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| quote: | NATO chief shutters Afghan base’s fast-food joints
April 30, 2010
TARA BRAUTIGAM/THE CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—Soldiers who crave a Whopper with cheese at Kandahar Airfield won’t be able to have it their way any longer.
As of Saturday, the Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway outlets at the heart of the sprawling military base in Afghanistan will be shut down on the orders of the top NATO commander in Afghanistan.
And while the much-loved Tim Hortons outlet has been spared, it will have to move to the Canadian part of the base.
Cpl. Stanly Pilon, a 32-year-old vehicle maintenance worker with Canada’s National Support Element, said he will miss the morale boost the fast-food fare gives to battle-weary soldiers.
“I’m kind of sad,” Pilon said between bites of a Subway sandwich.
“It’s kind of a place that we come just to get away from work and the chaos sometimes that happens around here.”
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal launched a review last year of the amenities available at the Kandahar and Bagram airfields, and concluded that the fast-food joints posed a distraction from the task at hand, an ISAF spokesman said.
“Gen. McChrystal looked around and said, ‘There are some of these things that at this point in the mission are not keeping us as focused on the mission as we need to be,’” said Lt.-Col. Michael Lawhorn.
“We’re very much in a war.”
With the surge of 30,000 more American troops, additional space was at a premium, Lawhorn added.
He said some troops may grumble over losing such creature comforts as a Pepperoni Lover’s pizza, but the majority of them would understand that it’s for the greater good
“Will some service members have their morale impacted? Sure. But by and large, they understand that difference between must-have and nice-to-have,” he said.
“That’s not to say that these things won’t return for the future.”
McChrystal’s order also affects a few shops selling various concessions and jewelry. The restaurants, which have been around for about five years, have a pared-down menu of what’s on offer at home. For some, their greasy treats provided a welcome respite after months of cafeteria servings on the base or military rations out in the battlefield.
“It doesn’t really promote healthy living, but on the other side of the coin, I’m outside a lot,” said Capt. Drew Arions of the Ontario-based 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
“If you have a vehicle coming in for maintenance, everybody throws in some money and the guy that’s coming in, he goes and makes a run to Burger King and brings it out to the (forward operating base).”
Pte. Matthew Mason, also with 1st Battalion, said he believes it’s time for the restaurants to go.
“If you’ve been outside and you’ve just been eating rations, it’s good to clear out the system with that Burger King or Pizza Hut, but it is distracting,” Mason said.
Moments later, his thoughts turn to another iconic institution from the West — the distinctively Canadian Tim Hortons outlet, a favourite with soldiers of all nationalities.
“I hope they don’t take Tim Hortons away.”
The iconic coffee chain managed to avoid McChrystal’s wrath and will move to the base’s Canadian compound within a couple of months. |
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...ast-food-joints
| quote: | | the fast-food joints posed a distraction from the task at hand |
lol.
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