Duty, duty, always, the duty

So, by now, having been in-country for 10 days or so, and at my duty station (Kandahar AirField - KAF) for 5 days, I have pulled all manner of SECFOR duty.

I have spent time on Entry Control Point (ECP) duty, and on Tower guard, and have been on convoy escort duty. I have seen Shir Zai, KAF, Camp Phoenix, Qalat and Camp Apache, and more.

Afghanistan is amazing. Right now is the end of the rainy season, and there are areas that are very green. Most of the country is still desert, or dusty rock, and they tell me that in the months to come, even the green areas will die and turn brown. There are mountains everywhere, and sometimes the dust storms block out the sun.

I've seen native afghans who look like hispanics, ones who look like American indians, and others who look like well-tanned white guys from back home. I've even seen native afghans with red hair, evidently courtesy of the British outpost that was here in the 1800's. I've seen street parties, and small towns that remind me of the old, worn-out parts of town in small towns in South Carolina (except dustier and less green). I've seen open fields used as trash dumps, and flames reaching 30 feet high from incinerators burning generic trash. (although to be fair, with there not being much moisture in the soil, I'm not sure a landfill would work as well here as it does in the states)

The children here, the ones between 4 and 8 years old, wave at us everytime we go by. The older children seem surly (much like American children!). The young adults either ignore us or work for us, from what I've seen so far, and those who work for us are cheerful and friendly (which could, of course, be a front).

A lot of the troops whom we are replacing have very negative things to say about Afghanistan. I wonder if I will end up with the same attitude at the end of this deployment...