Afghanistan

[bohonato]

My sister is leaving for Afghanistan tomorrow (she's a medic in the Air Force reserves). She'll be stationed in Bagram, a NATO base about 25 miles north of Kabul.

As she is a woman, she can not leave the base, look men in the eyes, or talk to them.

[firsty]

well wishes towards her from here. she is going to fight in the real war on terror, not the manufactured one. not that it matters for those in uniform.

did she undergo specific training for this due to islam etc? or do military normally get briefed regardless?

[bohonato]

I believe it was just the generic training that everyone going gets. Sounded like she learned a lot about Islam and Mid-Eastern culture. She sent a e-mail when she got to Germany, and again in Turkey. She'll be there for another week, due to a snowstorm in Kyrgyzstan.

[Lightning Rod]

bohonato,

One of our members is a woman working in Afghanistan. She works for an international aid organization.

you can see some of her first-hand accounts here:

http://www.studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2854

I wish your sister all the best

[knip]

the canadian women in afghanistan leave the bases, look men in the eyes, and talk to whoever they need to talk to

when i was in the gulf, the only restrictions ashore were on dress - no legs or bare arms...but that applied to men, too


i have a feeling your sister may find the rules a bit more relaxed when she gets there...probably initial restrictions until they do the in-theatre indoc...

bets of luck to her