You have the contract signed. You have gone or will soon go through either the National Deployment Center (NDC) or one of its equivalents. The doctors have signed off your medical papers and your vaccinations are current. Your company has successfully steered you through getting ready to leave the United States. As you await your flight to Kandahar Air Field (KAF), Afghanistan, you ask yourself "What should I expect when I get there?"
Travel Details
Kandahar is anywhere from seven-and-a-half to ten-and-a-half hours ahead of the United States' time zones. You will likely experience a degree of jet-lag while you acclimate to the new enviroment. Taking along non-habit-forming sleep aids will assist you in combatting the effects of the time difference you will feel in your first few days. Combined with the exceptionally poor atmospheric conditions around KAF, and globally diverse, contantly changing population (read: lots of people with strange germs you have never been exposed to), a huge sleep defecit can literally make you ill. Plus, your sleep aids will come in handy the fourth night in a row of rocket attacks jarring you from your bed. It will happen.
It is more likely than not that you will be flying through a third-party nation to get a flight into KAF. The common exceptions to this are contractors that are flying in and out on the mission aircraft they will operate in theater. If that's you, congratulations. If not, please take a look at not just the visa requirements of the nation you are visiting, but also how long you will be there, where you will sleep and shower if you need to, whether your cell phone will work and how much it will cost, if there are travelers' lounges in the airport you are visiting, and even how you will get from the gate you arrive at to the gate you depart at. In Dubai, U.A.E., it is only possible to get from one terminal to another through some form of ground travel. On the right airline, this will be provided. Otherwise, you will pay a hefty cab fare, baggage fees, and more.
Showers (like running water at all) are extremely limited on KAF. If you have the opportunity to purchase a lounge pass in an airport facility with showers, you may want to capitalize on the last "clean" shower you will take until your return. The same applies to internet. Service can be disappointing at best on KAF. More on that later.
Landing at KAF
Your freedom of movement is limited once you land. You will grab your bags and wait in line. There is a processing system in place to ensure people enter, exit, and reenter who are authorized to be there. Hopefully, you will have a sponsor waiting for you at the terminal when you get there. The process could take a while. If you think you might need to within an hour of landing, you should use the tiny airplane lavatory. It may stink, but so does KAF, so take advantage while you can.
Once you have gone through the line, received your credentials (badges) and met up with your sponsor, you will likely get your lodging assigned. For most contractors, this means "Man Camp." Man Camp is row upon row of military-style tents that house anywhere from 20-40 individuals each, sometimes in bunks, with only sheets to divide up spaces for privacy. In reality, there is no privacy in a tent, but creativity can lend you a little comfort. Some contractors are lucky enough to be accommodated in RLBs. These are flat kits that pop up into three to six-person rooms, akin to a very small single-wide trailer. They are stacked and lined up in grids. Both tents and RLBs have electric and air conditioning, and communal outhouses, latrines, and showers. Internet access is available in many instances for a hefty fee (about $100/month) from a contract provider.
After you've been shown around, assigned housing, visited your workcenter, and likely put in a few hours, you will have more time to yourself to explore KAF in all its underwhelming glory. While on KAF, be sure to carry your badges and Letter of Authorization with you at all times. Bored security personnel may take sport in harassing you for yours. They will definitely enforce speed regulations if you happen to be lucky enough to get a vehicle on your contract. Don't speed. Penalty for speeding routinely is revocation of the vehicle priviliges for your contract. It would not be wise to be the one to cause that.
Out and About on KAF
There are limited recreational ooportunities on KAF. This is more true for contractors than military personnel, who have group activities planned in like athletics and moral activities. Despite that, contractors can expect a small selection of shops on base, to include a couple mediocre restaurants, coffee shops, and exchanges. As it is a multi-nation base, there are some facilities for Americans, some exclude Americans (or just foreigners, in general), and some are all-inclusive. As well, there are a couple gyms and MWR (Moral, Welfare, and Recreation) tents, where internet is free when available, and there are subscription phones to use to call home. The USO maintains a "home away from home" in a large tent as well, and there are several dining facilities (contract card required) scattered around the base.
Most shops are centrally located at the "boardwalk," an outdoor strip mall of sorts, but there are some scattered here and there about base. A small exchange, chapel, MWR tent, and barber shop exist in South Park. The various nations' camps often have a small commerce/retail area as well. Near the boardwalk, in reality the activity center of KAF, there is a finance office, post office, the main base exchange, MWR tent and gym. The boardwalk also boasts a street hockey rink and running path for those brave enough to run outside on KAF.
Climate
In the warmest months of the year, temperatures in the daytime are horrid, and only tolerable at night. Temperatures have routinely excessed 130 degrees Fahrenheit and dipped to 110 at night. In cold months, it can be equally miserably cold. There are rainy seasons where flooding is expected and the already-rocky roads wash out more. When it is not pouring on KAF, it is dry and dusty. If you remember nothing else from this, remember it is dusty. Many wear scarves and baclavas to cut down on inhaling the dust that is a mixture of sand, heavy metals, fecal matter from the burning or decomposing of the base's waste and other toxins. The air on KAF has a very low score in terms of pollutants. Aside from the dust, there is a lingering odor of feces and urine that is treated in an open-air facility on KAF.
How to Make it a Little Better
Keep in touch with loved ones at home. Letters are free to mail. Solicit care packages to your work address. Ask for things like Starbucks Via coffee packs, Crystal Lite packs, and jerkies and cheeses that don't require refrigeration. You can get all sorts of salty and sweet snacks on base, water bottles are free and stacked all over in pallets for the taking. Also solicit things like hand wipes, softer toilet paper, room fresheners, and your favorite items. Mail order is available from any company that will ship to an APO, so you won't be without for long. Space is limited though, so you will never really have everything you could possibly want.
Some things it is a good idea to have are flashlights with extra batteries, a pair of sunglasses that hugs your face (to keep the dust out of your eyes), a laptop loaded with your favorite movies, music, etc..., or electronic book readers, music players, and DVDs. There is a place on base where you can download and share your media with others, called SASMO. Ask around and someone can tell you where it is (near the Far East dining facility).
Get involved. Within your office, if there are activities, join in. There are usually game nights and other events, like fun runs, across base on weekends. For most contractors, time off will be limited, with many contracts running 80+ hours recorded labor per week. Spending off-time in a way that passes it quickly will speed up the contract and get you home sane.
If You Become Ill
One last note about life on KAF: There is a hospital on KAF. It is generally for very specific uses for non-military members. Check when you get on base if the hospital even accepts your company's insurance. If not, there are policies available that provide routine services and sick-call visits. Mental health is always available to any one for any reason at the Role 3.
