This week I had to train on covering the night watch in the CJOC (Combined Joint Operations Center). It’s kind of like in the movies; picture a big stadium style room, tiered work stations with several computer screens at each, large screens at the front and around the room with projected satellite or drone feeds… you know, super secret squirrel shit. Now take that picture that the latest spy movie has designed in your head and downgrade all the technology and add in the thick layer of Afghan dirt and decrepitude; 8-10 year old computers, bundles of exposed and tangled cables, video feed that comes from a blimp that is tethered to a building on base rather than a drone or satellite, worn linoleum tiers and harsh yet dim overhead fluorescent lights.
My job in this windowless cell of worker bees who are the first to know of and report anything that is happening in Afghanistan, is to report any occurrence in the middle of the night significantly worthy enough, up my chain of command so they aren’t blindsided by media queries in the morning. That’s the big picture of the job, but really, it’s to allow our night shift guy one night a week off, and during that one night, collect all media reports that come out during that shift, create a document of clips and full articles with an executive summary of trending articles of the day.
This week I worked with our night shift guy, Rad, two nights in a row as training for when I have to cover for him by myself on Sunday. The work itself wasn’t that difficult, especially when there isn’t much to report. The hardest part was switching back and forth from a normal 8am-8pm shift to a midnight to 10 am shift. I hope the two nights were enough for me to handle it on my own, I really hope nothing happens operationally on my night.