A day in Kirkuk with no training scheduled means I get another chance to tell you about another hidden gem. In this case it's the tale of the rip-off. From time to time there's an aspect of OIF that has the appearance of being a scam. One company that makes no apologies about scamming Joe is AT&T. Perhaps the biggest heist of Joe's money is something you'll find on every FOB. It's called the "AT&T Calling Center." Now on face value one would think it nice of a company to make such a kiosk available to the soldiers. After all, Joe wants to call home to friends and family so AT&T has provided the opportunity. Follow the dollar folks and you'll find this ain't no "win-win". Everyone is very familiar with calling cards right? Just pay for long distance time, scratch the back of the card for your code, call the 1800 number provided and listen to the prompts. Well normally when you use a card each "unit" equals a minute of long distance. If you use a pay phone there's normally a charge of an extra 15 units or so for each call. That being said, 100 units (which costs around $8) is worth roughly 100 minutes. Not so for Joe! He can buy AT&T calling cards in the PX (no other brand, just AT&T). So let's say Joe pays $15 for a 300 unit card so he can call the family. Unfortunately, Joe proceeds to the AT&T Calling Center that's located next to the PX. He makes his call with the intent to speak as long as he can (big family). Well at the AT&T Calling Center that means his 300 unit card is good for maybe 90 minutes. I'm not making this up folks. An AT&T calling card in the AT&T Calling Center is only worth a fraction in minutes. What the fuck Ma Bell? In your attempt to look patriotic you actually provide a scam of the soldiers. Are you telling me that it costs that much in fees for your service? You can make cell phone calls for less. By my observation it's the biggest fraud that I've seen directly impacting the soldiers. What set me off on this? There's a call center right next to my hooch here in FOB Warrior.
Well Joe isn't stupid fortunately. The first time I deployed here the call centers were about the only option to the average Joe. Nowadays the call centers remain mostly empty. Joe is onto the scam and figured out less costly ways to call home. The easiest way is to use the military switch numbers to call back to an installation near your hometown. They will connect you with an outside dial tone so you can use your calling card for an exact rate. If the call you are making is local to the military installation you can make it at no charge - all the way from Iraq. These usages of the military switch lines are called "morale calls". Another venue is through KBR. This company does a lot of great things for the soldiers. They provide free internet services and phones that work like the military switch lines (except that you have to use a calling card. It's at the correct rate though). Now that you know all of this you should feel relieved that Joe figured out a way to break the AT&T monopoly. However the competition didn't make Ma Bell stop cheating the soldiers. She's still making a boatload by charging double and triple rates on Joe's calling cards. What do I say? Screw you Ma Bell! Take your calling centers and go home.
Ah! I feel so much better now. Man I love writing this blog! There's no end to what I can describe.
I saw a little of FOB Warrior today. The perimeter fence runs right up to the city limits. This is unusual in that FOBs are normally some distance away from the nearest cities. Kirkuk is a pretty calm city. The Kurds have been self-governing for over ten years now and there's little sign of insurgency around here. My hooch is less than half a mile from the city. We can even hear the calls to prayer. What's weird the past couple of days is the weather. Today we were pounded by spectacular thunderstorms. My team and I even had to wait one out at the DFAC after supper. It's very cool here as well. My guess is it hasn't climbed above 70 the whole time. I'm sure that will change though. Like FOB Speicher, this isn't the only time I'll see FOB Warrior.
For the benefit of my friends back home I'll share a little fact that I normally share in my news e-mails. Thanks to General Order #1: Days without a beer: 42
Back to work tomorrow.
Well Joe isn't stupid fortunately. The first time I deployed here the call centers were about the only option to the average Joe. Nowadays the call centers remain mostly empty. Joe is onto the scam and figured out less costly ways to call home. The easiest way is to use the military switch numbers to call back to an installation near your hometown. They will connect you with an outside dial tone so you can use your calling card for an exact rate. If the call you are making is local to the military installation you can make it at no charge - all the way from Iraq. These usages of the military switch lines are called "morale calls". Another venue is through KBR. This company does a lot of great things for the soldiers. They provide free internet services and phones that work like the military switch lines (except that you have to use a calling card. It's at the correct rate though). Now that you know all of this you should feel relieved that Joe figured out a way to break the AT&T monopoly. However the competition didn't make Ma Bell stop cheating the soldiers. She's still making a boatload by charging double and triple rates on Joe's calling cards. What do I say? Screw you Ma Bell! Take your calling centers and go home.
Ah! I feel so much better now. Man I love writing this blog! There's no end to what I can describe.
I saw a little of FOB Warrior today. The perimeter fence runs right up to the city limits. This is unusual in that FOBs are normally some distance away from the nearest cities. Kirkuk is a pretty calm city. The Kurds have been self-governing for over ten years now and there's little sign of insurgency around here. My hooch is less than half a mile from the city. We can even hear the calls to prayer. What's weird the past couple of days is the weather. Today we were pounded by spectacular thunderstorms. My team and I even had to wait one out at the DFAC after supper. It's very cool here as well. My guess is it hasn't climbed above 70 the whole time. I'm sure that will change though. Like FOB Speicher, this isn't the only time I'll see FOB Warrior.
For the benefit of my friends back home I'll share a little fact that I normally share in my news e-mails. Thanks to General Order #1: Days without a beer: 42
Back to work tomorrow.
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