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I asked a friend to describe conditions in Iraq. He is station near the 101st.
-Sandy
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Until recently, it was very hot, and I mean hot. On occasion I would pass by a thermometer that was sitting in the shade and it would say 115 degrees F. At this temperature, when I would walk past the airfield, which is everywhere, I would feel like I was standing in front of a hair dryer, if there was a breeze, which there usually was. You carry water everywhere you go, usually a liter and a half at least. An M-4, some guys refer to as their wives or girlfriends, which is a shorter version of the M-16, with an adjustable stock, and a Han Solo-esque adjustment nobs on the rear sights. The weapon itself heats up to the point that if you touch it for more than a second, you really say "ouch" to yourself, just from the heat. The soles of your boots heat up, and feel all squishy. You sweat, but your clothes don't stay wet, unless there is something to trap in the moisture. Usually, after a days walking around, large patches of salt make large circles on the back and forearm areas
of the DCU top.
Two or three uniforms are accepted, one being the flight suit, worn by personnell involved in aviation. The P.T. Uniform, (physical training) which is made up of a black pair of shorts with ARMY on the left leg, and a grey t-shirt with ARMY across the chest. Running shoes, sometimes if a soldier cares, he or she will wear a reflective belt around the waist. DCU's come in various configurations. Some have a regular baseball cap, while others wear what is called a "boonie" cap, which has the round brim that comes all the way around. Unit patches appear on the left shoulder and on the right is an American flag, but for some reason, it's backwards. Above that, is usually what is refered to as the combat patch, which is a unit patch, but it means that you have been to combat with that unit. Rank is worn on the collar and the cap, sometimes badges will be worn on the left breast pocket or above it, which include airborne wings, air assault wings, combat infantry badges, recruiter'
s badges, Drill Seargent's badges, etc.
DCU's are a lot like the BDU's, only they are tan in color with splashes of brown here and there.
Usually the weapon gets slung across the left shoulder and hangs across the body to the right hip, which causes a damp area which looks somewhat like one of those crossing guards, or a diver down flag across the chest. Hats usually get soaked in about 5 minutes, waiting for a bus to take you around the airfield. On the bus, it's about 30 degrees cooler, and once your butt hits the seat, if it isn't too crowded, and nobody accidentally smacks you in the head with the barrel of a SAW on their way to close the door, you can get a good 20 minute nap on the way to your destination.
The airfield can best be described as having a sort of red-neck trailer park feel to it. Lots of home-made structures jutting up, in addition to the pre-fab tents the army issues, there are lots of junked trucks and airplanes around, with grass growing up around them. Cats, dogs, birds, scorpions all run wild here, the local trucks and cars vary from the Volkswagen Passat which always seem to be white with Orange fenders, to very nice looking BMW's. Trucks are made by Mercedes and Scania which makes Saab's, I'm pretty sure.
Now and then, I'll see an old 57' Chevy parked outside the wire. The wire, by the way is a fence that runs all the way around the camp, made up of chain link and concertina wire, rasor wire, and whatever debris happened to be in the way here and there. The junk is starting to go away, slowly but surely, and being replaced by gravel and cement slabs and local workers continue to put up new structures every day.
Inside my living space, Which is about a 7 foot long by 5 feet wide area in which I sleep and listen to a radio, change clothes, etc., I have a bed, plastic chest of drawers, all kinds of commo stuff, 3 duffle bags, ruck sack, helmet, flak vest, radio and a dozen or so CD's. I built a bed out of a sheet of plywood and some 2X4's about a month ago, and said goodbye to the cots most everyone is still using. The cots aren't big enough to roll over on, and have a metal bar running down both sides. We just added a wooden floor and an extra section of tent, so now 11 people are living in about a 40 by 12 foot space instead of a 27 by 12 space. I hung up a poncho for some privacy, and so I wouldn't have to look at the same people I've been looking at for the last six months. The ventilation is terrible, and it's usually pretty gamey inside the tent, especially when it heats up.
There isn't a building anywhere except the new ones they are building right now that doesn't have some kind of structural damage to it. Every roof has holes in it where the light shines through in little pin hole spots. We always have 2 types of power. 110 and 220, 2 kinds of plugs, 2 sources of power. City power, which runs the AC stays on about 30 minutes a day, it seems, and generators run constantly, unless they break down. Even if the AC stayed on all day, it wouldn't get really comfortable in the tent till about midnight, and by 3 am, you are looking for a blanket, cause you've sweated all day, and 70 feels like 50. You have to wash the salt out of your eyebrows every night.
Terrain, if you are lucky, it's paved. Otherwise, gravel too large in places, always twisting your ankle on big rocks. Dirt, which poofs up around your feet like powdered sugar. Grass, which the army seems to despise and plow up with buldozers at every opportunity. Roads are potholed and it amazes me that they can put in speed bumps every quarter mile, but can't fix the gaping craters here and there. The whole airfield is somewhat like a big nascar track, surrounding an airfield.
Noises include the constant hum of generators, tanks wandering by occasionally, shaking the ground. I always hear a helicopter somewhere, sometimes yards away. Power saws, drills, hammers, trucks, busses, explosions going off on a schedule, or not. Gunfire every day. Music playing, video games, Televisions, weight sets, people talking, laughing, complaining about something, birds overhead cooing like protesters at a rally, I swear, I can hear them some times with the same pattern as "no blood for oil" or something.
We've got new wooden floors, so anytime someone walks through, creak creak creak...
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