Sunday, December 6

Left Dubai International Airport on time and on a Boeing 737 that had seen better days.

Landed at Kandahar Air Field at exactly 11:15 am local time.

The weather was clear and sunny, and the mercury had climbed to about 65 degrees.

"But it does get cold at night around here," one deplaning passenger said to me.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought I had I stepped off the aircraft and into the National Training Center (NTC) outside of Fort Irvin, California.  The topography is identical - long stretches of sand broken up by large rock outcroppings.

I found my way to the Media Support Center (MSC) and signed some paperwork.  I was told I would pick up my press pass in the morning.

Kudos to SFC Robert Couture, SFC Teresa Coble and Capt. Omar Villarreal, 22^nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD) for their nice work.

A crew from Fox News was just leaving; a correspondent from CNN and two writers from Time Magazine were just arriving.

The Fort Lewis Ranger Newspaper was in some newsworthy company.

Be that as it may, the MSC is a joint Army-Air Force operation that handles all media arrivals and departures in southern Afghanistan.  The staff was friendly and knowledgeable.

With nothing else to do, I found my room, secured my gear and decided to take a closer look at my surroundings.

I discovered a PX, a MWR and the gym.  Running away from the center of the base are housing units for the various NATO forces stationed here.

Everything here is coated in a fine, whitish/gray dust. 

Besides the large contingent of American forces (Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force), I also saw British, Canadian, French, Dutch and Slovakian troops as I walked around the Boardwalk, the center of activity here.

The Boardwalk - which gets its name from the very large, rough-hewn planks of wood from which it is constructed - is a very large (think almost a football field sized) square around which are numerous shops and eateries.

Outside of one coffee shop is a very large wireless Internet connection site where literally 30 to 40 individuals were engaged with their computers.

Military members can shop for scarves, electronic gadgets, leather goods, carpets and jewelry (to name a few) as they stroll the Boardwalk.

There is a very cosmopolitan feel to the Boardwalk - almost as if one were back home in America or Europe.

But this is Afghanistan, the Kandahar Province, home to the Taliban.

As the sun headed west, the temperature began to drop sharply and the sky began to turn a deep blue.

I figured it best to call it a day.  On the morrow I would lay the foundation to begin my work here.