Civilization?

Kajaki, Afghanistan
June 8, 2010
Time...I don't know...sometime around 7:35....

We left Delaram on a crappy helicopter flight, which is the only way to do it, so no choice in that matter. Of course, it was late, AND the weather was bad in Bastion so the flight to "KJI" was cancelled and we had to spend the day at Leatherneck. I hadn't taken a shower in a couple days (this is on June 1st and I JUST took a shower yesterday).

The day spent in Leatherneck was crappy. I hate it there more than ever now; it's just a big zoo. Too many people...traffic...too many high ranking people, etc. Our flight went out at 8PM and we headed for "KJI." I didn't know the name of where we were going yet, just the three letter code. Really, I hardly knew anything.

The flight was a little on the longer side as we had to go to the North Eastern corner of the Helmand province, and eventually arrived at Kajaki, which is the home of a FOB (that I can't spell) which is operated by the British military, so it was very refreshing to be one of only less than 10 marines. It was strange once we landed; the landscape was completely different, even in the dark.

I could tell the area was much more mountainous, and there were Afghan civilians yelling things at the truck we were riding in as we were driving through the Afghan freaking town of Kajaki in the middle of the night. They were waiting for things to fall off the trailer so they could snag them, but luckily we didn't lose anything.

We arrived through the gate and it was really confusing to tell where the actual boundaries were. The Brits appeared to be living in the middle of a town, which yes...for all intents and purposes, we are. A US marine captain dressed in British clothes gave is a bit of a brief of the area and we went to sleep.

Quick Note: The area we're living in is an old R&R center for Soviets from the 79-89 occupation. There's a building on the other side of the wall from where I live where apparently a bunch of them were skinned alive by Afghans, and it's haunted. I've taken some pictures of it, but it's outside the wire so I can't test the haunting theory.

The first night, we moved into a house. We moved into a freaking house! Not a tent, a house. Though...it didn't have any power, and still doesn't. No air conditioning. There's a bird's nest inside...with birds in it. The mama bird flies in and out feeding the babies all day long, with them chirping annoyingly. We had no cots the first night, so everyone was nervice about sleeping on the floor, and I didn't have a matt, so I literally slept on the floor. It was great when someone found a scorpion in the next room and everyone flipped out. I was just lying there in the dark trying not to think about it. They kipped the scorpion; we fell asleep. My back hurt the next day.

A gunnery sergeant (one of the few marines here at the time) gave us a quick tour. There's a memorial cross with the names of the British marines and soldiers who've died here. There are a lot of names. We're told that we're surrounded by Taliban. Great...

There are six dogs in the FOB. They look insanely scary when you first see them, at least the big males. Then, when you make eye contact with them, (even the huge ones) they drop down and roll onto their side, lifting one of their front paws so you can pet their chest and stomach. Then they pretty much pass out in extasy as you pet them. There is a white alpha male with his ears chewed off and scars on his face. He doesn't really take as much pleasure in being pet, but he doesn't stop you. The dog who's bigger than him though is the laziest of them all. There's a small puppy who came into our house and stole my corporal's card deck box and chewed it in the back yard.

There's a cat...her name is apparently "Tits." She has three kittens.

The British go on patrols, the second day we were here someone got shot on a patrol, and lived.

The second helicopter mission we had came in yesterday and they wouldn't land because they claimed there was too much gear on the LZ. In their holding pattern, one of them broke down outside the wire and me, my corporal, platoon commander, and another marine had to be a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for the broken down bird. This made me very nervous because I was told the Taliban were circling the area and that's why we were going.

On the helicopter, I loaded a magazine and chambered a round. This is the first time I've gone condition one in Afghanistan. We got off the helicopter and ran around in the dust, locating the downed bird. The crew chief told us where to set up a perimeter, and it was just the four of us guarding the bird. I was freaking out because I could see people walking around in the distance, but there were cobras flying above providing security. We heard cobras shooting at something the other day with their .50 Caliber machineguns.

Eventually, another helicopter landed and a team of British Royal Marine Commandos jumped off carrying enormous sniper rifles and machine guns which they set up in a perimiter joining with us. Then they laid down on the ground...

So, I at least sat down because i'd been standing there for 90 minutes without water, and if the elite guys are seriously lying down on the ground, I'm sitting. That's just how it is; I am sitting down if the commandos are relaxing.

In total, we spent 3.5 hours standing around the helicopter while the crew fixed it. I went from extremely tense, to extremely bored, to extremely dehydrated and on the verge of insanity. We were told to watch our step because the whole area was mined. All the mines from the Soviet ocupation are still here. The country is a mess.

After that, we were pretty much done for the day. I feel like punching whoever's in charge of maintenance for that squadron, which I could name, but probably shouldn't. Hats off to the security squadron who circled overhead for the entire time. One of them let off a burst at something, and we later found out that there were two militants with AK-47s riding around us on motorcycles, but they put the guns away when the cobras came close. So...yeah, there were Taliban watching us the whole time.

In the end though, I like this place better than Delaram or Leatherneck. There aren't as many people, we pretty much do whatever we want when we're not working. We don't have to clean. We don't really need haircuts, because it's kind of impossible. There aren't REAL showers, but that's a small trade to make for such a relaxed lifestyle here.

Still though, I need a drink.