Nato's Kandahar airfield has been described as a "holiday camp" and "Butlin's", while a Harrier technician told me: "As far as ****holes go, this is a pretty good one."

The base, which is half the size of Gatwick Airport and home to up to 14,000 people, boasts bars, coffee shops and stores selling everything from US flags and storage trunks to greeting cards and DVD players.

Americans and Canadians with guns slung over their shoulders parade along the "boardwalk", a circular area of decking that surrounds an ice hockey "rink", which in 40C heat is obviously lacking a key ingredient. Never mind, you'll get a cracking tan instead.

For the health conscious, an eight-mile running route takes in the sights of the camp or inhabitants can sweat out their iced cappuccino supreme at one of three gyms.

And if you're at a loose end, why not take language lessons and learn Pashto? Fancy catching a flick? Then head to the cinema.

The only interruption to the entertainment is rocket and mortar attacks. If that happens, people have a few seconds to dive to the ground, while the advice is never to stray more than five minutes away from your helmet and body armour.

Read more of Jonny's reports from Kandahar:
Our Man in Afghanistan - peterboroughtoday.co.uk/kandahar
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Rocket attacks aside, I could have been in Chicago, Toronto or any cosmopolitan, western city. Why am I here again? Ah yes, that's it. The war on terror, Osama Bin Laden, 9/11, the Taliban.

Unfortunately, for the men and women of 3 Squadron RAF Regiment, working outside the wire for up to 100 hours out of a 168-hour week is not conducive to enjoying the delights of life on camp.

They live in single-storey, four to a room, digs surrounded by vast blocks of concrete to protect against attacks.

It may not be the Hilton, but it's a stark comparison to Camp Bastion, in Helmand province, where troops sleep under canvas.

When they are not in the mood for Burger King and Pizza Hut, those based at Kandahar Airfield eat in gigantic canteens which churn out mountains of food nine hours a day.

Very much an American and Canadian base, the currency here is US dollars. Traffic drives on the right and is halted by Canadian-style stop signs.

For me, Kandahar Airfield is a bewildering place, the very essence of western consumerism in the heart of a country that is yet to emerge from a pre-modern, tribal era. The base represents everything the Taliban despise.

Asked about life on site, 3 Squadron personnel inevitably gave a mixed reaction.

If they err on the side of negative, it is probably because the squadron's compound is within sniffing distance of the camp's "poo pit", a giant pool of stinking slurry.

Corporal Carl Langston-Jones, from Orton Malborne, Peterborough, said: "This is a really good camp for an operational area. Unfortunately, we're right next to the poo pit and it's a smell you never get used to."

Senior Aircraftman (SAC) Louis Whitehouse said: "This is the best camp I have been in, specifically because it's Nato-run.