The level of services depends on where troops are serving. Main Operating Bases are well equipped with most home comforts, Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) have fewer amenities and Patrol Bases (PBs) are very basic.

Accommodation

Well-established camps like Camp Bastion and Kandahar have air-conditioned tents or portable buildings with individual bed-spaces and lockers.

Out in the semi-permanent FOBs soldiers are likely to be living in local buildings or compounds and sleeping on camp (cot) beds. In the remote PBs, which can be in compounds or out 'in the field', the soldiers will be sleeping in doss bags under mosquito tents.

A laundry service is provided on the bigger bases and at some of the FOBs. However, soldiers in newly established PBs will be used to washing their kits in barrels or in local streams.

Showering and washing facilities are provided at most locations; these vary from permanent facilities in the bigger bases to individual shower bags out in the PBs.

Where the facilities aren't yet established, soldiers sometimes have to wash in streams.

NAAFI

The Navy, Army and Air Force Institute (NAAFI) is the official trading organisation of HM Forces and has a number of small shops in British bases across Afghanistan that sell everything from toiletries and confectionery to small electrical items.

Follow the left-hand links to learn about what soldiers eat and drink, how they communicate with home, relax, and what happens if they get ill.