Now Ye're Talking - to a worker on a US Military Airbase

buggy beag wrote: »

how big is the actual base?

Depends on which base you're talking about. The biggest the would be Bagram I think. At a guess, I'd say the perimeter road on the inside of the base would be about maybe 12km around. It's pretty big and houses well over 10,000 people there.

Edit: That guesstimate of the perimeter doesn't include the area where the prison is. The prison is strictly off limits for obvious reasons but it's a fairly big area down there.

Kandahar is pretty big too. In its heyday that was technically the busiest airport in the world with more flights than Heathrow. But it's a lot quieter nowadays.

Some of the smaller FOBs that I can't mention names of are really small and have a couple of hundred special forces troops and that's it.

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

Thanks for previous answer for my own questions and other answers, seems fascinating the position and expereince you get.

I would assume based on your answers you are a civilian contractor?

If so do you get any sort of military training to help defend base, is that actually required or is there training more for personal safety?

Can you request such training?

I'm happy to answer as many questions as you guys can throw at me.

You don't get any training if you're civilian. In the event of an emergency you do what you're told and that's it.
When rockets come in (like they did only an hour ago) you lie down and cover up. If you're still breathing and have all your limbs after about 30 seconds of the alarm going off.... you're good.
Then you wait for the "All Clear" alarm and go back about your business.

If you're civilian you also don't get a weapon unless you have clearance. You can apply for clearance but they won't allow it unless your job states you'll need it.
Plenty of civilians have weapons but they have the clearance to carry. All military carry their M4 rifles 24/7 anyway so if Taliban managed to storm the base, they wouldn't last long anyway.

muffler wrote: »

Any regrets at all?

Honestly I just wish I did it sooner.
You see and experience so many things most people only see in movies and wish they could experience so it's fantastic in that regard.

I've a toddler at home and it's tough being away for long periods and missing things like birthdays and Christmas. But in the long run its worth it so it makes it all worthwhile.
Doing this as a single carefree man would be much easier and would make it more enjoyable.

Big Nasty wrote: »

I just presumed you were single doing what you do. You obviously love it and are building a hefty nest egg for yourself. I'm married with a young child myself and there's no way in he'll I'd consider doing what you do now, nor would I be let.

How does your partner feel about it?

It's definitely not for everybody.
Some people come out here and last a month and realise it's not for them and just go home.
A lot of people get here and then when that first rocket comes in on their first or second day, reality sets in and they just pack up and leave straight away.
Other people have been here since '02 and will be here until the gates close.

My wife and I discussed it at length before I came out here. We knew it was going to be a challenge and we both said if it ever gets too tough on either of us I'll jack it in and come back home.
For now, she's coping well and enjoys having me out of her hair for a while. One less kid to look after as she puts it!
She does get lonely from time to time but that's to be expected. We Skype every night and are always in contact so it's not too bad. Plus I get 3 months off per year so I get a good bit of quality family time in when I am home.

The goal is to save up some money and buy a house. With the way Ireland is at the moment, it's impossible to save for a house while paying rent and bills and everything else life throws at you. So we decided it's better to make a small sacrifice in the short term and gain in the long term.
Another added bonus is I think having this on my CV will at least make it stand out from the bunch a little bit and should help me land a decent job when I do decide to go back home permanently.
Well I hope so anyway!

Big Nasty wrote: »

I guess if you're both happy with it then it's fine. High risk but high gain also.

Roughly how many are in your Base and at a very rough average how many would die or be seriously maimed on Base per annum?

I understand those figures vary greatly and you're probably at less of a risk than military on Base when the rockets come in. Guess I'm trying to build a picture of how big your own personal risk is.

I know the number of military on base but technically it's information I'm not supposed to have so I can't say. But a rough figure of military plus contractors on base right now would be approximately 8,000.
You're right though; the figures change daily and can increase or decrease by a few hundred at any time.

As far as being at risk during rocket attacks goes, there's nobody at risk more than others while on base. The rockets come in at random and can land anywhere. And we're all housed together. Military and contractors can all live within the same housing units for the most part.
The good thing is the Taliban have a terrible aim. They pretty much just fire them off and hope they hit the jackpot. And the C-RAM's do a pretty good job at shooting them out of the air before they land. The worry then is getting hit with shrapnel flying through the air which is a very real danger.

Thankfully people don't die or get seriously injured too often. We can't keep a track of it though because they don't broadcast when a person is injured or killed. The rockets come in and we get back to business. I'd say people killed on base this year is less than 5 anyway. Injuries happen a bit more often but thankfully nothing too serious.

From what I can recall, there was an Afghani soldier killed from a rocket attack last month.
A female contractor was killed a few months before that.

The biggest disasters here in recent years were when the 6 guys were killed last winter when a suicide bomber detonated near one of the gates.
And then there was the plane crash that was all over the news a few years back.

It is of course dangerous being here but probably not as dangerous as you might think.

helimachoptor wrote: »

Great AMA!

I've a few questions.. (avid military book reader)

- Have you been around any Green on Blue incidents?
- How cold does it get at night?
- Are there any locals you're particularly wary of?
- Did you take any weapons training before you went (assuming you arent ex irish/british military)
- Do your family think you're trying to be Rambo :pac:

On a side note, fair play OP cant be easy

- Have you been around any Green on Blue incidents?

No but I've heard of some stuff happening. It's really nowhere near as frequent as it has been in the past. What I do know is there is a distinct feeling of distrust from most of the coalition forces when it comes to Afghan forces. They tend to keep them at arms length. I've been told by a good number of troops that they don't trust them one bit and don't like going on patrol with them. They feel as though they always have to look over their shoulders.


- How cold does it get at night?

Right now it's 20 degrees and it's almost midnight. It's usually a bit hotter than this at night but it's cooling off lately. During the day it gets up around 40.
In the winter it's below zero at night. Snow is frequent depending on your elevation and which base you're at.


- Are there any locals you're particularly wary of?

Definitely.
Some are really nice guys and are very friendly. They ask about our culture and are genuinely interested. Others are very shady and you know they'd kill you if they got a chance outside the gates. I'm not sure how true it is but the figure thrown around base is 1 in 5 of the locals working here are connected to Taliban in some way and feed them information.


- Did you take any weapons training before you went (assuming you arent ex irish/british military)


No formal weapons training is required and if you're civilian you don't get a weapon anyway so it wouldn't matter if you had any training anyway.


- Do your family think you're trying to be Rambo :pac:


Not really but they all have varying ideas of what it's like out here. I'm pretty sure my mother thinks I'm basically in the movie Lone Survivor!
She usually cries when I come back here. :pac:

Skyfarm wrote: »

This is your partner , your now single

aside from my brilliant quip,any visiting celebs ,i.e. dickie rock, ronan keating etc to entertain the troops

Not in recent times unfortunately. Still crossing my fingers for the playboy bunnies to make an appearance!

Apparently celebs aren't allowed to come visit during fighting season as it's too dangerous.
(Yes there's a fighting "season")

GLaDOS wrote: »

Has there ever been an attack where you thought "Shít, this is it"?

When you finally decide to leave do you think you'll miss it?

The first time I was in a Black Hawk and travelling through mountains and saw one of the gunners jump and swivel his gun to one side and start firing I thought I was going to be in trouble. I didn't see much more than that as the pilot swung to the right and that was it. Never got any explanation as to what that was all about.

Also being in a C130 that does a combat landing while the base is under rocket fire is pretty scary. The plane basically nosedives towards the runway so that was a change of trousers moment.

Other than that there's always some nerves when the rockets come in multiple times in a short period of time.

I think I will miss it when I leave. I'll miss the excitement and the way it's all go all the time. It's just a cool place to be a lot of the time and being in a "normal" job seems a bit tame in comparison.
I'll also miss the 3 months off a year that I get.

tea and coffee wrote: »

I take it you got clearance to answer whatever? Is there confidentiality agreements contractors and also military personnel have to adhere to? Could someone write a tell all book /tabloid story?

Everyone here falls under Military Law.
There's no agreement contractors have to officially sign but as we're under Military Law, all the usual rules apply to us. Leaking any classified information is obviously a serious no no.
Similarly, they take OPSEC (Operations Security) very seriously. This includes revealing any unclassified information which could jeopardize operations and potentially put lives and the operation at risk.
Everything I've said here is ok because it doesn't breach any rules and I haven't revealed any sensitive information. I could write a book if I wanted but I couldn't reveal any information such as the layout of the bases, times and dates that flights take off, when and where troops are going, photographs of sensitive equipment etc. Basically any intelligence that could be useful to enemy sources is out of bounds.

irish_goat wrote: »

Do people make their own booze there?

Yep.
I've known of a few people who brew their own stuff here. I've never tasted it but I heard it's pretty awful.

stereomatic wrote: »

So there's enough for a hurling team

Do you speak a cupla focail as Dari or Pashtu

Has your Irish accent been tempered by being in the base full of Americans

Anyone there have any difficulties with your accent or dialect

Finally what are you eating now

:pac:

I don't speak any of the local language apart from saying hello!

I've had to slow my speech down a bit while I'm here. I speak pretty fast anyway but sometimes they have trouble understanding me. Most people here love the accent and if you were a single man here you'd do pretty well with the ladies purely because of the accent!

I'm not eating anything. Drinking a coffee though!

Carnacalla wrote: »

Do you ever venture into the local towns or villages?

Any memories that'll leave you scarred for life?

You can't leave the base at all.
I mentioned it in a previous post but if I managed to actually get off the base and wander off I'd be captured pretty quickly and probably tortured and killed. I'll stay where I am thanks!

The only thing that'll leave me scarred for life is the memories of some of the toilets around the bases.

FanadMan wrote: »

How do you manage the heat? You said that it hits around 40 - for me, if it hits high 20s/low 30s I'm ready to drop. Would love to try out there for a job but think the heat would rule me out after a couple of days

Great answers so far btw


PS.....by the sound of it you'd be a bit too young to remember it but could you "fry an egg on the stones here, if you had an egg"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExTRZxDRYPg

Honestly, hot weather has never bothered me too much so it's not really an issue for me.
There's plenty of air conditioned buildings around the base and your own bedroom is air conditioned too so it's not too bad.
It's like anything really, you adapt and acclimatize pretty quickly once you get here. I've never gotten to the stage where I couldn't handle it but as I said in a previous post, a swimming pool here would be a welcome addition!

Corvo wrote: »

The most interesting AMA on here by a long long way.

Few questions, if that's ok? -

- Have you forged any great friendships with anyone in particular since you arrived on base?

I've made a ton of friends since I first came here.
I'm friends with a lot of contractors here but the best friendships I've had are with the military guys/girls. I've been great friends with everyone from the low ranking E-3 (private) right up to Colonels and everything in between. I've been invited to stay with almost everyone of them at this stage so no matter where I go in the States on holidays next I'll probably lydon never need a hotel!
It can be a bit sad when you make friends and they leave a few months later for good. Most soldiers are here on either a 9 month or 12 month rotation. Some extend for longer but that's generally the length of a tour for most military members before they rip out and a new batch comes in.
Just about everyone I've met here has been extremely friendly and welcoming and they're all a great bunch of down to earth people. I'm sure I'll be lifelong friends with some of them.

Corvo wrote: »

- Now that you are around the military and know the goings on, is it something you think you could do should circumstances been different? i.e. could you be a soldier?

It's something I've always wanted to do since I was a kid but I just never did it. Since I've been around it all it has reignited my interest in all things military and I'd love to do it.
But from talking to a lot of soldiers here, they really don't get paid a hell of a lot considering what they do and the risks they take.
The high ranks like the officers earn a good wage but when your low on that totem pole it's not a lot of cash.
The upside to that is they do get fantastic benefits which makes up for it somewhat.

Corvo wrote: »

-No need to answer this if it is too personal, but how does your partner deal with the everyday possibility of you being killed, and your long periods away? Has it not put significant strain on the relationship, despite the overall rewards it will bring further down the line?

She does get a bit lonely from time to time especially when the baby is gone off to bed and the house is quiet but she copes pretty well. She just gets on with things and we're always on Skype so it's not so bad.
When it comes to the dangerous side of the job, I don't tell her about half the stuff that goes on. She's better off not knowing a lot of it because it'd only make her worry and that's not good for either of us.
She obviously knows it's dangerous and she has an idea of what happens here but I just don't get into detail when it comes to the dangerous stuff.

Corvo wrote: »

-You must get a serious case of blue balls no? :pac::pac::pac:

Simple answer?

Yes.
Dear God yes.

They issue wheelbarrows when you get here so you can carry your balls around.

Alcoheda wrote: »

Thanks for doing this AMA.

Do you have any idea of what the casualties look like on the enemy side?
Is there a good system for documenting how many taliban fighters are killed?

Would you be able to guess the average age of the enemy forces vs that of the US forces?

Are the taliban fighters literate?

Do they use other methods apart from rocket, explosives and small arms fire to disrupt the base's operation?
(Digital/Cyber attacks for example)

Fascinating stuff, thanks again for taking these questions.

I don't have the answers to your questions about Taliban casualties or literacy levels.

From what I see on bases around Afghanistan, the ages of US force seem to range from 19 to about 35 on average. There are of course older people but they'd mostly be higher rankers.

The Taliban mainly fire rockets in as they can do this from a further distance away and be gone by the time the forces here can retaliate or go look for them.
They also fire regular rifle rounds over the walls when they get close enough but that doesn't really do any damage at all.
Suicide bombings happen here too but it's rare enough to happen close to the base. They don't usually get close enough. Although they did manage to kill 6 people last winter when they drove up towards the gate and detonated.

Another favourite of theirs is to cut wires leading to the base to disrupt power whenever they can.