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I thought I would write a quick newbies guide to Kandahar (KAF).
Having only 'days to do' with my current Det I thought it would be a good idea.
Arrivals
When you get here arrivals are quite straight forward albeit a bit hectic. You're taken from the aircraft via bus to the air terminal where you will be briefed on the arrival process and then you will queue up to arrive. If you're going on to another station/base other than KAF then you have to queue up for that particular desk. Once you finally get to the front of your queue your docs (F1250, Passport, Green Card etc) are checked and if all is okay you're given your Paradigm Welfare Phone Card, get you're weapon and away you go. While this is all going on the junior ranks are usually given the task of unloading all the aircraft baggage from vehicles into a couple of 12x12's outside. So if your a junior rank then hide
Hopefully, once you've gathered your luggage you will be met by someone from your section who will either take you to work first to give you some gen or take you to the armoury and then onto your accomodation to get some kip.
Station arrival is straight forward and takes no more than an hour to do and the majority of things are no more than a 10 minute walk from the British Accomodation Area.
Dosh
You can cash a cheque at the Post Office which is situated by the Brit mess next door to the QM's store. Also there is the cash till over at the boardwalk, see below.
Accommodation
Accomodation has moved on since a year ago. Now the Brits are housed in single floor accomodation blocks which are like regular barrack blocks. There are 4 men per room. In each room are two bunk beds, 4 lockers and 4 bedside tables (Which are pretty useless with bunkbeds). Each of the rooms has one Air Conditioning unit which is more than ample. If you're lucky your room will have a fridge a TV and a DVD and you get the usual BFBS channels including Sky News and the premiereship footy. All blocks have full shower and bogs but be warned. The showers can end up being freezing as all hot water is pumped from a central tank. So get in there early.
Dining facilities
The Mess is okay and does a variety of meals. There is always a salad bar on at each meal but lacks a good variety with a lot of the stuff spoilt by the addition of strange sald dressings or mayonaise. There are 3 messes, the Brit (Cambridge), the American/Canadian (Niagra), the Dutch (Luxembourg) and the Asian. You can eat at any one of them but only the Brit mess insists on all Brits eating in Uniform which is why all our meals have been in the Luxumbourg when off shift. If you work over by Whisky ramp you have a new dining facility which is often much better quality than the rest.
Fitness
Just recently they have opened a CV and weight gym near the Brit accomodation which is getting better facilities each week. The best time to go training is about 22:OO onwards when the gym is much more empty and much cooler. There is a newly built indoor five a side gym which also has a few education classrooms built into it. If you go to the back of the cafe and proceed upstairs you will find the education Clerk. If you ask him/her nicely you may be able to sign out a PS3 for your tour. They also let you sign out 3 games at a time and they have a shed load.
Ammenities
There is a half decent American BX/PX where you can buy anything from cold drinks, MP3 players to PS3 (currently £200), Xbox360 and lap tops. There is also a Dutch BX but things there are very expensive. A Canex is also available but very small. The Brits have the usual EFI shop with a large NAAFI cafe opposite. In this cafe they do teas, coffes, ice creams and various other snacks. There is also Pool tables, Table footy and about 6 PS3 machines with 32 inch screens to play on.
The Dutch have a 'Mally' like rest room/restauraunt which also has wireless internet in. The cost of food is about $12 (US) for steak and chips or $5 for a good omellette. The internet is about $3.50 and hour and a visa/mastercard is required. All you do is spark up your laptop and link up with the network and then make an account. Once your done your online. The speed isn't too good but at least you can a brew, have something to eat while chatting to the Mrs. Oh, and you will need a continental plug adapter to plug your laptop in as well.
On the subject of internet. The Brit area now has free wireless internet which you can easily access in your room. There is also the normal welfare telephone and internet booths next door to the EFI but the queues are a pain in the arse.
On the boardwalk recreational area there are a multitude of small shops and takeaways. Here you have:
TGI Fridays
Pizza Restaurant
Burger King
Subway
Pizza Hut
An Ice Cream shop
Tim Hortons Donut & coffee shop
French Coffee Shop
Green Bean Coffee shop
There is also an Afghan Cash Till machine here but you get charged for taking out your dosh. Charges are in line with the ones you get in the UK.
Laundry
The laundry is operated via contractor and as far as I can see its a two day turn round. If you put it in on Monday you get it back on Wednesday. Its a pretty decent wash and people who have been to Basrah should know the score. However, they tend to shrink the majority of your clothes so dont go taking any decent clobber with you. You will need to pick up some laundry tags which I believe you get from the QM stores up by the Brit Mess. All you do is tie your laundry tags to you bags before you hand them in and fill out a Ecolog Laundry Item List and hand them both in at the laundry.
I will try and write some more gen when I think of it. I am trying not to breach any security stuff here and will update it etc when I get time.
I hope it helps.
Updated 04/08/10
Having only 'days to do' with my current Det I thought it would be a good idea.
Arrivals
When you get here arrivals are quite straight forward albeit a bit hectic. You're taken from the aircraft via bus to the air terminal where you will be briefed on the arrival process and then you will queue up to arrive. If you're going on to another station/base other than KAF then you have to queue up for that particular desk. Once you finally get to the front of your queue your docs (F1250, Passport, Green Card etc) are checked and if all is okay you're given your Paradigm Welfare Phone Card, get you're weapon and away you go. While this is all going on the junior ranks are usually given the task of unloading all the aircraft baggage from vehicles into a couple of 12x12's outside. So if your a junior rank then hide
Hopefully, once you've gathered your luggage you will be met by someone from your section who will either take you to work first to give you some gen or take you to the armoury and then onto your accomodation to get some kip.
Station arrival is straight forward and takes no more than an hour to do and the majority of things are no more than a 10 minute walk from the British Accomodation Area.
Dosh
You can cash a cheque at the Post Office which is situated by the Brit mess next door to the QM's store. Also there is the cash till over at the boardwalk, see below.
Accommodation
Accomodation has moved on since a year ago. Now the Brits are housed in single floor accomodation blocks which are like regular barrack blocks. There are 4 men per room. In each room are two bunk beds, 4 lockers and 4 bedside tables (Which are pretty useless with bunkbeds). Each of the rooms has one Air Conditioning unit which is more than ample. If you're lucky your room will have a fridge a TV and a DVD and you get the usual BFBS channels including Sky News and the premiereship footy. All blocks have full shower and bogs but be warned. The showers can end up being freezing as all hot water is pumped from a central tank. So get in there early.
Dining facilities
The Mess is okay and does a variety of meals. There is always a salad bar on at each meal but lacks a good variety with a lot of the stuff spoilt by the addition of strange sald dressings or mayonaise. There are 3 messes, the Brit (Cambridge), the American/Canadian (Niagra), the Dutch (Luxembourg) and the Asian. You can eat at any one of them but only the Brit mess insists on all Brits eating in Uniform which is why all our meals have been in the Luxumbourg when off shift. If you work over by Whisky ramp you have a new dining facility which is often much better quality than the rest.
Fitness
Just recently they have opened a CV and weight gym near the Brit accomodation which is getting better facilities each week. The best time to go training is about 22:OO onwards when the gym is much more empty and much cooler. There is a newly built indoor five a side gym which also has a few education classrooms built into it. If you go to the back of the cafe and proceed upstairs you will find the education Clerk. If you ask him/her nicely you may be able to sign out a PS3 for your tour. They also let you sign out 3 games at a time and they have a shed load.
Ammenities
There is a half decent American BX/PX where you can buy anything from cold drinks, MP3 players to PS3 (currently £200), Xbox360 and lap tops. There is also a Dutch BX but things there are very expensive. A Canex is also available but very small. The Brits have the usual EFI shop with a large NAAFI cafe opposite. In this cafe they do teas, coffes, ice creams and various other snacks. There is also Pool tables, Table footy and about 6 PS3 machines with 32 inch screens to play on.
The Dutch have a 'Mally' like rest room/restauraunt which also has wireless internet in. The cost of food is about $12 (US) for steak and chips or $5 for a good omellette. The internet is about $3.50 and hour and a visa/mastercard is required. All you do is spark up your laptop and link up with the network and then make an account. Once your done your online. The speed isn't too good but at least you can a brew, have something to eat while chatting to the Mrs. Oh, and you will need a continental plug adapter to plug your laptop in as well.
On the subject of internet. The Brit area now has free wireless internet which you can easily access in your room. There is also the normal welfare telephone and internet booths next door to the EFI but the queues are a pain in the arse.
On the boardwalk recreational area there are a multitude of small shops and takeaways. Here you have:
TGI Fridays
Pizza Restaurant
Burger King
Subway
Pizza Hut
An Ice Cream shop
Tim Hortons Donut & coffee shop
French Coffee Shop
Green Bean Coffee shop
There is also an Afghan Cash Till machine here but you get charged for taking out your dosh. Charges are in line with the ones you get in the UK.
Laundry
The laundry is operated via contractor and as far as I can see its a two day turn round. If you put it in on Monday you get it back on Wednesday. Its a pretty decent wash and people who have been to Basrah should know the score. However, they tend to shrink the majority of your clothes so dont go taking any decent clobber with you. You will need to pick up some laundry tags which I believe you get from the QM stores up by the Brit Mess. All you do is tie your laundry tags to you bags before you hand them in and fill out a Ecolog Laundry Item List and hand them both in at the laundry.
I will try and write some more gen when I think of it. I am trying not to breach any security stuff here and will update it etc when I get time.
I hope it helps.
Updated 04/08/10
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