My alternate title for today’s entry was “Tales From the Crypt.” Either title was appropriate. My team has officially completed a full night inside the mausoleum. No matter what happens from here on out, regardless of where we travel to in Iraq, we’ve done something very few have, or will, ever do. We spent the night sleeping right next to the dead VIP in his own mausoleum. How did the evening progress? It was very noisy and restless. As I mentioned before, the mausoleum serves as a barracks (we were the only ones housed right underneath the dome). Throughout the night Joes came and went. Many of them were either returning or heading out on convoys and patrols. That meant they were banging their considerable gear around. Everything inside the dome echoed and was amplified. To make matters worse, there was a smoke detector with a low battery mounted high on the wall of the dome. The low-battery alarm chirped constantly. The damn thing was too high to reach. We just dealt with it. The last nuisance was that the lights remained on until well after 0100. If you recall, our hastily built room had no ceiling. The lights in the dome stayed on until some Joe turned them off (or the generator quit). If anyone is wondering if we had any ghostly encounters with the Baath Party VIP the answer is no. I didn’t anyway.
Most of my team slept in. I arose and went to breakfast. I figured out very quickly that Union III is so small that you recognize everyone after just one pass. Since we finished our inspections (and our flight out wasn’t scheduled until late) the entire day was ours to explore. I sat in the DFAC and mulled the news on AFN while sipping coffee. Around 0900 I walked back to the crypt. I’d seen everything Union III has to offer the day before. Therefore, I went back to sleep.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to sit around Union III all day. A lieutenant from the unit we’d inspected arranged for us to get a tour of the IZ/Green Zone. I worked in the IZ on my previous deployment so I’d already seen a lot of the place. My team had never been here so off we went. Next came all the classic Joe tourist spots – crossed sabers of Saddam’s old parade ground, Prosperity palace, tomb of the unknowns, and the U.S. Embassy/Presidential Palace (where I worked in 2005). Here are some observations I made while out and about. My old MNF-I FUOPS buddies will appreciate this.
1. Crossed Sabers – these were slated for demolition earlier this year. The Iraqi government stepped in just as destruction commenced. Only one “Saddam” hand was touched by the demo crew. Otherwise, the sabers look exactly as they did in 2005. Most of the Iranian helmets (each with a bullet hole in it) have been pilfered by souvenir collectors.
2. Prosperity – no changes here. The palace is still the jumble of junk it has always been (courtesy of some JDAMs in 2003). It’s serving as a brigade HQ. I’m not sure I’d trust the structural integrity of the building. It looks like it will fall over any minute. I did discover that the giant Saddam busts that used to adorn the presidential palace are stored on the Prosperity compound. I always thought they’d been scrapped.
3. Adnon Palace looks exactly the same. I couldn’t confirm if there’s still a night club in the annex. FUOPS had some fun times there in 2005.
4. Liquor store – despite rumors of its demise, the store is still in business. We didn’t stop there but it was obvious from the road that the place is still well stocked. I saw many cases of beer stacked outside. I guess it’s still doing great business with the U.S. State Department and our coalition allies.
5. U.S. Embassy/Presidential Palace – This is where I had the keenest interest since it was my old stomping ground. On the surface everything looks the same. Upon further inspection I found the PX had been expanded considerably. Once inside the palace I discovered that the DFAC has now been relocated. In its place is a Green Beans and MWR with library and internet café. There’s a sandwich express line outside where the overflow/midnight chow line used to be. The internet café in the north ballroom has been replaced by offices. The DFAC is now adjacent to the pool in a hardened building. I was sad to see that the new DFAC sits where the horseshoe pits and picnic areas used to be. The grounds of the pool are considerably smaller. I couldn’t confirm anything about our old buddies from the FBI. I never made it close to their old compound. Everything else looked the same – even my old hooch. I received verbal confirmation that FUOPS is still in the same place as always.
Since the embassy was our last stop we elected to eat supper in the new DFAC. My team’s heads were spinning at all the women that work on the compound – State Department, military, coalition, NGOs, etc. The same could be said about the number of general officers. As we sat down to eat two female officers sat down next to us. One was Australian and she was quite attractive. My team was obviously smitten. However, her partner might as well of been her bodyguard. She was a very angry AF lieutenant colonel. When the lieutenant that was driving us around attempted to talk to the Aussie girl he received the immediate “cock block” from her bodyguard. I attempted to assist the lieutenant by trying to divert the AF LTC. I asked what department she worked in and told her that I used to work in FUOPS. It was to no avail. Her sole purpose was to prevent any man from gaining ground with the Aussie. The lieutenant never stood a chance. I reached the conclusion that the AF LTC either had a crush on the Aussie or was just one of those angry women on Oprah that believe that sex once a month is sufficient in a marriage.
After supper we hurried back to Union III. On the way we saw the new U.S. Embassy compound. Eventually, the current location at the palace will be turned back over to the Iraqis. The new compound is huge. I’ve heard it’s the largest U.S. Embassy compound in the world. I believe it. The compound wall along the road is almost a mile in length. I couldn’t tell you how many buildings are under construction. It will definitely require a very large Marine detachment to guard the place. It looks almost finished.
Around 2330 we departed Union III for Washington LZ. When we checked in we found out that flights to Balad were on weather hold. I instructed our escorts to be ready to pick us back up if the flights were cancelled. They returned to Union III. We took our seats and waited. Even in the IZ you have to deal with pax terminal hell. At Washington IZ there is no terminal – just benches outside the service trailer and jersey barriers all around. I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about flying.
Most of my team slept in. I arose and went to breakfast. I figured out very quickly that Union III is so small that you recognize everyone after just one pass. Since we finished our inspections (and our flight out wasn’t scheduled until late) the entire day was ours to explore. I sat in the DFAC and mulled the news on AFN while sipping coffee. Around 0900 I walked back to the crypt. I’d seen everything Union III has to offer the day before. Therefore, I went back to sleep.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to sit around Union III all day. A lieutenant from the unit we’d inspected arranged for us to get a tour of the IZ/Green Zone. I worked in the IZ on my previous deployment so I’d already seen a lot of the place. My team had never been here so off we went. Next came all the classic Joe tourist spots – crossed sabers of Saddam’s old parade ground, Prosperity palace, tomb of the unknowns, and the U.S. Embassy/Presidential Palace (where I worked in 2005). Here are some observations I made while out and about. My old MNF-I FUOPS buddies will appreciate this.
1. Crossed Sabers – these were slated for demolition earlier this year. The Iraqi government stepped in just as destruction commenced. Only one “Saddam” hand was touched by the demo crew. Otherwise, the sabers look exactly as they did in 2005. Most of the Iranian helmets (each with a bullet hole in it) have been pilfered by souvenir collectors.
2. Prosperity – no changes here. The palace is still the jumble of junk it has always been (courtesy of some JDAMs in 2003). It’s serving as a brigade HQ. I’m not sure I’d trust the structural integrity of the building. It looks like it will fall over any minute. I did discover that the giant Saddam busts that used to adorn the presidential palace are stored on the Prosperity compound. I always thought they’d been scrapped.
3. Adnon Palace looks exactly the same. I couldn’t confirm if there’s still a night club in the annex. FUOPS had some fun times there in 2005.
4. Liquor store – despite rumors of its demise, the store is still in business. We didn’t stop there but it was obvious from the road that the place is still well stocked. I saw many cases of beer stacked outside. I guess it’s still doing great business with the U.S. State Department and our coalition allies.
5. U.S. Embassy/Presidential Palace – This is where I had the keenest interest since it was my old stomping ground. On the surface everything looks the same. Upon further inspection I found the PX had been expanded considerably. Once inside the palace I discovered that the DFAC has now been relocated. In its place is a Green Beans and MWR with library and internet café. There’s a sandwich express line outside where the overflow/midnight chow line used to be. The internet café in the north ballroom has been replaced by offices. The DFAC is now adjacent to the pool in a hardened building. I was sad to see that the new DFAC sits where the horseshoe pits and picnic areas used to be. The grounds of the pool are considerably smaller. I couldn’t confirm anything about our old buddies from the FBI. I never made it close to their old compound. Everything else looked the same – even my old hooch. I received verbal confirmation that FUOPS is still in the same place as always.
Since the embassy was our last stop we elected to eat supper in the new DFAC. My team’s heads were spinning at all the women that work on the compound – State Department, military, coalition, NGOs, etc. The same could be said about the number of general officers. As we sat down to eat two female officers sat down next to us. One was Australian and she was quite attractive. My team was obviously smitten. However, her partner might as well of been her bodyguard. She was a very angry AF lieutenant colonel. When the lieutenant that was driving us around attempted to talk to the Aussie girl he received the immediate “cock block” from her bodyguard. I attempted to assist the lieutenant by trying to divert the AF LTC. I asked what department she worked in and told her that I used to work in FUOPS. It was to no avail. Her sole purpose was to prevent any man from gaining ground with the Aussie. The lieutenant never stood a chance. I reached the conclusion that the AF LTC either had a crush on the Aussie or was just one of those angry women on Oprah that believe that sex once a month is sufficient in a marriage.
After supper we hurried back to Union III. On the way we saw the new U.S. Embassy compound. Eventually, the current location at the palace will be turned back over to the Iraqis. The new compound is huge. I’ve heard it’s the largest U.S. Embassy compound in the world. I believe it. The compound wall along the road is almost a mile in length. I couldn’t tell you how many buildings are under construction. It will definitely require a very large Marine detachment to guard the place. It looks almost finished.
Around 2330 we departed Union III for Washington LZ. When we checked in we found out that flights to Balad were on weather hold. I instructed our escorts to be ready to pick us back up if the flights were cancelled. They returned to Union III. We took our seats and waited. Even in the IZ you have to deal with pax terminal hell. At Washington IZ there is no terminal – just benches outside the service trailer and jersey barriers all around. I wasn’t feeling too optimistic about flying.
1 comment:
Thats funny! Cock Block! Go for the counter offensive and divide and conquer. Nice try! You're a good guy for taking the chance anyway. Always thinking of your guys!
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