YOU COULD DIE ANY DAY. Andreas Meyer

The following days passed by fast, filled with talks and briefings with leading personnel and endless reports and evaluations. Especially the procedures of ordering and distributing of material, the supply chains and the detailed capacities of the air delivery had our main focus due to the intention to bring in much more material from Germany. Time just flew by and on the last evening before heading back home Christian and me went to the moral welfare (MW) tent to have a drink and some last words until we meet again on the 27th of June for the start of my actual mission deployment. The next morning we said goodbye at the airport where my team and I entered an CH-53 transport helicopter who brought us to TERMEZ and from where we flew back to Cologne.

      flight to termez with the CH-53 helicopter

4. June 2005, Mission

      I

      n the company there was still quite some work to be done before my deployment. My additional duties were delegated to the chosen personnel that had to replace me. There was the upcoming inspection of all first aid kits as well as the checking of all defibrillators which had to be ensured while I was gone.

      Normally a soldier gets about a week off before the deployment to spend time with his family and loved ones. A so called "cuddle week". In my case it was a little bit different. Even in that particular week I had to work in the company and didn´t have time off to take care of my family like all my fellow soldiers. Of course, we used the evenings after work to spend some time together. At the end my son helped me with packing my deployment box that had to be filled with all the military stuff as well as all the private things like pictures and books. As a guy from the reserve I was lucky to be allowed to fly with all my luggage, in contrast to the regular soldiers who had their additional belongings shipped weeks in advance. Their luggage was collected and flown in with mixed material and personnel air transportation mostly by Luftwaffe assets to the air logistics point in TERMEZ, Uzbekistan. From there the luggage was flown to the mission location by our C-160 Transall; the workhorse of the German Airforce. Heavier loads were flown in by chartered Ukrainian jets like the Ilyshin IL-76 or even with Antonov AN-124 which is the world`s largest cargo plane.

      The time to deploy came closer incredibly fast with every day. This time we were departing not from Cologne but from Frankfurt because most of the soldiers of the 8th german mission contingent were from the south of Germany. My wife and my son accompanied me to the airport and stayed with me until I had to check in. Regardless of our farewell we all were in a good mood although we knew that we will not see each other for more than 4 months. Marco, being 7 years old that time, liked being around so many soldiers in their cool uniforms. Amazed by the moment he was more than happy to pose for photos with me and other soldiers. He played and ran around with my very close comrades Thomas K. and Rainer M. who would be my supporting staff in the J4 environment.

      It was a strange feeling to leave my family all alone. The next months I´d be far away and wouldn´t be able to be there for them. But due to the new impressions and experiences the life back home shifted to the back row. The mission became our primary focus. Then in the nights the thoughts about my loved ones came back to my mind and left me sleepless for quite some time. Despite all the risks and danger, I chose the mission because I considered it to be my holy duty for my country to help a threatened land and especially its people. I don´t know if my comrades felt the same way or different those days.

      Shortly before the check-in I said goodbye to my wife and son. Until that moment everything felt as if I was just about to go on a vacation with my pals which I actually never did before. Which is weird somehow...I didn´t have the impression that I was going on a mission and that there might be the possibility of never coming back.

      I brought my duffel bag and my box to the counter to have it checked in. The friendly guy from the ground crew offered me a nice seat in the jet and gave me my ticket. From the windows of the waiting room you could see to the runway. It was pouring with rain outside but that didn´t bother us at all.

       Then it was time. The boarding began. We all drove with a shuttle bus directly to the plane. In the Airbus I sat down and immediately stretched out my legs to check if would feel comfortable with my long legs. Being 1,95 meters tall can become quite a torture on a long flight. On that seat it felt just great. The ground crew guy kept his word. When I looked out of the window it was still raining. At the same moment, over there in KUNDUZ it must be 45 degree in the shade, I thought to myself. I couldn´t stop thinking of it: Tomorrow I´ll be back there. Tomorrow I will meet Thomas in the evening and we will talk about our day and we will play "Kicker" (table football).

      Finally, after all these preparations, courses and trainings we were heading to Afghanistan. I get comfortable in my seat and watch the jet filling with people. The boarding is finished quickly and the doors are closed. The Airbus rolls slowly down the runway to its starting point. I feel how the noise inside calms down. All are in their seats. I put on my headphones to listen to music. Some take pictures with their mobile phones or cameras. Everybody is relaxed. We take off on time. Next stop is Nürnberg, where we will pick up the rest of our mixed unit. This doesn´t take longer than an hour and we´re on our way again directly to Termez.

      What I didn´t know that moment is that my friend and comrade Oberfeldwebel Christian S. was going to die on this day in a tragic accident. It happened while I was sitting on my flight passing over Russia´s wide country highlighted by beautiful sunshine. No one thought that two comrades would die on such a lovely day. We were landing in Termez at 2230. To make it through the few hours we had to wait for our following flight to Kunduz we were given some tea, some warm sausages and a field bed.

       The next morning, we entered the Transall which departed at 0400 to bring us to our final destination. It was still dark when we took off but already an hour later we dashed down almost vertical in a 90 degree angle towards the airport of Kunduz. You need to know that the German pilots in Afghanistan have to fly relaying only on vision, map and compass due to the lack of a more modern aircraft than the C-160. These kinds of maneuvers were absolutely common these days. So everybody was literally thrown out of sleep and seat.

      After the landing the sun was shining and the heat was almost killing us. A feeling as if you got hit by a wooden plank right in your face.

      I am back in Kunduz. Like six weeks ago we got picked up by Mungos and various jeeps of different brands. Later I asked myself how it is possible to fall in love with a country that you don´t even know. But this country enchants me in a way that I cannot resist. Its people, the surroundings, the exotic smell on its markets and even this awful heat is a mixture to which I got addicted to very fast. It´s like someone flips the switch and the light turns on. Also, the kindness of these people and their hospitality impresses me over and over again.

      Arriving at the camp we were welcomed at the "Market" but different from how it was the last time.

       The Spieß and the COY commander of our predecessors led us to our provisional accommodations. It´s common that you stay in tents until your predecessors have left. Only then you can move to a solid accommodation. Later that day we picked up our luggage from the air logistics platoon which is located at the other end of the camp.

      The camp is located on a big former fruit plantation. On its grounds we have trees with different kinds of fruits like lemon, oranges and figs irrigated by moats running through the whole camp. If you could ignore the hostile environment in the area around us it might feel like holidays. Together with some comrades I brought my bags and the box to my tent where I would stay for the next 14 days. Then it was time for breakfast followed by the standard official welcome of the "new guys".

      Due to the short night and the long flight the day before I didn´t think a lot about my arrival. The only thought I perceived for a moment were all those flags that are hoisted on half-mast. But I was too confused by then to recognize its meaning and become upset. In my mind I was already engrossed in my in processing, a procedure every new arrival has to go through. You get a bunch of papers that have to be handed over, signed, stamped