Battlefield Tourist

Really, the question is, "where to start". The past week has felt like a month and there's so much to talk about I'm at a loss. I guess we should go back to October 1st at Bagram.
My last entry touched on that boredom some, but I did leave out one of the nice stories. At Bagram is located one of two Burger Kings in the country. That gave me an opportunity to introduce Abdullah to Americana, which he liked. Other than that, we were stuck with a French TV crew who didn't like TV and would turn it off as soon as they stepped into the hooch. Other than that, three days at Bagram was quite uneventful.
The big question was when would we finally get a plane? Flights to Kandahar are few and far between and the terminal was filled with soldiers trying to get there. After two days of not getting a flight, I finally plead my case to the Army as to the importance of our mission. That convinced them to go to a higher authority to get us "priority" status, putting us at the top of the line. By Monday, we still hadn't a flight, so in the morning I went to the terminal myself to see what was available.
That morning a plane would be leaving with just six passengers. A quick check at the terminal showed that we were NOT priority, and therefore far down the list.
So I hoofed it back to the PAO office where they assured me we had the clearance, which was backed by a signed order. Back to the terminal. There, the fly guys took the order and put us down as priority. I was number two on the list. Great news.
Back to the hooch and Abu and Umit were still farting around. I told them to hurry and pack, but like usual, no one listens to a word I say and they decided to go take a shower. A long shower.
Up until this point I've been able to keep my composure, but eventually I had to go to the shower and "hurry them along". It kind of worked, but also like usual, there was no sense of urgency at all. So once again I had to light their fire. Keep in mind, we have more than 700 lbs of gear in all which is an absolute logistical nightmare in Afghanistan, unless you're Geraldo. IF you are Geraldo, the shiny red carpet rolls out and you get your own choppers. Not today, not for us. So we go with what we have.
At the terminal, the fly guys start calling off names. Like expected, I'm #2, but my guys are not #3 & #4. Big problem. A quick check and it turns out they didn't put Umit and Abu on the same list, so I had to do some major scurrying to get that fixed.
Of course being a journalist taking precedent over soldiers does not fly well, but we had no choice. I had expected to be in Kandahar setting up by this point, and we weren't close.
So we all make the list and start to pack all of our crap on a pallet when someone asks if we have the proper paperwork to ship our generator. "What paperwork?"
Another hour and a dozen phone calls later and we get what we need to get the generator on the bird... or at least the pallet.
Three hours after we were supposed to take off, I'm told the flight is cancelled. Fortunately there's another flight in the late afternoon, so they tell us to leave our equipment on a pallet and continue to wait. Eventually we get on a plane and make our way to Kandahar. By now it is Monday night and we're running late. BBC is already looking to do business, and we are out of the game.
That night I met with Major Myers who tells me that since we were so late, we couldn't get a convoy to the city until Wednesday because Tuesday's convoy was already full. So we spend a night in a hootch that I've gotten used to since I've been in country (probably slept three weeks total in it) and we wait. Tuesday slides by in a most uneventful way, leaving me to catch up on some phone calls and email.
That night, Major Myers informs me of two exciting new details. First, there is a convoy on Wednesday for our gear, but: A. There is no room for us. B. If there was, we had have to ride in the back of an open truck with no armor protection.
This whole trip continues to slide downhill. I ask him to do his best to change the situation and once again we set back and wait.

Wednesday, October 6th 2004

Wednesday rolls around and I'm under the guidance that our convoy is loading up at 12:30. Knowing that our gear must be on the bottom or else... At 12:15 I decide to head to the PAO office to find out what the hold up is (a good 1/2 mile walk). So I hoof it up to the office and to my surprise, everyone's sitting there watching the aftermath of the Vice Presidential debate. "Are you ready?" Sgt. Clawson says. "Uhhh, yea. Been waiting for an hour". After that, the process turns into a chinese fire drill as we speed around and bust our asses to get to the HQ for 3/7 Artillery. They'll be taking us into the city. Keep in mind, during this whole time, we are moving a load of gear that is beginning to physically take a toll on us and it will only get worse.
At 3/7's HQ, we drop our gear and wait for a truck. An hour goes by and we're told that we would be loading our gear into a truck that is filled with sandbags. Fortunately, we had some Romanian soldiers too help us load. Unfortunately, the truck is filled with sand and sandbags, putting us in the position to have to pile our gear in anyway we can. Considering we have a 500k system, my guts are starting to rumble with anxiety.
Everything gets loaded fine (keep in mind, our total gear, including personal gear, is more than 750lbs) and we are told that we get "uparmored" humvees in which to travel. That is great news. The bad news is that the driver doesn't want to make two stops, so we are told we'll be carrying our gear the final 250 meters. I realize that doesn't sound like a lot, but if you saw what we have, you'd understand.
The trip into Kandahar would be the scariest. If there was a time we would get hit by an IED, this was the time. To make it all worse, I'm the only one of my team with body armor. That means I can't put mine on either. I have had to make some poor decisions concerning my well being based on my leadership style. This is one of them. Had I put all my gear of, my guys would have been looking at me with the fear of god. Instead, I played it off hoping it would keep their anxiety level to a minimum.
The drive in went fine. I've made the trip several times over the past few months, so the sights are nothing new. One thing is for sure, the kids give the Americans a very warm welcome just about everywhere I go. Kandahar is no exception. The best part is, is that this is Kandahar; the ideological hub, the capital of, the epicenter of... the Taliban. If things went well here, it would be proof that Afghanistan is moving in the right direction. Proof that could not be slanted in the general media. Something I've known for months now.
We made our way to the center of USA 3/7's operations. This is an artillery unit attached to the 25th ID who is tasked with the security of Kandahar. They are also going to be our lifeline. Since we have very little money, we are basically about to begin a grueling week of survival using some Army and a lot of whit to get by.
We convince the driver to dump our gear at the entrance to the stadium, which is separated from 3/7's HQ by anti-shrapnel barriers and a platoon of Romanian soldiers.
We haul all of our stuff into the stadium and look for a place to set up the gear and start testing for a signal. The stadium is more like a small rodeo stadium. It's made of thick concrete with the stands rising no more than 20 feet. I knew I recognized the place. Turns out is is the infamous stadium that many of the RAWA tapes show as the site of very gruesome executions: Hangings, stoning, attempted beheadings. It's because of this past that the U.N. chose it as a site to count votes.
Inside the "pressbox", if you will, workers were hard at work trying to finish the place in time. It isn't going to happen. This place is a wreck and will need a miracle to be finished in time. One guy said, "Hey, it's Afghanistan." Understood.
We had no luck getting a signal, which was supposed to be at 10 East. Yes, that is nearly a horizontal shot. Over the next few hours, we would move several times, eventually making our way to the roof where we set up our cots and prepared for a long night. Long night it was and when we went to bed in the wee hours of the morning, we still had no shot established and I was starting to lose faith in Umit. I started thinking about failing, especially after Abdullah tells me the last time they had to make a link with this system, it took three "pros" more than two days. Boy I could use a beer.