When I was told that I was deploying to Afghanistan for the first time, I had no clue of what I was getting in to.  I figured, “It’s in the same general area as Kuwait, how much different can it be?” Much to my dismay, the two locations were much more different that I would have ever expected in thoughts of weather, terrain, and things to do.  Here’s a small review for those who are preparing to deploy to either of those terrains.  Just a reminder that I tend to over-exaggerate and be sarcastic at times (Duh!).

One of the critical first impressions you get when you arrive in an area is normally the weather.  Unlike Afghanistan, when we arrived in Kuwait during the middle of summer we were greeted by scorching hot weather with a suffocating humidity that forced us to breathe heavily in order to be able to get a full breath.  (The term, “drowning” describes the feeling rather well).  Once nightfall arrived, we considered leaving the safety of our air-conditioned tent to go to dinner, assuming that the weather would be a lot cooler with no Sun bearing down on us.  What we had underestimated was the persistence of the humidity.  As soon as we stepped outside, our uniforms grew uncomfortably sticky, and even our weapons seemed to sweat as their surfaces condensed much like a cold soda pulled out of the refrigerator.

Arriving in Afghanistan, on the other hand, was a much more pleasant experience.  As soon as we landed, we were welcomed by a sudden heat blasted at us.  What we were missing on this arrival were the instant wet uniforms that tend to accompany humidity.  The area was hot, I’ll agree, but it was a dry heat.  We noticed immediately that we were capable of breathing normally without having the uncomfortable feeling of having a plastic bag filled with water placed over our heads.  The nights in Afghanistan were filled with a crisp, cool air that lacked even the slightest hint of humidity.

B/121 Signal Battalion conducting training in 2004.

The second thing that caught our attention was the terrain.  Whether by training, paranoia, or simply because people enjoy the scenery, people tend to look around at their surroundings once they land somewhere.  In my case, it happened to be all three reasons (though maybe not in that order).  Our arrival at Kuwait was greeted by a flat, bright, sand-covered terrain that stretched as far as we could see.  We were in awe at the sheer immensity of this vast “sandy flatness” that left us wondering how, after hundreds of years of large sandstorms hitting the area, could so much sand still remain.  It seemed almost as if someone had started constructing a beach, had gotten carried away, and had forgotten to install the “water” portion of the arrangement.  The sand was the fine sand that you’d find inside the teeny hourglass included with a new set of Scrabble before it magically disappears after the second game.  In fact, sand-coloured baby powder would perhaps be more precise of a description.

Our landing in Afghanistan couldn’t have been more similar…at first glance.  Upon closer

Crescent moon over Afghanistan mountains at sunset. 2011.

inspection, though, and after getting accustomed to the garish daylight, we realised that in contrast to the flat boringness that seemed to go on forever in Kuwait, the semi-flat lands suddenly rose up to huge mountain ranges all around us.  That’s when it hit us, this was going to be an interesting deployment. Soon after arriving, we realised that what Afghanistan lacked in the fine sand, it also lacked in oxygen.  As we started to our tents, we realised that we could not breathe.  Due to the high elevation of where we were, there was less oxygen.  Again, the uncomfortable feeling of having a plastic bag filled with water placed over our heads came to mind (…but this time without the water…). Afghanistan did have sand all over it, just not the same texture.  Instead of the fine dust found in Kuwait, the sand in Afghanistan was larger and heavier (Granted, some would call them rocks and stones, I’m just not much into semantics.)

Although Kuwait lacked much in the way of land features and cool, dry weather, it made up for things to do.  Once you entered the main base, a very short walk and we were greeted by a myriad of shops and stores where the local vendors brought their merchandise so we could spend our money easily.  Beside the shops, a wide selection of food places ranging from Pizza Hut to Burger King to Subway’s surrounded the area.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, seemed to have wonderful mountain scenery, rock-sized sand, dry weather and very little else to do.  The one shop was located up a hill next to the only food chain shop around: Green Beans. And usually by the time you make it halfway there, you started wondering whether a large cappuccino and a quick browse around the small shop was worth walking and climbing up the hill for.

In summary, it’s completely up to the personal views of the visitor which environment they’d prefer.  On one hand, in Kuwait, you’d have a great view of a vast, waterless beach, soaked in humid climate, enjoying a large Whopper while shopping for your next souvenir.  On the other hand, you could be in Afghanistan with its nice surrounding mountain scenery, cool, dry air and a desire for Green Beans while walking back to your tent through its rocky terrain in order to play Scrabble without its little hourglass that you seemed to have misplaced when you were in Kuwait.