Camp Lemonier sees major improvements

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Some 600 containerized living units have been recently installed on Camp Lemonier in the northeast African nation of Djibouti. The living units are part of the expansion of the base which has grown from 97 acres to about 500.


Camp Lemonier sees major improvements
By Zeke Minaya, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, December 9, 2007

DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti — When Timea Voros touched down for the first time at the airport in Djibouti in November 2002, she was less than thrilled.

As she was driven to the U.S. military base at Camp Lemonier, the civilian contractor recalled gazing out the car window at the place she would call home for the next five years.

“I saw trash everywhere. I was mortified,” the Hungarian native said.

Camp Lemonier, a former French Foreign legion base in the northeast Africa country of Djibouti, was then a small outpost where residents were crammed into tents, ate one hot meal a day and had to deal with packs of stray dogs and the occasional hyena.

But much has changed, Voros and camp officials say. The evolving U.S. military mission in the Horn of Africa is reflected in the growth of the camp, which has expanded to more than five times its original land area and added comforts and amenities that point toward the region’s growing profile in the Pentagon.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50842