Even a stranger to my blog knows that FOB Warhorse is a shithole. It's a bleak, barren place. The facilities are devoid of entertainment. Joes who aren't on duty get very bored. Although I am happy to have not spent my deployment there, I have to grudgingly admit that a place like Warhorse has its perks. I don't find it surprising that Joes take pride with their smaller, warrior-FOB's. I hated getting stuck at Warhorse - again. But the place is much more hospitable now than a few months ago. It's sort of a ghost town these days. Gone are the endless lines of armored vehicles lining every street. CHU's and tents aren't overcrowded anymore. A Joe can truly find privacy there. But what makes a place like Warhorse a better location for Joe is what's not visible on the outside. The FOB is completely absent of the "garrison" mentality found on a super-FOB like Anaconda. Joe doesn't have to worry about a creeping Sergeant Major lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce on the slightest uniform discrepency. The place is home of personnel who spend more time outside the wire than in. There isn't time for stupid rules from the Mayor's Cell. When Joe has time off, he can spend his time without interference from red tape. The trade-off is the lack of amenities. That's why the soldier from a small, fighting FOB always enjoys a quick trip to a big place like Anaconda. A few hours means a well stocked PX, multiple food courts, a movie theater with first-run movies, and lots of pretty females (perhaps more than the Joes have seen in months). When convoys come in they rarely stay overnight. It's more of a morale boost. However, there are too many rules at Anaconda for the fighting Joe from Warhorse to stay for more than a few hours at a time.
I had a wake-up call today. Yes, I am back in Anaconda. How did I know I was back? When I went to supper I was stopped by a soldier at the entrance. He was working detail in the DFAC. He said, "Sir, do you have a reflective belt?" I said, "say again?" With a dead serious look, he said, "Sir, a reflective belt is required after dark. Do you have one?" In my mind I thought, "Oh yeah! That's right. This is Anaconda. There are rules." In frustration I blurted, "I just came straight from work. I have a reflective belt in my room. I'll get it after I eat." The soldier said, "Roger sir!" There was no fucking way I was going all the way back to my room. Welcome back to garrison life. At least at FOB Warhorse I never encountered anyone being anal about reflective belts.
The only, real reason I'm back in LSAA is because it's time to wrap up this deployment and go home.
I had a wake-up call today. Yes, I am back in Anaconda. How did I know I was back? When I went to supper I was stopped by a soldier at the entrance. He was working detail in the DFAC. He said, "Sir, do you have a reflective belt?" I said, "say again?" With a dead serious look, he said, "Sir, a reflective belt is required after dark. Do you have one?" In my mind I thought, "Oh yeah! That's right. This is Anaconda. There are rules." In frustration I blurted, "I just came straight from work. I have a reflective belt in my room. I'll get it after I eat." The soldier said, "Roger sir!" There was no fucking way I was going all the way back to my room. Welcome back to garrison life. At least at FOB Warhorse I never encountered anyone being anal about reflective belts.
The only, real reason I'm back in LSAA is because it's time to wrap up this deployment and go home.
14 comments:
guess what shithole i am going to next week?
As a contractor in Iraq for a 3rd year, I spent a year at Anaconda, 11 months at Speicher, and now 7 months at Warhorse. Warhorse is by far the better base to be Because of the absence of anal rules in a combat zone. At Warhorse our emphasis is entirely on mission accomplishment - not satisfying anal rule enforcers. The smallness of the base lends itself to a much more teamwork mentality. Recently Warhorse has had improvements in its bazaar, film availabilities, and gym facilities - the DFac is still xlnt - what more could one ask for in a combat zone?
I'm currently stationed at Warhorse and have been since August of 2008. I love it here. I've taken trips to Balad/Anaconda, Spiecher, Victory, and Hammer and none of them compare to Warhorse. Warhorse is a shithole, but its a non-garrison shithole (though it is getting worse in that respect...I did have someone stop me a couple of nights ago for no powerbelt and then just today I was "reminded" that PC's aren't the uniform anymore and I need to dig out my retard, er boonie cap for wear). The chow hall is far and a way the best I've been too, and the poor man's PX has nothing you want, but everything you need.
I 2nd that,I make runs to Spiecher and JBB all the time and if there's that pisses off everyone who actually works for a living its spending three hours rolling down Tampa in a truck with shitty AC just to have some smartass who's in PTs at 1230 hrs comment about me having a sweaty uniform in the chowhall.
Long Live Warhorse!
I 2nd that,I make runs to Spiecher and JBB all the time and if there's one thing that pisses off everyone who actually works for a living its spending three hours rolling down Tampa in a truck with shitty AC just to have some smartass who's in PTs at 1230 hrs comment about me having a sweaty uniform in the chowhall.
Long Live Warhorse!
I was stationed there at FOB Warhorse from April o3 to April 04, so ya'll dont know what a shit-hole it really was. We had meat in red sauce for the first 3 months we were there, breakfast AND dinner. We were mortared 192 times with over 700 rounds in that 13 months with no bunkers. I was there when the DFAC opened July9th 2003. Quit friggin whining....
My post about Warhorse is in no way an attempt to compare the FOB during OIF 06-08 to what it was back in OIF I. That being said, Warhorse really was a gritty place compared to other FOB's I visited from March '07 to March '08. This was especially true during the height of the surge when there were three full BCT's crammed into a FOB designed for one. To the Anonymous poster above I say this - everyone who was in Iraq in 03-04 had it shitty. I know this from personal experience. Mortar and rocket attacks were constant, accurate, and deadly. However, it just isn't fair to compare one deployment to another if they didn't overlap years. Life for a soldier in Iraq is very different now than it was six years ago.
My husband is on his way from Anconda to Warhorse today. Can anyone email me and tell me if they can have computers? sharonbgif@aol.com
sharonbgif - don't worry. Your husband will have easy access to the internet at Warhorse. At a minimum, he can utilize the Spawar computers in the MWR.
I have a son that will be coming to warhorse tomorrow and as a mom of course i am going to worry what he is eating as well as how he is sleeping but what has me up at night is not knowing how safe he is going to be there. can anyone tell me anything about the safety of the area. I know everyone is in danger if they are there but how dangerous is it in that area now? any comments would help. god bless u all, stay safe and come home where u belong.
Is it possible to get internet in my chu at warhorse? Heading there real soon on my 1st deployment to OIF. I don't know anyone that has spent any time there.
Soldiermom - Warhorse is much quieter now than it was back at the height of the surge. No place in Iraq can be called completely safe. However, I believe your son will find Warhorse and its surrounding area to be relatively quiet. Boredom may be his biggest enemy.
As for the question above about internet in CHU's - It's been over a year now since I was last at Warhorse. Back then there wasn't a wireless net available for the soldiers. Most internet use was provided at the SPAWAR sites located in the MWR. There were some soldiers who would pay big money to get their own satellite internet system for their CHU. Sometimes these soldiers would run wires to several of their buddies and charge them a monthly fee (to help defray the cost of the system). By now there may be an AAFES vendor (Magic Island Internet) on the FOB who provides a monthly-fee wireless net. Regardless, internet is available.
I am currently at FOB Warhorse and it has completely changed sinc you posted this. I got hemmed up for not wearing a reflector belt at dusk and our Sergeant Major is hiding the bushes every where we go to find anything out of the rules. It is more garrison than when we were back in the states.
Hahahha! I left in Dec. 2009. I know that Sergeant Major. He lives to gig soldiers and takes pride in catching a MRAP or HMV rolling through a stop sign.....He should be home by now (back to Washington State).
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