New Kabul Compound

The drive to my new home was short and uneventful. On the way I tried to soak up as many sights as possible while looking for danger and talking to my new work mates at the same time. As I said, the truck had the electronics that block the signals that initiate IEDs. I saw a local with a cell phone and thought that he was about to whack us. As we drove by he looked up at us in disgust – I guess we dropped his call for him. I’m sure he was just trying to call his chai boy.

OPSEC prevents me from describing what I saw at NKC when we drove up. Let’s just say it looks like a prison. Tall concrete walls, concertina wire, and armed guards. Just past the ECP there is the admin building called Crisostomo Hall. This is where the majority of the folks here work. Again, not going into detail, there are other work areas in RLBs. Although the compound is about 14 acres it is covered with permanent and semi-permanent structures (tents, RLBs, and many, many stacked shipping containers of various sizes). There is little open space. People are everywhere.

Unlike other camps and compounds of any size we do not have any fast food vendors here. We do have a PX. It is in a 40 foot trailer. Laundry is free and done by local contractors. I swear they use gray water to wash in. A trick that many of us use is to pour laundry detergent into a sock. It seems to help. The nice part about the laundry service, besides the free part, is that they have 24 hour turn-around.

My first 2 weeks here I stayed in a tent. It was air-conditioned and had heat as well. It was very crowded but at least I got a bottom bunk. When I arrived I put my name on a list for permanent quarters. There are 2 three story barracks made of reinforced concrete and several blocks of two story Re-locatable Buildings (RLBs). They are 8’ x 20’. That sounds adequate but not when you have three people living in them. Of course that is where I was sent on 21 October.

Located along the blocks of RLBs and sleeping tents are the latrines. These are small pre-fab buildings that are for our hygiene. They have, left to right as you enter the door, 3 toilets and 3 shower stalls. On the opposite wall are 2 sinks. Most have mirrors. You have to shower at off-peak times otherwise you only have cold water. The electric water heater sits in front of shower number 3. It’s a tight squeeze when you’re down at that end.

The best thing that NKC has to offer is also a curse. The Dining Facility, run by contractors, has some of the most varied and delicious food one can imagine. All free. Every weekend we get steak and either lobster or crab legs.  They have shrimp or scallops for those of us that don’t like the lobster or crab. It is clear that to lose weight here is next to impossible. The one criticism about the DFAC is that the bread is always stale. The toaster runs all day long. The supply line runs from some port in Pakistan as it is too expensive to fly bread in.