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It was October 2005 when I first flew into Kabul aboard a Pakistani International Airlines flight. Mud homes pocked the desert landscape. Afghanistan looked quiet and serene almost safe.
That sense of security crumbled away moments after landing. Fluorescent lights dangled from the airport ceiling, evidence of explosions past. In the city’s streets, we stopped every two miles to pass through an armed checkpoint.
Then came the explosions.
Within hours of checking into our hotel, we heard our first IED blast. It was unmistakable: An enormous boom followed by sirens, screams, dust and a distinct smell.
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Over the course of a decade, I would make seven trips to Afghanistan and hear those sounds dozens of times. I lived looking over my shoulder, wondering when the next one would hit.
9 SAN DIEGO – Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southwest Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Point Loma completed construction Oct. 29 on a renovation project to Naval Base Point Loma’s (NBPL) historic Building 158 that will now house the installation’s security forces.
The project converted Building 158, which is on a National Register of Historic Properties eligible archaeological site, to a new headquarters for NBPL Security Forces. The building was placed on the register for its role in the Fort Rosecrans Historic District, which had a period of significance from 1897 to 1940. The Fort Rosecrans Historic District played a major role in the development of San Diego as a strategic military center on the Pacific Coast as well as an influencing economic, social, and physical character of the region. The district exemplifies the Colonial Revival architectural styles selected by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps of the per