Blogs from Afghanistan, Asia - page 11

6 aout : Busy, busy, busy !!! 7 aout : Journee de conge. Je me suis taper les 3 American Pie. Les seules comedies americaines qui me font vraiment rire ; en effet, je suis partisan des comedies made in France. 9 aout : Un peu d’action aujourd’hui a Nili. Vers 2 :15 AM, soit en pleine nuit, 3 helico Chinnoks ont atteri sur l’helipad de l’ONU. Je dors juste a cote et un helico c’est tres bruyant ! Il n’y a pas de vol UN la nuit. Ce matin 23 soldats US des forces speciales de la base de Bagram (en banlieu de Kabul) patrouillent les rues de Nili. Il y a plusieurs vehicules de police partout. Finalement on apprends qu’un important candidat a la presidence est en ville. Contrairement a la propagande ultra-pacifiste des ... read more

It is difficult to say that there is a typical day of flying here in Afghanistan. But it is not as though it is absolute chaos, either. On Thursday, Luc and I were to fly to four places: first Bamyan, then Herat, then Kanadahar, and back to Kabul. However, things being the way there are here, our routing was destined to change. Remember, we fly passengers for the UN. The first stop was to be a quick little hop over the mountains into thin valley oasis of Bamyan. Eight passengers...forty five minute flight. Instead (due to a departure delay and other circumstances), we flew to Herat, to Kandahar, then to Bamyan. Those eight passengers were granted a four hour tour over the desert mountains of western Afghanistan instead of their initial hilltop hop. Nevertheless, they are ... read more

-10 days till Afghan national elections. The Georgia National Guard (48th)deployed record numbers of soldiers to Afghanistan-most of them took over ARSIC East, the eastern portion of Afghanistan encompassing the regions occupied by Illinois national guardsman. Unfortunately, our rip-out date was extended a few weeks so we could provide support out west while waiting for the 82nd to come in and take over. After the Georgia guys arrived in Camp Clark, I flew to Gardez and then to Kabul, where I settled at Camp Blackhorse for 7 weeks training and mentoring a new crop of Afghan soldiers, the 207th RCC (Route Clearance Company). From there we formed a 200+ vehicle convoy and drove from Camp Blackhorse by Kabul, to Camp Stone in Herat province next to the Iranian border, a journey along the ring route that ... read more

Yesterday was a long day for us. We started before 9:00 and it didn't end until after 6:00. That's a normal North American day, but here the heat slowly presses it way into your skin to attach itself to your bones. Our routing took us to Kunduz, to Faizabad, back to Kabul, to Mazar-e-Sharif, and finally home to Kabul. A simple couple of loops that would be no problem...barely an effort...around Alberta. But by the time we reached the 39 degree black-top of Mazar, I was close to done in. Like the cold that makes you feel you will never get warm again. (Did I tell you that last year I was working in Iqaluit at minus 39 degrees? Such extremity of adventure.) And speaking of Mazar....the information given to pilots states "Non-paved areas are heavily ... read more

Hello...Welcome to my blog about my next few weeks of living and flying in Afghanistan. For those that don't know, I am working for a company (Regional 1 Airlines) that has been contracted by the the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) which is providing logistical support for the UN World Food Programme. We, as well as other operators, fly a scheduled route from Kabul to a variety of cities, towns, and villages throughout Afghanistan. Currently, we are flying to: - Kandahar - Herat - Bamyan - Mazar-e-Sharif - Konduz - Faizabad - Jalalabad, and - Kabul (of course). As well, we fly to Islamabad, Pakistan from time to time. The operation is conducted on a 'cost-recovery' method. Thus, all of our passengers book and pay for their flights to the various locations. We do not ... read more