Deploying to the MEAO - Day 4
Day 4 - Moonscape
The Al Minhad Air Base (AMAB) feels a bit like being on the moon (not that I've been to the moon). The Australian compound has been plonked on this dry, dusty, treeless, flat piece of earth, which is about 40 minutes drive from the port of Dubai. It is very clean, orderly and comfortable but feels totally foreign in this alien landscape. There are many attempts at beautification, with petunias planted on the curbs at some entry points, and flowering succulents and green hedges lining the paths. However, when the base was expanded around 2000 to accommodate the Canadian, Australian, British and American forces who came to the Gulf to fight terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think they knew they would be using this base for a while. The give away is the avenues of mature trees, which look like callistemons shrouded in dust, lining the roads leading from the airfield to the Australian compound.
Today we had some briefings to help our orientation into the MEAO. They covered everything from remuneration and internet access to insider threats (previously known as 'green on blue attacks') and handling the Quran. I'm feeling jet-lagged from very little sleep, but I'm starting to understand why it costs Australia $1 million for every soldier they send to the MEAO. The amount of support, infrastructure, equipment, training and back-up that's needed for Australia to fight this war is huge. If there are about 1000 ADF personnel in Afghanistan (which is only part of the MEAO), then that's $1 billion, before any wages are paid. Staggering.
The environmental footprint of Australia's operations is equally disconcerting - from the drinking water that comes in 500 ml plastic bottles (I've been through four of them today and hardly done any physical activity), to the 14 air-conditioners that are used to keep the dormitories temperate for 28 females. (I know, it's impossible to do your job if you haven't had a good night's sleep, and the climate in the MEAO can be extremely cold and blisteringly hot). The food miles in my meal tonight will certainly add up as everything is flown in - there's no sign of herb gardens or greenhouses. Does the ADF employ/deploy gardeners? I doubt the carbon tax has reached the MEAO, since Australians who work here don't pay tax. All wars scar the landscape, but this 'war on terror' affects the ozone layer too. At least the water bottles are recycled here.
Flying into Al Minhad was an amazing experience. First we say wrinkly ridges of mountain ranges rising up out of the desert without a blade of vegetation. Nearer the coast, this gave way to rolling sand dunes. Then nearing Dubai, roads carved up the desert providing access to gated mansions or compounds. These were usually white buildings surrounded by little patches of green, irrigated gardens. I spied some greenhouses but no swimming pools. They too looked like they didn't belong in the desert. I think the Bedouin had it right: don't try and impose yourself on the landscape, but move with it.
Twelve months ago I went to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) with the Australian War Memorial. I was working on an oral history-photographic project. The core part of the project was interviewing and photographing 19 currently serving members of the ADF - from the army, navy and airforce - before, during and after their deployment in 2013 to the MEAO. In another 12 months time, you should be able to see the results of this work in an exhibition which will travel around Australia.
These blog posts were written while I was in the MEAO but were not uploaded to the AWM website at that time.
I am planning to upload one blog post each day, exactly 12 months on from the actual day I was on deployment. We left Canberra on 12 March 2013.