A Day in the Life…for now.

So just what do I fill my days with here in Afghanistan. For the past few days I have been working at the Operations Coordination Centre, Region – South (OCCR-S) that is located at the Joint Regional Afghan National Police Centre (JRAC). This brand new facility will house the regional headquarters of the Afghan National Police (ANP), the Afghan Border Police (ABP), and the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) who are sort of a cross between the French Gendarmes and the RCMP. Coordinating the activities of these three organizations with the Afghan National Army (ANA) is the role of the OCCR-S. It is manned by Afghan police and army officers and supported by a group of US and Canadian mentors. I am the senior mentor and work with the JRAC commander, a brigadier-general in the Afghan Army.


A typical day begins at 0530 hrs and after the normal personal routine the mentor team meets at FOB Lindsay at 0700 hrs to count noses and review the day’s planned activities. I say planned as there’s many a slip thwixt cup and lip, so we always build a little flexibility into our schedule. After the meeting we load into our HUMVEES and make the 6 minute drive to the JRAC. We are well within what is called the “Bubble” of security around Kandahar airfield so the trip is uneventful. On arrival at the OCCR-S we watch the morning update from Regional Command – South Headquarters (RC(S) HQ) over at Kandahar Airfield. That takes about 40 minutes after which we have about 30 minutes to prepare for our morning brief. The Afghan police and army officers provide an overview of the events of the past 24 hrs. The mentors are developing the briefing skills of the Afghan officers, but there is also a challenge in literacy. Most of the staff are fairly senior and so can read and write Dari or Pashto, but there are some who are less strong. Our predecessors established literacy classes for the Afghans, a practice we will continue. After the briefing the routine business of the day begins. Every day brings new issues from construction priorities to finding a source for whiteboards to getting the phones to work. At lunch the Afghan officers leave to eat at the Police facility while we return to FOB Lindsay for our meal. After lunch the normal routine continues interrupted by visits from police or army dignitaries or scheduled meetings. The Afghan day ends at about 1600 hrs after which the duty personnel are the only ones on site. The mentors, less the night shift crew, return to FOB Lindsay. I usually have meeting at RC(S) HQ in the afternoon or early evening. At the end of the day, or in the afternoon if I’m lucky, I get a chance to do some PT at the gym. They have a good set-up here with a cardio gym as well as a weight room. My day ends with a bit of reading, either for work or leisure, with lights out around 2200 hrs.

Two days have different schedules: Friday and Sunday. Friday is the Muslim holy day so all Afghans, except the duty staff, have the day off. We have the morning off and go to work after lunch. A similar routine is in effect on Sunday, except the Afghans are all at work. We go in as usual but RC(S) doesn’t start till later in the morning on Sundays to allow staff to attend services.

So that’s the routine here for now. I am starting to get used to being armed all the time – I carry my pistol all the time and most times I have my rifle as well. Occasionally I am lulled to sleep by the distant sound of mortar or artillery fire, and the jets taking off from Kandahar Airfield three or four kilometres away are almost background noise now.