Chris in Iraq: December 2008

30 Dec 08 It hasn't snowed here....yet, but it's cold.

I've been asked what the weather is like here several times now and frankly it's cold. I only brought two lite jackets when I came here and should have brought some gloves to as it's in the 30's at night but does warm up to the 50s in the day. Last year it did snow here (around the second week of January) so I'm hoping it snows again (for the heck of it.) The pics are from LAST year but I thought they were good enough to post again.
R/Chris

28 Dec 08 They forgot Pastafarian and True Value comes to....(it was only a matter of time.)

The Army really does a great job at accomodating as many people as possible given the circumstances. One of the areas of accomodation is worship and from the pic you can see that Army is try to please everyone here. Christian, Buddhist, Islam and even Pagan services are provided here at Balad (Joint Base Balad or JBB now). Unfortunately for the the Pastafarians here, there is no service. What is a Pastafarian you say??? Well....her is a link (http://www.venganza.org/)Also, the 'doily-fication' of bases here in Iraq continues. With improvements in security and lower violence comes...commercialization. Yes a True Value hardware store is breaking ground at Camp Victory. See it for yourself at http://jiminiraq.blogspot.com (Jim is a firefighter and a friend of mine at Camp Victory.)
R/Chris

27 Dec 08 Comments, Holiday Parade and Beads! - Where do they come up with this!

I'm always surprised when comments are left on my blog. It's like "Wow! someone read my words and took the time to leave a comment!" A blog is like writing a letter to no one. So I'm never really sure what to say or how it might be received. I try to keep my words 'contained' within the scope of 'a contractor's life in Iraq'. Having said that, I do appreciate the comments people leave. Thank you. So the 'Holiday Parade' consisted of 4 vehicles and gator decked out with fake antlers, etc. You can see the pics below. While it was 'ok' and 'crowd' was a bit sparse it was a good effort. And since this was the first of the 'annual' parades to come, I'm sure next year's parade will be even better! If you zoom in on the ASV you can make out their 'wish list' too. One of the 'floats' was a humvee dressed up' as a Navy ship. AND there were guys running around throwing candy and beads! (pic above) Gosh, we're 10,000 miles from home on a military base in a warzone with 95% of the guys in their prime and they put on a Holiday Parade and toss beads into the crowd! Where DO they come up with this stuff???
What's next, a New Year Eve Ball? (uh, yeap)
R/Chris

Holiday Parade Pics

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2 24 Dec 08 Hard Body and the Christmas Parade, yes really!

Last night there was a 'hard body' competition at the gym here and I was fortunate enough to get some pics (see below). I went to one of these last year and it was sorta haphazardly organized so I didn't go this year (that and because I'm on night shift). Frankly the pics don't do justice to some guys I've seen here. I've heard (from reliable sources) that the most abused drug over here by non-military personnel is viagra and the most abused druy by military personnel is steroids! And I've seeen some brutes to prove it! Perhaps surprisingly enough, steroids (and for that matter viagra) are certinly not treated the same as they are in the US. Both types of drugs can be readily purchased over the counter (or with a 'quickie' prescription) in Kuwait and much of Europe especially Italy (...so I've been told.)
Anyway, on to the next topic. So, you're on a military base with (mostly) 20,000 men, most in the prime of their lives and 10,000 miles from home so what do you do for Christmas? Well...you put on a parade!! Yes tomorrow is the 'first annual' Holiday Parade compliments of the Army and Air Force here at Balad. It's at 10 AM so I'll try to get some pics. What does one see in a such a parade? I have no idea...
R/Chris

24 Dec 08 Night Shift and Christmas in Iraq...again

I've been on the night shift for over a week now covering while a coworker is back in the states on R&R. Balad is probably one of the busiest (if not THE busiest) airfields in Iraq and many aircraft land at night (uh for obvious reasons). So I feel pretty lonely on the nightshift until I go to the DFAC around midnight. There are probably 20,000 soldier, airmen and contractors on Balad and it seems several thousand hit the DFAC at midnight the same time I do. Anyway, I eat and then head back to the office (think Maytag repairman now).
Also, last week someone had some 'cheese crisps' from Roka (a Dutch company) and I pretty much ate all of them. Think I'd like some more I got online and found the site and ordered some more cheese crisps as well as some genuine Dutch candy. Now the web site did say that the candy had a 'unique' taste but I thought it couldn't be that bad. So the candy arrived and I had one and DANG, who would've thought that formaldahyde would be an ingredient in Dutch candy! Urgh, I couldn't GIVE the stuff away but it's all about how your advertise. So some pics are below as well as the 'office Christmas tree'.
R/Chris

23 Dec 08 Garbage Pit and it's so cold I have to wear trousers and a lite jacket!

Recently in the news were the 'burn pits' of Iraq. There is very limited recycling at Balad and even that has only been implemented within the last six months or so. There are no landfills either. All of the garbage here is burned. It's that simple. The open burn pit is about a 'click' (kilometer) away and while I rarely smell it, you can always see the black smoke wafting into the blue sky. The link below mentions 'wild dogs roaming Balad Air Base with human body parts in their mouths.' I've been at Balad for almost two years now and have never seen a wild dog on base, ever. Franky I don't see how it's even possible since there is a chain link fence around the entire base. The article also mentions 'Iraqi crud' which most call 'Kuwaiti crud' since 99% of everyone will enter Iraq after first being in Kuwait (like I did). There is dust everywhere and you breath the dust, you get an infection and this is Kuwaiti crud. It's an infection that is gone in a few weeks. But read the article for yourself.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/15/burn.pits/index.html
Also, it's 'winter' here now and I have to wear a lite jacket and grass can now grow. So I've posted a few pics below.
R/Chris

22 Dec 08 USO Show and Family Relations

Below is the flyer for the USO show last night. I understand it was a good show. I'm still on night shift so I didn't go but I've seen the Air Force band that was before. Balad is the only base in Iraq that has a USO office (so I've been told) and they do a great job. Every big base has USO shows so there really is plenty of opportunity for entertainment while over here.
On a completly unrelated matter some guys I know (and myself) are having some family problems. As a contractor, you're about 10,000 miles away from home (only 7,000 if you're east coast) so any problems are complicated by distance and time (we're generally 11 hours ahead of the west coast (or 8 hours ahead of east coast time.) I'll get a call or email usually way after the fact and some how I'm expected to take action. I know some guys who had their banks accounts drained and were still blamed because 'they weren't around'. If you're having rocky relation problems, Iraq/overseas is generally not the answer.
R/Chris

18 Dec 08 Thanksgiving Air Show

For Thanksgiving we had a really nice meal and the Army/Air Force also decided to put on a static air show. Basically it was a bunch of aircraft and other military stuff was put on display for people to look at and even climb on and take lots of pictures. This stuff is always interesting and there were lots of people around to answer any questions. So combined with a nice meal at lunch and an airshow where pictures were encouraged, it was a pretty good Thanksgiving. From the pics below you can see that it was a nice day out on 27 November but look at the long shadows and that was only about 1 PM in the afternoon. The days are clear now and the nights are dang right cold at night. We've had one good rain storm but the wet season is only beginning. Urgh, and did I use 'dang' again? I'm gunna get back to the states and speak like dat and someone will ask me "Where you lern 'Southren boy?" And I'll answer "Iraq!"
R/Chris