Eid at-Fitr food

Tonight, the end of Ramadan, begins Eid al-Fitr. The long and short of it is that Muslims break the fast of Ramadan.

To celebrate, and to ensure that we understand the appropriate cultural bits, they had an Eid celebration tonight at the MWR. It was basically a small presentation about Eid plus a bunch of food (I love Middle Eastern food). The double-bonus was the fact that it meant that I could avoid the DFAC tonite...even though it was chicken cordon bleu night (not to be missed from what I hear).

Briefly, my review of the food...

Chickpea samaosa: awesome
Meat samosa: awesome
Lamb kabab: awesome
Chicken kabob: awesome
Stuffed grape leaves: awesome
Salad-type dish with spicy dressing: awesome
Dates: awesome
Various Middle Eastern sweets: awesome

Very good end to the day.

First IDF attack

Had the first confirmed incoming IDF (indirect fire...artillery, mortar, rocket etc) today. All in all it was rather lame. The "All Clear" came pretty quickly.

I think that in my head I had planned to some sort of profound post but the fact of the matter is that I was more entertained hearing the C-RAM light up...these things just jumped up near the top of my "most awesome" list.

Good weekend

The last few days have been pretty good...no doubt due to the fact that we get Sunday off. As I was rehasing with my friend Amanda (who spent some time here herself) I'm counting the weeks in steaks.

I generally have no idea what day it is since we're in the office all the time. Every Friday the chow hall serves steak...the only way that we know it is Friday is the fact that there is steak. I have one steak down...43 steaks to go until I get out of here.

Went for a run yesterday...probably about 3 miles. To be technical, I went hashing...though with NA beer (Lowenbrau is not too bad, Coors tastes like water that someone put their cigarette out in...). All in all it was good times and nice to meet folks that I didn't know in order to get a little mental space from the office.

Probably about 85 degrees this AM. Not too bad. I have several pictures of the area where I live ("Dodge City South"). Of course I forgot to bring my camera to the office today...ugh.

Ran into some folks yesterday that I was at CRC with...good to seem them here. Their orders were all jacked up so they had to spend a week in Kuwait...not fun. They're a mix of Human Terrain, PSYOPS and other "non-lethal effects" folks. Interesting crew. Saw one of the girls, Leslie, last night while I was reading a book and having coffee at Green Beans. Cute girl, ex-OGA type...one of the guys that I work with has declared her "his project" for this deployment. We'll see how that goes.

Walked in Al Faw palace yesterday (forgot my camera, of course). It was built by Saddam to celebrate the "victory over Iran." Talk about a waste of money - though it is very pretty inside. Out near BIAP there is also the "Victory over America" palace (from the Gulf War)...in a twist of fate it is unfinished. Apparently the MWR folks give tours on Sunday. Will have to check that out at some point. Since all things come in threes...apparently Saddam also had money printed to celebrate the "Victory over the Jews" (1968 war) which can be purchased at the Hajji market. Seems to me that brother is batting about 0.000...

Missed all of the football yesterday...grumble. Luckily the Pats can't lose if they don't play...

I keep forgetting how to log into this thing...

Our satellite for commercial internet runs through Austria...even though I've managed to force Google to show an English page all the rest of the stuff (blogger, gmail etc) comes up in German. Very annoying.

Philosophy and Cigar Friday

Friday night is apparently Cigar Night here in The 'Dad (if you can call Swisher Sweets cigars...). It was nice as we basically took time off of work (2200-2330) to sit around and bullshit.

The question on the table:

We've spent a trillion dollars in Iraq, have killed about 95% of the bad dudes and psychos, and are rebuilding the country from the ground up. Iraq, as a country, has been given an opportunity that no other country in the region has had since the League of Nations Mandates expired (and the Europeans left and simply drew borders on a map...they're good like that).

Is there any real hope that Iraq simply won't turn into a mess like the rest of the countries in the region (Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria etc...)?

Dunno. Food for thought, I guess.

About all the pictures...

I was going to put all of them in earlier posts but I'm stuck on stupid when it comes to blogger (read: too lazy to go edit the old posts).

Plus most of the earlier parts of this blog were written in Word and copied over since I was bingo Internet for many days...

Proof that I'm actually here

Mocked by Irish trash bins...

Related post:

Stuck in Shannon

GENERAL ORDER #1

[A primer for the personal conduct of U.S. Troops, including restrictions of Islamic Law and Arabic customs]

Relevant bit:

2. Prohibited Activities:

c. Introduction, possession, use, sale, transfer, manufacture, or consumption of any alcoholic beverage.

Good Times in Columbus, GA

Related post:

Heading off Post

Random pictures from CRC

Related Posts:

Thoughts on CRC

Further thoughts on CRC

Looking towards my hooch


Looking towards the DFAC

My building

Bed...

Redneck Cooler

Fire at the office

Despite all of the warnings around VBC to only use power strips with CE or UL embedded in the plastic my office has numerous strips that were purchased "on the economy" (the Hajji shops).

This morning one of the O-3s was looking for a strip to plug in his personal computer to update his ipod software. Queue the smell of smoke and an electrical fire. The Division safety folks were called in to take a look at things and delivered the sage advice that "we shouldn't do that again."

Noted.

Annoyance of the day

Good: real bacon bits for salad

Bad: Using a slotted spoon to serve said bacon bits

The only decent radio station in Iraq

BFBS Radio 1 broadcasting out of Basra. 106.9 on the dial...

The most boring blog in the world

That is probably what this will end up being as right now it is pretty much a diary instead of witty and wise commentary on the situation in Iraq and in the world.

Oh well, hopefully at least my mom will read...

Sad news...

Talked to my buddy James back in DC this AM.

For the last few years that he and I were in DC we'd go to Continental in Rosslyn every Wednesday night for half-price burgers and beers (he'd been going much longer than I).

Our bartender was a dude named Emeile...young guy about our age, funny dude...turns out that he died on Wednesday night. James said that he looked not-so-good on Wednesday and he got the news this morning (if I have my timezones correct).

The last Wednesday that I talked to him he was talking about his upcoming interview for a job over here...it is a shame that he never got to see this part of the world.

PAO Lounge

First dust storm

During
After

I was informed that this was a "lame" dust storm given the fact that 1) you could see and 2) the sky wasn't orange.

Annoyance of the day

I purchased a local cell phone at the Big PX over on Liberty yesterday. On the plus side Asia Cell seems to have better reception than Iraqna…double bonus: calls to the states are only $.25 a minute. Not too bad. However, the battery lasted for all of two phone calls. TWO! Same thing happened yesterday too. I’ll be heading back to the PX to raise some hell over my piece of shit phone.

Living in Iraq

I got pretty lucky…I only had to live in tent city for a day before getting my CHU (Containerized Housing Unit…basically a CONEX box divided up into living quarters). The tents definitely left something to be desired…and I can’t believe that I’m going to admit that I preferred the tent in Kuwait. The a/c in my tent was kaput and there were about 12 smelly dudes sharing the place. The only bit of humor was that KBR’s temporary billeting saw fit to issue me leopard print sheets. I wish I’d taken a picture.

My original CHU was supposed to be right near the office in the “Omaha Beach” section of Camp Victory. Not too bad, I suppose. The units are all brand new. Each CHU, for those of us that have no rank, sleeps two people. Bathrooms and showers are down the road a piece. There are also many “POJ” around…took me a bit to figure out that POJ stand for “Port O John.” Not to belabor the point but the interior of those plastic hell-holes can top 140 degrees…

Due to circumstances beyond my control there person that was supposed to vacate the CHU so I could move in was still in the room…with no ETD. My options were: stay in the tent for a minimum of another seven days or move to a CHU in the “Dodge City South” section of Victory Base. My CHU at DCS is about as far from the office as it is possible to get on the base…which I guess isn’t really a bad thing. Outside of the long walk some physical and mental separation from the office is probably good for the ol’ mental health. The plus side, however, is my hooch is right near all the “stuff” on the VBC. I’m right near the small PX, Green Beans, the gym, close to one of the MRW sites etc. Far from work, close to the things that make you feel human over here. Good times.

Not really much more to say on that point due to the fact that last night was the first night in about two weeks that I was not living out of a duffel bag. Even though I’m not the tidiest person in the world it did feel normal to fold clothes and take the dirty stuff to KBR. I suppose it is a sign of the times that I was told to come back tomorrow for my clothes instead of the normal three-day wait…sort of weird that things are winding down here just as I’m winding up.

This is a war zone?

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting of Iraq but whatever that expectation may be the reality is completely different. Other than occasional helicopter noises the loudest sound around here is all of the generators that power the Victory Base Complex. No mortars going off (yet), the heat is bearable (the highest I’ve seen in 110) the chow in the DFAC is not too bad (though I’m sure I’ll tire of it quickly) and there are so many services that I might as well be in Chelmsford. Actually, there is probably more shit to do here than there is in C-ford.

I haven’t had much time to get out and about other than walking between my hooch and the office. Along the way I pass a Pizza Hut, a Subway, Green Beans Coffee (better than Starbucks, no where near Dunks) the gym, about three chapels, a few lakes, KBR’s laundry facilities, many hard stand bunkers for indirect fire protection etc. The head cheese at the office noted that Camp Victory is as close as one is going to get to having a “deployment in garrison.” Luckily it looks like I’ll be able (from time to time) to hop on a circulation around the AO to see what Iraq is really like. Multi-National Division – Center’s AO is basically from south Baghdad to Basra. Maybe I’ll get to seek Mookie.

Very first impression of Iraq

As the C-17 putted along the taxiway the top part of the cargo door opened and I had my first view of Iraq. The very first impression that I had was that there are tons of trees in Iraq vice Kuwait. I suppose it is a rather odd first impression but seeing all of the scrubby Date Palms after the vast wasteland of Kuwait is stuck in my mind.

Anyway, here is a picture of BIAP from the flightline:

On to Iraq

There really isn’t much use going into great detail about the flight from Kuwait to Iraq…the entire thing was over in about 45 minutes and I slept for a large portion of the flight. The anticipated “combat landing” at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) was a bit of a non-event…or at least didn’t live up to the billing in my mind. The sharp turns, crazy angles, and steep descent were entertaining in their own way, I suppose. Based on the sounds made by the plane it was pretty apparent that we were not on a commercial jetliner. Of course the only thing that I could think of was that I should have some of the C-17 drivers that I know get in touch with my brother to give him some tips on how to really land a plane. I’m guessing that he’d enjoy scaring the shit out of the “self-loading cargo,” er, “paying passengers.”

Getting tired of "hurry up and wait..."

Waiting to take off

In Iraq

Kuwait: the land of sand…and sand

The only think that I really have to say about Kuwait is that I’m glad that I was only there for a day. After landing at oh-dark-thirty we stood around the airport for about three hours waiting for the convoy to leave. Due to the fact that it is still Ramadan we had to wait until the locals finished whatever it was that they were doing that night so that we could get a police escort to Ali Al Salem Air Base. I saw Kuwait City from the plane and it reminded me of Hong Kong. Other than that the entire country seems to be nothing but sand and highways that lead off to nowhere.

After more paper processing at Ali Al Salem we had to cool our heels for six hours to wait to for billeting. The plus side is that there was a McDonald’s on post. The minus side is that the burgers tasted vaguely like fish. I did nothing but sleep and go to the gym. Kuwait is hot…no getting around the fact. It was probably 125 the day that we were there. Dry heat is all well and good but 125 degrees worth of dry heat is still 125 degrees.

I was going to go to chow with one of the guys that I was traveling with but we missed the dinner hour. I’d vowed to stay away from the Golden Arches so I ended up going to the KFC across the “street” (read: sand strip). My dinner choice lead to one of the more surreal moments of the trip so far…I was eating my spicy chicken, my colleague was digging into a Big Mac and the MWR folks had a soldier’s jazz band playing on a stage nearby. They were playing Hotel California. Talk about cognitive dissonance.

Rumor had it that the people slept in rather than getting up for the early morning calls for the flights. We contractor scum are at the bottom of the space-available priority list. The 0330 call resulted in a full flight but we managed to get on the manifest at 0430. We blessedly left Ali Al Salem about 0830 the same day.

I’m sure that the Kuwaitis are very nice people but their country rather sucks.

The joys of Army charter travel

What a nightmare. I’m fully convinced that the Army spends a significant amount of time inventing ways to waste time. Travel from Ft. Benning to Iraq is a good case in point.

Friday (19 Sep) started at the god-awful hour of 0500. Someone in their right-thinking mind decided that all 250+ folks at CRC should turn in their linens between 0500-0600. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and we had about 2 hours. Baggage call was at 0715 which involved everyone humping all of their gear to the pavilion and dropping it on the floor. A good thirty minutes later after we sat around with our thumbs up our asses we had to break the big pile up into smaller piles based on our number on the flight manifest (mine was 106, not that it really matters). Small piles created. Success! More waiting around. In blocks of 50 we then moved our gear into lines to be checked by the military working dogs. We, likewise, had to ensure that our carry on baggage would fit in the size measuring device. This was a box created to “FAA carry on size standards” which our bags had to fit into otherwise much pain was promised. I dunno what left-nut airline has overhead bins as small as this little box but it was amusing to see the voodoo that people would employ to cram their bag into this small little box. At the end of CRC that, sadly, is what passed for humor.

At noon we boarded the dreaded buses for Freedom Hall – the air terminal at Ft. Benning. I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say we arrived around 1230 and departed at 2000. During the time I used the internet, slept, and read a book. Almost the entire book… After all of the pre-departure lectures etc we crossed the tarmac to the plane. As we were leaving the pre-boarding area they had the entire CRC cadre plus the Ft. Benning vice garrison commander (O-6) lined up to shake each of our hands and wish us good luck and safety. I was rather surprised by that but it was a good end to CRC.

Our charter airline, Omni Air International, had a DC-10 for us. I figured… “hey, nice big plane there will be plenty of room.” Wrong. It was all single class (coach) and I was stuck in the middle seat in a middle row in the back of the plane. Not only were the seats the smallest seats I’d every sat in (seriously…I’m not a big dude but my legs were touching both seat arms) but the outside rows (3-4-3 configuration) did not have anyone sitting in the middle seat…on the entire plane. *grumble*

First leg was 7-8 hours from Ft. Benning to Shannon, Ireland. I think that it was about 8 hours but I’m not sure as I slept for about 5.5 of them. We were greeted with the news that we’d have a 5 hour layover in Shannon but that General Order #1 applied…in other words no booze. Not surprisingly, in the terminal (at 830-0900) there were tons of tourists drinking beer. All of the Americans were drinking Guinness and all of the Irish were drinking Budweiser. I wish I’d taken a picture…it was rather bizarre. Atypically, it was sunny and gorgeous that morning. Most folks rotated between sleeping on the floor and visiting the smoking area which was outside in the sun. The Irish, clearly not concerned about terrorists, even stamped my passport when I asked even though I was just a transit passenger. Visa too.

Back on the sardine can to Kuwait City. About 7 hours I think…dunno. I slept for about 5.5 again.

Heading off Post

Managed to sneak off post twice at CRC in order to enjoy the local Columbus, GA culture…and it really wasn’t much of a sneak as all it took was a cab ride…which cost a minimum of $30.

First time off went out with my colleagues Greg and Josey as well as Mike, one of the guys that we met at CRC. He’s from Charleston and will be turning wrenches on Humvees. CRC was his first time back in the States in about three years. He’d previously been in Iraq for two years and then spent a year in the Philippines building a house, drinking, gambling, and shacking up with a Pilipino. That seems to be pretty much standard fare for many that come to Iraq. The number of folks that had been to Iraq and then moved to either Thailand or the Philippines was fairly surprising…as was the number of folks going over for the first time that stated they were planning on heading to Southeast Asia after their deployment was done.

At any rate, I digress. The first night out we were all desperate to watch football and we figured that the local Hooters would have the game on…which, of course, it did (not that we really watched much of it). We spend most of the time drinking and enjoying the company of the wait staff.

The second time off post Greg, Mike and I asked to go to downtown Columbus figuring that there would be a few bars that were open. As it turns out all of the bars were open but they were empty…save one. We found some hole in the wall with a few pool tables and a live band (they were actually halfway decent). Several drinks in we decided that it was time to play pool and given that there were three of us we decided to play Cut Throat. Which is all well and good (even though I’m terrible) however the bar had lost the 3 ball so we were forced to play with two 2s. Didn’t exactly make life easy after a few rounds…

We also managed to go to some local place called “The Shanty Shack” where the focus of the entertainment was this girl:

And that’s all I’m going to say about that…

Luckily we didn’t have to be up until 1000 the next day which was a good thing given the fact that we didn’t get home until after 0330…

Further thoughts on CRC

It is a given that CRC is a total suck-fest (just ask anyone that went) but the experience was not all bad nor was it without some moments of humor. Beyond hurry-up-and-wait and Death by PowerPoint it seems that everyone at CRC becomes and expert in complaining loudly and openly and telling tall tales which generally become more outrageous depending on how many times they are told…sort of the CRC version of the “fish story” but with all the bubbas around they were actually deer and boar hunting stories. One particular dude enjoyed telling tall tales about the number of prostitutes he has purchased with the number rising with geometric progression related to the number of beers that he’d consumed.

Most of the social life at CRC (outside of class, chow and the DFAC) takes place in the gazebos which are the only authorized smoking areas on post. As mentioned before we were treated as quasi-adults and did have access to beer…I guess it was really the last time that we’d be legally able to drink for a year.

The bubbas, being the inventors that they are, found a way to keep the beers cold during the warm nights in Georgia…the only type of luggage that we’re authorized is soft-sided duffel bags…no hard-sided or wheeled suitcases. Given that rule (which the CRC cadre enforce with ruthless efficiency) there was luggage piled up near the trash bins. Being green-minded, of course, we engaged in a bit of recycling…behold the Redneck Cooler:

Other than some personal time in the evening (which was welcome) I was quite ready to leave CRC in the rearview mirror. As someone noted… “only the Army could devise a way to make you desperate to get to Iraq as quick as humanly possible.”

Stuck in Shannon

Stuck in Shannon, Ireland. General Order Number One prohibits any booze so I can't even sample the local Guinness.

Bummer.

Thoughts on CRC

Sitting in Freedom Hall at Ft. Benning waiting on my flight...which departs in six hours. More hurry up and wait...I'll post pictures later as most of my crap is packed away.

CRC sucked. It wasn't hard in the least it was just a lot of sitting around with your dick in your hand...CRC brought "hurry up and wait" to an entirely new level. The sad thing is that we really didn't "do" anything all week. CRC turned out to be nothing more than standing in line waiting for folks to quickly look at a few papers and sign off on a form which indicated your status was still "go" (vice "no go"). The upside I suppose is that I've had so many shots during the last week or so that I'm pretty much incapable of getting sick. I was, thankfully, able to escape both the anthrax and the smallpox vaccinations.

There were an odd mix of folks at CRC...many of which were on their third or fourth (or more) rotation through the AOR. The majority of folks are going to spend time in Iraq, a small percentage are going to Afghanistan, and a handful are heading to points more exotic such as Djibouti.

I'd say, conservatively, that about 65% of the folks here (minus the Army) are mechanics that are deploying to Iraq to fix Hummers, Bradleys and MRAPs when the get "blowed up," as they say. An odd mix of folks which includes a lot of former enlisted types, a bunch of civilian wrench-turners, and more than a few folks that are recently released from prison (no joke).

There are a few of the Human Terrain analysts (all of whom fancy themselves to be operators given all the 5.11 gear) and a few PA pogues like me. The chow was edible but certainly nothing to write home about...at least it was free. On more than one occasion we had to eat MREs which are specifically designed to back up your system. The laxitive gum is a joke. The beef ravioli is fair decent, the meatloaf sucks ass, and the jalepeno cheese spread was worth about as much as heroin.

I was able to get off post two nights during which we consumed a substantial percentage of the beer in Columbus, GA (if anyone ever gets offered a trip to Columbus...fake the plague or something as it sucks). The first night was the local Hooters...which had no problem keeping the beer flowing but had some lame policy that a single person could not have more than two shots...like that is really a barrier to getting shitty.

The second night off post we managed to go "downtown" which consisted of about 7 bars that did not even have local barflies. We found the one bar that had live music and a pool table. I learned, quickly, that much beer does not mix with pool...particularly when the three ball was missing so there were two two balls. We ended the night at a local dive called "The Shanty Shack" which is about as exciting as it sounds. Short of having doors marked "white" and "colored" you would have thought that Jim Crow was still in effect. Black people on one side...white people on the other...there were even separate bathrooms. I had to use the latrine to make room for more beer and wandered into the "black bathroom." You could have heard a pin drop...very strange. We somehow managed to make it back to post about 0330...

A note to any DC cabbies hurting now that the city is metered...come to Columbus. Every damned ride cost a minimum of $30. Seriously.

That is really pretty much about it...nothing but lines, waiting and a substantial amount of boredom. Luckily the PX sold beer as there is nothing to do at CRC besides sitting around smoking and drinking. Given the oppressive heat a few of the bubbas from Texarkana built a "redneck cooler" for us to chill our beers. Hard-sided suitcases and / or "rollies" are not allowed so there were several sitting around the trash. Rip off the top, fill with ice...toss in beer...of course there was still some clothing in the case but that certainly didn't seem to bother anyone...one last day to feel human, I guess.

He knows something is up...

This is how my dog looked all Friday morning / afternoon. I think that he definitely knew that something was up...

Life in 2.5 bags

I was asked last Tuesday to go to Iraq until Jul 09 to support the 10th Mountain Division's public affairs efforts and told that if I said yes I'd be leaving on Friday. I discovered, rather quickly, that attempting to turn your life off in about 70 hours.

I'm thankful that I have (had) two good roommates that were willing to work with me to sell / donate most of my stuff and let me leave a bunch of clutter in the house. My buddy Tyler is doing a hero's job by offering to watch my dog while I'm away...which was completely unexpected. I'd basically resigned myself to giving him up to Westie Rescue...a rather tough decision given the fact that he'd been my companion for four years.

As my former boss said: when you have a quick-turn deployment you discover very quickly what matters in your life and to what degree you're willing to part with lots of accumulated junk. After cramming all the junk that I thought that I'd like to keep in a Public Storage locker (and having a friend agree to ship some stuff to Iraq) my life filled up two and a half bags...actually one and a half as the green bag on the right is filled with many pounds of body armor.

Why a blog?

I'm generally pretty bad at emailing folks and otherwise keeping in touch. I figure that if I'm going to be in Iraq for 10 months I might as well have a central dumping point for all of my thoughts.