Pain in the ass

The work is ongoing; I still enjoy it so much. Both of my teams are getting better, but I had to change one of my drivers and my local guard commander too, for similar reasons: they were absolutely useless. My interpreter is also a pain in the ass, but I’m giving him one more chance...nothing wrong with him, besides that he’s a stupid bastard who doesn’t understand English.

Vegetarian revival

On the very first day I realized breakfast is on base every day at 5 am, which is nice, like in the army, 5 miles of free movement allowed in a relatively safe working area, but I have to work about 30 miles away from the base, in enemy territory, where I am trapped when lunch is provided by the company at 12. On day one I had to eat a piece of chicken because I was starving.... and the second day I ate half a quarter-pounder beef burger, same issue. Then I made a decision: Fuck that. I am a bloody vegetarian. So since that day I’ve been eating my breakfast and the side dish of my lunch and a nice, big veggie dinner...that’s it.

Local Country Nationals...

My guys, they are the most fucked up gang I’ve ever seen,
but I’m working on it constantly. They can’t stand up for more than half an hour before they get tired and have to go into a crouch, but then they can stay that way for hours, or I guess forever. They are allowed to take a lunch of 30 minutes and to go pray for 20 minutes, but some of them are gone praying for an hour, and those kinds of things. I try to train them but I really have to work at it every single day, because if not, they forget.

Day 2

Second day at work, on the other end of the project, at the border area of Pakistan. It was bloody hot, especially under my 50 pounds of body amour, fully loaded magazines, and of course my AK on top of that. I trained some of the local national guys in the basics; e.g., close protection escort drills, how to hold the weapon, how to seek cover under fire, and so on. During the day we heard a blast from the city. At the time, I was in position on one of the rooftops beside a machine gunner with the other team leaders. As soon as we heard the blast everybody got into position, but our local guards told us, “It’s OK! No problem.” I went to try to find out what happened but they said that it was nothing, so I went back to our site. Later on, our interpreter told me there was a suicide attack on a police station or some foreigner agencies in the city, nearby the airport, and 2 people were killed.
Later in the day I spoke with some of our clients from India, and the brief conversation in Hindi made them happy. Then, at lunchtime, I had to eat my lunch on site, so someone brought it for every team leader. Obviously you have no chance to choose, so today’s meal was a huge beef burger with chips and salad. I prayed for the spirits of that poor animal to forgive me, but I was starved so I had to try and eat it. One of the dogs got half of the burger; to eat a burger was almost torture for me. Eight years in the vegetarian industry suddenly gone...I was pretty upset, so I made up my mind to find a solution, so I’ll probably survive.
Many things have happened, and I learned a lot about my new job...really enjoy it, too, as there are lots of things to do, and a steady stream of work: IEDs, Taliban offensive, gangsters, kidnappers. I have to be aware all the time

Day 1

First day of on-the-job training, first impression: such a bloody organized (hopefully) chaos. The job itself is not too bad but there are long hours, starting at 6 am normally, but breakfast from 5. Then proceed to meet your team, report, if all OK then get your client, set up a convoy, start to move to the actual work site at the so-and-so Kilometer where the client is gonna work with his laborers. Then check the site again, because there could be improvised explosive devices (IEDs) anywhere, then set up the team to look after the area...

The sun is hot; the area is mainly desert and mountains. I spend 12 hours on the ground, pretty tiring because there’s not a lot of shade, except in your car. The threat of ambush is not so likely, but the improvised devices are common. All those roadwork machine drivers wear body armor. Yesterday night the local army killed 12 of the opposition; the next morning, we got a letter warning us to stop all the work. I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

The lunch was not vegetarian today. After 8 years I had some chicken. Terrible feeling, but I forced myself to eat meat, otherwise I’m not gonna survive, especially in these conditions. At approximately 4:30 pm roll back to base, have a shower, eat some nice dinner, then meeting at 6 pm. So it's a long day, but I like it.

Tomorrow I’m gonna go to another location of the project, and the day after I will take command of 2 teams.

I got a job in southern Afghanistan

"One bed available in local hutch in hostile outpost, southeast Afghanistan. Coffee and tea available at cost. Rocket and missile attack certain, ambushes sporadic: please bring own medical support. Evacuation often necessary, no method provided. Weapons proficiency a must.

Hospitality extensive, but remains will not be repatriated to your home country.

Looking forward to your arrival. Please approach with hands in air."

I got a job in southern Afghanistan . After 3-days bloody long travel from UK to Afghanistan, and 3 days bloody stuck on the compound in Kabul, finally I have arrived at my base in southern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border area, via an old Russian helicopter. The journey itself was quite adventurous, like a real military deployment, by the way.

Everything is all right. My weapon has been already issued with a shitload of magazines. The old instrument was a bit dirty but I spent several hours to clean it, check all its part, and change those unsuitable for safe use...like my time in the army.