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Published: September 10th 2006
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I believe I left off with Mike and I going in different directions. Unfortunately, that is too true. My camp is near the city of Tikrit (Saddam’s birthplace) and Mike is near the city of Kirkuk. This email I’ll try and describe where we are and our living conditions.
My camp is called Camp Remagen. It’s named after a city in Germany where an important World War 2 battle took place. It has a small population of KBR people and has mostly army stationed here. With my Air Force background I find that working with the army is a whole new experience. They use different slang, different abbreviations for everything and have a different way of approaching situations.
On some camps you have to live in tents but I’m lucky in that I got sent to a very nice small camp. We are living in small trailers called CHU’s (container housing unit). You know the military, an acronym for everything. It is about ½ the size of a semi truck trailer with a bedroom on each end and a common area in the center with toilet/shower room and sink with a small microwave. Our rooms have a sink and
basic dorm room furniture like desk, chair, bed, small fridge, etc. It’s pretty comfortable and of course there is a BIG air conditioner/heating unit. Noisy but I’m sure I’ll appreciate it when the daytime temp hits 140 degrees Fahrenheit. My hooch mate is an older woman (early 50s?) who runs the recreation area.
This camp is fairly safe as camps go. We haven’t had any hostile actions since October of 2004. Knock on wood it stays that way. I feel pretty safe here because of all the security we have. Everyone is always restricted to camp so we can’t go wandering around. The only time I can leave camp is if I go on a convoy and I don’t plan on doing that unless needed. Most of the danger in Iraq lies on the roads and around Baghdad. Of course our families are worried but they both know we’ve lived in similar situations before and have a lot of common sense and they trust us.
This camp is very small and I walk to work and back. There are clusters of hooches in different areas of the camp. The camp is surrounded by fencing with concertina wire and
Mike at desk
Still getting settled into his space at the office. lots of army guys with big guns. We even have tanks here which do test firing everyday. When the booms come it shakes my walls. I’ve been told how to tell the difference between controlled booms and hostile fire.
The worst thing about all this is that Mike has been sent to different camp so the only time we’ll get to see each other is on our vacations every 4 months. Oh well, we knew the chance was there. We can phone and email as much as we want thought.
My job is Logistics Coordinator. I haven’t learned the whole job yet but mostly I monitor usage of things like water, fuel, food, etc. I get usage numbers for all over the base, consolidate the numbers and send the report off to a lot of other people. I also coordinate the convoys that go back and forth to our bigger support base in Tikrit. I make sure the full trucks at Camp Speicher get picked up and the empty trucks go back. I also help coordinate the civilians traveling in the convoy. It’s not real demanding but there are a lot of different tasks. The reports and stuff are easy. The hard part is remembering who sends me what report, then who I send what report too and getting them done before the cutoff time. I feel like I’ve been handed a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle and told to put it together in a moving car. The guy training me is really good though. Nice guy from Kentucky in his early 30’s.
Life at Mike’s Camp:
First of all, I must say that I have settled in quite well, here at Camp Warrior. As you can see from the pictures of my bedroom, which is also my living room, I’ve set my number one priority to get my hooch cozy and comfortable, making it my sanctuary for relaxing. I still have several items coming (throw rugs and big pillows) that will provide those finishing touches. As for my desk and work area, there is only so much you can do with a common area such as that. My efforts there are minimal.
The camp itself is a mix of Air Force, Army and civilians, like myself. Although we each have our own living areas, we share the same dinning facility, gym, postal center and convenience store (PX). The food is not bad, it’s not the healthiest either, but then again, it is designed with the soldier in mind. Lots of hearty, heavy meals loaded with calories and fat. I keep a good supply of healthy cereals at my desk, and only go to eat their big, greasy breakfast once a week. But boy is it good!
My job in general consists of mostly administrative task, such as compiling data and submitting reports. I also make the mail run each day, grabbing all the mail for our people, sorting it and placing their names on a board located outside our office. This can actually be quite fun; all those letters and packages. Each day I learn something new, but as the same time, I find myself teaching someone else an easier way to get something done. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses; it’s in this environment that you find out what they are.
Well, that’s it for now. There probably won’t be much news until after we come back from our first vacation. Africa here we come!!!
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