From Sergeant to Lieutenant

In the morning I said goodbye to our senior chef T, who went on a month's leave, two weeks parental leave and two weeks ordinary leave. Our medic H was going on his first leave already after two weeks. The patrol left for camp Marmal, and the MOT's also headed out on patrol. The food trucks came in, then the logistics transport, and a delegation of EUPOL officers, who came to take our second EUPOL representative on leave. Then the welders came in to build us a new frame for the sun roof, which had collapsed under the weight of the snow. They also repaired one of the drainage covers, which keep bending under the armoured vehicles' weight.

In the afternoon me and the operations officer T went to have a look at how the construction of the footpaths in the nearby mosque is going. The mullah invited us for a cup of tea, and we accepted. We sat and talked for more than 30 minutes. After that I wrote the SITREP, the WOU (weekly operational update) and sent in the IP's timesheets. Then it was time for another cup of tea, this time at the promotion ceremony of one of our guards. He was promoted from sergeant of the guard to lieutenant of the guard in one go. What a brilliant career. That tea time took a full hour. Then I had the usual evening brief, and then it was time for the first barbecue of the year. We were on the roof as usual and I had invited all the local employees for dinner. MOT D was a little late, because they had gotten stuck in the mud with their vehicles.


It is an Afghan tradition to hang huge, colourful, decorations around the neck of the person who is being congratulated.