Logo_EMN_dark-02
Logo_EMN_dark-02
Logo_EMN_dark-02
Logo_EMN_dark-02

Eisenhower Media Network

Logo_EMN_dark-02

Eisenhower Media Network

  • About EMN
  • Experts
  • Media
    • Media & Appearances
    • Press Releases
      • The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World
      • Military and Foreign Policy Experts on America’s Diplomatic Malpractice
  • Reports
  • Contact An Expert
  • Donate
Recent Posts
  • Assoc. Director Matthew Hoh on President Trump’s statements on demilitarization
  • Why, in his own words, Hegseth is an unqualified candidate for secretary of Defense
  • Eisenhower Media Network Sponsors Sam Adams Award Ceremony, Honoring Aaron Bushnell

Kandahar Airfield (“KAF”) was as bizarre as it was dusty. You sort of tasted it before you smelled it — and smelled before you saw it. It’s been a full decade since I first did. When the cavalry troop I’d commanded touched down as a final top-off to President Barack Obama’s Afghan surge, we gazed upon this weird way station of America’s war effort with exhausted eyes. Fatigue breeds a certain stripped-down simplicity — “Just show me to my damn cot, already!” —  so it took until morning to truly spy the strangeness. It was a place of curious contrasts.

Dry dirt roads, but plenty of civil and military traffic – like Luke Skywalker’s home planet Tatooine, with tanks and Toyotas alike.

Inbound rockets and bomb shelters; and T.G.I. Friday’s dine-in on the base’s bustling boardwalk.

Trauma patients flown in daily to the hyperactive hospital; and amateur athletes flocking nightly to the Canadian-dominated hockey rink.

Long morning runs to condition ourselves for field duty; and long morning lines to caffeinate our souls with Tim Horton’s coffee.

A nomadic camp with several gyms.

The feel of a refugee encampment with the look of an imperial Epcot Center.

I hated the place, and myself for guiltily cherishing the reprieve of its relative safety. 

As an ill-fated ground combat outfit, my squadron only camped out a couple of weeks before choppering to the rural “frontlines” for a hopeless tour of duty. As an ill-fated mega-base, KAF stuck around for another decade before closing down its role for a hopeless war of absurdity. 

Read the full piece here.

I hated the place, and myself for guiltily cherishing the reprieve of its relative safety. 

Danny Sjursen

Previous PostMatthew Hoh: Was it Just? America and Her Suicidal Combat Veterans
Next PostMatthew Hoh: Robotic Killing Machines and Our Future: Chris Pratt, Aliens and Drones

Latest Posts

News-item_Wilkerson-1

Lawrence Wilkerson: Westmoreland Revisited

Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former special assistant to the chair of the

Consortium News, Wilkerson
September 21, 2023
News-item_Hoh-2

Matthew Hoh: Westmoreland Revisited

There’s also the issue of noxious hazards when the war ends. In an  interview, Matthew Hoh, assoc

Consortium News, Hoh
September 21, 2023
News-item_Sjursen-1

Danny Sjursen: Ukraine crisis: miscalculation could trigger unintended wider conflict

EMN Director Retired Major Danny Sjursen was quoted in this Guardian article on the Ukraine crisis and

Sjursen
February 14, 2022
Recent
Assoc. Director Matthew Hoh on President Trump’s statements on demilitarization
Hoh, Press Releases
February 14, 2025
Why, in his own words, Hegseth is an unqualified candidate for secretary of Defense
Laich, The Hill
December 12, 2024
Director Dennis Fritz Statement on escalating tensions in the Middle East
Fritz, Press Releases, Sorensen
October 3, 2024
Twitter Feed
Missing Consumer Key - Check Settings
Tags
9/11 (8) Afghanistan (8) Afghanistan war (10) Afghanistan withdrawal (18) Biden Administration (10) Ceasefire (7) China (13) Congress (7) Danny Sjursen (13) defense budget (11) defense spending (6) Dennis Fritz (18) Dennis Laich (7) diplomacy (13) Eisenhower (7) featured (93) forever wars (8) Gaza (7) Gregory Daddis (16) Iran (7) Iraq (27) Iraq War (22) Israel (37) Lawrence Wilkerson (15) Matthew Hoh (85) Middle East (8) military (18) military industrial complex (34) monument (6) NATO (9) news (210) nuclear war (7) Palestine (43) Pentagon (26) podcast (13) press release (60) radio (10) Russia (26) Ukraine (39) United States (70) veterans (23) veterans day (8) war (52) whistleblower (6) William Astore (49)
© 2022 Eisenhower Media Network. All Rights Reserved