022808 Running weax at Balad...finally

The last few days its been warm enough that I've been running at noon. With all the sun in Iraq you'd think that people here would get quite a few sun burns but most heed advice given at orientation and wear long sleeve shirts. I do that as well as sun screen but like to run without a shirt every now and then in order to 'get a little color'. Behind the area where I live there are some old tents that are being torn down. I'm not sure what is going up in its place but from the pics you can see all the sand bags that were used. The guys tearing down the tents are not Army but foreign labor. Much/most/all of the labor done now is just contracted out to the lowest bidder. The solder of today is expected to fight the war, not peel potatoes or cook food or tear down tents. And the reason the workers are not working today is because it is Friday, their 'weekend'. And also, yes, they'll recycle the sand bags as much as possible. In the sand bags I noticed some water bottle of yellow liquid. Those would be a piss bottle. Often at night the port-o-john is just too far a walk and the next best solution is to make use of an empty water bottle. I also found a pair of workout gloves. The PX is currently sold out of workout gloves and while I could order online I was just going to wait until they restocked. Now I can just clean these up and I'll be good to go!

022608 No Newspapers, Bigger Cups!

Below is a pic of the breakroom here at the battalion office building. Up until the other day I used to post copies of the 'Stars and Stripes' on the walls here as a courtesy to my 'customers' and as part of my 'coffee beotch' duties. (How I got to be such I don't recall as it just sorta happened.) Now the 'Stars and Stripes' is a Friggen MILITARY newspaper but the Commander here thought that posting the newspaper on the walls 'forced' people to read a newspaper that they otherwise would not have to read and that THIS was somehow biased (and the Army takes pain at time to profess to be nuetral). Gee, GROW SOME BALLS SIR! It's just the Friggin Stars and Stripes! Not the New York Times or Washington Post! Anyway to avoid any perception that is 'biased', the walls are now bare. Urgh! F@#$$%* Army wussies...

And ANOHTHER damn thing that was bothering me is that there was only one size cup to drink from in the DFAC (dining facility). And up until the other day that size was 'small'. Now it may not seem a big deal but it was really irking me how I had to fill up 2-3 cups just so that I could sit and eat a meal entirely without having to get up and walk over to fill up my damn small cup. As you can see from the pic, it's not that much bigger but it sure makes a difference! Sometimes progress is measured in the size of your cup!

R/Chris

022408 Kix and Dunn, Just kill me now! Lawn update

Recently there was a USO show here on base. It was a country band called Kix and Dunn (or something like that). I've been told it was well received and two of the band members were on the radio this morning talking about their 'Iraq experience'. First of all, they mentioned how log it took to even get here. The dang flight from the states to Kuwait is 15 hours or so and that's from the east coast non-stop. So if you fly from Texas and have to stop in Europe, the flight is even longer. Once you're in Kuwait, you have to catch a ride from KWI (the civilain airport) to Ali Al Saleem (the military airport) for a flight to Iraq. Then once you get to Ali, it possible to wait days there until the Air Force may have a flight available or you could even be grounded in Kuwait by weather in Iraq. And the accomodations in Ali are NOT great. Anyway, it was interesting to hear another perspective about the travails of travel to/from Iraq, but I still hate country music! Every damn song is about how the truck or the wife or the dog just done him wrong. Urgh!

And the lawn is coming along. This will one DAMN expensive lawn when its done. Below is an updated pic showing the sprinkler system. I'm still looking for a pink flamingo lawn ornament. Anyone have one to donate?

The other two pics are examples of what accomodations are like at Ali Al Saleem. Also I've included a pic of a time-exposure shot of the camp at night. The pic turned out great but it was really dark when this was taken so I was quite surprised.

And YES, the water situation is back to normal and has been for over a week now.
R/Chris

022108 Blue skies in Iraq, Patience....is bliss

The dust is gone and blue skies are now in Iraq again (see the pic below). When its cloudy/dusty/overcast here its very dreary but sunny blue skies really 'feel' different (ie Good!) The pic below doesn't 'show' how cold it is and it is chilly here. I've not seen any bats out the last few nights either so it looks like 'Baquba Bob' (Pauxatawny Phil's Iraqi cousin) was right and 'winter' here is hanging on for several more weeks.

As a contractor here we generally 'work' for DAX (Depart of the Army civilians) who then report to/work for the Army directly. Very few Army or DAX personnel (civilians or soldiers) spend over 12-15 months over here but a contractor can easily be over here for several years (I've been in Iraq 3 years now). Now imagine if you will that you're a contractor and you've been over here working for 3 years (which is easily '6-7' United States years) and some DAX comes in as your new boss. Needless to say that recently happened and while the contractor had his way of doing things they didn't exactly mesh with her way. It didn't help that he (the contractor) was older and retired military (read 'attitude') and she (the DAX) was younger and operated 'by the book'. So after a while push came to shove and just the other day he up and quits. He walks right out of the office and over to AirOps to schedule a flight home. He flew out the next day, unceremoniously and unnoticed. Its not the best ending for someone like him and the Army will be hard pressed to replace his skills....but everyone is replaceable.

It can be a very stressful environment over here but it's not good to let 'them' (be it persons or the environment) to get the best of you. There are military over here who hate DAX (and make their lives miserable) as well as DAX who hate contractors (bloodthirsty money grubbing mercenaries) and make their lives miserable but I KNOW that all I have to do is WAIT and time will eventually rotate them out. Patience....is bliss.

021908 No, this isn't Mars....it's just Iraq!

So it didn't rain last night and the dust coninued to blow and by 3 PM it looked like I was on Mars (but I'm really only guessing since I've never been on Mars). Anyway, the dust takes on an eery orange glow here (as you can see from the pics below). While it doesn't bother me, the dust does bother some. So in addition to the snakes, the heat, the falling Twalls, etc, there is one more thing trying to kill me ... the dust! Wha'da country!

021808 What the heck is a Twall?

It was supposed to rain today but instead we got an early duststorm. As you see from the pic the sky is not blue today but rather a hazy white. It'll probably rain tomorrow or tonight but either way by tomorrow afternoon, the sky will be a brilliant blue again.

Also from the pics you can see the Twalls (pronounced 'T' wall) behind. The Twalls are EVERYWHERE in Iraq and Afghanistand AND even select buildings in Kuwait. About a year back I was at the Crown Plaze hotel in Kuwait and lo and behold it was surrounded by Twalls. The purpose of a Twall is to 'minimize the destructive impact'. In other words, if a mortar round lands on the 'bad' side of the Twall behind me, the building (and its inhabitants) would suffer severe damage. But if a mortar round lands on the 'good' side of the Twall, then no damage is suffered by the building. By spreading out building locations and adding Twalls, the 'footprint' for any damage is thus greatly diminished.

As an interesting tidbit, notice how tall the Twall is compared to its base. Wouldn't you think that these things might tip over pretty easily? And how far (at the top) would you think one would have to tip the Twall such that it falls over. The answer is only about 4 inches in either direction at the top will allow a Twall to fall over. Fortunately they are 'notched' on the sides such that one will hold the 'neighbor' Twall up. And why might a Twall tip? Well, when it rains the ground can shift and move and every year one or two Twalls will fall over in the rainy season.

021608 It's snowingin Afghanistan but warm and sunny here in Iraq

I got an email from my old boss today (see pic below). He left Iraq last year and then soon thereafter wanted to come back. He didn't land anything in Iraq but found a job in Afghanistan. Balad is about 200 feet above sea level whereas kabul is about 6,000 feet above sea level. So instead of 3 months of ridiculously hot weather in the summer, Kabul gets a great summer but endures 3 months of cold wet, winter. Now Afganistan is still 'backwards' and the housing there isn't the best and no, there is no skiing there either. It's just 3 months of wet, cold snow. I think Iraq is a better deal. And yes, they all have the Russian 'Comrade' look in the pic.

021408 Old Church at Mosul/Water rationing is over

Recently a coworker returned from Mosul. Mosul is the third larget city in Iraq and is the heart of the Kurd regions. Iraq is (very) roughly 1/3 Sunni, 1/3 Shite and 1/3 Kurd. on the Army base at Mosul is an early Christian church. It's not much, as you can see from the pics below but it was built in 400 AD so in that sense it's quite impressive. I've been in the King's tomb at Ur in southern Iraq and while they pulled some valuable stuff out of the tomb, the tomb itself is rather unimpressive (and it stinks to high heaven due to pigeons!)

Also the water situation stabilized two days ago so we're back to 'normal' for now. Of course we're still 'encouraged/required' to take 3 minute showers. I'm not sure whether the Army paid the guy off or dug another trench to the river but things are 'fine' again.

Think of it as the Wild West/Lawn Update

Every now and then I hear of 'stuff' that happens. While there are 'rules' for the military and civilian personnel here in Iraq, 'stuff' still happens. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time evidently can get you written up or even beat up. And 'outside the wire' (off base) can be even worse. I've asked a few soldiers who go off base what its like and for the most part it too is pretty boring but is punctuated by moments of 'WTF!' At times there is a lot of shooting and when I asked "why" the best answer I got was "because we can" (which is probably the most honest). I've tried to think of the best analogy for this environment and I suppose the wild west comes closest. While there are 'rules' here they aren't always enforced but a bicyclist can still get a speeding ticket! And what is acceptable on one base may not be on another base. So even though growing a lawn in the lawn in the desert may be a waste of water and Government resources (update pic below) it will still happen. Why? Because the Sergeant Major can.

021308 The Bats are back

On my way to the gym last night the air wasn't cold as it has been. It's getting warmer here and I won't need a coat much longer at night. It still didn't rain too much this year and I'll be surprised if we see much grass grow this spring. The big trees won't be hurt much since they have established root systems. Regarding trees, there are only two types of trees on base as I don't think of the palm trees as 'real' trees. Below is a picture of a salt cedar and a eucalyptus tree. The last base I was at (Tallil) had no trees and while the 'trees' here aren't much, they're one of the first things I noticed when I got here. Since it's getting warmer I was wondering when the bats would start coming out of hibernation and last night, for the first time this year, I saw a few bats. Soon they'll be everywhere at night.

020608 It smells like Spring in Iraq

Today it really, finally smells like spring in Iraq. Or in other words, it was a nice summer day for Seattle! Frankly it's really nice and while it will only get warmer and warmer until it's ridiculously hot as hell...it's a nice change for now. Below is a pic of the hooches (places where one lives). Also there are lights being installed around the housing area to lower the risk and number of assaults. Yes when you get lots of soldiers together in an overseas base with a 20-1 Male to Female ratio, assaults do happen. And not always M-F too. Also my neighbor came back from emergency leave and turned on the heater in his hooch and it promptly caught fire and burned. The smoke damage condemned his hooch and he probably out all the material stuff in his hooch. But riding my bike home it still smells like spring in Iraq.
R/Chris

020108 Day 3 of no water

Today we received notice that the west side of the base can now take one 3 minute shower and that the east side (the good side, where I am) gets one 3 minute shower tomorrow. We'll also get to drop off one bag of laundry which is great considering I've been wearing the same pants for 3 days now. So overall this is pretty good news. The notice also said that if we turn in more than one bag of laundry or take more than one shower allotted then one could be subject to UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) punishment. While the Army MIGHT be able to cross check laundry records for violations, how the HECK can they track shower use??? The Army (military?) is SO Dumb about some stuff at times. I'm sure glad to be EX-military.