I never said previously that I'd seen the last of FOB Warhorse. Today saw my return. It was less than triumphant. That's not a bad thing - it was just sans fanfare. I returned with three members of my team to conduct another training mission. We had a 1200 show time at Catfish Air. The helicopters were right on time and we zoomed on down to Baqubah. It's only a ten minute flight. Upon our arrival we were greated by the warrant officer from the supporting unit. She's Korean and doesn't speak English very well. This would prove challenging to us as we tried to conduct our mission. She was expecting us to do a lot more than we came for and it was difficult to explain otherwise.
Once we got in our billets (I was staying in a CHU very close to where I had stayed before) we moved out to start inspecting containers for seaworthiness. These inspections are not our primary mission but we do them as a courtesy when time permits. That pitted us against the searing sun and heat. Fortunately there weren't many to inspect and we were done in a couple of hours. That gave us the rest of the day off. I sent my guys on their way. We coordinated with the warrant officer what time we'd begin our training the next morning.
I did notice a very funny thing. Some Joes had erected signs that announced entering and leaving the Warhorse "National Forest". It was a barren strip of gnarled trees that went for maybe 25 meters. It was just one row and very barren. As you walked one way you came upon the "entering" sign. 25 meters later you passed the "leaving" sign. It is simply hilarious. I always love the sense of humor that Joe takes everywhere. The "national forest" was so small that I could take a photo of the whole thing from a distance of 10 meters. I can now say I've been through the FOB Warhorse National Forest.
I'm still at Warhorse - unfortunately - so I'm hurrying along in this entry. I can tell that once I get back to LSAA I'll have to do a "reflections" entry on this mission. This is one crazy place. It's still the moon too. The dust is just as I remember.
Once we got in our billets (I was staying in a CHU very close to where I had stayed before) we moved out to start inspecting containers for seaworthiness. These inspections are not our primary mission but we do them as a courtesy when time permits. That pitted us against the searing sun and heat. Fortunately there weren't many to inspect and we were done in a couple of hours. That gave us the rest of the day off. I sent my guys on their way. We coordinated with the warrant officer what time we'd begin our training the next morning.
I did notice a very funny thing. Some Joes had erected signs that announced entering and leaving the Warhorse "National Forest". It was a barren strip of gnarled trees that went for maybe 25 meters. It was just one row and very barren. As you walked one way you came upon the "entering" sign. 25 meters later you passed the "leaving" sign. It is simply hilarious. I always love the sense of humor that Joe takes everywhere. The "national forest" was so small that I could take a photo of the whole thing from a distance of 10 meters. I can now say I've been through the FOB Warhorse National Forest.
I'm still at Warhorse - unfortunately - so I'm hurrying along in this entry. I can tell that once I get back to LSAA I'll have to do a "reflections" entry on this mission. This is one crazy place. It's still the moon too. The dust is just as I remember.
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