082709 Frankfurt

082709 Frankfurt
I recently returned from R&R and got 'stuck' at Ramstein for 6 days
waiting for a flight. As a contractor, we can generally use the most
convenient/expedient avenue to enter and exit Iraq. Military
personnel are generally required to enter/exit through Kuwait (for
Iraq) and Qatar (for 'Ghanistan). There are always exceptions though
but this just seems to be the general rule. While at Ramstein Air
Base I would get up every day and walk over to the passenger air
station (which was just across the street) and ask about the flight
for that day to Balad. Every single day the flight was scheduled and
then cancelled. On Friday 'we' (about 50 civ and mil personnel by
then) got all the way out to the plane with the engines running before
the flight got cancelled. Some piece of braking gear (which isn't
even needed to take off!) was malfunctioning and so the flight was
cancelled. We finally took off (and landed safely) late Saturday
night/early Sunday morning. Also most on the flight did not realize
that the cargo part of a C-17 is NOT heated during flight. It may
have been 90F at Ramstein and 120F or so at Balad but in between at
37,000 feet it's -50F (or so)! I've done this flight before and so I
had long trousers, a long sleeve sweat shirt, coat and a wool cap on
at take off. Last time I froze my arse off!

Anyway, I walked around Frankfurt on Monday before I took a taxi to
Ramstein AB and here are some pics. Like all European cities, it's
VERY easy to get around the city via the subway (U bahn) or street car
(S bahn). Also, like most European cites, Frankfurt uses the Euro and
everything is expensive.
R/Chris

082009 Home Sweet Home - Iraq!

082009 Home Sweet Home - Iraq!
I'm back in Iraq. About 4 weeks ago I went to Tallil where I was to
install a system that eventually we found out had to be 'approved' by
the different Army computer domain. The Army has two main computer
domains in Iraq. The are similar, essentially do the same thing and
are 100% incompatible! Now again, both domains are 'Army domains' but
they simply do not trust each other. (Don't try to figure it out,
just accept it.) So overall my trip was for naught since our
paperwork was not in order. So after Tallil I went on R&R and then on
the way back I was stuck in Ramstein for almost a week trying to get
back to Iraq. Every single day there was a flight from Ramstein
Germany to Balad Iraq and like clockwork, every single day that day's
flight was canxed! But I'd rather be stuck in Ramstein rather than
Kuwait.
Anyway, there is a VERY cool 'diner' at Tallil. They serve pizza and
pasta dishes for about $10 or so and it's run by the Bosnians. It's a
great place to 'hang out' (frankly it's the ONLY place to 'hang out'
at Tallil.) Here are a few pics and I tried to 'morph' the two pics
into one but just can't find that function on the MS Picture Manager.
R/Chris