101109 FOB Kalsu and Mendez Airfield

101109 FOB Kalsu and Mendez Airfield

I often get asked "What does it look like over there?"  First of all, every place I've ever been in Iraq pretty much looks the same. They're all flat, dry and dusty.  And when it rains, it's damn muddy!  Living in Iraq centers around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  There are very few cites that are far away from either of these rivers or some other water source.  Thus there is very little sand here but there is plenty of dust, fine river sediment.  And the dust gets into everything and everywhere!
FOB (Forward Operating Base) Kalsu and Mendez Airfield are nearby.  The Army (and the military in general) names many things after someone of notoriety that may have died there (or elsewhere).  Camp Speicher is named after Navy LT Speicher who was shot down at the beginning of Gulf War 1 (yes, that's what it's called when the 1st Bush decided to invade Iraq).  From the pics you can read about Kalsu and Mendez.  There's gate here on camp that I have to pass through to enter into a yard where vehicles are stored.  The gate is named after a DAC that was killed during a mortar attack a few years ago.  I've wondered if I were killed here if I'd be up to the 'gate' level?
R/Chris