March Madness at Camp Leatherneck

 RSC(SW) Engineers, Mostaches in Full Effect

Mustache March is in full effect for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. The Air Force enlisted guys that work for me started it up. Everyone picks a team to win the tournament. When your team loses, you have to shave your Mo. That's it. No prize for the winner, just the right to keep your Mo the longest. Why would anyone want to do this you ask? Because it makes everyone in the office look ridiculous, it's fun to laugh at people especially those who can't grow one, and whatever we're bored as hell over here so we need entertainment. I picked Ohio State for obvious reasons, so I have a decent chance and keeping mine for awhile. In hindsight, I should have picked my alma mater Old Dominion, who lost to Butler, and then I could have been rid of this horrible stache already. 

First things first. Here is my mailing address for anyone who would like to send some love my way!  Good coffee is like hard currency over here!

LTJG Jeffrey J. Watson

Regional Support Command Southwest (RSC-SW)

Camp Leatherneck (ENG)

FPO AE 09372

Please send Jeff candy for us, we're tired of  MRE scraps!

Afghan kids dig the Mo-stache!

So I've been on the ground in Helmand for about seven weeks trying to get my head wrapped around everything that's going on here. I've been traveling around a lot, and that is a nice change from my experience in Iraq in '08. I can't take being behind my desk for more than a few days, and there is plenty of opportunity to get out and see construction projects here, so I'd say I'm pretty lucky to have this job.

I work out of Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province. It's a sprawling base adjacent to a British air base called FOB Bastion. Leatherneck was created in 2009 as part of the surge of Marines that took over responsibility for securing this area of Afghanistan in 2009. The place is crawling with people, and you have to wait in line just about every you go. There is non-stop construction going on here as the base evolves from an expeditionary camp with mostly tents and dirt roads into a semi-permanent base with hardened structures, asphalt roads, permanent utilities, etc. That is is not to say that the US intends to have a permanent presence here (it's fairly certain that US forces will leave by 2014), but development at the base will continue for some time to come. I have a copy of a National Geographic documentary about Camp Leatherneck and the battle for Helmand. It's about a year old and still fairly accurate. If anyone wants a copy just let me know and I'll send it to you.

As for my job. I am the assistant engineer for Regional Support Command Southwest, or RSC(SW). We are a subordinate command to Nato Training Mission Afghanistan, based in the capital of Kabul. Each major region of Afghanistan has an RSC, and we are responsible for Helmand and Nimruz Provinces. Our mission to to train, equip, and provide facilities to professionalize the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) - basically army and police. As each new army and police unit is fielded, they must have facilities to live and work out of. My purpose in life is to design the temporary facilities they will use, prepare the designs for contract award, and oversee construction. Most of the construction is done by local Afghan contractors and the quality of work is nothing close to what you would see in the U.S. or Europe. 95% of Afghans cannot read or write, but if you draw them a picture of what you want, they will do their best to build it just like the picture.

Concept

Reality

Afghan Block Wall - We had to make them rip this out and re-do it



Concrete Masonry



Contractor Materials After a Flood



Afghan Scaffolding - no regard for personal safety

As you can imagine, I've had to lower my expectations a bit for Afghan contractors. The good news is they are willing to learn and if you show them how, they'll do it that way. The quality of work will never meet western standards, but that's not really the objective anyway. As long as the structural integrity of the building is sound, then I think we're doing pretty good. Plus, the workers are learning new skills that will serve them long after we are gone. It's nice to see Afghans willing to work hard to make a better life for themselves. I wish I could say the same for the Afghan soldiers and police.

Bagram Day One

Last night on my way back to my tent a few of my fellow officers decided to check the tent next door to us and were pleasantly surprised to find it unoccupied. We promptly moved out of the overcrowded cell block of a tent that we were assigned to and into the unoccupied, non-feet smelling one. I woke up refreshed nine hours later to a cool breeze and hazy sky with white-capped mountains all around. It was perfect weather for a little exploration around the base.

I took a 25 minute shuttle ride to the main side area of the base to look around. On the way, I saw some minefields with various remains of soviet tanks and equipment. Crazy. I wanted to stop and take pictures, but I had other priorities, namely to locate the supposed TGIF. I asked a crusty looking Army soldier on the bus with me where I could find it, and the contorted look on his face followed by his response said it all.

"What, sir?"

"Never mind," I said in return, realizing then that the rumor was false after all.

So much for loaded potato skins for lunch! Thankfully, the soldier realized I was new in town, and kindly directed me towards a dining facility, the PX, and various shops in the area. I bought a vanilla chai tea at the local Green Bean, and proceeded to do some window shopping. The Afghan bazaar vendors have some amazing items for sale, from Persian rugs to furs to handmade furniture. I have my mind set on bringing home a Persian or Afghan rug, but I think I'll wait a while before jumping into souvenir shopping. I will most assuredly be coming home with a nice "Afghan" afghan.

I was also surprised at the large number of people on this base. Most are U.S. military from all branches of service, but there are also many foreign military and civilians working here. It is very interesting to see the diversity in the personnel not only from a national perspective but from an intellectual one as well. I had a very interesting conversation over dinner with an anthropologist and professor from U.C. Irvine whose mission here is to go out into the villages and collect specific data from the local population. She collects information such as language, religion, tribal/government affiliation, occupation, etc. This data is then used to create a human terrain map for use by coalition forces to better understand the local Afghan populations. This is s very difficult task considering the level of danger she puts her self in, but even more intriguing when you consider the challenge she must have as a woman trying to collect personal information from people in an extremely patriarchal society. She admitted she gleans most of her information from the Afghan women, but gaining access to them is not easy. Very interesting work going on here indeed.

I hope my job will be as interesting! I should find out more on that very soon. It might be a few days before I can get to an internet connection again, but I'll be sure to write some more when I get a chance.

Good night!

Arrival in Afghanistan

I made it safely to Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. It's 2am here, 32 degrees F, and the accommodations are a little rough. But it could always be worse. For the time being I will be living out of an enormous tent with about 300 other people. I sampled the local eats after I got settled. I'll just say that I've had worse and leave it at that. Rumor has it there is a TGIF here somewhere but I will have to wait until tomorrow to verify. This is a large base and probably one of the nicest in the country. It has a large PX, USO, MWR facilities, sidewalks, etc. Its also seems very unorganized and could probably use the services of a few talented CEC officers. Unfortunately my stay here is only temporary as I will be traveling forward in the coming days/weeks to my new home, and if this place is really as good as it gets, then it would be wise for me to dial down the expectations a bit.

Goodnight all!

Back in the Fight

After a three year hiatus, I decided to dust off the old blog and document my new assignment in Afghanistan. I am currently in Kuwait at a place called Camp Virginia, which is basically a launch point for many U.S. service members traveling to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to flying here I attended three weeks of combat training at Camp McCrady, a National Guard base located near Fort Jackson, SC. The experience up to this point has been a long and drawn out deja vu for me, considering I went through the exact same program prior to my Iraq deployment three years ago. This has been annoying and pleasant at the same time. That is, annoyingly repetitive due to the extensive combat training I have received dating way back to October '97 when I joined the Marine Corps, and pleasantly relaxing knowing that I could cruise through it and see my wife and daughters almost every night. Camp Virginia is much different now. The camp itself is like a ghost town as they are preparing to close it sometime in 2012 (so the rumor goes). They keep us here for 5-6 days to adjust to the time change, and I am taking full advantage. Lots of down time, PT whenever I want, decent food, and lots of time to call home and post relentlessly on Facebook. However, Afghanistan is only days away and I fully expect to hit the ground running. Afghanistan is unlike Iraq in every way imaginable, and I am sure this experience will have few similarities with my previous deployment.

Its 0023 (12.23am) local time, and its time to grab a snack at the chow hall. Still adjusting to the new time zone. I miss my girls.