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CIVPOL Diary: Songs from the sandbox
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By Insp. Joe McAllister
Regional Command South, Kandahar
Kandahar — Well, it’s day five in the ‘sandbox’. Where to start.
I flew into the Kandahar Air Field (KAF) among 70 plus soldiers in the back of a Herc aircraft. Again, it was neat being surrounded by people who are going into the thick of it. KAF is a giant military base with dirt and dust as far as you can see. There is a lot of construction as we are here for the long haul. It’s pretty cool mind you wandering around amidst all sorts of military vehicles and equipment.
I was met by my contingent commander who toured me around. First I had to get passes, fill in forms and find my office. Then of course, I had to get the obligatory Tim Hortons coffee. The boardwalk is full of life; Tim's, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut and numerous little stores. There’s also an outdoor hockey rink, a big dusty soccer field and beach volley ball courts.
The first two days encompassed a conference with all the provinces in the south. We discussed where we've been, where we are going and how to get there. There are a lot of challenges and the consensus was that it won't be easy, but we'll continue to move forward. It was a good conference with over 30 military heads and three police officers.
At the end they looked to us to see where we thought it should progress from fighting the counter insurgency towards civilian policing. I have great accommodations beside Canada House, which has a store with trinkets, clothes and entertainment including three TVs, a small movie theatre and ping pong tables.
Across the street is the gym — a giant Quonset hut filled with everything. There are three big mess halls and the food is actually quite good. There are different themes such as European, Mediterranean and North American, so you can shop around.
We had a rocket attack on the base two nights ago. I heard this weird noise and thought my air conditioner was acting up. Then I heard some doors banging and realized it was the air raid siren. They sent us out into the bunkers where we huddled under big slabs of cement until the all clear.
click to enlarge
Unfortunately, two soldiers were recently killed in action and three others wounded. I attended my first ramp ceremony tonight at sunset. It was very sobering. Many of the soldiers are so young and I look around and think how sad it truly is. But they are fighting for a good cause to make this place right again after 30 years of war and conflict.
I'm off this week to our PRT camp for some orientation. I'll be visiting projects and police stations to see how it actually works. My role is Senior Civilian Police advisor to the Regional Command South. I'm the only civillian police on this base of several thousand military people.
But, so far so good. It’s very different from my other missions, but I think it will be great.
Take care and hope you are all well.
From the desert,
Joe
