Back Where It All Started

Back at Camp Leatherneck
So here I am sitting in the office that I had originally thought was going to be mine in the beginning. I must say, this place looks nothing like it did when I was here for those 3 short days in July. The company has nearly doubled the footprint of the compound. They now have their own concrete production plant, a metal building fabrication shop, twice the living quarters, and are finishing a new 4,000 SF office building. Oh...don't forget the gym, basketball court, and the entertainment area. A bit more room than my little 1/2 acre set up at KAF.

When I was first here I was fresh off the plane and scared out of my mind. I think that those first days here were by far the worst I've had. My nerves were a mess, I missed home already, and I was doubting this decision big time, add in the jet lag and I quite literally freaked out those first few nights in my room. I don't mind telling you that I wanted to turn around and go home on the next flight, I didn't care what anyone would think about me, I just wanted out. This was the ultimate eggs in one basket scenario.

Fast forward almost 4 months later, and here I sit again, this time with a much better head on my shoulders, and a much better understanding of what it takes to not just live and work here, but also to succeed here. I've been fortunate to have had a very good first tour, and right off the bat in the start of the second I am hitting the ground running. With the help of the Head Designer, we have just completed what might be the most complex pricing package yet over here. A contract that allows the UK Works Group (British Gov.) to pick and choose tasks from a list of 496 items as if ordering off a menu. He did the write up, I did the pricing. Nothing like jumping back into the deep end! I started on it on Wednesday morning, and after working on it literally every waking moment, we are just finishing putting the package together and it is ready for delivery on time tomorrow morning. All this while both my 2 bosses are out of the country and unreachable. Daunting when we started, but incredibly satisfying to be completed. That's what I like best about working here, everyone knows how to do their job, and everybody just does it. I wish that I could say that I will catch up on the sleep I've lost by working an average of nearly 20 hours a day since Wednesday, but I have to finish pricing a 78,000 SF building that is going to be the command center for all of Afghanistan and is valued around $50MM by Wednesday night......I knew I should have left the estimating part off my resume!

Leatherneck is the polar opposite of Kandahar. For starters, it's just the US Marines. Camp Bastion is connected to it and has the British Forces, so you do get a mix, but when you go around the place you are pretty much only seeing 1 or the other depending which side of the base you are on. Compare that to KAF where you have troops and people from the entire NATO coalition and you start to think that the place is pretty vanilla. Another major difference is that although you still can hear explosions, they usually are just from the firing range, there's not much incoming action here at the base. Now when they head out, it's just a nasty as everywhere else, the Helmend Province is one of the historically violent areas of Afghanistan, but it never seems to reach the base, it's almost weird actually....no rocket attack sirens, no strange explosions at night....I could almost get used to this. But what's funny is that I kinda can't wait to get back to KAF. How strange is that? The whole time in KAF I've been somewhat jealous of the guys up here, better living quarters, better office, lots more people, MUCH better food...but what it really does is make me want to succeed at KAF that much more to say that I was the one that turned KAF into an operation like Leatherneck. Maybe it's my self loathing side, or maybe it's been the professional spark that was part of what I took this job for. I was on a conf call with the VP of the company last night about these bids, and he mentioned that we are going to be making a major push in KAF in 2011 now that we have started to establish ourselves there, I say that's more reason for me to be there...make sure I get the best room!

Today we had to go over to Camp Bastion for a few minutes, there was a ton of activity, reporters, extra security if that's possible out here. Turns out Prince William is here. I was thinking of seeing of young Billy wanted to maybe grab a coffee, kick the ball around a bit. But I am guessing that the amount of security around him would most likely have a different idea.And no there are no pictures for the ladies to swoon over. There is a strict no cameras on this base, even to document the construction projects takes getting permission first. I even am not supposed to take pictures inside our compound. I swear all these places make up there own rules. at KAF I can literally take a picture of anything except the airfield. Here they check your bag for cameras when you get off the plane.

It's almost 1am right now...outside temp of 39 degrees....are you kidding me? It quite literally is freezing here at night. I walked back to my room last night around 2:30am and i couldn't top shivering...and I was wearing a fleece! Then the generator that feeds the area where my room is shut down for some reason around 4am, by 4:30 I could see my breath in my room. Those metal boxes we live in pretty much have no insulation in them. I found myself lying there praying for summer to return quickly. The days are around the 70's for the most part, but there is a constant breeze here, I don't know if it is seasonal or always like this, but I didn't notice it in KAF.

This whole time I have been writing this I have been waiting for the Design Manager to finish up his portion of the proposal that is due at 10am, he's now done, so now it's time to start pulling it all together and tying a bow on it. Gotta run....and then maybe get a few hours of sleep.