Today was a big day. I got an exact departure date (after July 4) and I found out that I am headed for some sort of forward operating base that is a short helo ride from Bagram AFB. About 60 miles from Kabul and 50 miles from the Afghan-Pakistani border—at about 8000ft in the mountains. From my initial info (gleaned from a second-hand email) it is a “good place to be” but that is accompanied with a warning to make sure that “if there are any personal hygiene items that you really like, make sure you bring them with you.” (Toothpaste?)
I sent out an email requesting more information about living conditions, what the work is like, what I need to bring… Hopefully I’ll get a more fleshed out picture in my mind. The next round of questions will be related to amount of travel outside of the wire, and frequency of rocket/mortar attacks at the location—my other two major concerns.
At the very least this gives me something to focus on. It will probably mean that I will be my own boss, and I like that. Should be interesting. I’ll keep you posted.
