It was about 8:45 by the time we got back to housing. Sandy wanted to go lift, I was ready for a shower and the plan was to have all luggage in the lobby by 10am to be palletized and ready for transport with all the band’s gear. Then we’d all meet at 11 and start our meet and greets. As we came in, Robi and Josh were headed over for breakfast, so I quick changed into pants and joined them, sweaty and gross, but hungry. We met up with Frank and Bart and the rest of the crew and ate some breakfast and visited quite a bit. Then it was time to head back and get ready.
9:30 and I was a bit hurried, but no problem. I’d blown out my hairdryer at the last base, so I didn’t need to worry about blow drying my hair, and had everything to the lobby in time, then had an hour to chill out and catch up on the blog. Most people still at The Lion’s Den were catching up on computer stuff. The rest of the group was packing/palletizing the gear. 11:15 we were all back and ready to leave to meet the base commander, See med-evac, the control room, meet the admin crew who set up all of our visits, and of course, eat lunch.
Our first stop was across the base to see the Med-Evac team and their specially outfitted backhawks. We went into their building, and congregated a cool make-shift coffee shop. It was similar in feel to the snack bar we hung out in yesterday in Kuwait. Couches, a TV, books, magazines and jokes on the wall. A great place to meet up and bond with your team. Cpt Spencer came in and introduced himself to each of us and thanked us for being here. Overwhelmingly, the troops have all been so gracious and thanked us in such a heartfelt way for coming out to see them and spend time with them. We on the run staff all agree that it’s almost embarrassing because it’s us that should be thanking them and grateful for allowing us to come out and see them.
They took us through their building and out back to see the Blackhawk that’s specially outfitted for Medical Evacuation. It was pretty neat to see a helicopter up close. We checked it out, sat inside, asked a bunch of questions and headed back inside.
Then we went to base commanders office for a brief on the base. We sat at a table that was made for him by his troops. It was nicely finished wood with all the emblems of the 4 branches of that base, They were hoping to put it in a military museum some day once they were out of this place. It was really cool! The commander went over the details of the base. Built in the 70s by a Yugoslavian, for thearmy for a long time. We took it over, but have preserved it and improved it so it’s in better shape when we’re ready to give it back. It was interesting to think about the fact that we were sitting in a building that was built for the Iraqis and used by the Iraqis. There’s a mosque on the base that they haven’t touched. They want to fix it up, but they fear that any work they would have to make improvements might be photographed and misconstrued as defacing, so the mosque is strictly off limits. They did tell us though that the Iraqis, when they come onto the base and into the building, can’t believe we haven’t destroyed it all, especially the mosque. An interesting difference in cultural and behavioral reactions to a takeover like that one.
We then went in and visited with a group of soldiers in charge of administrative things. They were the ones who arranged our flights and the details of our trip, so it was great to meet them and thank them.
Then we headed over to a very secure building. They knocked on the door, someone came to the door, then closed it and went away. We waited about 20 minutes, knocked again, and finally someone let us in. This was the command center, and very secure I guess. It was kind of liketrying to get in to the land of Oz! We went down the hall, around a few corners and into a huge room with lots of levels and TONS of big screens on the front wall, with desks facing it with tons of computers and people looking serious in headsets and computers. It was just like command center at NASA in Apollo 13! Very cool. We got a brief on what they do there (basically they watch everything and send out the data to those who need to know!) and then we broke off and mingled and chatted with the soldiers throughout the room. It was pretty cool! I talked to some chem specialists from Chicago (and talked about Bourbon Street Pat and Becky. They knew it!) then talked to some guys who were there to get permission for a mission. We talked triathlon, we talked soldier stuff and then it was time to go.
At this point, everyone was pretty tired, especially the band who hadn't had a moment's rest since....a long time ago! So we headed back to lodging, and most people laid down to sleep. A few of us went to the PX to pick up some stuff and do a little shopping. With that complete, we headed back to lodging again. Robi and Nicole stayed there to chill out and catch up on the computer. Ben and I were awake and asked Daniels to take us somewhere unique to Al Asab. He took us on the Ridgeline tour. Al Asab is in a valley, and in that valley is an oasis. We went up on the south ridge (we flew in on the north ridge) and looked down on the valley. THere was a green swath cut through the valley. There was a little river, and tons of green! There was practically a straight line that separated the green from the sand. Crazy! Apparently the ground is very fertile here, there just isn't any water, so in the area where there is water, it grows like crazy! Sadam had planted a date farm that apparently produced the best dates you can get. Pretty cool stuff. Daniels was a great tour guide. He took us to see a few of the Migs that were scattered throughout the desert. Ben and I posed with them. CHRISTMAS CARD!! We drove along the ridge fence, and checked out the watch towers. There are 2 fences. The rideline fence that we were looking at, and one a mile or so on the outside of that. This provided a very long buffer zone to keep the base safe. We drove back to lodging and it was about time to go.
We packed up and headed to the air field. Our flight had been moved from 10pm to 8pm, so we went to dinner at the airfield and then found out that we were going to be riding Chinooks! YAHOOO! Helicopter rides!! SO FUN! We put on our kevlar and loaded on the back of the helicopter. Going up those ramps into the back of the bird will NEVER get old! SO cool! We sat a lot, and it was loud, but it was really neat! There were 2 gunners on the front of the cargo/seating area and they looked very serious and mean. Later, as we were waiting on the Chinook for something (we didn't know at the time, but they were moving detainees at the area we were supposed to land on, and they didn't move as fast as they thought, so we were in a holding pattern.) While we were waiting, it was clear that one of the gunners was listening to music in his helmet because he was dancing. It was hilarious to see a big strong soldier in kevlar standing in front of a big huge gun wiggling around to Lady GaGa. (or whatever!) It was really funny!
We arrived around 9:30 and found out on the bus that we had a race at 7am the next morning, so we went to the race site to get things set up. It was a great area, right near our lodging around that they call Taji Mahal! There was a pavillion and a stage with picnic tables and lots of area to mingle. Perfect for the concert and the post race festivities. We finally got to bed at 12:30.
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