Hailstorms and MILCON

The weather here has been very unpredictable of late. A day might dawn bright and clear but by midday has turned dark and ominous, only to end bright a clear once again. One moment the air is completely still. Then out of nowhere comes gale force winds that whip up huge volumes of dust, trash, and debris. Giant thunderstorms will appear at the edges of the mountains with spectacular streaks of lightning that arch across an endless sky. I’ll think nothing of those storms and only seconds later they’ll be overhead reaping havoc. It is an amazing level of volatility that I wasn’t expecting. I’m used to Iraq, where early summer simply brought scorching hot temperatures. The truth is I’m not complaining. The storms have kept the air cool and the nights have been downright pleasant. But one storm recently was particularly alarming in its intensity. It was around noon one day earlier this week. The normal ominous clouds had been forming but I don’t think anyone thought much of them. I had just returned to my room from Dragon DFAC, my to-go lunch container in my hand as I shut the door. Just then I heard the patter of rain on the aluminum roof of my billeting. I was relieved at making it back to my room just in time. But the lazy drops of rain suddenly turned into a deafening roar that was almost unfathomable. I opened my door and was shocked to see hail the size of golf balls coming down at a rate faster than I had ever seen. What was even more amazing was that the hail continued unabated for almost fifteen minutes. The bunkers and ground below were quickly covered by piles of hailstones. People were scrambling to get under cover while getting painfully pelted. When it was finally over the ground was white with ice. The summer heat melted the evidence within fifteen minutes. Once I finished my lunch I walked back to my office and saw evidence everywhere of the ferocity of nature. Vehicle hoods were perforated with dozens of dent marks. A few windows or windshields were shattered. Limbs and leaves from the trees were scattered about. I even saw damaged plywood on buildings. We haven’t experienced IDF in a while so I chalked this up to nature’s version. It was an impressive display.

Regardless of the weather, our work goes on. Lately our efforts to reduce Bagram to an enduring base have taken on a furious pitch. There has been a sudden uptick in our higher command’s interest in the completion of various Military Construction (MILCON) projects around the base. They include new headquarters buildings, DFACs, a gym, and an MWR. When a project is still considered MILCON it is under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who manage whatever construction company is contracted to complete the building. USACE provides a date in the future in which they estimate the building will be ready for beneficial occupation. Normally, that date will continually “push to the right” as problems are found that delay the construction. Unfortunately, my Garrison cannot do anything with the building until it is handed over to us by USACE. So we have to wait because it is all we can do. The challenge though is that our higher HQ continually assumes that my Garrison has control of completing MILCON projects. As a result, every time USACE shifts the beneficial occupation date of a MILCON to a later date on the calendar it results in Garrison getting blamed for “dragging our feet” or something similar. Then we have to explain all over again that it is a MILCON project and belongs to USACE alone and that they should be the ones answering why the project isn’t completed yet. It is a seemingly endless cycle. Fortunately, we have accepted a couple of big MILCON recently from USACE and have them ready for use. Victories do come eventually but they really do take a lot of patience around here. They also require a thick skin and a sense of humor. Otherwise we’d all go mad.