Camp Victory, Iraq 5 Oct 07

FYI - these posts are late because I don't get access to a computer that can post them very often.

As I walked home last night in almost complete darkness the chaos of this place settled in. Camp Victory, is like New York, it's the FOB that doesn't sleep. It's dark, very dark, with only the lights of the palaces and Baghdad in the distance. The dirty sewage infested lake is to my right. Trucks pass, people pass, voices, gunfire, explosions in the distance so strong you still feel them, generators, helicopters, the smell of diesel fuel, exhaust, stench of sewage, black smoke from a huge fire in the distance, more helicopters, more Humvees, up-armored and soft sided, semi-trucks hauling water, fuel, cargo, crap, all go by, and by, and by. This place is noisy, rowdy, smelly and unrefined. 24 hour-high-speed-ops. A convoy goes by, young men in turrets manning machine guns coming and going from the red zone in Humvees. More trucks, more cars, more SUVs, more Humvees, more helicopters, more convoys, more booms, more bangs, more people, more voices, more rancid air filled with fuel, exhaust, sewage and burning garbage.

We work in one of the guest houses Saddam built for his family and friends. There are several man made lakes with palaces and homes all around them. Normal Iraqis never saw this place that was once beautiful with palm groves, palaces and gardens. But Saddam built his palaces on the cheap. Everything is a facade, with only marble vaneers and plastic chandeliers. They are all used as office buildings now for the military.

The food is good. You can eat just about whatever you want, as long as it is on a plastic plate, with plastic utensils, paper cups and paper napkins. There is Baskinrobins and milkshakes. A meat carving table. A short order and main menu buffets. Coca-Cola light, and Pepsi light from Kuwait. Juice, salad, Mexican food bar, sandwich bar.... The room is full of Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, civilians, and military members from Japan, Australia, England, Tonga, and more whose uniforms I don't recognise.

The chow hall, aka DFAC (dining facility something something) like all buildings is surrounded by concrete blast walls. And in addition it has a pole barn over the top of it. That way if a mortar hits next to it the blast wall absorbs the shrapnel. If it is a direct hit, the roof of the pole barn absorbs the hit. I don't think it has ever been hit, but indirect mortar fire is a real threat. Every once in a while they get lucky and hit someone. Last week they killed two and wounded 37.

They've told me I'm going to Camp Cropper to worth the magcell near the detainment facility. The magcell is where they decide what to do with the new detainees. Should be interesting work.

The "Deid" 4 Oct 07

I'm at Al Udeid. I've never been the type to look at a landscape and think of a poetic way to describe it. But this place, its complete, desolate and lifeless ugliness reflects the ugliness of the war we are fighting and demands a poetic attempt to describe it. When God put life on the Earth, he missed a spot, and I'm here. When he placed mountains, valleys, streams, rivers, and lakes, he passed by this place. He even forgot color -- everything is a blinding white. It stretches on to the horizon. If I had to imagine the world after nuclear war, I would think of this place. I'll be glad to leave it all behind.

The water we drink is all bottled and the water we use to bathe is trucked in. The sand forms a haze in every direction and when the sun shines it reflects off of the white sand and engulfs you. Most of the workers who take care of it are TCNs (Third Country Nationals). There are military members from the US (a lot of us), and I've met people from Australia, and England. The Coalition Air Operations Center (CAOC) is located here and they control all of the air space over Central Command (middle east). It also has a lot of transients (like me) who fly in and wait for a cargo plane to take them further down range into the AOR (Area Of Operations).

I'm living in a tent with rows and rows of bunkbeds. It is air conditioned and comfortable. The sun comes up around 4:30 and it's completely dark around 5:30 Food is good and has a lot of selection. It is 7 hours later here than EST.

It was really something to step off of that plane and be here, in the AOR. There are concrete bunkers and barriers everywhere to stop terror or other types of attacks (this place is very safe and the people stationed here are allowed to go to the city near by to shop, eat, etc. without any worry or concern, they just stay ready). The military cargo planes line the flight line, thousands of people in desert camo, all working to support the operations going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think I will feel something similar but more intense when I get off the plane in Iraq.

I'm off

I leave tomorrow morning for Camp Victory Iraq. I'll leave San Antonio and make my way across the world and should be there by 7 Oct. I'm excited, nervous, and sad, all in one. I will hate leaving my family for six months but am excited about being down range and close to the action.