17Nov10 More Gerbil Pics from the frontier post

17Nov10  More Gerbil Pics from the frontier post

Here are a few more pics from Gerbil (aka Irbil).  Iraqis (and more so Kurds) are not all poor.  In the (relatively) peaceful north there certainly are some Iraqis that have seen the financial advantage to a US presence.  One of the vendors at Irbil parks his BMW 7 series on base. While driving from the airport to the camp this was certainly not the only BMW I saw. Another pic is of a building that is being built by the locals on base here.  Poor construction seems to the rule rather than the exception in the middle east.  Another pic is of a feral dog here at Irbil. Generally, you don't see too many dogs in Iraq.  Dogs are considered 'unclean' by Muslims and aren't kept as pets like in the states. There are several that roam the base here and if any were to act hostile the Army here would have no choice but to shoot them.  For now the dogs are tolerated and docile and will gladly accept any food handouts (which the Army policy forbids as well.)  Another pic is of the inside of the tent I was in. On the last few days here I had roommates (up to then I was the sole occupant of the tent.)  These guys didn't like the tent at 70F so they cranked the heat up to 85F!  That was the first night and I wasn't happy that occurred.  On the second night I came in late and adjusted the temperature back to 70F.  There was some 'tent etiquette that should have been followed that wasn't (probably on both our parts.) 
Port-a-Johns are everywhere (thankfully) at all bases in Iraq.  They're generally maintained twice a day.  There are also 'Muslim' Port-a-Johns since the muslim tradition is to squat (rather than sit or 'hover'.)  So a muslim Port-a-John will be identified as such and will be much lower and will have foot outlines on either side.  The pic of 'Salahs' is the general store here on camp.

There are a lot of similarities between Camp Gerbil (aka Irbil) and an Army fort on the American frontier 100 years ago.  Back then a fort occupied a small defined area outlined by a log wall in a hostile frontier surrounded by indians.  There was an Army Garrison in charge, a local store, post office/pony express and barracks for soldiers and civilians.  (Yes, even George Washington's Continental Army employed civilian contractors!)  Today the fort is called a COS (Contingency Operating Station) and occupies a defined area outlined by barbed wire and Hesco barriers.  There is an Army 'mayor cell' in charge, a local store (run by AAFES), a post office (and WiFi Internet) and CHUs/tents for soldiers and civilians.  But instead of being surrounded by indians we're now served by Indians (and Pakistani, Nepalese, Ugandan) (DFAC, laundry, cleaning and security respectively). 
Sometimes the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.
R/Chris