# Kandahar Airfield: Dusty chaos in perpetual motion



## SARgirl (18 Aug 2009)

I'm not sure if I am putting this write up on the correct board or not.  I did a forum search which yielded no matches.  I read this write up shortly after it was posted earlier this year; I came across it again today and I thought it was worth sharing.  Happy Reading!  



*Kandahar Airfield: Dusty chaos in perpetual motion*
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

*Link:*
http://www.canadaka.net/link.php?id=44018

*Caption Under Photo on Link:* 
A Griffon CH-146 tosses up clouds of dust in Kandahar Airfield. LCol Michel Villeneuve describes the dusty, noisy experience of working at the airfield.

*Write Up:*

*Kandahar, Afghanistan *– The effect is stunning, a total surprise.

It’s like finding yourself, without warning, facing the bleak landscape of another planet. The whole thing can be summed up in two words: dust and noise.

It’s chaos in perpetual motion. Trucks toss up clouds of dust so fine that it hangs in the air indefinitely; only nightfall brings it back down.

The soil, which looks like clay churned and baked over thousands of years, seems doomed to spend the days flying up in the tracks of everything that disturbs it, not to descend again until evening.

From east to west there’s the same desolation, except for a few mountains just as arid as the landscape around the camp.

*A grey mixture of concrete, barbed wire, minefields and dust*
Everything here is some shade of grey, with no grass, crops or shrubs and only a few drab trees. It’s a mixture of concrete, barbed wire, minefields, and the dust that covers our vehicles, uniforms, machinery, equipment — even our flags, where only the wind can sweep it away.

It’s hard to believe, but the omnipresent suspended dust even has its own odour. This situation becomes even less bearable when the wind turns to the west and the exhalations of the sea of human excrement that lies within the camp perimeter sink into your innermost being.

*Reveille begins the unshakeable routine*
It’s like this every single day, an unshakeable routine, rolling continually like the military truck traffic, the troop movements, the dusty clouds shrouding everything.

Camp routine is always the same: reveille at 5:30 a.m. followed by a wash, a work-out at 6:00 a.m., and breakfast at 7:15 a.m. Next we begin a day that doesn’t end until about 8:30 p.m., sometimes later. Bedtime is about 10:30, when you can fall asleep.

In fact, military operations go on constantly, seven days a week, and sleep doesn’t come until late at night and only for a few hours, between missions.

At night, the racket of the war machine established in what used to be Kandahar’s international airport only gets louder. The roar of jet engines, combat helicopters constantly shuttling back and forth — non-stop air operations disturb everyone. Oh well, what can’t be cured must be endured.

Less than 200 metres from my quarters is the last defensive position the Taliban held when the intervention force arrived in 2001. We call this rampart the “TLS,” which stands for “Taliban’s Last Stand.” Surrounded and bombarded during the siege, those who managed to escape withdrew into the neighbouring mountains.

Sometimes you have to ask yourself whether the roles haven’t been reversed. It’s an asymmetrical conflict with an invisible enemy who goes to ground and then trickles away into the Afghan population.

Last evening, rockets landed in the camp not very far from us. It’s like this every evening, waiting and listening, ready to dive into the bunkers. By outrageous coincidence, the rockets were based in the TLS area, with ignition system in place and in all likelihood prepared for firing in our direction.

*A precarious and dangerous place*
Without a shadow of doubt, Afghanistan is a precarious and dangerous place.

Tonight, the Canadian flags are at half-mast. This will be the 115th goodbye to people who were at our side mere hours ago. Four of us have fallen, never to rise again.

Like dozens of times before, the ceremony and the farewells are held on the ramp. We have become accustomed to it, but it is not at all routine. This evening, I went to the chapel where the four soldiers rested before their repatriation. They were only 20, 22, 26, and the eldest, 27 years old, the father of two small children.

Next came the ceremony, solemn and grand in all its military splendour, masterfully orchestrated with acute precision and controlled down to the smallest detail. The ranks of soldiers set out in a multitude of platoons, men and women paraded by unit and national contingent.

Before this moving display of bitter solidarity, I fixed my mind on the soldiers who lost their lives in this harsh country, of all places, so far from their homes and loved ones.

Article by LCol Michel Villeneuve, Joint Task Force Afghanistan Air Wing

LCol Villeneuve is the weapon system manager responsible for in-service support to the CH-147 Chinook fleet. He recently visited the JTF Afg Air Wing on a technical assistance visit.

Photo by Cpl Andrew Saunders

Courtesy of Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command.


Project Number:09-0334


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## Sig_Des (18 Aug 2009)

> Last evening, rockets landed in the camp not very far from us. *It’s like this every evening, waiting and listening, ready to dive into the bunkers*.



BWAHAHAHAHAHA :rofl:

This makes KAF seem a lot more bleak, desolate, and dangerous than it really is. I guess he forgot to mention:

BurgerKing, PizzaHut, Tim Horton's, multiple gyms, multiple stores, computer game trailers, internet that can be bought and put in your room, massage parlors, hang-outs with big-screen tv's, pool and ping-pong tables, smoothies, hockey rink, etc.


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## MikeL (18 Aug 2009)

Beadwindow 7 said:
			
		

> This makes KAF seem a lot more bleak, desolate, and dangerous than it really is.




Sometimes the hot water gets screwed up so you gotta take cold showers in the barracks there  

The only hardship I had in KAF was finding out the Burger King was closed when I returned to KAF after spending 3 months in a Strong Point an thinking about the Whopper I was gonna get when I got RIP'd out  ;D


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## GAP (18 Aug 2009)

> He recently visited the JTF Afg Air Wing on a technical assistance visit.



I think this says a lot....


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## Jammer (18 Aug 2009)

What is this mystical KAF you speak of?


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## Franko (19 Aug 2009)

Jammer said:
			
		

> What is this mystical KAF you speak of?



It's that place we got to see either going to the FOB or going back home for a few scant hours.       

Regards


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## Jarnhamar (24 Aug 2009)

You can always tell who's who when your sitting in the kitchen in KAF and the rocket sirens go off.


Something I found interesting. During one breif in Petawawa the speaker said the leading number of PTSD cases reported from soldiers overseas have been by those who work 'inside the wire', especially KAF based guys and girls who don't leave base.

I wonder if that is because of a difference in training and mindset (Office types vs field types) or if it's the KAF bound soldiers inability to both see the enemy "shooting" at them and not being able to fight back.


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## GAP (24 Aug 2009)

As a former REMF I can attest to the strain of not knowing vs knowing. Once we were able to talk our way into operations outside the wire, we knew what we were dealing with far better than imagining what we were going to be dealing with...


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## patt (24 Aug 2009)

Flawed Design said:
			
		

> You can always tell who's who when your sitting in the kitchen in KAF and the rocket sirens go off.
> 
> 
> Something I found interesting. During one breif in Petawawa the speaker said the leading number of PTSD cases reported from soldiers overseas have been by those who work 'inside the wire', especially KAF based guys and girls who don't leave base.
> ...



reminds me about that "experices may vary" poster when the chick sent out an email saying how hard it was to listen to the radio about guys getting blown up...


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## Jarnhamar (24 Aug 2009)

What email is that??


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## SARgirl (24 Aug 2009)

Flawed Design said:
			
		

> What email is that??



The quote posted by Xfire is from a post you made just a few posts above; you don't have to scroll up far to find it... have a look.  Does that answer your question?


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## aesop081 (24 Aug 2009)

egy sárvédő said:
			
		

> The quote posted by Xfire is from a post you made just a few posts above; you don't have to scroll up far to find it... have a look.  Does that answer your question?



I'm sure he kniows where the quote is from. Hes asking about the email xfire mentioned.


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## Franko (24 Aug 2009)

Xfire said:
			
		

> reminds me about that "experices may vary" poster when the chick sent out an email saying how hard it was to listen to the radio about guys getting blown up...



Yeah, saw that one. Cry me a freakin' river...PTSD from listening to comms about casualties or sirens going off in KAF. 

Try being the troops on the ground dealing with it and in the middle of the fight.

/rant

Regards


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## PuckChaser (24 Aug 2009)

Xfire said:
			
		

> reminds me about that "experices may vary" poster when the chick sent out an email saying how hard it was to listen to the radio about guys getting blown up...



The "Afghanistan: Individual experiences may vary" motivational poster I've seen floating around is a little different than that.... One half has 2 CF members smiling and carrying on at the Tim Hortons with a tray of drinks, while the other half has 3 troops on patrol being covered in dust as a LAV 3 rolls past.

I really have a hard time believing anyone from KAF getting PTSD over the rockets... unless you panic when something lands 4km away in a field.... I counted more sirens than explosions in the sporadic times I spent there. The only people I think that have a legitimate claim would be the staff at the R3 trauma unit... one shift at night there was enough to shake me, and I was only on duty watching Afghan nationals.


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## Jammer (24 Aug 2009)

...words fail me on this one.
PTSD on KAF!!!! BOLLOCKS!!!!!!!!!!! If your whining about shite on the radio, you shouldn't have been there in the first place...


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## basrah (24 Aug 2009)

My biggest fear the couple times I was in KAF was how I was going to cram enough bubble gum and cigars into my rucksack to last me two months at whatever SP/COP I was going to next.


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## Fishbone Jones (24 Aug 2009)

I think that's about enough 'us vs them' stuff. Everyone has a job to do, some have different parameters, most are beyond the control of the individual. As far as who gets what, unless your trained, hold a degree and specialize in PTSD, I suggest you hold judgement, quietly in check, on anyone you haven't personally interviewed while holding those said qualifications. You're supposed to be professionals. Act like it.

Milnet.ca Staff


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## Jarnhamar (26 Aug 2009)

CDN Aviator said:
			
		

> I'm sure he kniows where the quote is from. Hes asking about the email xfire mentioned.



Exactly.

Thanks for the smartass attempt Egy.


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