Bagram Air Field

Being in Bagram is like being at home in San Diego and being in Kandahar on my last deployment at the same time.

On the one hand, I wake up, go to the gym, go to work, have lunch, go home, watch TV or surf the web, and go to sleep.  It's just like any other day in San Diego.  On the other hand, all my clothes are turning the color of moon dust, my home is a bunk bed in a large tent, and my work day is 12-13 hours long.

Bagram is a large base, allegedly the same size or bigger than Kandahar.  It is defined by two primary north-south landmarks - Route Disney, named after an Army Specialist that was killed on base in an accident in 2002.  The other landmark is the runway.  Disney is far busier than any road on KAF - it is a paved two lane road that is constantly buzzing with civilian vehicles, heavy equipment, tactical vehicles, and in the mornings it is shut down for runners.  The runway, by contrast, is far less busy than KAF - only a few planes seem to take off, not the constant roar of departing jets and helicopters I grew used to at KAF.

There are multiple bazaars here, open 5 days a week, though they're all much smaller than the one at Kandahar.  I am thinking about buying some gems, I met someone here that seems to know what they're doing, and think I may be able to get some at a low price and find a use for them back home or sell them off

So far we have kept our inspections primarily to the north-west side of the base, looking at hangars, hospitals, bathrooms, housing, offices, MWR facilities, and more.  Eventually we will inspect the east side of the base, including the infamous Bagram prison - I'm not exactly looking forward to that one.  Our inspections have turned up a good number of issues, ranging from simple maintenance and housekeeping to full out life safety concerns.

Part of the issue as I see it is that no one really cares.  Think about it - our military gets sent out here for 6-12 months, leaving all that they love behind.  Everyone volunteers, but no one really WANTS to be here for that long.  So you're not really here, you're just here until you can go home, and so you count the days.  The lights may not work right, the smoke detector may need a new battery - are you going to fix it, put forth some sort of effort to improve the one thing you're waiting to leave?  No... you just deal, cope with the problem, or eliminate it with a swift kick.  There is no sense of ownership, no pride in it.  So really, even if we could find every problem in every building, wave a magic wand, and make them disappear - it would only be a matter of time until things were back to the way they are now.  I suppose it's like a rental car - you drive it harder than you ever would your own car, sometimes you get one just to put the wear and abuse on someone else's vehicle.  Maybe if the military folks occupying these buildings had to check them out and check them back in, and paid some type of penalty for destroying them, we'd find the facilities in better condition.  But until then, this will just be a temporary hurdle for every man and woman waiting to get back to the life they left behind.