Friday, October 24, 2008

Welcome to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq


I arrived last Friday morning...at least I think it was Friday, maybe Saturday, but I know it was morning! We had to fly out of Kuwait around 0500, so that meant loading a bus at 2300 the night before, driving to the other air base, and then waiting for all the necessary briefings and loading time. My unit flew in two waves. I was on the second wave...so in true Army fashion, the 2nd wave flight left first.




We are here to provide an Oasis for the Warrior!









Main Street Al Asad, right outside my housing area.






We were greeted by the normal heat, wind, and dust of the desert. Not the worst they've had here, but here's a small dust storm rolling in.










The dust just rolls in and falls. Leaving a coating on everything. Everything tasted and smelt like dust for the first few days...I can't notice it anymore. We have gotten good at taping up all the openings to our living spaces after seeing stuff like this!
This is my "Can City," Normandy. Cans are the trailers they use, or also called CHU's - Containerized Housing Units. My can city is the oldest on the base but I think it's the nicest. Very close to work, spacious bathroom trailers (called ablution units), and right in the middle of downtown.

The next picture is a vintage shot of the main entry control point (ECP) gate with it's "wings." It doesn't look like that any more since a truck hit one of the wings coming through the gate on convoy, so someone decided to demolish the wing part of the structure. It's a shame because I think the original architecture gives real character to the place. The base was built in the late 60s and 70s by Afghans with Soviet/Eastern-Block era ideas and architecture. It's kinda neat!
Sunset behind the mosque right next to my can city. Beautiful building but not in use...and "off limits" to military folks...I have to go in there!!! It's a great landmark for finding my way around base because you can see it from all over.
Plenty more photos to come....and I'll show you what I'm actually doing here, CONSTRUCTION!

I miss you all and look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to write. My mailing address is:
Travis Mortimer
Base Command Group
Al Asad AB Iraq
FPO, AE 09333

Friday, October 17, 2008

Camp Virginia, Kuwait

As part of our transition into theater, we stopped in Kuwait for a week of final training and acclimation. It was hotter than blue-blazes there...around 110 in the middle of the day, and dry doesn't start to describe it! Believe it or not, the base we stayed at, Camp Virginia, was really nice, with a Taco Bell, McDonald's, Panda Chinese, Donut Shop, and lots of other junk! It is called the "Gateway to the Theater" because everyone comes through here in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan.



Here's my tent "pad." There were easily over 1000 tents in this camp!! All of them the same.


A bus ride at night, probably somewhere between the Kuwait airport to Camp Virginia. By this time, we had been up for two days straight - plus the 7 hour time change. It's me on the right, then LT Brad Baer and Chief Couey in the back. He wasn't posing for this one...that's just the way he looks.

Yes, McDonald's has infiltrated even the sandiest cranny of this earth!

Here's inside my tent. General berthing...we got lucky with only 7 people in here - and ICE COLD air conditioning! It was great.
Can't get away from the sand.


More sand to walk across as we travel to/from the Galley, phone center, or where ever. It seemed like there was never a cloud in the sky. Always a smokey dusty fog though.

More sand. The kind that is like talcum powder.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

We Train Like We Fight

A video clip of some Humm-Vee training. We spent days driving around looking for bombs, practicing MedEvac procedures, and calling in EOD support. We even went through the HEAT Trainer, a simulator for a HummVee roll-over. There have been so many deaths in theater to rollovers and people being trapped or crushed that they incorporated this training into our pipeline. The LINK is to a video clip is not my exact training event, but shows what we did that day. It was more fun than anything. Butts and elbows all over the place but mostly it gave me an appreciation for keeping all four wheels on the ground because it's really hard to egress from this vehicle right side up, let alone upside down or in a ditch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gENgmhDmIAE


Here's a ride along with Greg Burkette on a Medical Evacuation (MedEvac) we did at Ft Dix.


Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Happenings

I haven't posted any pictures of what we ARE doing...only posted about all the sitting around. So here's a taste of the training we have done. My preferred method of transportation...marching the troops. While nobody else seems to like it, I LOVE IT! It builds moral, unity, coordination, and reduces our carbon footprint. With only 50 pounds of body armor, it makes for a good workout as well!

Riding in an up-armored Hum-vee. It's heavy, powerful, and gets 2 miles to the gallon!
My view from the back seat. Usually, back seat riders are called "window lickers."
Just enjoying the view from our place in the convoy.

CBRN Training. Gas Mask fitting, MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) training, and Chem/Bio/Nuke decontamination.

The after-effects of the CBRN decontamination kit. There was no added value in this training except for the enjoyment of the staff watching us get nasty covered in charcoal dust. We still have black boogers a week later from this exercise. This is the entrance to the city of "Balad" where we walk the streets winning the hearts and minds while carrying weapons. Around every corner was a booby trap, sniper, or an IED in every trash pile. The point was to be vigilant but plenty of "non-combatants" were killed that day in training by my crew.

Just a little hands-on training on how to search and seize a person...either an EPW (Enemy Prisoner of War) or a civilian who passes through a checkpoint and triggers our "spidey senses" as out of the ordinary.

You had "Jerry" for the enemy in WWI and WWII, "Charlie" during Vietnam, and here is one of our Chiefs playing the role of "Jimmy Jihad." He's about to be searched and seized, and an inspection method called the "credit card swipe"...not fun to perform or to receive!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

We're in a war for intellegence...

General Petraeus has his own 200 page doctrine for this war. We call it the COIN strategy (COunter INsurgency). Some of the tenants of this doctrine are that we (as America's fighting force) are to go to Iraq and bring peace and stability to Iraq by "winning the hearts and minds of the people." The only way to do this is to work to legitimize the Iraqi government, and to provide the simple municipal functions of security, water, electricity, trash/ sanitation, education, and jobs. The only way we will beat the Insurgency is to have more intel than the enemy...so by his own words, we are in a war for intelligence!

MOST of our days here at Ft Dix have been filled with idle "white space" in our "schedules," with a training module sprinkled in here and there. Sometimes we go to a class and it is something different than we thought it would be, or we get dropped off a mile from the correct location and we have to hump down there with 50 pounds of gear on our backs with 7 minutes to go. More often than not, a class requirement pops up at the last minute and we are jerked into some training with no preparation or warning. The one thing that is guaranteed is that the training is inappropriate for what we'll be doing in theater. My son said it best when I was talking to him yesterday on the phone, telling him how I trained all day walking down the roads looking for roadside bombs or kicking in doors and clearing houses and being attacked. He said "why are you practicing that if you won't do it in Iraq?" That's been our frustration exactly.

So we're in a war for intelligence here at Ft Dix, trying to figure out why we are receiving training in doing foot patrols, searching cars at checkpoints, and chasing down the enemy when we are not going to be leaving the confines of the base. We recognize the need for basic combat skills and a proficiency in weapons handling, defense, and operating in a combat zone...but we have yet to get that. This training is just to remove liability from the Army if any of us turn into another Jessica Lynch.

So, in light of that venting, here are some pictures of what we've been doing... some training and some fun just hanging out waiting for training.
Elmo has made several appearances here at Ft Dix. He is watching the CBRN training (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear).

Hanging out with our broke down Humm-vee...steam coming off the engine. Me and two of my room mates. From left to right: me, my "battle buddy" Brad, and Mike.


If we're not training, we're eating. Here just sitting in the galley (the Army calls it a DFAC - Dining Facility). Nothing special, but they always serve baked chicken and baked fish.


My favorite place in the Humm-vee is back right seat. Here I am behind my other roommate, Greg.
Just sitting around. This is us waiting for a class that didn't happen. First we got dropped off at the wrong location and then the class was cancelled. No biggie, we had nothing else to do.

Some of the guys walking around the FOB. Dirty, dusty, damp...just the way we like it!
Sunrise at an IED discovery range. IED = Improvised Explosive Device (roadside bomb). We had plenty of mornings where we've been up and out in the middle of nowhere to see the sun come up.

Another morning, waiting for the buses to come take us somewhere.

Now here's a video made of my squad leader doing his own style of Land Navigation and patrol movement.

I've got PLENTY more of where this stuff has come from. I'll post some good pictures as soon as I can get them from my camera and uploaded to the Internet. Stay tuned for more. Drop me a line if you have nothing better to do: travismortimer@gmail.com

How to catch a terrorist