Bagram (and Gomorrah)

Welcome to Bagram, the big ol' base that brings Hotel California to life: you can check out anytime you like, but it sometimes feels like you'll never leave. It's an odd, sprawling place, with amenities you won't find anywhere else, like numerous dining facilities, fast food joints and a bunch of shops. Arriving there after a long stretch at a small FOB is like being a country bumpkin visiting the big city...hence the reputation. I like what one of my brethren did on this wall of unit stickers - why get lost in the pack when you can plant the Marine Corps emblem on top of them all, where it belongs!

And this is the little baby I flew in on. OK, not really, but I was told to put my camera away for taking pictures of aircraft on the flight line. My occasion for visiting the big base was to take advantage of an R&R pass to sunny Qatar, and all travel from, to, and usually within Afghanistan comes through here. Situated north of Kabul at a much higher elevation than toasty Khost, it provides a cooler climate and a breath of fresh (though often dust-choked) air.

A tree-lined path runs along the main drag of a couple miles' length, which would make for a peaceful walk if not for all the damn saluting. Either you're saluting someone, returning a salute, or both every few seconds. Everyone in uniform might as well walk all day with their hands stapled to their brims...

They have such an odd little world in this Epcot Center that they build pagodas when they get bored! Honestly in one day alone I identified Poles, Germans, French, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Egyptians, Turks, Koreans and Norwegians. Oh, and Afghans, they were in there somewhere too.

Bagram is beset on all sides by mountains, like oh, anywhere in Afghanistan. But the plateau it sits on is actually flat for many miles around. Feeling intoxicated by the daytime weather of only 85 degrees or so, I resumed my recent tradition of running the 8-mile loop around it when passing through there...I didn't carry my camera on the run, which is unfortunate because there are much better views around the perimeter, along with the feeling of circling a gigantic prison yard...guard towers, Jersey & Texas barriers as far as the eye can see, shelled buildings just beyond the barbed wire, etc.

My temporary lodgings this time were in the Lt. Laura Walker media center, named for a young Army engineer officer and PAO who was killed in action last year. The great thing about staying there was not just avoiding a dreaded transit tent, packed with rows of snoring servicemembers (I can only imagine how much they curse me out for my sawing), but the chance to interact with some international media on their way to or from different regions within theater. I asked an Australian news crew there when I arrived where all the cold beer was (joking, of course! It's strictly forbidden)...they replied that I should've gotten there before breakfast. Touche. Point, down under!

On the big C-17 jet now, ready to take off for vacation along with dozens of others. Wait a sec now, is everything above board here? Let me take a closer look at this row of passengers...

Ah, it's just soldierly companionship! Quite a cute scene, for those of us armed with cameras. Hey, they asked for it - we had barely sat down before these two were nuzzled together. Probably not a bad decision on their part though, considering I was among many who sought out freezing cold floor space after a couple hours of trying to sleep in those seats.

My buddy Pete and I decided by then to ham it up for the camera. Not that it took much arm-twisting...we were probably delirious after a long day and most of a night spent in the terminal. But we were finally on our way to the fabled R&R.