Windshield Tours

Bagram is a dirty place. There is no green. Even the trees that line Disney Avenue are covered with dust, mud, and the droppings of the hundreds of birds that congregate on them in the late afternoons. The mountains in the distance are a contrast of gray, black, and the white caps of snow. The roads are a craggy mess of potholes, broken pavement, massive puddles of questionable depth, and barely visible lines. Various construction projects are in every direction with no apparent coordination or planning. Giant piles of dirt from multiple excavations can be found at the most inopportune of locations. There is no sense of order to anything about the base except that at the heart of the place is a giant runway. From there the city planning ran amuck over the past decade. It’s a reflection of changing priorities and leadership turnover that happens every year or so. As a result, the base is a convoluted collection of sub-camps that have no obvious connection to one another. Basically, the entire base just sprouted up around the airfield in mini growth spurts of necessity. Now, with the end in sight this year, it is left to me and my Garrison staff to try and tie some working infrastructure together in a manner that supports the entire base. It is a myriad of complex problems that I refer to as the “cans that have been kicked down the road” from one year to the next. They all landed in my lap and since it appears I’m the last in line I am the one left holding all of them. I will not punt these cans any further. We’ll get all these projects – the sewer system, the water service, the solid waste facility, etc. – completed for whatever is to become of this place. Yes, I know, they should have been completed a long, long time ago. I can’t do much about how ugly this place is, but I can make it a more functional base and we’re making that a reality.

Multiple times a week I will hop in my car and conduct a “windshield tour” of the base. I’m just out looking at things and checking on the progress of everything. It can be depressing because at the superficial level it never appears like anything has been done. With the snows and rains of late it makes everything even more disgusting to look at or traverse. But progress is being made. The only way I can know that is to be out there inspecting first-hand. Just this past week, I made a stop at the massive Ammunition Supply Point (ASP). The Bagram ASP is the largest in the country. It handles everything from 5.56mm rifle ammunition to giant 2,000 pound aerial bombs. We’ve had a lot of work ongoing there to finish up the earthen berms that house the ammo safely. It’s been no easy task given the weather. In spite of the mud, the berms are going up at a rapid clip. But you’d never know it just to look at the place from a distance. I had to get a lot of mud on my boots to truly appreciate what is going on.

Bagram takes on the appearance of a place that has vexed many before me. I’m the latest to enter a stare-down contest with the place. I haven’t blinked yet but neither has Bagram. I’m going to take down this beast known as Bagram if it harelips the governor of Parwan Province. There are a lot of windshield tours to go yet.