Under Attack

Kandahar, Afghanistan

I guess it was our turn.  Our sister base to the north, Bagram, had been attacked a few days ago following a huge suicide bomb in Kabul which had killed 5 US soldiers.  I think the fight is on here in Kandahar province.

The night began innocuously enough.  Our Air Force colleagues who "rent space" behind our hospital, and who are responsible for air evacuating our ICU patients to Germany, were having their monthly BBQ.  It was a beautiful twilight and the hundred degree breezes almost seemed pleasant.  After a few burgers and NA beers the dreaded sirens began, followed by the Germanic-accented "Great Oz" voice pumped in over the base loudspeakers.  Known as the JDOC (no one seems to know what this stands for), Great Oz repeatedly informed us that "KAF IS UNDER ATTACK!  TAKE COVER!"

We made our way to the closest shelter and hung out for what seemed like a few hours.  These are small cement boxy enclosures giving off radiant heat like a brick pizza oven.  In the distance we could hear explosions and gun fire.  The first ambulances arrived probably within 30 minutes and we made our way to the trauma bay and ICU.  The rockets had exploded on the boardwalk and had injured a number of people, mostly with fragments and shrapnel from the rockets.  Several went immediately to the OR.  One patient had been partially eviscerated.

Great Oz continued to bellow in the distance every 30 minutes or so.  He informed us that we were under ground attack and to take cover.  The sirens went off a few more times and we hit the deck in the hospital.  I peered outside the hospital door and noted that all lights on base were out.

I noted that there was a huge variability in how people reacted to the situation.  Some folks were clearly rattled.  In the shelter I could here several people chambering rounds in their weapons.  That was more worrisome to me than a rocket hitting us or having an insurgent finding us.  I noted that some folks' eyes were wide open - they had the "fight or flight" stare.  Some people went a little nuts, began yelling at others and acting a bit irrationally.  The vast majority of us resorted to the default condition of being quietly professional, taking care of business and focusing on the patients.

After a few hours we had tucked in those patients who had either come back from the OR or who were in the on deck circle.  By 3am, roughly 7 hours after it had all began, I made it back to the barracks.  We all wanted to hear the Great Oz tell us "ALL CLEAR" but we heard nothing.  It is still "not clear" - we wear flak jackets and carry helmets wherever we go.

At 5am I woke up, as we had  to be at work by 6am.  Today was the day we moved into the new ROLE-3 and we had to get an early start.  You could not have scripted a more challenging scenario for that evolution.