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.