Camp Bastion
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May 4, 2006
Camp Bastion
Afghanistan
Camp Bastion by night.
Then rain cleared the air.
Within minutes the weather seems to have cleared.
And then… just minutes later:
The wind whirled and roared.
And scooped up miles of dust.
And threw it wildly across the sky.
Camp Bastion, Afghanistan
On Camp Bastion, I walked outside and there it was: a tremendous dust storm boiling from the South. The storm brought at least two bolts of lightning and much cool air, followed by a hard, blowing rain. The dust turned to mud. The sky cleared. The air was nearly still. But off to the West, there it was again: a different dust storm rolling in, this one at a 90 degree angle from the first storm.
Men scurrying like bugs.
Before the wall of dust.
The dust swarms vertically.
Men, far away, were scrambling and occasionally falling as they tried to outrun the storm; while others were loading into trucks then racing toward us.
Still fleeing but the storm is gaining.
The wall descends.
Nearly to the guard tower.
The wind braids the plumes of dust.
Trucks racing away.
Barely make it.
I don’t know what happened to the men who were running.
But a truck full of Filipinos made it.
And dashed for cover.
The winds were upon us, nearly tearing off the trailer roof. Steve and I tied it down. The mess tent had already been knocked down, but the ropes anchoring it kept it from blowing away. Satellite phones would not work; the dust attenuated the signal. Work came to a standstill.
Later that night, there were storms in the distance.
And there was lightning.
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Comments
Thank you for your beautiful photos. My son, a marine corporal just got moved to Bastion from Kandahar, and I need a visual. They are somewhat hauntingly beautiful. God bless you and all the troops.
thank you again
They will arrive commencing next week addressed
To a British Soldier
Camp Bastion
Anyone can take one and please enjoy.
From us all at eurobichons.
and Bradley look forward to celebrating xma and your birthday when you return Jan2010.
Brad is Pax handler RN AET,
Truly amazing photographs! I live in a desert here in the U.S. and am a little accustomed to sometimes violent dust storms (nothing of this magnitude, however).
I do remind myself, though, that people have survived in that desert for centuries. I am hoping that battles with the wheather will eclipse the other kind our troops will face.
Thank you for the pictures.
I would guess these are pictures taken outside the Camp Bastion walls where some of the local contractors plonk themselves every now and again.
I am thankful to God for everyone who serves in the name of defending freedom. I realize that there are military troops at Bastion and other military camps and airfields there. However, there is a plethora of civilian employees too, Dod contractors, majority of whom are military veterans. We need to keep them in prayer as well, as well as their families. Contractors do these jobs on a voluntary basis, they make sacrifices too, so I hope they don't go forgotten either. Many of them are KIA as well. I am proud of my husband, a U.S. Navy veteran of 23 years and now working as a Dod contractor in Camp Bastion. Our family, consisting of six children, pray daily for the safety and safe return of all who serve, civilian, military, both U.S. and the other nationalities. May God continue to watch over them, grant them strength and perseverance and keep them in the palm of His hand.
Incredible pictures, by the way. The storms looks horrendous!