One Day in BIAP...

This place is much like a dump, there is nothing but reminders of war everywhere you look. Today, we took a bus to take us to Camp Victory. In this compound, there are several camps together—Camp Stryker, Camp Slayer, Camp Victory, Camp Liberty and of course, BIAP. Victory is the camp that most of the politicians come and visit. It has palaces, what used to be nice buildings and even a manmade lake. To me, it is a shame what we have done to this city. I look around and I could see how everything was destroyed. We drove through what used to be a zoo and now it is just a field with overgrown grass and trash. We went by a palace that was being built during the invasion and, four years later, it still have the cranes park beside it but has not been touched. I was told that palace was being built for Saddam’s children but I am not sure how true that is.

It is amazing to think that going for a tour now consist of finding a good dining facility, a nice PX and a place that sells coffee. Over in Camp Liberty, we went to the PX. We were told that it had the biggest PX around so we had to go see it…well, it is tiny but I guess that here one should be happy with almost anything. We found a Seattle’s Best Coffee and we were drinking hot coffee in 100-degree weather but as I sweat my tail off, I was enjoying the only coffee that I have had for a while. We also made it to the dining facility in Camp Victory, which was huge, lots of food but could not find sour cream, go figures!

Our night was different, to say the least, there were mortar rounds, gunshots and bomb sounds in the distance. I finally put my headphones on and went to sleep. Some of the people from our team could not sleep at all but lately I am finding out that I can fall sleep just about anywhere.

Drinking water in BIAP comes from the local river. A private company purifies and bottles the water for the soldiers to drink…there is something about that I did not completely like and so I realized that unconsciously I decreased my water drinking and drank more juices or other beverages. If not, we use little single packages of Crystal Light that we drop in the bottles to disguise the unfamiliar taste.

We staged our bags outside of our tents late evening and loaded the bus to the flight line where two Chinook helicopters were coming to pick us up. To make a long story short, we were supposed to leave at sometime before midnight but did not leave BIAP until well after it. I did not mind it at all because as I said before, I can fall sleep anywhere, so this woman, climbed on top of three duffle bags and went to sleep. Not the helicopters flying in and out not the dust blowing all over my face woke me up. I guess that is what happens when you get used to be in these conditions.
Finally, our ride arrived and we started the meticulous process We made a stop for gas before leaving—where we all had to exit the “bird”—and then we began our trip scheduled to last just over an hour. After about an hour of flying we stop again for gas—dismounted the “bird” again—and thirty minutes later we arrived in the airfield at the Iraqi Base name K-1. During the flight—and before I gave up and closed my eyes—I watched the young soldier that sits at the back hatch of the aircraft, loosely holding a mounted machine gun and looking out for possible threats. I could not help but to wonder how much has he seen from there, if he ever witnessed any attacks, and if he had used that machine gun recently.

We made a stop for gas before leaving—where we all had to exit the “bird”—and then we began our trip scheduled to last just over an hour. After about an hour of flying we stop again for gas—dismounted the “bird” again—and thirty minutes later we arrived in the airfield at the Iraqi Base name K-1. During the flight—and before I gave up and closed my eyes—I watched the young soldier that sits at the back hatch of the aircraft, loosely holding a mounted machine gun and looking out for possible threats. I could not help but to wonder how much has he seen from there, if he ever witnessed any attacks, and if he had used that machine gun recently. 

Early in the morning, we arrived at the Phoenix Academy, signed for our keys, took a shower and went to sleep. The sun was almost up but since the windows are blocked and tinted—because these were female barracks—we did not notice that it was well into daylight when we woke.

Living in and Leaving Kuwait..

We went to a range, shot some rounds down range and made sure that our weapons were working properly. We also train on foreign weapons and had the opportunity to shoot the infamous AK-47. I liked that part of the day although the wind was blowing sand everywhere and it was hard to keep the sand off your eyes. While I was at the range, I learned that some of the locals—called Badoins (Desert People)Americans call the Bedouins—go around the ranges picking up brass so they can take it and sell it somewhere else. We had one of them come and ask us for water and another couple pulled up in a Toyota pickup truck and simply ask for brass. I looked at the person that asked for water and was amazed to see that he was walking on the burning sand with sandals that are very similar to flip-flops. I also looked at their skin and noticed how burnt it was from the sun.

Another type of range consisted on preparing us to react to contact in case necessary. They have simulators through the desert and Kuwaitis that pretend to be civilian casualties. It was somewhat sunny until the winds picked up and so did the sand. There was little visibility and hotter than the day before. I cannot believe this people live here under these conditions.

The sand storm continued through the day and late into the night. The walk from the tents to the dining facility was quite a site. The sand was blowing everywhere and getting into our shirts, on our face, hair and everywhere else, it could. There was no escaping it because we HAVE to walk to the dining facility or not eat at all.

In the afternoon, we found out that we are going to fly out the next day in the early morning—some would say that is the same day indeed. We slept until almost midnight and then we put our bags outside to wait for the bus. Since we did everything so fast, we were able to go to midnight chow again—yay! The bus arrived at an hour and half later and we loaded the bus with our bags so we can take a ride back to the same place we flew in country to take a plane that would take us to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP).

We arrived at the Air Base considerably soon and the flight was schedule for three hours later, therefore, Sonia and I went to get some coffee and some pizza. At the time set for takeoff, we were loading a C130 airplane and we were packed like sardines—all 52 of us—in the little seats with our carry-on on our laps. It was, by far, the most uncomfortable flight I have ever taken in my life. It was worse than taking a flight with a fat person sitting right by you.

I listened to my iPod the whole way and even took a little nap. When it was time to land, well, all I can say is that I have never felt such big vacuum on an airplane before. We landed in BIAP around two hours after boarding the plane and we walked out to the flight line to get on a chopper to our next destination. Once we were here, they told us that we are not going to fly until the next night so we get to spend a day there in a huge compound.

Driving around the compound you can see how the coalition forces and we destroyed this place. There are a few trees—more than I expected—and it is not as sandy as I thought it was going to be. There are huge cement wall blocks—T blocks—along the road and separating the living areas—called pods—which makes everything look like something from the movie “Mad Max- Beyond the Thunder Dome.”

They took us to the tents where the transient people stay. All I have to say is that, if I thought that tent city in Camp Buehring was bad, I was wrong. This place makes Camp Buehring look like Club Eden. The tent that we are in is a dump. There are the lovely sleeping cots, and as if that is not enough for us, they have added lovely thin, old, dusty mattresses. I started itching as soon as I entered the tent. Well, at least if was steak and lobster night in the dining facility so Sonia and I went to get some chow.

My second Day in Kuwait

I finally went to sleep around 0200 in the morning and had to get up at 0600. The generators in the tents ran out of gas so they turned off during my sleep, which woke me straight up for most of my "sleeping time." It was hotter than hot in here...but I refused to get up. At 0600 we got up and went to the "bathroom" to brush our teeth, then reality slapped us in the face telling us..."you are not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy..." I mean, Vanessa. There were so many females in the bathroom you could not even walk through it without bumping on somebody.

After sneaking through to get a quick fix for our teeth, hair and face, we walked the--what seem like a mile--long way to the DFAC. I was somewhat excited to go to breakfast because it is my favorite meal—since it is almost impossible to mess it up—but I, once again, was reminded that I was not in the US anymore. The scramble eggs were powder eggs, the bacon had more 5/8 fat and 1/8 meat, the French toasts were made out of some sort of strange bread and all the milk, water, juices or liquids were from the Middle East . The chocolate milk tasted like soymilk and the regular milk was not any better.

After breakfast, we attended classes all day while fighting our sleepiness because of the jet lag. When I woke up this morning and stepped outside, I looked over to the sky and saw flying sand; I looked over to my right or left and saw flying sand; and I looked up straight forward or to the back and I saw flying sand. I can almost bet that not many of this people know the real color of the sky. It is almost impossible to see things that are far away from you. Permanent dust clouds linger around here and cover everything and every color; it even covers you. As soon as you step outside you can feel the sand sticking to your hand, face and coming inside of your mouth. If you happen to be without sunglasses, then you will have sand rubbing your eyeballs; it is awful.

The whole place smells like an old cellar, or basement that was not cleaned in years. The structures here are all temporary, save some water towers that could be more complex to move. The Burger King, Taco Bell, Star Bucks, Subway, and other food places are set on trailers and so are all the permanent party barracks and other organization buildings. The PX is a huge fiberglass siding building that looks more like an enormous garage than a store. Now I understand when somebody once said that all these bases could be removed from here in a year or less and there will not be any trace of them ever existing.

Well, tomorrow is range day, another 115 degrees day for us. We were told we will only be here for four days—instead of the 10 days, everybody else usually spends in Camp Buehring. It will be a long day but I will do my best to keep you guys informed since this will be the most exciting part of my deployment; I hope.

The Long Way to An Old Land, First Day

The night of May 31st, 2007 was just another stormy night for most of the people in Fort Riley, KS. For us, Team 8840 (Jokers), it was the last night we were to spend in the states for the next 15—hopefuly 12 months. I went to bed at 2200 (10:00 pm) but was up by 2215 because I wanted to speak with my three kids one more time before I left. I called home and spoke with all of them, they were happy and supportive so I tried to be strong and appear to be positive.

After I hung up the phone, I laid in bed attempting to fall sleep once again but the thunder, the lighting and the rain was pouring so hard that I resolved to just sit there and watch the light show until boredom made me fall sleep. I ended up sleeping for about 2 hours—although it felt like an eternity—and woke up disoriented and in shock.

Our morning started at 0200 in the morning when we stacked our four duffle bags, rucksack; carry on, laptop bag and weapon’s case on the still wet side walk ready for the anxiously awaited bus that was scheduled to come at 0300. Trace helped me with all my bags and some of my peers and then we sat for about an hour to wait to for the bus. The bus finally arrived at around 0315 and after taking a pregnancy test, we were ready to go to Kansas City International Airport.

We traveled to the airport in a commercial bus contracted for the two-hour ride to the airport. Trace and I said our goodbyes—again—like five times before I was finally in the bus ready to leave. The air was humid and my eyes were burning because of a combination of lack of sleep and continuous crying. I slept most of the way to the airport but once there, we had to work together to get all of our bags to the terminal on time without getting on each other’s way—or nerves.

We flew, first class, to Dallas, Texas where we had to pick all our bags and move them to another terminal—the military one. Now, imagine this, each person has four duffle bags, one rucksack, a carry one, a laptop case, and a weapon’s case. It was quite fun to move all those bags from one place to the other in the muggy, humid, heat of Dallas, TX. After much confusion, we had a boarding pass in our possession and were ready to wait for two hours until our next flight.

We were stuck in a flight with a bunch of other soldiers that were going back to theater from R&R. There were so many people trying to get through that I just sat down and waited to have a turn.

At the terminal, there were a lot of kids and dependents saying goodbye to their loved ones. It was sad, bittersweet and it made me think about my own kids at home. We finally boarded the plane—an old B-767—to the max; with aboard 264 soldiers I do not think there was an empty seat through the whole plane. It had a funky old, moldy smell, which was quickly replaced by the smell of feet—once soldiers began to take off their boots. We sat in our seats for about an hour before we finally took off.

While waiting I sent my last text to Trace and to my sis, Zory. I waited patiently for a while but my tranquility was interrupt when the plane was rolling on the runway. I thought about all I was leaving behind and how the things that I have taken for granted during the past years suddenly became very important to me. Things like being able to pick up my cell phone to make a call or open my computer to write an email or a blog post. Sonia sat beside me—per my request—and I held her hand tight while a few tears were silently rolling down my cheeks.

We flew for about eight hours—or so—to Scotland. While in the plane, I watched movies and at one point of time, I looked over my right shoulder to see a beautiful yellow full moon staged on the window and later on I looked to the right and saw a beautiful pinkish-orange sunset. I guess that was the highlight of the flight since the food sure was not.

We landed on Glasgow, Scotland around 1200—local time. We were not allowed to get out of the plane so I did not get to walk around and see the locals. The plane refueled and we departed again about an hour later towards Kuwait.

We landed in Kuwait at 1456 local time. We rushed into six buses that were waiting for us and then we had to wait for two hours until the convoy could leave toward the Air Base in Kuwait were we were in-processed. The temperature was 113 degrees at the time of arrival but I think that it cooled down to the 90’s after the sun set. The in processing—welcoming to the country—part was not as painful as I thought I was going to be. We were done there at 2230 and now we are—again—in another bus that will take us to Camp Buehring were we will receive our training for the next 10 days or so.

There’s bottle water everywhere you look, I guess they want to make sure that people stay hydrated at least until we get acclimatize to this dryness. It is very dry and somewhat dusty; you can almost feel sand in the back of your throat sometimes. In the air base, the soldiers that stayed get to sleep in what they call “tent city”—and they are not exaggerating when they called it a city. There are countless tents with air conditioner where the soldiers spend the night when they are leaving or are coming back from R&R.

The air base has a McDonald’s and a Pizza Hut. Camp Buehring, I heard, just opened a Star Bucks two days ago so I am thrilled to go and get some coffee, a shower and some grub. I still have not seen any camels or much of the landscape really, since we mostly traveled during the dark hours and because the curtains of the bus are shut—I guess so the civilians cannot see that soldiers are inside.