[maple_leaf_eh]

I would agree. There were any number of deserters and stragglers left behind in Europe after the war. They were, and I supposed still are, subject to the code of service discipline. Once found, they'd be arrested and returned to proper authorities.

Wars have a way of losing people. Even though Kandahar Airfield was isolated and in the middle of bad guy country, there were dozens or hundreds of contract workers who had not left. The soldiers were tightly controlled and mostly happy to leave, but the camp was home to thousands of civilians too. These were cleaners, construction workers, kitchen and retail staff. The money was good and the circumstances probably not unpleasant. I was talking to the pop-up Masonic Lodge people, trying to decide if I had enough spare time to try my hand at joining. There is a women's section, and one lady at the information session said she had been on KAF for three years.