I just arrived.......

[Kip Powick]

I thought this might interest some of you. This is a note sent by a brand new bushytailed CF Lt who just arrived in Kandahar to his Mom and Dad who are very good friends of ours... Sorta gives you an idea of what one could expect if one was posted over there.

Hey Mom and Dad,

My forces account is now up and running here in sunny Kandahar.

The trip was okay but long. We arrived in Mirage Sun night and flew into KAF the next morning. It's reasonably warm here in the afternoon but it gets pretty cold still with the wind during the night and mornings. The sun is up at around 7 and it sets by about 6:30. The dust isn't too bad here on KAF but the sun is as bright as I've ever seen it. It takes a few minutes to adjust.

We stayed in a large tent filled with flimsy old bunk beds for the first few nights and I just moved into my tent last night. I have a space of about 7ft x 7ft that's sectioned off with tarp-like dividers. I sleep on a cot with a matress; so far so good. There are a few dining halls here, one that caters to North American cuisine, one for Brits and one for Europeans. I've been eating at the North American and Brit ones so far. The food's pretty good so far. This camp really is a very busy small city that never stops. There are contractors and rental vehicles and troops all over the place. There's also no real rhyme or reason to the way things are laid out. You know you're in a Cdn area though because it's actually organized well. The smell from the $7it pond isn't too bad yet (unless your directly downwind) but I'll be chewing on it when it warms up by all accounts. It's fairly noisy throughout the day as there is always air traffic in and out of the airfield. Lots of weird and wonderful stuff flying in and out.

We spent the first couple of days at a slow pace. Spent most of it wandering the camp trying figure where everything is. There's a huge American PX here that's completely tax free and fairly cheap; same with a decent sized CANEX. There are more ammenites and recreational activities than you could imagine and for each national contingent (US, CA, UK, etc.). Lots to choose from. Of course the most popular place on camp for all countries is Timmy's. The double doubles taste the same (or close enough anyway) but the lines are ridiculous at any hour. I've heard they rake in at least USD 10,000 a day! We got more desert pattern kit from clothing stores, spent hours in lectures and briefings and zeroed our wpns on the range (conveniently located near the $7it pond).

I have a phone card with 45mins free/week that accumulates indefinitely so I'll be sure to give you both a call ino the next week or so. Best time for me to call is first thing in the AM (between 6 and 8AM, ie 22:30 - 0030 your time).

Anyway, must go and carry on with my handover. It's the first day I can actually think straight so it's time I start soaking up the knowledge. Plse pass this on to XXXXX and the rest of the family as I don't have their email addresses at hand.

Love