Category: Iraq

Kuwait Coffee

I got a chance to sit down and share coffee with a Kuwaiti family today in the desert just off base. It’s hard to imagine getting the urge to invite the people riding up in gun trucks into your house, but that’s exactly what the Kuwaitis did. We sat and drank and ate cookies. It was another spectacular experience on a trip full of them.

I’m going up north tomorrow to talk to New Hampshire soldiers who run long haul convoys into Iraq, and then the next day I catch my plane out of here. I’ve had a fantastic time, and I’ve been nothing but impressed with the people I’ve met. From specialist to colonel, everyone has been friendly and helpful. I know part of that is the fact that I’m media, but soldiers were always willing to go out of their way for me. The Army has bureaucracy that baffles me, but the people who make it up have passion.

Next time I do this I’ll know a little better when to ask for permission and when to announce my intentions. I got to meet up with the New Hampshire unit in Kuwait because I decided to stop waiting for the Army to connect me with them. (That’s exactly the opposite of what they direct you to do, but after months of waiting for them to connect me I gave up.)

And today, just like everyday on this trip, I got to do, see, hear or learn something amazing. I need more trips like this. You can never get too much Kuwaiti coffee.

Update: A few pictures to go along with:

Unexpected Pleasures

I got to spend an evening catching up with a friend and former roommate of mine from Maine who works at Camp Arifjan. It was a nice treat, especially after a long couple days of traveling. I’ve got two more days before I go home, which has definitely been pulling at my motivation. Whether it’s two weeks or two months, it’s the last days that hurt. I’m looking forward to a homemade dinner, my wife, my bed and my dog. But until then, the treat of a familiar face makes a difference.

One More Stop

In an effort to cover the 197th Fires Brigade, I’m now at Camp Arifjan. It’s so interesting to note here I’ve been more closely scrutinized than I was all through Iraq. I’m also in the most rustic accommodations yet. I’m sleeping in the common room at the barracks of the  sergeant from the public affairs division who has been showing me around. It’s funny, because this is supposed to be the Ritzy base, but right now it’s the one where I’m crammed in next to a couch and a footlocker.

At this point, I’m starting to taste the flight home. In three nights, less than 72 hours, I’ll be headed back to the Northeast. I guess I don’t get to go out in style.

Out of Iraq, But Not Done

I’m in Kuwait, sort of on my way back home. I got in last night, and since then I’ve been fighting with terrible internet connections trying to coordinate meeting up with my next assignment. Around 9:45 a.m. I had some luck, and now I’m sitting in an internet cafe making the update rounds.

My last day in Iraq was punctuated by a huge rainstorm, and a vomiting man sitting next to me in a C-130. What a way to end things.

The way out was interesting. After just a few days at Shocker, I’d come to really like it and the people there. Both the officers and the enlisted men (they were all men, the only women I saw were contractors) were friendly and hospitable. The sergeant I was traveling with said Shocker had a good feel because it was on the periphery. No one asked to see my ID, because with just over 100 soldiers it’s pretty hard to miss the guy who needs a haircut.

Contrast that with Camp Delta, where security scrutinized my paperwork every time. Which, by the way, is hilarious, because I know for a fact some of those who looked at it couldn’t read it.

I needed razorblades, so I went to the PX, or post exchange, to pick some up. The man guarding the door with an AK-47 took a few minutes to review my paperwork, and then he let me in. I bought my razor and went back out to grab my backpack, which I wasn’t allowed to bring in. I was waiting for someone, so I decided to chat with the guard.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

“Uganda,” he said, with a thick accent.

“How do you like it here?” I asked.

He tilted his head sideways like a bird.

“Do you like it here?” I asked again.

“Cold,” he said.

I got that the money isn’t that good, and that he has a child with a girlfriend, but that was all we could communicate to each other in 5 minutes of talking and gesturing.

So how much did he get out of my Department of Defense letter? I have to wonder…

But here, I’m back in a sea of Americans, with a friendly New Hampshire escort taking me to lunch. What a difference a border makes.

I’m not done, but things are winding down. I’ve got a story to record, and then one more to do on this unit, the 197th Fires Brigade, before I head back. The window is definitely closing, and it’s been one hell of a ride.

Rainy Day Blues

Well, planes are grounded, so I’m not going anywhere for a bit. I’d like to be on my way to visiting the 197th, but a storm blew in last night so strong I thought it was artillery. And I wasn’t alone — I heard an officer saying the same thing.

So for now I’m hanging out in an airport, waiting for my ride. Not every day in Iraq is exciting…

Moving On…

After a few days here at Camp Shocker, I’m catching a convoy and headed to Kuwait. There I’ll meet up with the 197th Fires Brigade, the National Guard unit out of New Hampshire. It’ll be another chance for me to connect with a bunch of New Hampshire soldiers.

But as a final farewell to this little corner of Iraq, I got up early today and shot some photos. They almost make me want to stay…

Connected

So anyone following this has figured out the obvious — soldiers in Iraq are remarkably connected. I don’t have wireless so my MacBook Air isn’t much help with the internet, but the tiny base I’m on has its own computer lab. In the housing units there are Ethernet cables you can plug into if you pay for a plan. At Baghdad airport I bought a day’s worth of wireless for $9. I got to choose the speed I wanted. All over there are opportunities to stay in touch.

It’s a bit crazy, especially when you talk to people who were here when the invasion first occurred. They got a couple phone calls a month; I’ve Skyped with my wife almost daily. I’m working on a story about it, along with about what soldiers do in there downtime. I’m not sure I mentioned this yet, but Call of Duty is wildly popular over here. I was in the Green Zone, and I saw two soldiers shooting people in front of a television screen. Does that seem strange to anyone? Kicking it in a war zone shooting digital people. What a concept!