11Nov10 Two Weeks at Mosul

11Nov10 Two Weeks at Mosul
I ended up being at Mosul for 2 weeks before I finally got a flight out. Mosul is a nice base and it's supposed to close next year but we'll see how that works out. Mosul can be a great to place to have been stationed.  It's got a Food Court with a Gazebo in the middle (see pic) and a few restaurants like King's Restaurant (see pic.)  Laundry serivce at Mosul was great too. You turn in your laundry in the morning and can pick it up that late afternoon in a nice square package with everything folded.  At Balad (my home base) there is a 24 hour CAP (combat air patrol) F16 always in the air.  At Mosul there is a blimp (see pic).  The blimps are actually very efficient.  The don't burn thousands of gallons of fuel and have onboard cameras that can read a newpaper on the ground.  Just about all the small bases have one or more blimps in the air.  Why doesn't Balad use efficent blimps instead of burining thousands of gallons of jet fuel a day?  Well, pilots don't get air time with blimps. The CHUs (containerized housing unit) at Mosul are 'dry' (no plumbing inside the CHU) so one has to walk to a  nearby Cadillac (shower and/or toilet unit).  The walk wasn't so bad at all.  Above are few pics of me on my way to the Cadillac.  Overall Mosul was a good trip but I'm dang glad to finally get out of there.
R/Chris