Mayor of Bagram?

As I mentioned before, Bagram is a huge place. It's easily the largest single base I've seen over the past ten years. Victory Base Complex (VBC) in Iraq was larger overall than Bagram, but VBC was a series of smaller bases that were linked to one another. Bagram is a stand-alone installation. It is like a medium-sized city with a population that fluctuates between thirty to forty thousand. Just as you would find with a city of that size there are all the trappings of SIMCITY. There is a power plant, wastewater treatment, sewage, garbage collection and disposal, emergency first-responders, hospitals, veterinary services, road networks, public transportation, and just about anything else imagineable. The airfield is the busiest in the entire Department of Defense, with an aircraft landing or taking off about once every three minutes. The base is a staggering operation and the central hub of everything we do in eastern Afghanistan. All of the responsibilities of keeping this military city running fall under my organization either directly or indirectly. That makes me, as Garrison Commander, the equivalent of the Mayor of Bagram. As a result, I am finding that I am in high demand for better or for worse. My first few days of command have been an almost endless procession of meetings and hand shakes with the command teams of multiple units and organizations who reside here. They all have needs that need to be met. My role is to help them prioritize what they actually need versus what "needs" are actually just a convenience and fitting those priorities into what my organization can truly provide.

I'm finding that Coalition Partners are also an integral part of the day-to-day experience here. Just like my American counterparts, the Coalition organizations are equally interested seeing their needs met. Their approach is a little different. The Polish forces sent me a congratulatory certificate, with two of their Colonels presenting it to me personally. Meanwhile, the Korean contingent invited me to their hospital for a tour and some traditional food. The Jordanians were hoping to "pimp-out" their tent accommodations and get some fitness equipment. At the same time, the good folks from UAE were looking to harden their existing buildings to be more resistant to indirect fire (IDF). After paying a visit to a worksite where some new facilities were being constructed, the Turkish construction company working on the project fed CSM and me baklava and invited us to a traditional meal at their compound. My social calendar is filling up fast and I am finding that "social" IS business here. It's like I am a politician and, at the same time, a military commander. While I am the latter, mixing politics with commanding would make someone like General William T. Sherman roll over in his grave. But I am adjusting and getting used to this very quickly. In case anyone is wondering, CSM and I will definitely enjoy some of those traditional meals in the coming weeks.

There have been hiccups. Most notable for me was that I could not move into my permanent billet. The former commander refused to move until the day he flew out headed home. His flight out departed the day after the change-of-command. But that evening when I tried to move in I found the place an absolute mess. It took two more days of cleaning and hauling out boxes upon boxes of junk before I was finally able to move in. Almost two weeks after I arrived here I was finally able to unpack my dufflebags and retrieve the boxes I'd mailed myself and get them unpacked. At last I can start to develop some normalcy to my routine. That's a good thing because in a place like this you need to be focused on the job at hand and not distracted by off-duty challenges. Now I can wear my mayor hat without interruption.