Theatre acclimatisation

Day 1 and the start of the RSOI (Reception Staging Onward Integration) package that is mandatory for all British troops arriving in theatre. "Death by Powerpoint" was the order of the day and it covered everything from enemy activity & tactics, briefs on our equipment, weapons and vehicles etc. to personal health & hygiene and STD prevention.

The evening was the first chance we had to check the internet for emails and facebook updates etc... (as almost everyone now uses the site to stay in contact with one another) and phone home using the 30 minutes per week of allocated call time. After speaking to Steph and briefly to the folks we made a b-line for the naffi and had a coke outside whilst taking in the surroundings.

You can acknowledge immediately that Bastion has been a British affair from day 1 and the similarities with the Americanised boardwalk of Kandahar Air Force Base cease at the Pizza Hut adjacent to the Naffi. The cookhouses are also very British however the 'scoff' (food) is a great deal better than the standard UK equivalent. The one thing that is instantly recognisable is the fact that the place is huge and is just going to keep getting bigger. With Bastion 1 almost pushed to capacity, Bastion 2 almost complete, Bastion 3 under construction and Camp Tombstone (for Afghan National Army troops) adjacent, our tasking as the force protection company will no doubt cover an immense area of operations.

Mothering Sunday was spent zeroing personal weapons on the ranges just outside of the wire. It was the first time everyone started to appreciate the terrain and environment as being stuck out in the middle of the desert with its hot, dry, sandy and dusty conditions bearing down is hard enough (even in late March) carrying no equipment at all not to mention hauling body armour, webbing, daysack (backpack containing supplies, ammunition and a minimum of 4 litres of water) your helmet and rifle around as well.