The largest military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan burst every preconception one may have of what being stationed in a war looks like. Simply put, they have been supersized. An installation that houses 20,000 is commonplace. And they feel farther away from the war front with each passing year. In Kandahar, there is a boardwalk, several fast food chains, a beauty parlor, coffee houses and stores that look much like a Walmart. The idea was to make the soldiers feel comfortable. But to troops stationed in remote outposts where showers are a luxury, the sight of such megabases can be galling. Having visited several bases, it never ceases to be a shocking sight. I always walk away stunned that the fastest development happening in these troubled states are on these bases.

Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal tried to stop the burgeoning of bases that so contradict the experiences one associates with war. McChrystal wanted the military to use space to support the war, he said, not America’s need to consume. Sending in pizza boxes, Whopper wrappers and the like demand convoys, after all. And such facilities take up valuable space. Out came Burger King from some bases, McChrystal declared earlier this year. But no sooner had he announced the military should scale down the Whoppers, I learned there is now a TGIF restaurant at Kandahar Air Field. You can read a CBC reporter’s visit to the restaurant here. That’s right, a chain restaurant. It’s along the boardwalk, the very place where the Burger King once sat. Now instead of standing in line, placing an order and scurrying back to work, soldiers can now sit down, chat with the server and relax.

I guess there are some things even a war commander can’t defeat, namely America’s need for chain food.