Diversions, With a Twist

Kandahar, Afghanistan

The ROLE-3 Hockey Team

One of the biggest challenges for the downrange crew is keeping oneself occupied between the incoming traumas, call days, and various other work-related duties.  One really needs a mental or physical diversion to stay sane out here.  And you have to be creative.  It's not as though there is an abundance of options in which to occupy one's free time. Yes, it is nice to have time to read a book, but human interaction is a key ingredient for a successful diversion.  Books don't always cut it.

I joined the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) committee.  Our mission is to come up with interesting ways to keep folks entertained, keep their minds off of work and the things we experience there.  At our MWR meeting we found that we have many restrictions in what we can do.  Can't collect dues for some arcane reason, for example.  It's hard to have a pizza party for 100 people without a budget.  Every distinct unit, like our medical detachment, used to be able to have one BBQ every month, with food, drinks and charcoal provided.  Apparently we were all having too much fun as now we can only have one every six months.  We'll have our BBQ right before this deployment is done, in August.

The MWR folks have come up with some fairly simple diversions.  Stacy, one of our trauma team nurses has organized team hockey, cricket with the Aussies, and ultimate frisbee on the dusty boardwalk pitch.  We played hockey for the first time yesterday - brutal.  No one had to go to the ER but blood did flow.  It was fun.  Great relief for all the pent up stress.

Cervezas at Sunset

I organized an event called "Cervezas at Sunset" - not real beer of course (more Cheerio flavored NA beer).  We meet on Friday evenings and try not to talk about work - mostly successful.  Our inaugural event was last Friday.

A small handful of us run together on Sunday mornings.  Last Sunday we circumnavigated the runway - 9 miles and change.  When we reached the northernmost side of the runway a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) flew 100 feet overhead, on its landing approach.

Another group of us are doing an intense work-out program called Crossfit.  Last night, in the middle of our insanely difficult workout we were mercifully interrupted by an incoming rocket, announced by what sounds like a Sci-Fi movie siren.  We hit the deck for 2 minutes, then took shelter in a bunker close by.  Before our workout was done we were hitting the deck and bunker again - our second of the night.  Thanks Taliban!

This morning I ran by myself to the southernmost tip of the runway.  As I approached my turnaround point two Marine Corps Harriet jets zorched a couple of hundred feet overhead.  Yes, we have diversions here, but everything is slightly off-axis and weird.