060709 General Pics of JBB, What you Can't see is the Heat and Noise

060709 General Pics of JBB, What you Can't see is the Heat and Noise

Attached are some general pics around JBB (Joint Base Balad). The
MRAPs have the elongated PVC tubes on them along the top to coax wires
up and over the vehicles since they are so tall. Sometimes the wires
then encounter are just low hanging telephone and power wires.
Sometimes the wires have a more sinister purpose. Since soldiers have
the be in a uniform 24x7 here, you'll see alot of soldiers in PT gear
in order to not have to wear a full uniform. Some civilians and
foreign troops are authorized to wear shorts. US troops have no
uniform of shorts that is authorized in Iraq. The US military DOES
however authorize short in D'joubti (the horn of Africa). The reason
is because Iraq may be hot but in D'joubti its REALLY hot!

And while the pics that I post may look nice one thing that you cannot
see the the Heat and Noise. Right now (June) it hot but it'll still
get hotter. It probably averages 110 or so now and when I ride my
bike 'home' at night at 9 or 10 PM, it's still about 100F! The
coolest time is around 4-5 AM.

Also there is constant noise from generators that produce electricity
to run (among other things) A/C units to keep cool. A generator is
quick to install and initial cost is cheap however generators are very
inefficient power producers. The base is switching to a more
efficient, high voltage electrical grid (thus the new power lines).
The new systems will allow many small generators to be eliminated as
electrical power production will be consolidated and then distributed.
The new power lines will last years... It's as if someone knows
something about how long the US will be in Iraq....
R/Chris