Battlefield Tourist

Once again we're into one of those "ruts" if you will. For me, a "rut" is when I'm not back out in the field quickly. That's a rut. No matter actually. Things in Kabul are on the edge and Istanbul isn't too keen on me leaving town while we're under such a pivotal time.
My last trip out ended a bit differently than any other. Nothing bad, just different. The morning after I went to the Iranian border, I had managed to hook up with a couple of "Full Bird" Colonels who were going to take off to Kabul in the morning.
They felt they had room, so invited me to join them. Soon after, two ETT's got wind of the flight and they needed to get to Kabul too. Our small group was getting bigger and I had no idea what type of plane we had. I assumed all would be ok.
At the airport, the question was finally answered when a little bity jet with "United States of America" on the side showed up. I instantly knew I was not getting outta here this way. The pilot was kind, looked around and decided four was the maximum. We were seven. Plan B.
For $60 I could get a flight on Ariana, the state carrier. So I make my way through the building (which looks like something out of a central american prison without bars) and try to sign my way through getting a plane ticket. Turns out the manager knew English and once we were introduced, informed me the current plane was full. Fortunately, there was another flight an hour later that I would have no trouble making it on.
In the meantime, I tried to write in my journal, but the minute I opened my laptop, I became the central attraction. It was so weird that I had to stop before I started and put it away. Literally, a dozen people just staring at my screen while I typed.
It turned out to be for the best anyway, because I met a young Afghan refugee named Ali, who was quite interesting. He hadn't been to Kabul, his birthplace, for more than 20 years. Being that he was just 23, this was a special day for him.
While we waited for the plane, he and I spoke with a group around us. Ali acting as translator/participant, we talked about politics and war mainly. Interesting conversation. Seems we all have a lot more in common than one can believe, considering the variation in backgrounds. The definite gist that came out of this conversation was that everyone was tired of war.
By 7:00, I was back in Kabul and I came home a bit grumpy. Of course I came as fast as I could and got home only to find out that after a week in Herat, I was going to have to file from an internet cafe because the internet was down for lack of payment.
There was also a pattern starting to appear with the crew that indicated I was being taken advantage of (by the crew) while I was out of town. That feeling is clear a week later.
The past week has been a bit trying. The personnel issues are still being tamed from a period that had no bureau chief for a long time. Old habits are tough to break, and even more difficult to control being the only American and not having a common language with the entire crew.
There's also been some difficulty with the editor in Istanbul. He doesn't know english either, so there's been some communication problems. More so though, is a lack of understanding in Istanbul about what is going on in Afghanistan. After trying for two months to start deciding on election coverage, a new editor has all of a sudden come down with both feet and has caused a major ripple in the office.
A lot of the problem is, since the editor doesn't speak english, he tends to call my crew and issue orders directly without any consolation whatsoever. This is clearly something that doesn't work on my ship.

Example: Since Abdullah is a student, I was forced to "demote" him indefinitely to "house boy" and promote "house boy". The problem is that Abdullah is a student and is available only a few hours a day. It was killing us. So I made a tough decision that was approved by the boss. Two days later, this editor is calling Abdullah telling him to continue as a reporter and forget what I instructed him to do.
Now that isn't a communication gap, is it?

Regardless, progress has been made and Abdullah's demotion lasted two days. As I explained to him, it was his "wake up" call (there were performance issues as well).
So the past week has been working on the election coverage. I pitched that we go live from Kandahar and Kabul. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, we would have the only SNG there and overall should be a good choice for money making, something all bosses like.
Over the past two days, it's all started falling into place. Here's some correspondence between me and the U.S. Army.

Mike,

  Today I have received the go-ahead to pursue election coverage live from Kandahar stadium.  We have a number of clients lined up and interested in the service.

Please reply.

Thanks,
Dave Tate, Bureau Chief
IHA Kabul
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David

You sir are the bomb.
What kind of details about the operation can you tell me? What will you need
in support? Whatever it is, just ask....
MRM
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Mike,

  I still have to nail down dates, but we are looking getting there by )Oct 1st to set up and stay 2 days after (or so).  You will obviously want to figure out tent accommodations for journalists and things like that.
  For us, we will need to take the fly away, which means we will need air transport and ground transport once in Kandahar.  Once at the stadium, we will be stationary.
  Ideally, we will need a platform for live shots (up to three at a time), so a media area will be neccesary.  It would be helpful if we had at least one internet line.
  Personally, I hope to be on QRF to get any breaking news.  I'll be in touch with more ideas, so please start assembling a plan for us to bounce around.  You should plan for up to 30 journos.

Call me at 070-278-434

Dave
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This we can do.
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Mike,

  I have no clue what other organazations are doing for accommodations, so let me rephrase our support needs.
  IHA would like a work tent for three with power and an internet line, three cots, a couple of boxes of MRE's and a place to do live shots from.  We will be on site 24-hours except myself, who will be coming and going as opportunity presents itself.
  We will also need air transport from Bagram and land transport once in Kandahar.  

Tentative dates are Oct 1st - Oct 11th.

Thanks,

Dave
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David

Maj. Flynn, 3-7 Operations officer, has asked if I could find one journalist
to "Sit in my back pocket for the duration of the election." If there was
ever a chance to get in on the ground floor, this is it. Do you want to do
that? This would allow you to set up in the Kandahar Operations TOC at the
stadium? You would also be on hand to hear and know anything that goes on,
as well as be available for responding units. I believe that this TOC will
have ANA, ANP, ASF as well as coalition forces.
MRM
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Mike,

I'm in on that. Exclusive = good.

Dave
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So how it stands, the Army will be securing a large area around the stadium where the ballots will be counted. We will run our uplink from a "media rodeo" outside the stadium, using it as our background. From this area, the military, Afghan government and the U.N. will run camera crews out to various locations that are connected to the elections: Vote casting, vote counting, coalition security, Afghan National Army, etc... The goal is to get as much video of different things out as possible. At the end of the trip will be my crew, eagerly waiting to accommodate your feed and live shot. Should be a very interesting 10 days.