Treadmill

I didn't go out on any patrols today. Instead I spent most of my day in front of a computer screen, reading messages and files. The room I was in is air-conditioned, which is very good, since the day temperatures are in the high 30ies, and will continue to be for two weeks to come, if the forecast is to be believed. Before lunch I went for a run on the treadmill, but it didn't feel at all good, so I stopped after a few kilometres. After lunch we had short camp defence exercise. Then I got a terrble headache, which I tried to cure by taking a nap. It didn't help much, so I took a painkiller pill. It must be the temperature. Two men from Khwaja Sang Bur village came to our gate to ask about their project. In the evening I had to write a report. Sometimes you don't have to leave camp to get a reason to write a report - answering the phone can be enough.


The full moon rises from the south-east.

New CO

The new PRT CO, who had taken over command just four days ago, visited us at PO Aybak today. We had a line up, some coffee on the sundeck (or fika på taket, as MOT D calls it), and then I gave him and the COO (chief of operations, or ACOS G3) a quick tour of the compound. Before and after lunch we sat down to talk about various issues, and then it was time to go meet the governor. I was surprised to find out that he was away, but the deputy governor was kind enough to receive us. He and the CO exchanged a few words, after which the deputy governor handed us a project proposal about building a road. A couple of days ago I found out that 1 kilometre of Afghan standard gravel road costs about 20.000 USD and upwards to build. From there we went to have a look at the planned location of the new camp, which is plain desert.

In the evening I had the interpreters translate the project proposal. On the first page it said, that "the PRT has promised the provincial governor to build and asphalted road and an electricty line etc." Funnily enough, the same thing was said in the evening news, which is broadcast to every household! The Afghans really know how to use propaganda. Later me and T, our signals officer, gave some new instructions to the guards concerning guarding of the wall construction site. We even borrowed them an older model of night vision goggles for the purpose. Today the old MOT D hands over their tasks to the guys of the new Swedish rotation, FS19.


In the deputy governor's office.

Mayor

After breakfast my stomach started hurting. It usually does that one or two days after I arrive here, and then the turning and twisting settles. I tried to calm my stomach with a dose of lactic acid bacteria and some sparkling water - and to my surprise it worked! I felt fine just barely in time for the first meeting of the day, which was with the mayor of Aybak city. Our business there was to try to persuade him and the city architect to find out who owns a piece of land that is planned to be the location of a new camp. We did not have any notable success, but they promised to return to the issue within a week or so. To speed things up a little, I inquired whether the municipality authority was in need of any assistance from the PRT. As it happened, they were indeed lacking some diesel fuel for their garbage truck. I told him that I would see what I could do.

From the mayor's office we dropped by at the governor's office to arrange a meeting in the near future. We also mentioned the land aquisition process, and the governor immediately gave the mayor a phone call and told him to get to work today. What a natural talent for leadership. In the afternoon we met the chief of NDS at his office in a routine meeting. The wall between our compound and the neighbour's is coming down rapidly now, as the workers arrived. The construction site will constitute a temporary security risk, but we have taken measures to counter it. It is unseasonably hot - the forecast predicts 38 degrees for the day after tomorrow.


There are a lot of grasshoppers now, which brings other guests to the safe house, too. I wonder what will follow the many mice that we have seen recently...?

Wall Contract

I slept 12 hours straight without any distractions. Travelling can, it seems, be very tiring. I began my day by taking a closer look at the heap of reports and documents that had piled up during my leave. A lot has really happened here during my absence. For instance, they let G4 back into the wild! Well, I suppose that it was for the best.

The neighbour began to tear down the wall between our compound and his house yesterday, because it was imminent that the wall would fall over on his side. We had of course discussed about repairing the wall earlier with both the landlord and the neighbour. In those discussions we had agreed that we would pay 50% of the costs of building a new wall, and the neighbour would split the remaining sum with the landlord (who actually is supposed to pay our share, as well - we are only the tenants). Only now, as the wall was really coming down, did the landlord show up to sign a contract about building a new wall. He was still reluctant to act and failed the see the golden opportunity that we were offering: He would get a new wall for his house for half the price. Finally he agreed to the excellent terms and construction can now begin. We will have to post a guard inside the compound as well for some time into the future.

The G2 officer who is visiting us, J, gave a briefing about what is going on in and around the province. I continued reading work-related papers well into the night, when the rest were playing poker.

Back on the Edge

The plane was 8 hours late - and we were informed of the delay only after we had arrived at the airport on schedule, of course. Later I was told that the the reason behind the delay was something that had happened in Mazar-e Sharif almost two days earlier, and that the plane had been running behind schedule ever since. There had been a sandstorm in MeS with wind over 35 metres per second, which had prevented the Boeing 737 from taking off. Anyway, we checked in our luggage and took a taxi to the nearby Air Force garrison to get a few hours of sleep. It was raining; the trees were green and the air as fresh as it can be. In the very, very early hours we again took a taxi back to the airport, only to find that the plane was delayed by an additional hour. Finally, at about 4 a.m., we took off.


At 2230 the sun was still up in Pirkkala, lurking behind the rainclouds.


The in-flight film was James Cameron's Avatar.


Somwhere in Turkmenistan the scattered clouds gave the desert dalmatian spots.


The Blue Mosque in the heart of Mazar-e Sharif.

The temperature on the airfield in Camp Marmal was far above what I consider to be pleasant, but the strong wind made it just about bareable. I collected my weapons, ammunition and equipment and met up with the PO's team who had come from Aybak to pick me up. The trip to Aybak was normal, which means only a few insane drivers on the road. At the safe house there was a barbecue in ordinary Thursday fashion. While eating, we went through the events of the past two weeks. A lot had happened, but I was glad to find everyone in a good mood and the unit in good order.

Leave

It is time to go on leave once again. I spent the morning packing and preparing, and briefing the second in command and team leaders about upcoming events. After lunch we left for Camp Marmal, where I was dropped off with my luggage. The rest of the team continued to run some errands and then returned to Aybak, because there were none who would be returning from leave this time. The flight leaves very early tomorrow, and from what I've heard the plane is going to be only half full, which means that for once there will be enough room to move around in the seats.

G6

In the morning we went to the OCCP meeting. The commander was really happy to see us - the dinner invitation seems to have worked. From there we went out to look for the office of the Afghan Women's Business Association. No-one knew exactly where it was, except for the interpreter, who had been there on Saturday, but as his ability to find his way around the city was practically non-existent, we ended up driving around for a while. We even managed to get stuck once, and the other vehicle had to drive around the block to pull the other car loose. At the office there was no-one to meet us despite the fact that we had made an appointment. Yes, we were one hour late, but that's common practise in Afghanistan, so we pretended not to see the problem. I guess we will have to pick up the load of hand-made soap that the Gender field advisor paid 400 USD for to distribute to the disaster victims another time.

After lunch we packed targets and ammunition and headed out to the shooting range. It was a long time since we were to the range with the PO staff, and it was good to practise some basic drills. It was hot and the extra exercise with the combat gear on meant that everyone was sweating. There was a turtle at the range. We immediately named it G6. It was very big and muddy and had a shell with a funny shape. As soon as it saw our cars it wanted to find some shelter in the shadow under our vehicles. After a while it chose to walk away and it soon disappeared in the grass. Perhaps it was scared of the sound of gunfire.

Three Meetings, part 2

After the easier days at CNL and the dinner party, it was straight back to the toil and drudgery of daily life at the PO for me. The security meeting began at 0900 and lasted almost two hours. When we were leaving the governor's office, we ran into the chief of prison, who was thrilled to hear that our project proposal had been approved. The prison was completely out of water now, so he insisted on meeting us today to arrange the details of the water delivery. We went to the prison at 1300, just as a shower of heavy rain, accompanied by thunder, had sent everyone in the city running for cover. The chief of prison and his deputy could barely hide their disappointment, when I presented the contract of water delivery that I had written just an hour earlier. The prison officials would never see the cash, but instead I would pay the water man according to a list that he and the chief of prison both sign for each delivery of water. They have to partner up in corruption to trick me and leave the prisoners thristy - which I'm sure they did as soon as we left the prison. As we were leaving, the chief of prison said something very typical, which half a year ago would have spoiled my mood, but not anymore, since I've grown used to it. He had just minutes earlier signed a contract which will guarantee his prison free drinking water for more than three months - and now he had the nerve to ask us for some electric fans, "because it will be summer and quite hot soon".

Directly from the prison we drove over to see the chief of NDS for some talks. Three meetings means three reports, but this time I "outsourced" one report to my 2iC (second in command) and postponed another UFN (until further notice). The reason for this was that I still had my notes from commander's conference to sort out, and that the deadline for the personal evaluation of MOT D commader was today. That I had posponed earlier.


This has nothing to do with anything today and was taken above Khulm on Friday. But it's also very typical Afghanistan.

Dinner Party

I got up at 0630 to go for a run. It was already quite hot outside. I didn't sleep at all well, because the air conditioning in the tent went off all the time because of power shortages. I ran four laps around the camp, had a quick shower and breakfast. There was some administrative work for me to do, and I also spent some time talking with various staff members. In the afternoon I rode back to Aybak from CNL with the CO's (commanding officer's) CPT (close protection team), and the CO himself, of course. We arrived less than an hour before the informal VIP dinner at the PO was supposed to begin. The Afghan guests arrived a little late, as expected, so we had time to look to the final preparations.

The dinner went better than I anticipated. Both the governor and the CO were seemingly pleased with the arrangement, and most importantly with the conversations. No-one of the other guests seemed to think of the occasion as time wasted. We started off with welcoming drinks on the sundeck, non-alcoholic of course. Then there was a starter salad and roast beef with potatoes. For dessert we had tea, coffee and Finnish "pulla" in the main briefing room. After the Afghan guests had left, the CO had the Nato medal ceremony for MOT D. To my surprise, he also wanted to commend me for my achievements under his command, and presented me with the memorial shield of PRT MeS FS18. How about that. Some of the guys were not too thrilled about having to act as serving staff, but what can you do. It's a soldier's life.


The table was set for 16, but only 14 came.


Some of the guests. The provincial governor is fourth from the left.


Relaxed atmosphere at dessert.

Haircut

Once the conferring of the day was done, I went shopping in CNL's containershops. I bought some blankets, some stone eggs, and a pakul. None of these items are for myself, but souvenirs to friends back home. I also went to the barber shop to have a haircut, which turned out to be just as big a mistake as it was the last time. The man can't do his job. I would have made a better result in less time. At the point when he had totalled my my jarhead haircut, I told him to stop, and to cut it all with a 1 mm blade. It was not intentional, but this way it's actually much more comfortable in the temperatures that we have now. It was more than 35 degrees in the camp today. And, as A puts it, "Es wächst ja wieder!". In the evening there was a thunderstorm over the mountains with hundreds of lightning flashes in the sky.

Floods

There is a commander's conference in Camp Northern Lights again, and as usual my presence is requested. We left directly after bruch, because Lion needed some maintenance and the guys who dropped me off at CNL wanted to be back in Aybak before dark, if possible. There was not much traffic on the ring road, but we were slowed down by three floods on the road. In the worst spot there was about 50 cms of water on the road, with a strong current. It was no challenge for our all-terrain vehicles, but some local Corollas had trouble passing without getting water in the car. Getting out of the car in Mazar-e Sharif, I once again thanked my luck to be stationed in Aybak, which is about 400 metres higher than MeS - the wheather in Aybak is much more pleasant in the summertime. Later in the evening I heard from the OCCP that more than 70 houses had been destroyed in mud floods in Samangan.


The flooding river had torn down some houses in Sayyad village in the Khulm pass.


At Firuz Nakchir checkpoint the ring road was covered with up to 50 cm's of muddy water.

Hard Rain

There were two delegations of beggars at the gate today. One wanted 4 rolls of concertina wire, which is quite a reasonable demand. They intended to use it on top of the wall of a girl school, because some boys had been climbing over to wall to harass the girls. The other delegation was less modest. They wanted "at least 20 sewing machines". Well, it seems that we're fresh out of sewing machines at the moment, but if you could come back tomorrow?

The PO personnel who had been on leave came in at about 1500, just after the MOT's arrived from their muddy adventures in Darreh-ye Suf-e Bala. At dinnertime there was a thunderstorm with extremely hard rain, which lasted for over an hour. This means that floods and mudslides in Samangan are probable.

Isaf bit her leash in two for the second time today. I guess she doesn't like to be on a leash.

Laziness

I didn't go out today, but sent someone to run my errands for me. They had already put the Hescos to good use at the prison, where they had replaced a part of the wall with them and put barbed wire on top. The errand was not to visit the prison, however, but to scedule a meeting with the three kindergartens or orphanages in Aybak. When that was arranged, the patrol also inspected the training that takes place every Wednesday at the ANP HQ. I stayed at the safe house and tried to do some administrative work. And to think - I think that's what I'm really here for. It was slowly raining then whole day, but the temperature was about 25 despite the rain. There was hamburgers for dinner.

Lunch Invitation 2

In the morning it rained. The rain had continued through the night. I went to the gym and pedalled for 45 minutes. Then there were some guests from the UN security department at the gate, again. They must have some standing order to drive around asking questions from time to time. Fortunately their questions are easy, and they are easy to please. Then there was a delegation from the prison. They came to collect the 10 Hesco-bastions and 10 rolls of concertina wire that we promised them yesterday. The barbed wire would not fit into their car with the Hesco's in it, so they orderd up a Zarang.

But the main event of the day was a lunch visit by all the district commanders of ANP and NDS. It was a good visit, but afterwards one of our interpreters came to tell me that they had not been pleased with the food. Another thing that had insulted them was the fact that we did not all rush into the street to shake their hands when they arrived. Well, what can you do? At least the food was free, and there was a plenty of it. Fresh bread, fruit, salad, fish, olives, cheese, chicken soup, juice, water, coffee and tea. They ate like pigs, as always. As usual, we gave 20 litres of diesel to each car that they came in. There's no pleasing the Afghans - I bet they would complain even if we served palau and covered the street with carpets.

In Jail

It was really difficult to get up in the morning today. Yesterday I stayed up almost until midnight, both because I had to write a report, but also because the MOT's came in late and I wanted to hear what they had experienced in the field. But I don't think going to bed too late explains all my extreme tiredness of this morning. It must be the malaria prophylaxis, a medicine called Malarone, that we are ordered to take. The disclaimer note in the package has a very long list of possible side effects, of which tiredness is only one.

The political advisor and the development advisor arrived at the provincial governor's office minutes after we did. The meeting with the governor turned out to be a complete waste of time - a notion that the advisors shared. They came to lunch to the safe house. Dynacorps was still there - they arrived in the morning to discuss issues concerning the police training. What a crew they are. If they were even half as dedicated as they are equipped and funded they could actually make a difference.

At the PGOV's office our IP was approached by the chief of the prison in Aybak, who had said that he wanted to meet us. We arranged a meeting for the afternoon and went to have a look. It turned out that the prison's water supply, which was a gutter by the side of the street, had run dry, and now the prisoners had no drinking water. One of the walls of the prison compound was about to collapse, and their only vehicle had broken down. There were 150 prisoners, of which 5 were female, in the small compound. If that sounds miserable, it looked and smelled even more so. We decided to propose a project to deliver drinking water for the prisoners for 5 months. That would cost an estimated 1500 USD. It was really hot and damp in the afternoon, about 32 degrees, even though it was cloudy. In the evening it started to rain.


The chief of the prison looks just like Charlie Chaplin.


Isaf has been acting a little aggressively towards children in the street recently. No-one can blame her - the children are always throwing rocks and kicking Isaf, and any other dogs, too - like all Afghans. The children then run to cry to their parents, who cry to the mullah, who then complains to us. Today we put a long leash on Isaf for the second time, just to appease the mullah. We told the guards to release her after dark when no-one is moving in the street, and to put her on leash again in the morning. Let's see how long it takes before someone steals her collar this time.

Road Recce 3

In the morning it was time for the security meeting. It was the first one of its kind in over two weeks, and the first one with the new governor. As expected, there was a new atmosphere and a new agenda. The security situation in Samangan was no longer assessed as 'good', but as 'acceptable', and many incidents that would not have been brought up in a security meeting with the old governor, were now discussed in detail. When it was my turn to speak, I told the governor amongst other things that we had had patrols in all seven districts in the past week. The governor, however, was not impressed. He said that there is no security problem and that our patrols don't do any good. He said that he needs a provincial reconstruction team that actually does reconstruction, and added that he wishes that I bring that to the attention of my superiors. I replied that both I and my superiors are well aware of what our mission in Afghanistan is.

After lunch we went out for a drive in the desert to look at what the dotted lines on the map described as 'roads' looked like in reality. We didn't get lost or stuck once, and met some friendly nomads who asked us for a radio. It was hot, but not ridiculously hot - yet. We saw many eagles, turtles, beetles, spiders, ants and much more.



The desert is now very much alive.

Guns and Roses

We had scheduled a meeting with the provincial governor at 1000, but had to cancel it yesterday evening. Something had come up, and there was a shura (gathering or meeting) to attend. I used the opportunity to work out at the gym. In the afternoon we met the chief of NDS in his office. It was a routine meeting with only a little new information. But their rose garden is now in full bloom.


This picture is actually from behind the governor's office, but the NDS' rose garden is about a hundred times bigger.

The interpreters are arguing about their working hours again. It drives me mad: The one thing that I wanted the new IP's to do when they started their rotation at the PO, was to be able to agree on their leave and rest days between themselves, like grown-up people. If they continue acting like 14-year-old kids, I guess I will have to start treating them accordingly. My only comfort is in finding out that they lie to each other, too.