Camp Bastion - city in the sand

April 4, 2011

It’s been around five-and-half years since I was last based at Camp Bastion, and it’s safe to say I don’t recognise a single thing - apart from of course the dust and the blank expressions of people who are quite clearly lost.

On Herrick 5, Camp Bastion was relatively new. It was fairly sizeable, but after a few days you got your bearings.

The Camp Bastion I met on Saturday night was an altogether different beast.

My my, the military have been busy.

And this was just part of the hospital in a small part of the base...

If anyone ever questions the commitment to Afghanistan, I’d urge them to read up on this place.

Camp Bastion is the British base. Sat alongside it is the American camp, Camp Leatherneck, and the Afghan camp, Camp Shorabak.

In total 20,000 servicemen and women, as well as civilians, live and work on the site which is based, well, in the middle of nowhere.

The British, American and Afghan servicemen and women are joined by others from Denmark, Estonia and even Tonga.

In 2005 we walked everywhere. Now you need a vehicle because everyone is based so far away. This place is huge – and EVERYTHING looks the same.

It is a dust city and everything is dust-coloured.

A view from Camp Bastion - a million miles from nowhere

Travelling around camp you start looking for landmarks or tell tale signs that you’re near your base. But there are no trees, sign posts, or street signs.

I need a notebook with GPS installed.

When I asked one Royal Marine the other day where something was he replied simply: “take a left at the big sand-coloured tent”.

Yep, even on deployment they’re still comedians.

There are three British canteens in Camp Bastion called DFACs (Dining Facilities), a few shops and coffee shops, a bar (which obviously doesn’t sell alcohol), a takeaway Pizza Hut contained in a Portacabin, a KFC – also contained in a Portacabin (which was apparently part installed but has never really opened), a fire station, a parade ground, an airport and heliport, and even barbershops.

Bastion now also has siblings. Different areas are called either Bastion 0.5, Bastion 1, Bastion 2, or Bastion 3.

And some of the old tented accommodation blocks, and other facilities such as the hospital, are now actual hard structures.

They even have traffic police (mainly American) who can impound your vehicle if you’re driving faster than 24km/h. Oh, and everyone drives on the other side of the road which takes some getting used to.

This base really is a living, breathing (if spluttering due to the dust) beast of a place.

It’s a crazy world we’re living in here.

But through the haze of the dust one thing appears crystal clear, we’re here for the long run.

So why should a military camp not boast some of the comforts of home?

Twitter: @tristan_nichols