Somebody told me that once August is gone you don’t have to worry about sandstorms anymore. We learned today that’s not true. Out of nowhere the wind picked up this morning. Before long, visibility was down to about 100meters or less. The sand blew all day and into the evening. Since we weren’t finished we had to work in this. The units have timetables they have to meet. Man it really sucked being outside today. I think my hat blew off two or three times – meaning I had to chase it down.
In spite of the weather, we managed to wrap up quite a bit. That means our days in Taji are dwindling rapidly. I don’t think my personnel will be complaining much when we leave. It’s not the worse place we’ve been in Iraq. There’s just something about it that makes it miserable. The biggest culprit is the sheer number of soldiers here. This place is a big transient camp. That’s not true for the whole place – there are units based in Taji. Most of the soldiers here are new and are preparing to push out into outlying patrol bases, camps, and FOBs. Before they do so they stop by Taji to get their mission configuration equipment for vehicles. That takes awhile. They won’t see their first mission until they get to where they are going. For now, the presence of so many soldiers means all the buses are full, the latrine stalls are full, the DFACs are full (perhaps explaining the latrine situation), the gyms are over crowded, and my team couldn’t get decent billets for this mission. It probably won’t be like this next time we visit the place. Hell, last time I was here I stayed in a decent place that was walking distance from everything. This time around I’m completely dependent on the buses, which means I have to fight with Joe for a place to sit. It all works out though. We adjusted ok.
With the sandstorm howling and no more work for the day we settled in for the night. Once again, the big cannons started shooting. It was worse than the previous night. I was rocked out of my sleep continually. It’s reverse psychological warfare. Our own cannons are keeping us up all night. I can see the wall coming fast and I’m going to crash right into the thing.
In spite of the weather, we managed to wrap up quite a bit. That means our days in Taji are dwindling rapidly. I don’t think my personnel will be complaining much when we leave. It’s not the worse place we’ve been in Iraq. There’s just something about it that makes it miserable. The biggest culprit is the sheer number of soldiers here. This place is a big transient camp. That’s not true for the whole place – there are units based in Taji. Most of the soldiers here are new and are preparing to push out into outlying patrol bases, camps, and FOBs. Before they do so they stop by Taji to get their mission configuration equipment for vehicles. That takes awhile. They won’t see their first mission until they get to where they are going. For now, the presence of so many soldiers means all the buses are full, the latrine stalls are full, the DFACs are full (perhaps explaining the latrine situation), the gyms are over crowded, and my team couldn’t get decent billets for this mission. It probably won’t be like this next time we visit the place. Hell, last time I was here I stayed in a decent place that was walking distance from everything. This time around I’m completely dependent on the buses, which means I have to fight with Joe for a place to sit. It all works out though. We adjusted ok.
With the sandstorm howling and no more work for the day we settled in for the night. Once again, the big cannons started shooting. It was worse than the previous night. I was rocked out of my sleep continually. It’s reverse psychological warfare. Our own cannons are keeping us up all night. I can see the wall coming fast and I’m going to crash right into the thing.
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