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

Kujo Hanging Around FB Thomas

Note:  I've seen a lot of traffic to this site based on this picture.  If you're looking up FB Thomas, I assume this isn't what you're looking for.  I recently posted a lot more information and pictures under Shindand Airfield Tower Complex.  Please check it out and let me know if you have any questions.   

We had a dog while I was in Shindand, Afghanistan, named Kujo.  We lived on FB (firebase) Thomas and he liked to walk around and hang out with the other dogs.  He lived in our rooms, if you could call them rooms.  What a crazy summer, 110+ every day with no air conditioning!

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.  

Shindand Bunker at Sunset

I really love this picture for its content.  I love how the beauty of the mountains and the sunset contrast the bunker on the roof.  It reminds me how even though I was surrounded by such beauty I was still at war.  There is the obvious problem with the picture that the highlights are blown out... I would have loved to have my DSLR with a graduated neutral density filter for this one!  Oh well, at least I know how I would have taken it.  This shot was taken on August 18, 2009.

Shindand Boneyard

This is nothing but a bunch of aircraft and building wreckage from when the US attacked Shindand during the assault on the Taliban.  I would have loved to get in closer for more pictures but the area is full of unexploded ordinances!  Picture was taken July 14, 2009

Shindand Office

This picture was taken in Shindand, Afghanistan, which is in western Afghanistan, near Iran.  Overall I like the different aspects of this picture - the HESCO barriers in the bottom, left corner which are used all over military bases overseas, the dilapidated building which was an office for Afghan translators and the couch on the roof where the interpreters would hang out and eat meals.  This picture was taken July 13, 2009.