KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The biggest challenge for the man planning Canada's move out of Kandahar is not loading hundreds of vehicles or packing thousands of weapons away.
It's the clock.
"Time is going to be the big thing," Lt.-Col. Steve Moritsugu said in an interview.
"We could put more people, we could put more effort, we could put more hours ... but we're done that day. That's the one constant."
Since July, Moritsugu has led a liaison and planning team of up to 10 members responsible for ensuring all Canadian-issued property -- everything from pencils to planes -- is out of Kandahar by Dec. 31.
It is a massive undertaking.
More than 1,000 sea containers must be emptied. Close to 1,000 vehicles must be maintained and cleaned -- easier said than done in an environment where dust is everywhere. And thousands of rounds of ammunition must be properly stored or disposed of before the big move.
"The amount of stuff is really the equivalent of a small town and we're not just tossing it and running away," said Moritsugu as his team could be heard upstairs moving furniture.
Not everything will be brought back to Canada. Some equipment will be set aside for Canada's training mission in Afghanistan, the details of which aren't yet clear.
Other equipment considered not worthwhile bringing back -- old chairs and tents, for instance -- could be sold, given away or trashed.
"The best value for us is to get someone to pay for it and the worst value for us is to have to pay to get it taken away or disposed of," Moritsugu said.
"The in-between might include donations or transport to somebody else. But we're already pushing hard on trying to get the most money we can for it."
The air force is trying to auction off its five Chinook helicopters. Canada bought six of the CH-147D choppers for $282 million two years ago in a government-to-government arrangement with Washington, but one was shot down by Taliban small-arms fire in the Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar city, last August.
Some of the more permanent buildings at Kandahar Airfield will likely stay where they are and house other forces on the base.
Military officials are negotiating to sell Canada House, the recreational centre for Canada's military personnel at the airfield. The so-called Canadiana inside -- such as plaques and hockey masks -- will be repatriated.
The memorial for Canadians killed in Afghanistan, which last year was expanded to include Americans serving under Canadian command, will be moved to Canada, Moritsugu said.
"We're still working out the exact detailed plans, but the monument ... is going to be brought back to Canada and I personally hope put up somewhere in Canada," he said.
The Tim Hortons, which once sat on a piece of prime real estate on the boardwalk but now sits across from Canada House, will eventually be taken down once Canada's troops leave.
"To the great disappointment, I believe, of a whole lot of Americans, Brits and Australians," Moritsugu quipped.
Yet while boxes are packed and shipped, outside the wire there is still a war being fought.
Canada's forward operating bases are still being supplied, though they are expected to become more austere as the military mission winds down in the weeks ahead.
"If you're leaving people out there, there's certain things that from a military sense are critical," Moritsugu said. "They have to have food, they have to have ammunition, they have to have protection."
Asked for the move's budget, Moritsugu will only say, "It's going to cost a lot of money."
He said figures will fluctuate depending on what is sold and what will be needed for a training mission that has been described as "Kabul-centric" -- meaning it will be based in the capital but not exclusively in Kabul.
"The details of that mission aren't 100 per cent clear yet or at least not to me," Moritsugu said.
"It's not actually that challenging because everything is getting packed to go. It's just once it's going, which direction is it going?"
Canada's 2,800 servicemen and women stationed in Kandahar will end combat operations by the end of July, but up to 950 troops and support staff will remain in Afghanistan on a training mission until 2014.
As many as 1,600 additional Canadian Forces members are expected to remain at the airbase well after the end of the military mission to assist with the disassembly and return of equipment.
The federal government has promised that military personnel would not be involved in combat, but will instead help train the Afghan National Army in the relatively safe confines of Kabul.
But there's little room at the current NATO training centres and military schools that dot the Afghan capital. Allies have asked for help at the five regional army centres, among them Mazar-e-Sharif in the north, Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south.
