Click here for time in Kandahar, 9.5 hours ahead of Indiana time
By Spc. C.
Elijah Spencer, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Oct. 29, 2003 – After three years, four rotations, and who knows how many thousands of troops, Kandahar Air Field here is getting a facelift. "We're going to be here for a while", said Lt. Col. Steven Mahoney, Airfield Support Task Force commander. "The main thing is that the soldiers here get the things that are important and essential for a good quality of life away from home."
The Morale, Welfare and Recreation tent has moved to a larger, more convenient location past the hangar on Warrior Way. The gym has moved from behind the post exchange to the same area as the MWR tent. And when construction of a new PX Mini Mall is complete, soldiers can get their uniforms altered or patches sewn on at the new alterations and embroidery shop. Troops also will be able to pick up something for the folks back home at the improved gift shop or the new jewelry shop. For the sports enthusiast, the latest in workout apparel and accessories will be available at the new sporting goods store. Soldiers can relax by sipping on a hot cappuccino at the new coffee shop or grab a bite to eat at Nathan's Hot Dog Shop.
Further improvements are planned, including modular housing, complete with central air conditioning and heat, Mahoney said. These aluminum buildings will feature four-man rooms. Other comforts in the buildings will include showers, toilets and refrigerators, he added.
Even though morale at KAF is good and the service members are content with their surroundings, Mahoney said, he knows life will be better for the soldiers here as the improvements continue. "They deserve everything that we're doing for them", he said. "Soldiers know how to soldier. They are not complaining, but we're still going to make things better."
As an indication of just how long troops could be in Afghanistan, base operations commanders at Bagram and Kandahar air bases are operating on five- to eight-year plans to improve the troops’ quality of life. The plywood-bolstered tents that service members have called home for the past two years will fade away by the end of 2004 at the air bases, replaced by sturdier B-huts and modular buildings, according to base operations officials. Both types of troop housing will offer more individual living space, refrigerators, heating, air conditioning and ample electrical outlets. Service members also will have beds with mattresses to replace the back-stiffening cots they currently sleep on.
Modular buildings, which Mahoney said resemble trailers, are being built in Kandahar. They will have indoor plumbing, with toilets and common showers. Projects planned for Kandahar in 2004 include:
• Army and Air Force
Exchange Services will add a beauty shop, improved gift shop, perfume shop,
tailoring and sewing services and a sporting goods store in the next few months.
• A new gym with additional weight-lifting equipment also is being built closer
to where soldiers live.
• By December, Kandahar troops also will also benefit from the installation of
new commercial phone lines for more dependable telephone communication and
faster Internet connections.
“If you look at all the things we’re planning to do [at Kandahar] in the next year, about 90 percent or better of the facilities and services will be upgraded,” said Lt. Col. Steve Mahoney, Kandahar base operations commander.
Exact cost of the improvements is uncertain, Command Sgt. Maj. Mike Wevodau, Bagram base operations said. “The funding goes in so many different directions [such as MWR and for housing], but it is millions of dollars,” he added. “These changes need to be done; they’re not wasteful. We have to consider quality of life for the soldiers here; that’s important.” The improvement projects, many of which are contracted to local nationals, also sink money into the Afghanistan economy, Mahoney said.
Although input on projects is sought from the soldiers, much of the work is being done before they have a chance to complain about quality of life, he said. Mahoney said that the only complaints he has heard at Kandahar are pretty trivial.
“This is my first deployment, and it’s a lot better than I expected it to be,” said Spc. Jon Billie, 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery at Kandahar. “We have [American Forces Network], telephones, the best dining facility, and the latrine facilities are excellent — I was expecting to have to go in the woods.”
“We’re in air-conditioned tents, our [post exchange] is outstanding. This really is great compared to what it could be,” said Staff Sgt. Dan Geyer of Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard stationed in Kandahar.
The Kandahar Airfield has a runway length of 3,200 meters/10,500 feet. As of late January 2002, there were somewhat over 4,000 US troops in Afghanistan, of which about 3,000 were at Kandahar airport, and about 500 were stationed at the air base in Bagram. As of early February 2002, a total of 3,600 soldiers were deployed at Kandahar. Of these, more than 1,600 were from the 101st division’s 3rd Brigade, 2nd Battalion [another 700 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Battalion were based in Pakistan]. The rest were a combination of other US forces, Canadian troops and smaller contingents from other countries.
Kandahar, capital of Kandahar province with a population of 250,000. The country's second largest city and chief trade center, Kandahar is a market for sheep, wool, cotton, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. It has an international airport and is linked by road with Kabul, Herat, Quetta, and the Central Asian Republics of the former USSR. Woolen cloth, felt, and silk are manufactured. The surrounding irrigated region produces fine fruits, especially grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar was founded by Alexander the Great (4th century B.C.). India and Persia long fought over the city, which was strategically located on the trade routes of central Asia. It was conquered by Arabs in the 7th century and by the Turkic Ghaznavids in the 10th cent. Genghis Khan sacked it in the 12th century, after which it became a major city of the Karts (Mongol clients) until their defeat by Tamerlane in 1383. Babur, founder of the Mughal empire of India, took Kandahar in the 16th century. It was later contested by the Persians and by the rulers of emerging Afghanistan, who made it the capital (1748 - 1773) of their newly independent kingdom. British forces occupied Kandahar during the First Afghan War (1839 - 1842) and from 1879 to 1881. The old city was laid out by Ahmad Shah and is dominated by his octangular, domed mausoleum. There are also numerous mosques (one said to contain the Prophet Muhammad's cloak) and bazaars. Modern Kandahar adjoins the old city. It has a technical college. Together with Peshawar, Pakistan, Kandahar is the principal city of the Pashtun people. During the Soviet military occupation of 1979 to 1989, Kandahar was the site of a Soviet command. A major prize, it changed hands several times until the fall of the Najibullah government in 1992.