of Ramadan was a holiday. Tomorrow is going to be a holiday too (Friday) and according to our interpreter, there is a law in Afghanistan that says that any day that falls between two holidays is also a holiday. I was not in the least surprised, nor disappointed. We had to arrange a patrol in the afternoon anyway to bring the electrician back to CNL. As the opportunity presented itself, the patrol also got the task to stop by at camp Marmul to try to find a new internet hub. Unfortunately the patrol ran into some technical problems on the way and had to return to Marmul for repairs.

The guys wanted to buy some wine and beer for the mess association from Marmul, so I wrote them a certificate for the purchase. We haven't had any alcohol at the PO under my command. I don't know why, really, because it hasn't been forbidden in any way. I just haven't encouraged it or taken any steps to bring alcohol the safe house. And no-one has actually asked for beer or wine to be brought in - until now, that is. Perhaps they have realised that I'm not going to be here for that long (today I actually started packing some of my winter equipment). MOT D came in from their three day patrol. After the barbecue on the sundeck we tried to fly a kite that had landed in our yard. The wind was strong enough because many of our neighbours' kids were flying their kites, but we didn't have the skills to make ours fly. Our signals guys finally got tired of not having any internet available after three days, so they decided to connect the duty internet to the welfare router for a few hours, which was quite enough for me to read my email and update the blog. Soon we'll have electricity, internet and beer available at the same time - who cares about kites!

Arrivals

I slept only four hours and woke up at 1000. I didn’t feel at all tired, so I went for a run on the treadmill. In the afternoon the PO patrol and MOT E arrived with 3 newcomers, one to the PO and two to MOT E. They brought 20 cases of soft drinks. The support branch of the leading nation has repeatedly said that there will be no more soft drinks or sweets delivered to the PO’s. We feel that it’s wrong, because there is no PX store (postal exchange) from where to buy soft drinks or sweets at the provincial offices, and it’s not like we could go out to town to do some shopping, either. Patrols that don’t serve any specific operative purpose are explicitly prohibited. So far the food transports have included soft drinks and sweets like before, despite the promises (or threats, rather) from G4 that there will be no more of that.

I met the guard’s commander and discussed with him the issue of the guard that everyone else are annoyed with. I also asked for his help to arrange two dinner parties in the near future; one for the local employees and another for our neighbours and the VIP’s of the neighbourhood. Both occasions will first and foremost serve the purpose of introducing the new PO commander and second in command to the locals.

The electrician worked all day to finalise his work. He replaced the one cable that was providing electricity to the main building with three cables: one to the operations room, a second to the first floor and a third to the second floor switchboard. So far everything seems to work just fine. When we got the ops room back online, the welfare internet connection would not reboot. It turned out that the electrical problems that we had had during the week had erased the firmware on our welfare internet hub. No more surfing in the accommodation spaces until we get a new hub. I went to bed early (at 2000) and fell asleep instantly.

Departures

The logistic transport that was supposed to take the outgoing rotation away came in at 1120. They also brought the new chef, who used to be a driver for MOT F, and, even more important, an electrician. We loaded the equipment of 9 soldiers onto the truck. 4 guys went with the log transport, 4 with MOT E and one with the PO patrol. There was an event for all signals personnel at CNL tonight, and we sent both our signals guys as well as MOT E’s signallist there. MOT D left for a long-range patrol to Khoram wa Sar Bagh and Ruy Do Ab. As there was relatively few personnel left at the safe house, I volunteered to take a Duty Officer’s shift, my first one for almost six months. The electrician stayed behind and looked for the problem well into the night. We had to run the backup generator on the roof during the time that he was working. As his work progressed and he made some new connections to the switchboards on each floor of the main building, the electrical failures suddenly stopped.

I sat down and talked with the guard that all the other guards have a problem getting along with. He is a good guard with combat experience with the ANA in Helmand province. But he is perhaps too self-confident and aware of his abilities, and he has a “sharp tongue”. Furthermore, he is Uzbek, and most of the other guards are Tadjik (there is one Pashtu, too). There is a good chance that the rest of the guards are trying to get him fired in order to get the opportunity to get one of their family members into the recruitment process for the vacancy. At four in the morning, as I was on my second movie for the night, the guards put up a table in the street and gathered for a meal. Today is the first day of Ramadan, and they won’t be able to eat, drink, chew gum or smoke between 0500 and 1900 during the next 30 days. The were scores of big frogs in our yard at night. I hope that they will eat some the beetles and locusts so that fewer of them enter the house.

Last Night

Today was the last night in Aibak for 9 of us. Some are rotating back to Finland soon, and a few others switch to different duties elsewhere. For the people who were about to leave the day’s agenda was mostly equipment maintenance and packing. Everyone was also supposed to clean their own accommodation, but some are more adept at such things than others. The ones who are not going anywhere yet performed a thorough weapons maintenance, as everyone’s personal weapons as well as the team weapons were dirty and dusty from yesterday’s live fire exercise.

In the evening we had a set dinner with roast beef, ratatouille and fried potatoes. I had bought a case of Beck’s, which was not enough for everyone, but at least the rotating personnel got a can each. For dessert our chefs had baked fresh pulla and brewed coffee. Everyone gathered in the dining hall. I said a few words and handed out locally handcrafted pocket knives to all who were leaving. A couple of guys got something extra for good performances. As a going-away present the PO staff gave me an unique, hand-made shield with a tube of genuine Afghan dust. The Swedish MOT gave me the Commander’s Coin of FS19.

Late at night the guard’s second in command wanted to talk with me about something. One of the guards had come late for work and on top of that he had been disrespectful towards the second in command. This was the third time that I have heard negative feedback about the man in question. Tomorrow I’ll sit down and have a chat with him (just like I did about 5 months ago). Our problems with the electric of the main building continued. We started having a statistic about power cuts on the white-board in the main briefing room – the power fell out 46 times between 0600 and 1800.

Two visits and LFX

We had visitors from EUPOL (the police organisation of the European Union). There were Hungarian, Danish and Finnish police officers in the group - not German and Swedish ones, like many times before. They had lunch and left, because the meeting they had scheduled was cancelled. Also MOT Z came over for lunch. They were in Samangan inspecting some development project sites.

In the afternoon we went to the shooting range and stayed there until darkness. When we came back we ran into an American convoy at the crossroads. It's always interesting to meet ISAF soldiers from other nations than Sweden and Finland by surprise in the field, especially in the dark. One always has to take some extra precautions in those situations in order to avoid any kind of misunderstandings. When we arrived at the safe house, I saw two geckos on the outer wall of the compound. I didn't get a closer look, but I tried to take a picture.


There was a flock of sheep at the shooting range and we stopped to talk with the shepherds.


In the distance there was a major dust whirlwind.


I didn't want to move closer than this to the gecko because it seemed very easily startled.

Camp to Camp

In the morning i went for a walk around CNL, but it was too hot already. I walked four kilometres, streched for a while and had a shower. After breakfast I had my personal evaluation with the FINCON commander. That took about 30 minutes. Then I went to see the intelligence officers who had wanted to see me about something. We left for camp Marmul at 1000. Lion's periodical maintenance was supposed to be done by 1500, but the workshop finished it much quicker. One of the front tyres had to be replaced because it was damaged. We left for Aibak at 1315. There wasn't exceptionally much traffic, but we had two close calls with local vehicles. Their driving is incredibly dangerous and totally reckless. Some of our guys actually applauded when we drove by the wreck of a car that had passed us only a few minutes earlier. It had hit a minitruck just moments before and spun around to the roadside. We didn't stop, but no-one seemed to be seriously injured. The commander of MOT E came back from Finland after two weeks sick leave. His back still hurts but we'll manage somehow.

Coffee and Cake

The FINCON (Finnish contingent) commander told me last week that everyone who's turn it was to rotate home in the next rotation should be in CNL on Friday. I wasn't very fond of the idea (nor was anyone else at PO Aibak, for that matter) but and order is an order. To make use of an otherwise useless trip, we scheduled the periodical maintenance for Lion in Camp Marmul at the same time. The drive to CNL was ok, since there wasn't too much traffic as it was Friday. Everyone in the patrol were short-tempered and irritated. I'm not sure why, but my guess is that it was just because of the occasion. In CNL there was a long briefing, after which everyone got a little something to bring home (picture to be added later). The commander was pleased with everyone and their work (as is usually the case at the end of an exercise or an operation. I almost had to pinch myself to see if I was still alive, because in most cases only the dead are praised this much). There was pastries, coffee and cake, and later in the evening a barbecue and sauna. Camp Northern Lights was unpleasantly hot, just like when I first arrived just about eleven months ago.

Optronics

The Finnish NSE (national support element) brought over some people from Finland to inspect all our optronic equipment. With them was the doctor, who did a medical examination of the personnel who about to rotate home. Also the MOVCON (movement controller) was there to take a look at our vehicles. The inspection progressed quicker than we had anticipated, and the NSE could leave in the afternoon. That was it for the day, basically, and for the first time in a long, long time I felt a little bit frustrated about not being able to do anything useful. This happened of course after I had already excercised for over an hour at the gym in the morning, washed the laundry and cleaned my accommodation in the afternoon.

More Visits

The COS (chief of staff) came over, "just because he hadn't had the opportunity to visit Aibak before", and brought an officer from the operative sector with him. And of course, it being their first visit to PO Aibak, they wanted the full tour and briefing. I seriously considered outsourcing the job, but since it was the COS, it really was my duty. After lunch the WIT (weapons inspection team) came over to talk with the local NDS, and I chose to host that visit, too. In the afternoon I cleaned my room and my weapons (it was a while since the last time). One of the dove's chicks fell out of the nest, but we lifted it back up. It was cloudy with some rain in the morning.

Material Check

The rotation is drawing near, and with it the hand-over/take-over of responsibilites, or HOTO, as it's more commonly known (the Swedes pronounce it huuttuu). An important part of the HOTO process is handing over the responsibility of all material and equipment. The list is long and the items are spread all over the PO, so checking that everything is in place is a long and painstaking process, which took all afternoon. Before lunch, I had already written a couple of report which were overdue. The patrol that had left at 0330 in the morning came in at 1930, and they had had a nice day out. It was still fairly cool and cloudy with a bit of rain here and there.

Progress

It felt exceptionally chilly in the morning, the sky was cloudy, and as I was walking to the dining hall to have breakfast, it even rained a few drops. The thermometre showed, however, that it really wasn't chilly at all, but 25 degrees warm. It seems that I must be finally getting used to the heat. We went to the security meeting at the provincial governor's office at 1000. There was an argument about whether we should cancel the upcoming elections altogether in the few villages where the security situation is poor. I said to the meeting that if they are going to have the elections in Kandahar and Helmand, we should certainly be able to arrange things in Samangan.

When we arrived back at the safe house, we heard that the provincial governor had visited the construction site of the university road that we are funding. He had not been happy with the culverts of the road and said that they would have to be rebuilt and that the workers should stop working immediately. I got instructions to go and tell the workers to ignore the governor, to go on working until the road is finished to the standards stated in the contract, and then they can go home. My assesment is that the provincial governor is hatching a plot to delay the completion of the project and buy time to get the road widened or paved, like he has been saying all along. He seems to be of the opinion that a narrow gravel road is worse than no road at all.

We immediately went to talk with the road construction workers, but there was no-one there. Perhaps they were just having their lunch break, as the clock was half past twelwe. From the new road we went to look at three different development projects, that are all ongoing, or at least they should have been started since some time ago. At 1400 we had an appointment with the chief of NDS. It was very informative, like it usually is, and I know that my report will be eagerly read at the headquarters. One of our interpreters is a little slow in typing out his notes, so I didn't have his notes from the security meeting until late in the evening, and could barely finish my report during the 02AUG2010.

Umpteenth Fin Visit

It's funny how the visits seem to pile up all into one day - today we had three of them. First up was the IEDD (improvised explosive device disposal) team from MeS. They came to look at the explosion site and to take samples. Next the U.S. corps of engineers with the American-Australian-Finnish commander rolled in. They were going down to Khuram wa Sar Bagh district to look at the construction of the new police station that the Americans are funding. Then it was time for the main event: The visit of the acting ambassador of Finland to Afghanistan. With him was the commander of the Finnish contingent, some other staff officers and the close protection team. I offered the guests the usual program: camp walk, lunch, briefing and coffee. The end result was, as usual, a success. When the ambassador's party was leaving, the Americans and the Swedes dropped in on their way back to their own bases. In the evening I continued with the personal evaluations and did a summary of my own feedback. It will, I hope, provide the CO with enough background information to do a personal evaluation of me.


At least someone knows how to take it easy.

Sightseeing

We did one patrol today: first to the OCCP meeting, then a short foot patrol in the bazaar to give an opportunity for the PAO to take some pictures. From there we went to look at the explosion site, and then to one of the mobile phone masts outside town, again for the photography. It was so hot that my shirt and jacket were soaked when we came back to the safe house. In the afternoon I started doing the personal evaluations of the PO staff, the deadline of which was yesterday. I also collected some feedback about my leadership behaviour from everyone.

Wedding Explosion

One of our guards had invited us to his brother's wedding. It was in Aibak, so we decided to go. Having been to two wedding parties already, I thought that it would be someone else's turn, and asked the second in command to lead the patrol. I stayed in and tried to take it easy, but today, just like last Friday, unexpected events disturbed my peace. In the morning we got a phone call about an explosion outside the city last night. Two locals had been killed in the blast, so we thought that it would be best to go to the site to take a look. The patrol to the wedding party got the job, as they were already preparing to go. The police and the NDS had already collected the evidence and the locals had cleaned most of the blast debris.

Apart from doing some physical exercise in the morning, I was mostly occupied with administrative duties. Of course, there was some time to relax, too. After all, it was Friday.


The dove's chicks outside the main entrance are growing incredibly quickly.


Did I mention that in every American MRE package there is a cute mini-bottle of Tabasco?

Leave Transport

The PO's trusty vehicles, Lion and Bunny, were out practically the whole day. They left early to Camp Northern Light to pick up some material and Suomi-food. Then they went to Camp Marmul to pick up the soldiers who were returning from leave. When it was time for them to return to Aibak, one of the tyres couldn't take the weight of all the passengers, luggage and goods, and went flat, just 15 kilometres before Aibak. Changing to the spare tyre takes only about 20 minutes, and Lion and Bunny were soon home again.

I started my day by working out in the gym for almost two hours. Then I finalised a report on our latest patrol and made some plans for the future. The PAO (Public Affairs Officer) arrived here today and brought some interesting news. The Finnish television channel MTV3 is going to make a program about Finnish peace-keepers, called "Rauhanturvaajat". The plan is that they will be filming here in Aibak, too. But that will happen long after I'm gone.


The towel rack in the Main Building's bathroom looks angry.

VIP Visit

This visit was announced to us on a very short notice. I barely had time to plan the program, prepare the briefing and to put together a patrol for the VIPs. The Chief of Operations of the Swedish Armed Forces and the Senior Lawyer of the Swedish Armed Forces with their close protection team paid us a visit. To make things more interesting - for us at least - they arrived with the German CH-53, call sign "NAZGUL". We took it down at the NDS compound with green smoke and fancy hand signs, because they wouldn't answer our link-up calls. Then we drove the general and his party to the land area that is planned for the new PO compound. From there we drove to the OCCP, and then to the PO for some coffee and a briefing. Then it was time to rush back to the NDS compound, where the big chopper was just touching down when we arrived. Another busy day.


On landing, the helicopter almost missed the landing site.


Taking off, it was more precisely on the spot.

Politricks

I spoke with the guards' commander about the thefts. He took the matter very seriously, and suggested that we should search all the local employees when they leave the safe house. He suggested also that the kitchen assistants and the cleaner should no longer be allowed to come into the guards' and the interpreters' quarters, unless they are invited. I stressed that no-one is suspected and that no-one is accused. I promised him that if the money or the stolen items are recovered anonymously, there would be no reprimands , but if the thief is caught, there will most certainly be serious consequences the person.

In the afternoon we went to see the provincial governor. There was one issue that I had been ordered to take up with him as early as in the beginning June, but have until now not had the proper opportunity to do. It concerned misusing the PRT commander's words in the media. The provincial governor was surprised to learn that our interpreters watch the evening news regurlary, and that they write notes of the news for us. He dismissed the false information that had been on the news as a misunderstanding and a misinterpretation.

The mayor also came to the governor's office to see us. He was unhappy about the ongoing road construction to the university building of Samangan, a project which is funded by us. The road was too narrow and too short(!), and did not follow the master plan for Aibak city. I tried my best to remind him of the fact that he and city engineer had agreed with the construction company about the details of the road before the contract was signed. He refused to listen. I seriously considered getting up and walking out of there, but what good would that have done? Finally, the provincial governor decided that the construction would be stopped and the plans for the road revised. Better no road at all than a narrow road.

P.S.: The provincial governor told a funny story in the meeting. Earlier, when he was the district governor of Andkhvoy, had been visiting a village in which there had been fighting between ISAF and the insurgents. Just then, a jet fighter had accidentally flown overhead. He had had absolutely no communications with the pilot whatsoever, but he had told the people that he had just stopped the plane from dropping bombs on the village, telling the pilot that "there are no insurgents here". The villagers had cheered him as a hero. Now there's a true politician.

Reports and Thefts

I slept late, resting after yesterdays patrol. While the other patrol members were taking care of vehicle maintenance etc., I spent most of the day in front of the computer, writing reports. Two LIREPs (liaison reports), one PATROLREP (patrol report), and one AAR (after action report) and Lessons Identified combined. The second in command of the patrol helped, of course.

At 1500 one of our interpreters came to see me. He said that 200 dollars had been stolen from his wallet. He had left it in the pocket of his trousers in his room in the mudhouse after lunch. I had no option but to start an investigation. We searched the quarters of all the local employees and asked them questions about what they had been up to after lunch. Nothing was found. This was now the fifth case of theft in about three months time. We will have to take measures.

Patrol 5

At 0215, we rolled out for a long-range patrol with the ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces). The patrol was planned and carried out on a very short notice - not only because that's the Afghan way - but also because three Bangladeshi construction workers had been kidnapped two days earlier by the Taliban in Darah-ye Suf-e Pa'in district. We gathered at the OCCP at 0230, and as usual, the ANA (Afghan National Army), was late. After a quick meeting, we set off as a small part of a big convoy of vehicles, about 40 cars. The road is very good for about 20 kilometres, but after that it soon deteriorates into what roads usually are like down here - worse than anything at all one could find in Finland. Believe it or not - there are no roads as bad as the Afghan roads in Finland. The weather was bone dry, so the vehicles raised up a lot of dust, which at times erased all visibiliy. The vehicles had to keep their distances and the road conditions kept the driving speed down. It's only about 85 kilometres to Dara-i-Suf village, but the drive takes about 6 or 7 hours.


In the planning and co-ordination meeting at the OCCP at 0230 in the morning.

Once we got there, the convoy drove into two villages. The Afghans searched houses and confiscated some illegal weapons and ammunition. They even found more than 1000 vaccination syringes, which seemed a little strange. They also gathered the elders and other villagers to the main mosque, and warned the people of serious consequences if they were to collaborate with the Taliban. Each stop didn't take more than an hour, and by the time we got to the second village, it was brunctime. Green bag and tuna, straight out of the can. In the second village there was some evidence about the Taliban having been there: some clothes that are typically used by the Taliban were found in a madrassa.


Some children brought out what they said were Taliban clothes.


Three RPG's (Rocket-propelled grenades), a .22 cal rifle and a load of 0,5 ml syringes were confiscated.

When the convoy had spent about 5 minutes in the third village, unexpected things started happening. A man on horseback gallopped up the hill on the other side of the village and fired an RPG rocket. The ANP took off after him. Soon 8 more men appeared on the hill in two groups of four, and gunfire could be heard. The Talibans tried to escape, but were soon pinned down by the police. The firefight lasted for more than 4 hours, and there were casualties on both side. We were well out of harm's way: we measured with the laser range-finder that it was between 1.3 to 2.1 kilometres to the nearest clashes. When the casualties had been evacuated, we disengaged the Taliban. I watched with binoculars as they regrouped on the hillside and withdrew in the opposite direction. The convoy then drove to Dara-i-Suf for the night.


A view of the battlefield. The Taliban regrouped by the tree at the highest point.


This boot belongs to an unfortunate ANP soldier, who was shot in the leg.

The three Bangladeshi hostages had managed to escape during the firefight, so in that respect the operation had already been a success. We got a nice room at the local police station, and could sleep indoors. The toilet facilities were not so nice.





The following day there for a funeral ceremony for the KIA (killed in action). It was for Muslims only. It was followed by the opening ceremonies of a Girls' School, which was located in the next village. Incidentally, the school was funded by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. After the opening ceremony, we were invited to lunch in a private house, with all the sub-commanders of the patrol, and most of the local elders. After lunch the locals gave me a chapan, which came as a complete surprise. (It is, i believe, customary to give away chapans to men of importance. When the provincial governor took office, he was given up to 15 chapans per day. For about two weeks.) After the lunch meeting, the commander of the convoy said that the convoy was now returning to Aibak. That, too, was completely unexpected, as we had prepared for a longer patrol. But the Afghans were in command, and we were just along for the ride.


This mini-truck belonged to the Bangladeshi construction workers and was burned by the Taliban.

The drive back was just as strenuous as the drive there had been. The roads were covered with a thick layer of soft, powdery dust, which blew up in the windscreen of the cars so thick that you had to use the windscreen wipers. The air filters of the engines as well as the air-conditioning system really come into use here.


Near Aibak all the troops of the convoy lined up for a few words of gratitude from the provincial governor.

P.S.: As you may or may not have noticed, the spelling of some names of places has changed slightly. There are still no explicit rules available for the transcription of Dari into English available to us, but to co-ordinate the spelling of names on the map, an SOP (standard operating procedure) was issued with the one spelling suggestion that should be used for the province and district names - at least within ISAF.

Chicks

Three chicks had turned up in the dove's nest today. They were really tiny and were constantly being fed by the dove. We would have had a normal Friday, if it hadn't been for a few phone calls and a visit, which turned the day from a maintenance day to a preparation day. At dusk there was a man at our gate, who wanted to volunteer to become the Arbaki commander in his village, if there was to be any Arbaki in Samangan. He was presently the head of a village clinic. I thanked him for showing interest and told him to go talk with the ANP.

Provincial Development Council

I forced myself to get up early to get some exercise, first on the treadmill and then on the cross-trainer. I forgot all about the food trucks, until P from the OCCP mentoring team came into the gym to remind me. Everyone helps along to get the food and water out of the truck and into the storage facilities quickly and smoothly. The meeting that wasn't yesterday, was today 1000. But before we got that far, I had had to answer five phone calls, write three emails, meet one building contractor at the gate, have two texts translated, and watch Isaf get soaked. (She was lying in the ditch, cooling herself down, when a flood wave came. The locals build dams in the ditches if they need some more water for washing clothes etc., and a dam was opened up further up the ditch.) This morning reminded me vaguely of some of the days last year, when I was second in command. Those were busy days, and this morning was busy.

The PDC meeting was rather entertaining, actually. The provincial governor got angry with the chief of the agricultural department. In the last meeting, the PGOV sent the chief away, but this time the governor settled for insults. "Everyone in your department are drunk by 5 pm every day", the governor said, and continued: "I know that your department is corrupt. I will find evidence and prove that you are taking bribes, and then I will have you all replaced". There were about 25 people in the room, heads of departments and provincial officials. Have I mentioned how important it is for Afghans to save face?

After the meeting we delivered a letter to the NDS. The air was cool (since when have I started calling 37 degrees "cool") and humid after the night's rain. The dove had swithed position - she was now facing towards the door. There are vast numbers of various versions of bugs and critters everywhere, even though all greenness is starting to disappear from the desert.

The afternoon saw me writing a number of papers, and reading an even larger number of them. The OCCP mentoring team returned from Marmal and brough a generator mechaninc with them. At 1700 it was time for the earlier Thursday briefing, and then the barbeque on the sundeck. Had we had the same weather as yesterday, there would definitely not have been any barbecue, but this evening was nicer than we've had it in a long while.


The dove in its old position, towards the main gate. It doesn't have a name yet.


These guys in MOT E's second vehicle most likely have names, but I don't know them.

Sandstorm 2

There was supposed to be a meeting in the morning, but there wasn't. The development advisor came to attend that meeting. Unless there hadn't been a second meeting sceduled, the trip would have been for nothing more than a tasty lunch at PO Aybak. We didn't go to that second meeting either, but instead we went for some good, old road recce in the afternoon. This time we didn't go far. We drove around the narrow and extremely narrow streets in the immediate surroundings of the safe house, and managed to find a couple of new routes, as well as a collapsed bridge. A sandstorm came in from the north-west. The air was so full of dust that you could see no more than 300 metres. Later in the evening, after the storm had passed, it started to rain.


Outside the wall of the new prison compound with the sandstorm blowing in from behind me.

Laptop Failure

The network card on my laptop broke down yesterday. Just like that. I turned on my computer as usual, but the network connection wasn't there. The operating system just didn't find the network card anymore. We have since then tried everything with the CIS-officer: booting, reinstalling the driver, different network cable, different port on the router - to no avail. I will ask our ADP-officer to give it one final try when he returns from leave (he is quite skilled with computers), but I have no high hopes for it to suddenly start working again. This is something of a setback for the blog. I will have to write my posts from one of the three internet computers in common usage. The circumstances in the areas where these common network computers are located will probably discourage me from writing very long posts. Inserting pictures into the blog will certainly be much more complicated in the future. As I see it at the moment, I will probably not be posting every day anymore. We'll have to wait and see how this turns out.

On a more positive note, I will probably spend less time surfing on the internet, which means that there will be more time left over for reading books, sleeping or physical exercise.

Yesterday I didn't post anything, because my computer had no network connection. I thought that is was just another bad connection, since we've had quite a few of those. But today, as I still had no network connection on my laptop, and it turned out that the network card is out of order, I felt oblidged to write a post. Yesterday I visited the OCCP in the morning with the OCCP mentoring team. In the afternoon we had a meeting with the chief of NDS. The report got be quite long, almost four pages, and it took me until 2230 to write.

Today I skipped breakfast, and went to the gym instead. I exercised for two hours, first on the excercise bike and then on the cross-trainer. After lunch we went to look at the place were our garbage is dumped and burned, and should be buried, too. The place was a disaster, just like it was the last time we were there. The garbage was still not properly burned, it was spread all over the area by animals and the wind, and none of it had been buried. Last time I gave the garbage man a second and final warning: If he did not bury the garbage, I would have to change to a different contractor for garbage disposal. This seems to leave me with little choice. I will either terminate his contract in accordance with the warning I issued to him the last time, or, I will have to show him how to bury garbage and what we mean by a tidy garbage disposal. The case might very well be, that the Afghans' view of a garbage-free environment differs very much from that of ours.

From the place-where-shit-burns, we went to see the chief of police. He had just returned from MeS, where he had met the regional police commander, general Patang - after having visited the wedding of the provincial governor's son. The commander had bloodshot eyes and he seemed even more tired and uninterested than usual. The weather felt much cooler today - in fact it was only 38 degrees.

And Back Again

In the morning I forced myself out of bed at 0600 to go for a run. It was simply too hot for running, so I walked one lap, ran two, and then walked a fourth one. After a quick shower and breakfast it was time to sit down to listen to briefings and to watch slide shows. Of course, at some point it was my turn to show and tell what the situation in Samangan and Provincial Office Aybak were looking like. I took notes, which I will have to type out later - otherwise no-one at the PO will be able to understand what was said at the conference. By special permission by the chief of staff, I was excused from the last two meetings of the afternoon, and we could start our return journey a little earlier than expected. We took a shortcut from CNL to the ring road by driving along the riverbank. There is hardly any water in the river now, so the wadi was easy to cross. On the ring road there was unusually heavy traffic, and the drive took longer than expected. On two occasions, our lane was blocked by broken down vehicles. The air conditioning in Lion ran at full power all the way, but my shirt and jacket were soaking wet when we arrived in Aybak.

There

An email arrived yesterday afternoon, the contents of which demanded that we meet with the mayor. We scheduled a meeting for 0900 and went over. The chiefs of the electrical company and the radio and tv-station also happened to be visiting the mayor, so I took the opportunity to meet them, too. The issue at hand was quickly resolved - in fact it was such a concise meeting, that I decided to omit the otherwise obligatory writing of a report. I could convey the message from the mayor to the person who sent the email later this afternoon, when I would meet him in person.

After lunch we took off for Camp Northern Lights, where the commander's conference is to be held tonight and tomorrow. It's the first conference with the new commander, but it must be something in the way of the fifth or sixth time for myself. I hope that my lack of enthusiasm doesn't show too clearly. With us we took the commander of MOT E, who got some acute pains in the leg. Our medics thought that it would be best to let the doctor have a look.

In CNL it was extremely hot, as expected, but it still felt hotter than one could expect. The initial briefings of the conference lasted until 2115. It was dark but still very hot outside, when I went to have a non-alcoholic beer in the Swedish mess, the Glowing Scorpion bar. Our accommodation tent, called Lebanon, was considerably cooler than the air outside, but it was still far too hot to sleep comfortably, as it turned out.

Orders and Plans

I slept until brunchtime, which is 1030. That's 12 hours' sleep without disturbances. Good, because I'm sure that I'll be needing the rest in the future. Today I spent most of my time reading reports and orders, and planning things that need to be planned, such as the leave schedule of the next Finnish rotation. Not very exciting, but at least I got to stay indoors where the temperature is bearable.


At 1730 in the afternoon the hottest hours of the day had already passed.


A dove had made its nest in a peculiar place just outside the entrance to the main building. It didn't move at all even if you stood right next to the nest. We couldn't help wondering if the poor bird has to hatch its eggs in order to warm them like the birds do in Finland - or to cool them down to prevent them from cooking!

Sleepyhead

The plane landed on the airstrip in Camp Marmal about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, which means pretty early. Still, it was much hotter than in Finland, which hadn't been exactly cool. About a dozen helicopters were coming in to land as we walked to the bus that would take us to the Finnish NSE (national support element), where our equipment was stored. After about an hour of packing and another one of waiting everything was ready, and we left for Aybak with MOT E. Everything was as usual on the way, but the desert was hotter and dryer than I ever remember having seen it. Everything was khaki and the sky was white-hot with the sun.

In Aybak everything was normal. After unpacking my bags and salmon soup for lunch I tried to read reports from the past two weeks, but soon found out that I was simply too tired. I realized that I hadn't gotten practically any sleep on the plane. An afternoon nap that was intended to last an hour was extended to three. Then I continued reading repots and writing a couple of emails. We served dinner in the welfare kitchen on the second floor, because it was too hot on the roof for a barbecue. Only the meat was grilled there, and the rest of the food was in an air-conditioned area. A shower, and I was ready for bed.

On the Move

I didn't leave the safe house before lunch. The MOT's were out, as well as the PO patrol, but I stayed in, updated the contingency plan and prepared for leave. We should have left for Camp Marmal at 1300, but were delayed 20 because of a corrupted file to the signals PC. Still we were in no hurry and made it to CM well ahead of schedule. I visited both the Finnish and Swedish paymasters to run some errands. When you walked past the Norwegian Camp Nidaros, you could not help noticing the container with the honor guard. The four Norwegians who were killed a couple of days earlier are in that chilled container. There will be a line-up early tomorrow morning when the coffins are loaded on the plane to Norway. After dinner (pizza!) it was time to check in our luggage, then to the sauna, and straight to bed. The plane for Turkey, Sweden and Finland takes off at 0800 tomorrow.

Gearbox

MOT E's bad fortune continues. Returning from patrol yesterday, the automatic transmission on one of their vehicles broke down. There was nothing else to do than to call in the recovery truck, load the Mercedes, and to ride piggy-back to the repair workshop in Camp Marmal. MOT D, on the other hand, got in two spare wheels today, and loaded up their punctured wheels on the same recovery truck, so basically they are operational again.

For the Provincial Office it was a Tuesday like any other. OCCP meeting, then to the Provincial Development Council meeting, then a shortened version of a security meeting, and in the afternoon a meeting with the chief of the National Directorate of Security. That many meetings means that many reports. The interpreters are rotating again shortly, so I wrote a personal evaluation paper on each one, as well as certificates of employment here at the PO for them all. And, I documented the new HLS (helicopter landing site) near the PO. We had to move it a little because the fruit tree saplings in the previous field had grown too tall.


The meeting of the Provincial Development Council.


The governor himself had taken off his necktie, but it apparently didn't help him relax: He told the chief of the Department of Public Works to leave the meeting because he was useless, and the chief of the Department of Agriculture to choose between doing his job or resigning.


There was a stray dog in our street at least five times the size of Isaf, but she drove him off by barking like mad.

Paperwork

Today I had some paperwork that was overdue, so I opted not to go on patrol. There was of course a need to meet some of our Afghan counterparts (there always is). The solution was obvious: Today's patrols would have to go to the meetings without me. I felt very tired today and had two naps between working. I got a lot done - perhaps it was just because of the naps inbetween - but some minor things still remained in the evening. I also had a sore stomach most of the day. Nothing serious, but enough to make me pass the gym. It was again quite hot outside, 42 degrees, and it will continue to be hot for the rest of the week, the forecast says.

Patrol 4

Today I spent the whole day on patrol filling the duty of an extra rifleman for MOT E. We drove off the map a little, but otherwise it was a good day. Besides, driving off the map is part of the point with road recce. Our MOT's have had their share of bad luck recently. MOT D has had a flat tyre twice this week, and flipped a care on its side once last week. Earlier MOT E had a collision and three cases of engine trouble. Today we fortunately had none of that.

In the evening practically all activity stopped for the duration of the football game between Germany and England. Germany won with 4 goals against 1, although it should have been 4-2. Auf Wiedersehen, Engländer!


We drove most of the way in a deep and wide dry river bed, or wadi.


Higher up the wadi was narrower and steeper. There was a flock of 600 sheep looking for some shade. To the left, their shepherd dog can be seen. We tried to give it some water, but it was afraid of us.


The donkeys of a remote village were taking it easy in the dust.

Convoys and Flour

Today we were supposed to support the transport of an ANA (Afghan National Army) Kandak (batallion) through our AOR (area of responsibility). Our job was to observe the passing convoy in Aybak and to report what we saw to headquarters. The first vehicles of the convoy were ahead of schedule, so we missed those. The last ones were an hour late, because there had been a traffic accident, so we had to wait for those. And the driver of the ANA car that had been involved in the accident had ran away into the desert because he had been afraid of being punished, so one platoon had have to go after him. We didn't wait for that platoon. Instead we recorded the position of an emergency helicopter landing site and delivered a letter to the chief of NDS.

In the afternoon we went to meet the chief of police. He was very talkative as usual, and tried to impress us by telling things that we already knew since weeks ago. When we were leaving, he gave me his rosary, or tasbih, for some reason. I tried to refuse, but he insisted, and finally I took the trinket with glass beads. From the ANP HQ we drove to the department of women's affairs. When the previous Swedish rotation, FS18, went home, their mess association donated 4.000 USD to the people of Samangan. We were tasked with the job of finding a suitable project for that sum. With the help of the deputy chairman of the provincial council and the chief of the department of women's affairs, we today chose the project to be a delivery of foodstuffs to 100 disadvantaged families in Aybak. For 40 dollars, each family gets 50 kg of wheat flour and 3 litres of food oil. I'm well aware that it's yet another short-term, feel-good project, because sooner than we think the families will be hungry again, but that was their suggestion and what they wanted.


We chose a position overlooking the ring road for following the movement of the ANA convoy. A little boy was keeping a close eye on us.


The shape of a hand cut out of sheet metal are common decorations on graves. This one had a bullet hole in it.