Linking Up with the 1st LAR
Friday, May 21, 2010
6:30am Camp Bastion, Afghanistan
We were packed like sardines on the C-130 flights from Kabul through Kandahar to the British base in Helmand Province, Camp Bastion, last night. In full body armor, we sat on canvas benches alongside civilian contractors and NATO troops from various countries. Space is so tight, you have to interlock knees with the people sitting across from you, forming a zigzag zipper formation with your legs.
I sat next to a Danish soldier who was returning to Afghanistan after a couple weeks of R&R in Denmark. This is his tenth tour. Two of those tours were back to back and his decision to stay in theater destroyed his marriage. His now ex-wife, who works in finance, wanted him to come home and get a desk job. But he couldn’t, saying “that just isn’t me”. He said “THIS is me.” For many troops, serving in the Middle East for months on end during these ongoing conflicts are driving a wedge between their careers and their personal lives… another casualty of war.
We arrived at Camp Bastion, which is attached to the Marine base Camp Leatherneck, at 1:30am. We were greeted by a couple of guys from the public affairs officer’s office who told us we had an early flight and it would be best to just catch a few Z’s along side the flight line for a few hours, instead of wasting time driving to Leatherneck. So much for midnight chow! (I’d heard Leatherneck has one of the best mess halls, and I was looking forward to it.)
We were taken to a building made of plywood where various troops were sprawled out asleep on all the cots. So we spent the night sleeping outside on wooden benches made of widely spaced 2 x 4s. Planes, choppers and Ospreys took off and landed all around us all night.
This is where we slept, outside along the flight line at Camp Bastion
Nervous that I mis-set my iPhone alarm, I woke up early. Unable to get comfortable on the 2x4s again, I looked to the ground to put on my ink stained boots. Yesterday, our London based photographer Mal James wrote to remind me to put my blood type and penicillin allergy on my boots, just in case something happens and I’m unable to speak with a medic. Because I don’t have dog tags, my name and blood type is also on my flak jacket and helmet.
Blood type and allergy warning on my boots
It’s now 8:30am. Rick, Keith and I just split a breakfast of champions: a peanut butter granola bar and a coconut and chocolate candy bar. Today’s the day we link up with the 1st LAR. We met many of them in March during their training at Twenty-nine Palms in California. I’m excited to see them again.