• Part 1
• Part 2

Lather, rinse, repeat

Monday, June 4th, 2007

Nothing worth mentioning happened today. This morning we went through what's called SRP (I can't recall ever hearing the expanded acronym) on main base. This meant a twenty-minute bus trip, each way. Did I mention Ft. Benning is huge?

One problem I encountered was during CAC (common access card; yes, it's a horrible acronym) issue. Since I'm still on terminal leave, I'm still in "the system" as active duty. Therefore, I can't be issued a contractor ID card until my active status expires at the end of July.

Fortunately, they gave me the okay to fly out with my current ID, since it will remain valid long enough for me to be issued a suitable replacement once in the theater. This exemption also saved me from having to wait in line for three hours like most people did.

After lunch we visited a supply warehouse for our equipment issue. Contractors receive the following:

• Helmet
• Body Armor
• Sleeping bag
• Gas mask
• Duffel bag(s)

That's it. This is great, since it means we'll be flying with light baggage (compared to a Soldier's four duffel bags.

Tomorrow is medical, which I'm not looking forward to. Beyond the normal nausea of getting blood drawn, we each receive a series of shots - as many as ten. Fortunately, I have my shot records from the Air Force, and should only receive about half of them, though this includes anthrax and smallpox.

I'm supposed to make contact with my company's POC some point around mid-week to sign my time sheet. Most of my time here has been boring as hell, but at least I'm being paid well for it.

Only 1 in 1,000 experience severe symptoms

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

Today was medical, and apparently not just for us CRC folk. Our 0730 formation was pushed back to 0900, then 0930, then 1100, then 1200. Eventually, we moved out to the medical place and got to wait around some more. Then, we got inside the medical place and waited there.

The processing line was mostly paperwork, but everyone received a number of shots, depending on where they were going, what they had already received, and what day of the week it was.

I was lucky enough to receive Typhoid, Anthrax, and Smallpox - a live virus infectious by touch. And we're 2+ to a room, sharing a communal shower. Yeah, good call.

Since I have nothing else to note, I'll post some pictures from the other day.

The pavilion, where many formations are held:

There is a convenient little AAFES-run shoppette by the barracks, carrying a nice selection of equipment, travel and food items:

Helpful navigation for locating your destination country:

The temporary DFAC (dining facility) is located a short distance down a hill, and provides decent meals:

Hooah

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

Hooah hooah, hoooah hoo-ahh. Hooah, hoo-hooah hooah hooah! Hooah? Hooah hooah hooah!!!

Congratulations, you've just experienced the equivalent of twelve hours of Army-run PowerPoint briefings. I know this because that's all we did today, from 0700 to 1900: briefing after briefing after briefing. Then there were some more briefings.

The good news is, our CRC processing is now more or less complete. Thursday (tomorrow) is mostly a make-up day for people with discrepancies to play catch-up. My employer has a briefing scheduled for 1000, not sure what it's going to cover. Hopefully they'll give us the details on our flight out of here on Friday.

I signed my first time sheet today, and found out where I'm going, sort of. On the spreadsheet, most people had their destination country and base listed; for example, "Iraq" and "Camp Victory." Apparently I'm going to "Marines." Not a Marine base, just "Marines." I want to reserve judgement until I find out just what they mean, but I have to say I don't particularly like the sound of it.

TGIF

Friday, June 8th, 2007

We're supposed to fly out sometime tonight, not a moment too soon. I think most of us were packed and ready to go before lunch today. Not that CRC has been at all inhospitable, just extremely mundane.

I didn't post anything yesterday because there was absolutely nothing to write about. A group of us did make it off-post for dinner at a place called Cheddar's in Col0mbus. The food was all right, but nothing to remember. We were just happy for the brief change of scenery.

I've gained a duffle bag during my stay here, filled with 40lbs of issued equipment. Contractors are allowed two checked duffle bags (no hard cases) plus a carry-on, so I'm set.

I see more and more people showing up throughout the day, as the week-long cycle begins and ends on Friday. Amaury, who I used to work with at Nellis, should be flying in some time this afternoon. Hopefully we'll have some time to chill before I have to catch my flight out.

Arrival in Ali Al Saleem LSA, Kuwait

Sunday, June 10th, 2007

This post was written at 22:20 10 June, Kuwait time.

The trip to Kuwait has been long and tiring. First, a sudden rainstorm drenched most of our bags as they were being loaded on the trucks for the aircraft at Ft. Benning. We flew out from the air terminal at Lawson Airfield around midnight on Friday, Eastern time. Roughly seven hours later, we arrived at our mid-point of Shannon, Ireland. Shannon was unimpressive to say the least, a tiny airport with very little traffic.

A second seven-hour flight took us from Shannon to Kuwait. I got to help on baggage detail offloading the plane. Many of the bags (including mine) were still considerably wet. From the airport it was about a ninety-minute bus ride to Ali Al-Saleem, an in-processing base for transient personnel.

I'm writing this post sitting in one of many, many tents here; there are about twelve of us (several of whom snore) sharing this particular tent. While living conditions aren't horrible, they could stand to improve greatly. The tents do have power and air conditioning, but shower, restroom, and laundry facilities are housed in separate trailers a good distance away.

I managed to catch a few hours of sleep this afteroon, my first sleep laying down since Ft. Benning. I'll probably catch a few more hours tonight before another in-briefing tomorrow morning. This is what really aggrivates me about the whole setup: we don't need to be here. We've done absolutely nothing today (Sunday), and tomorrow looks to be about the same. They have us scheduled for some briefings Tuesday, and we're supposed to start flying out on Wednesday. Why? There's nothing they can show us via PowerPoint in Kuwait that we couldn't be shown at Ft. Benning.

I suppose I shouldn't complain, as I'm being paid either way, but it's an enormous amount of ass pain. When my group showed up this morning, even after around two days with little or no sleep, we were ready to start processing or even catch another plane. Maybe others aren't so hardcore.

To my relief, my electronic gear accepted 220V input as it promised, so I was able to kill a few hours watching movies. I've also taken a tour of the shops on base, including the PX, food court, Internet access facility (will have to stop by later to post this), and some other ransom shops. The dining facility here isn't bad, though it is crowded. It's also surprising that they seem to be pushing soda over Gatorade and water.

One good thing about Kuwait is that water's always freely available in the DFAC or laundry trailers. It's still feels odd seeing so much in Arabic labeling; even the Kit Kat bar on the flight over was labeled in Arabic.

Bags in the rain, waiting to be loaded at CRC:

Shannon, Ireland airport:

I am staying in one of many, many tents here:

Inside view. Spacious, no?

Trailers house our restroom and laundry facilities:

Your typical American food court, with a few minor differences:

Korean Village

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

I haven't posted the past couple days because we've done absolutely nothing. Sunday and Monday were complete wastes of time. Today we finally got to head off-post for some briefings by my employer.

Kuwait is a very strange place. They have very strict laws apparently covering everything but traffic regulation. These people are fucking crazy on the road. I was genuinely afraid we were going to get in an accident the entire trip there and back.

I did finally find out where I'm headed: some place called Korean Village. I did some brief googling, and it seems this is a small Marine camp near the Syrian border - most likely a shit hole. We'll see. I'll get a chance to speak with the country manager before I head there anyway, so I might be able to convince him to send me somewhere my skills will be put to better use.

For now, I have yet more time to kill before the manifest meeting tomorrow morning.

Al Asad

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Fortunately I was able to make the first available flight out of Ali Al Salem yesterday to Al Asad. That was my first flight on a military aircraft - a C-17. Very fun. Only one other guy from our group came to this base.

I eventually got hold of some guys from my company (thanks to a random contact number posted at the PAX terminal I just happened to see), and they put me up for the night in one of the permanent rooms with a couple other guys. This was a nice surprise, as the alternative meant sharing a giant tent with many, many Marines and soliders.

I met the deputy site lead this morning and got a quick tour of this side of the base. Apparently there weren't any flights to Korean Village available today, but hopefully they can get me scheduled ("manifested") for a flight tomorrow. Travel will be by helicopter.

I talked to several guys who had spent time at KV, and the general consesus is that although small, it's not a bad place to start out. I may even be living in a house (shared among several people - probably one too many). Given that it is a small place I should be able to get my hands into just about every type of work, so that's a plus.

I'm sitting in an Internet cafe at the MWR facility here, and I have to say I'm impressed with the connection. It seems on par with the typical "quality of life" networks stateside, given the amount of people sharing the bandwidth.

Once again, I'm playing the waiting game; biding my time until I can fly out tomorrow. The PX here offers great selection, despite being housed in a tent. The chow hall I've been going to is simply massive, by far the largest dining facility I've ever seen. The food is decent too. Which reminds me, I need to find out what the food is like at KV. Then again, I might as well just wait and find out first hand.

First day at KV

Saturday, June 16th, 2007

With great luck, I just barely caught a flight out from Al Asad yesterday, arriving here at KV by chopper sometime mid-afternoon. KV is small, but liveable. The camp was originally founded for Korean nationals laying a highway in western Iraq sometime in the late eighties, and has since been adopted for use by the USMC as a FOB (Forward Operating Base). The benefit of this is that the camp is composed largely of hardened structures.

It turns out I'll be living in a three-bedroom "house," sharing a decent-sized room with two other guys. Unfortunately, nothing has been done to segment the room in the interest of privacy, and I have no place to store my crap. Hopefully tomorrow I can put together a spare wall locker, and maybe section off my own little area.

The food here isn't bad, and it's served in a brand new dining facility, though it is a good distance from the main camp for some reason. A laundry service promises 72-hour turnaround (though I got mine back in just a day), and the PX is small but mostly sufficient. Perhaps the biggest disappointment so far is that shower facilities are limited and water is rationed.

From what I've seen, it's only us few contractors and Marines running the network here. The guys here are all cool, which comes as something of a relief. I'm the only contracted network admin here, so at least I get to dictate my own schedule. It seems nothing major needs fixing, so I'll have to occupy myself with house-cleaning for a while. Once that's done - and it shouldn't take long working 60 hours per week - I'm not sure how I'll pass the time.

KV Pictures

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

I've been here for a little over a week, and not much has happened. As I was warned, this is a very mundane place. But, considering the possible alternatives, I'm happy with mundane. Aside from the usual inconveniences which accompany deployed life, this is a pretty plush assignment. Everything is air-conditioned, I have unfettered (if slow) Internet access, and I even get to set my own work schedule. The hardest part will be passing the time.

As such, I've had more than ample time to take some pictures of the camp. Korean Village is so named because it was originally founded as living quarters for Korean nationals constructing H3, a highway through Western Iraq. This gives KV a sizable advantage over most forward operating bases: hardened buildings, like the one below.

This is the "house" I live in. The building I work in is right next door, fifty feet away.

The roof affords an impressive view.

Apparently, the Marines out here got tired of vehicles running over and destroying network cabling, so they came up with another solution. Note the lack of a tension wire.

Lessons learned

Thursday, June 28th, 2007

I've been at KV for two weeks now, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to reflect on what I've learned. I used to joke about how Iraq would actually be safer than Las Vegas. Sadly, this has proved to be true. I was much more likely to be killed in a traffic accident back in Las Vegas than of any other cause here in Iraq. I even feel safer here.

• Ground convoys can be delayed due to weather. Think about that.
• Delay of said convoy may result in restricted water availability, and thus three days without a shower.
• 3/4" of 8AWG grounding wire will serve to replace a blown 3.15A fuse on a 220/110 step-down convertor. Whether this is a good idea has yet to be determined.
• Satellite Internet connectivity isn't as bad as I thought, though it is understandably unreliable during high winds.
• In a Marine PX (thought it was called an MX?) so small it can only stock the most essential items, half of the shelves will be filled with junk food.
• Wall lockers are a bitch to assemble.