The brief itself was, well, brief. Before we knew it we were outside unloading the pallets with our sea bags and duffels on them so that we could reload them on to trucks. Then it was another walk over to billeting where we would finally be told who we were rooming with and what kind of housing we would have. After standing there for nearly an hour I went through with SGT McLaughlin and found out that he and I would be sharing a CHU (Container Housing Unit) together. It sounds bad from the name – like we’re some off-brand of sardines (Canned Soldiers in spring water, quantity per container: 2) but the billet is actually pretty nice. I first thought that maybe these were Air Force rooms at first, but after wandering around the Air Force side of things, they definitely aren’t. Our room consists of two wall lockers, two beds, two night stands, two lamps, an AC unit, and an overhead room light that doesn’t work. We have one window that is between the two beds, and until the rest of our gear gets here, it feels like we have plenty of room. We put together our room as best we could before finally getting to bed at about 0530 in the morning.
We all got to sleep in (with a few exceptions – some soldiers had class) and after going to chow (the food is actually pretty good here, but still nothing like at home) I was relaxing a bit and figuring out if the internet here is really worth $88 a month when Sgt Mc peaked his head in the door and asked my help with carrying some things. I walked along and was stunned to discover that he’d found some soldiers who were going home and had bought their tv, fridge, dvd player, power strips, etc. And he’d done it for CHEAP! Since then Sgt Mc has amazed nearly everyone on a daily basis with his ability to scrounge up whatever it is that he’s looking for – from RipTide Rush Gatorade to chairs, folding stools, coolers, etc…It’s a talent that I want to learn!
Everything here is a walk – although there are buses that run around the base, too. Probably the soldier with the best understanding of the bus system here is SPC Jansen. Later the first day here he was already directing us all where to go, how to get where we wanted to go, and what they had there to buy and/or eat. I think a lot of that has to do with Jansen liking to both buy and eat things! The DFAC is in one direction, the motorpool is close to battalion headquarters, but battalion headquarters is actually a little bit away from that, and the PX is in another direction from any of those, and the Iraqi market is in yet another direction. I’ve driven passed the MWR and Post Office, but still haven’t walked all the way out to them, and I really want to make phone calls home. I need a magic jack! There is supposedly a USO here somewhere, too, but where is anyone’s guess!
From many points here on the base you can see the ancient Ziggurat of Ur – and though the soldiers here are probably tired of me talking about, those of you at home don’t know what you’re missing! It is a very commanding structure just off the base, and thinking that it has stood here for nearly 4500 years (though it was only restored in the 1990s) really puts the entire region into perspective. The oldest thing that we Americans can say that we built is still much much younger!
It’s nearly chow time here, so I’m going to jump off of this for now, but later (you can be sure) I’m going to try to upload some of my pictures and talk about the great MRAPs that we fell in on as well as the M240B class I’m going to be taking. If I have to carry both a SAW and a M240B I am REALLY going to be hating life!
Until later,
Tackle Anything