Shindand Agricultural Station

Here's another set of pictures from Shindand.  Hopefully these give a little more direction than anything I had previously posted.  I have hundreds of pictures of the area if anyone is interested.  Hit me up on facebook if you'd like more information.

These pictures are from the Shindand Agricultural Experiment Station, which is just off the runway on Shindand Airbase.  FB Thomas is also in the same secure perimeter.  The Agricultural Station exists as a USAID program to help the local economy.  They pay the managers, who are locals, and the crops are sold in the community to pay the incomes of all the other workers.  It really is amazing what has been accomplished, especially considering how dry the area is.

Shindand Airfield Tower Complex

I've noticed that I get a lot of traffic to my site for my picture of "Kujo Hanging Around FB Thomas".  I realize that it's probably military personnel looking for information on where they might be headed so I thought I'd take this opportunity to post more helpful pictures from my time there.

I spent a couple months in Shindand during the summer of 2009.  I lived both on Firebase Thomas and "Camp Shaft".  Obviously things have changed some since I left but I can provide a good starting point for people headed that way.  If anyone would like to contact me for more information or would like to get in touch with my replacements, please look me up on facebook and drop me a line.  I can also recommend some fantastic reads on the political and social histories of Afghanistan which would be very useful to read before deploying.  Check out the links below.










In the meantime, here's the first set of many pictures I took while stationed there. These are from the tower complex, just off the flightline. Enjoy.




Shindand Air Traffic Control Tower



Typical room in the tower while I was there.  Everything was trashed and in need of major renovation.  It is my understanding that the electrical has been repaired but there's still a long way to go.



Inside the tower.  Awesome views but it was a gutted room at the time.  

Multiple views from the tower.  This is looking toward the Afghan National Army facilities and FB Thomas would be further in the background to the left.  All of these facilities are within one secure perimeter.

American fire department and IT facilities

Destroyed and abandoned MiGs off the end of the runway.

Fire Department

Mountains

I took this picture from the top of the ISAF HQ bldg at KAIA and cropped it down to look like a panoramic.  The entire city of Kabul is surrounded by mountains and when the sky is clear you can get some amazing views.

Sunset over the Flightline

I happened to be walking toward my truck tonight and I was absolutely taken aback by the sun.  I was also thankful for the promise I've made to myself to always have my camera with me.  My camera had a hard time focusing but it gives the picture the feel of a painting which I love.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Beautiful view from a lookout point at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Gatlinburg, TN.  Picture was taken September 29, 2009.

Midtour Mountain View

After 7 months in Afghanistan I got to take my midtour.  I came back to Charleston for 15 days with Meg and we went to an AMAZING bed and breakfast near Gatlinburg, TN.  This was our view from the house's backyard, talk about breathtaking.  It was such an amazing way to spend our first anniversary.  This picture was taken September 27, 2009.

Shindand Sunset

I took this picture on the roof from the same place I took the previous picture.  Once again, photo was taken on August 18, 2009 in Shindand.  

On the Road from Bagram

This picture was taken on my second day in Afghanistan on a convoy from Bagram Air Field to Camp Eggers, Kabul.  It was taken through the window of my Humvee.  My introduction to Afghanistan was a real eyeopener... seeing the conditions that many Afghans live in was incredibly humbling.