chief | Tactical Underwear

When I arrived at Bagram, Afghanistan, last November, a large proportion of the folks on staff in the Directorate of Public Works (DPW) had arrived within just a few weeks before me. Now they have started to leave as their one-year deployments are being completed or as other circumstances cause their departures to become necessary. Saying goodbye to these people is sad as their absence changes the whole atmosphere of the workplace.

Two recent redeployments (which sounds like people are deploying again – as in doing a second tour for Operation Enduring Freedom – but which really means they are ending their deployment and returning to home station) are Mr. Jim, Director of DPW for most of my tour, and Mr. Dave S., Master Planner. (We have lots of Daves here, so THE Mr. Dave is my old office-mate whom you met in this blog entry, and all other Daves are designated by a last initial.)

Mr. Jim:

Mr. Jim has departed BAF and his absence has left a gaping hole. He is a big man with a big, gregarious personality and booming laugh that echoed the hallways like nothing else. Everyone was met daily with hearty greetings, rock-and-roll music trivia, and the nicknames he bestowed on everyone regardless of sex or status: “bud”, “man”, and “dude”. From one of his trips back to Colorado for R&R, Mr. Jim brought back roach clips for everyone to hold their stogie stubs on cigar nights.

Mr. Jim (standing in for too-nervous me) doing an American Forces Network (AFN) interview about the expanded Solid Waste Management Complex and new incinerators:

Mr. Dave S. (far right) enjoying near-beer with some of his staff from at a recent recreational event:

Mr. Dave S., who left a couple weeks after Mr. Jim, is nearly his opposite: slight, pensive, understated, with a dry wit and a serious, becalming mien that provided a perfect counterpoint to the animated Mr. Jim. It was Mr. Dave S. who stood in for the Deputy Garrison Commander when he went on R&R, and who stepped in to become the O&M (Operations and Maintenance) Chief during a time of turmoil and frustration among the O&M staff following the unexpected loss of their previous chief. When Mr. Dave S. was in charge, everybody felt confident that all would be well.

Mr. Dave S. providing some thoughts and reflections at his going-away event (note all the medals for his outstanding service during deployment!):

Together, Mr. Jim and Mr. Dave S. made a super team that I enjoyed working for and with; being without them has been something of a dark cloud despite other excellent individuals who have stepped into their leadership positions.

You’d think I’d get tired of people I’m working 12-hour days with. Some I do, but others not. Here I am with Mr. Jim, Mr. Dave S., and some others from the DPW gang at the weekly USO cigar night:

I miss you guys! Take care!

My office is just a 5 minute walk from my dorm, and now that I’m no longer wearing The Most Hated Boots In Bagram, it’s quite a pleasant stroll.

As I leave my dorm room, I get a spectacular view of the mighty Hindu Kush mountains if it’s a clear morning:

When I go down the stairs from my second-storey dorm room, I see these monstrous concrete things:

They’re called T-walls and they range in height from a few feet to over 20 feet depending on where they’re placed. Their main purpose is to provide protection from small arms fire and IDF attacks. IDF stands for Indirect Fire, which is when insurgents fire a projectile (typically a rocket) without a direct line of sight to the target — they just hope they hit something. IDF attacks happen frequently here depending on the time of year and political situations locally and around the world. Most of the time IDFs do little harm, but they can be quite dangerous if they hit the right target. On Thanksgiving night, an IDF killed two people here at Bagram Airfield. It was a scary night and a somber Black Friday.

There are a few static displays tucked here and there, and I walk by this one featuring Russian-era guns going to the Garrison headquarters building:

Here’s the back of the Garrison HQ building where I work:

It’s not exactly an architectural tour du force, but what it lacks in curb appeal it makes up for in sturdiness which is what you want when the IDFs are flying. The front of the building is all torn up due to construction activities, so I’ll have to show you a picture of that later. But here’s the T-wall signage that greets passers-by on Disney Drive:

My office is up the stairs:

And down this hall on the right:

I’ve hung a shingle, so Garrison Environmental is open for business:

That’s right, I’m the Chief! Here’s my office-mate David, and what I think is the fourth iteration of our office furniture arrangement (we’re test-driving different configurations until we get it perfect):

I don’t care to sit by the window; the view just isn’t worth it:

Even with the window open you can see I’m not missing much:

And here I am at my desk taking a brief break from what is undoubtably important Environmental Chief business:

That unruly mop of bed-head doesn’t detract from my chiefly authority, does it? (I blame the requirement to wear a hat with the uniform.)

Tactical Underwear

one civilian woman's deployment to Afghanistan

Tag Archives: chief

Meet My Peeps: Mr. Jim and Mr. Dave S.

Walk to Work with Me