Delete Reply Forward Spam Move...
Printable View This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread ]
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:46:11 -0800 (PST)
From: "Troy Ruffin"
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com. Learn more
Subject: Home sweet...hole
To: "Brandewy"
Hey everybody,
Finally made it to our new base in Iraq. I got bumped from a flight twice, then we finally got a flight with 3 hours notice. We left Kuwait around 1030 on the 23rd, and landed in Iraq just after noon, so it wasn't a long flight...just uncomfortable. We were crammed into a C-130 with all of our gear. Not exactly a 1st-class ride. I had just dozed off when I woke up in near zero-gravity; we were starting our descent into Iraq, and the pilots were doing a "combat landing." Basically, its diving for the deck, with an occasional cork-screw just to spice things up. Its supposed to make it harder to shoot at the plane since they're always changing directions, all it did was make some kid sick in the back.
After getting on the ground, we had a couple hours to kill before we caught a helicopter out to a base close to our little "fire base." Once there we were given a little chow, and hung out until we finally packed into Bradleys to get here...our new little home. Theres one main building here that could be either an old hotel or maybe a barracks; doesn't resemble it too much any more with the sandbags, the wire, and the holes in the walls. Since the unit we're replacing is still here, things are, and will remain, a little cramped for a couple weeks. These guys are so happy to see us right now, as I'm sure we will be in about a years time.
The other three medics and I will end up bunking in our aid station, which is a lot nicer than we were expecting. They have it stocked pretty well, and have divided the room with a set of lockers; front half for patient care, back half for us to live. We've got two sets of bunk beds, which means space is going to be very tight for the next year. For the first time in almost 2 weeks, I slept on an actual bed last night; since Kuwait we've only had those old canvas cots. Hopefully once our predecessors move out, we'll be able to spread out a little bit. Besides the aid station, things are pretty rough. There's two shower heads that "work" enough to dribble water on you, though its debateable if you're cleaner before or after the shower because of the questionable water supply. Drinking the water is way out of the question; everything is done with bottled water. Outside the compound there is standing water everywhere, and trash just thrown about. There are a couple windows on one of the upper floors that we can take quick peeks from; pretty much a ghetto. It reminds me a lot of a bad town in Mexico; don't drink the water, don't eat the food, watch out for standing water, and walk around the trash...except there's not too many people shooting at you in Mexico. So far there has been no hostile actions here since we've arrived...we're hoping to keep it that was for as long as possible. The head medic that we're replacing has been a great source of information; we were up last night till after 1am picking his brain and trying to get the most out of his experience. We've got a couple weeks to learn from him, but there were so many questions we wanted to ask. Sounds like they've got a really good operation set up, and hopefully the transfer will go very smooth.
Chow here is ok...its prepared by Army cooks, which isn't the best, but at least its edible, and we know its clean. I have a feeling that we'll all end up loosing a little weight, though.
I need to get back to the aid station; wanted to let you all know that I'm here, we're all safe, and that I actually have a roof over my head. I'll email again soon with a little more info.
Love you guys,
Troy
No comments:
Post a Comment