We’re at war, so every day is “fighting season,” but springtime brings warmer weather and the start of what’s called “fighting season” at Bagram Airfield.  Apparently it’s unpleasant or inconvenient for insurgents to carry out rocket attacks  when it’s cold or rainy, so wintertime attacks are concentrated during American holidays.  When the weather warms up and the snow melts out of the mountain passes allowing access for Taliban fighters, I’m told, we can expect IDF (indirect fire) much more frequently.   Oh, great.

First step in being ready for fighting season:  know your alert tones.

MASCAL means Mass Casualties; CBRN means Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, or Nuclear; HAZ MAT means Hazardous Materials; IBA means Individual Body Armor; FPCON means Force Protection Condition (different levels have different action protocols); and MOPP means Mission Oriented Protective Posture (different levels mean donning different protective gear). The Giant Voice is the Public Address system delivered via loudspeaker.

When you hear the “waves” alarm, you hit the deck, lay prostrate with your arms protecting your head, and wait anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on whom you ask).  If you haven’t heard the “all clear” by the time you’re done counting off the seconds, you beat feet to the nearest bunker.

Here’s a basic bunker built of reinforced concrete:

The Jersey barriers at each end are about 4 feet high, so you can see that these bunkers are pretty snug.  Here’s a view of the inside:

This one’s nice and clean, but there are no benches which means you’ll be crouching uncomfortably for quite a spell.  I’ve seen bunkers full of junk, or with benches but also with used condoms (ew) so you maybe don’t want to come into contact with those benches.  If you really luck out, you’re near a standing-height bunker.

Some bunkers have extra protection in the form of layers of sandbags:

In high-traffic and high-population areas, you’ll find condo-style bunkers:

You can see the peaked roofs of buildings called “B-huts” behind these bunkers.  B-huts are constructed of plywood, most of them are very old, and because of their age and construction they are considered a fire hazard:

B-huts are being torn down by the hundreds these days as hardened buildings (concrete) are completed and occupied, but a very large proportion of the people at Bagram Airfield are still living and/or working in these structures.  You don’t want to be in a B-hut if an IDF hits: they offer no protection at all.

Less of a fire hazard but still no protection from rockets are the tents at BAF:

We have lots of people living and working in tents like these.  Many hundreds more live and/or work in RLBs (relocatable buildings, basically stacks of shipping containers like my dorm building), which are only incrementally more protective than tents.  Hardened dorms and office spaces are being built, but many of these projects are behind schedule since essential components have been stuck at closed-down border crossings for months.  Additionally, the projected draw-down of the BAF population is considerably behind schedule (we were supposed to have about 8,000 fewer people by now than we currently have).  As the FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) close, their personnel are moving to BAF and, all too often, staying.

The idea that fighting season has started while we still have so many military, civilians, and contractors living and working in flimsy structures scares the hell out of me.  With so many FOBs closed there are fewer targets country-wide for the insurgents to attack, so we’re expecting even more IDF intensity than has been typical in past years.  The Afghan presidential election (April 5th) is also expected to ratchet up the violence.

So, everywhere I go I’m on the lookout for where’s the nearest bunker, the nearest fire extinguisher, the nearest exit, the nearest first aid kit.  Paranoia is becoming a way of life and adds to the pressure we all feel (both externally and internally applied) to get more hardened structures in place.

Stay safe, everybody.

MM