Life in Iraq
Now that I've been here for what, a couple of weeks? I can give you a reasonably accurate idea of what enlisted life in Iraq is like.
The living conditions are pretty decent. I live in a room that's about ten feet square in a six-person tent with other Comm guys. Having a space of my own is pretty important to me. The tents are air-conditioned and have standard 110-volt electrical power. They're lit by a hanging bulb which I try not to use because people on different shifts sleep in the tent at all hours. Rooms of the tent are seperated by hospital-style privacy curtains. It's comfortable as long as your expectations aren't too high. Unfortunately, the living area is positioned between the airport on one side (jet engines and helicopter noises) and the Iraqi small arms training area on the other (constant pop-pop-pop of rifles firing), but you learn to tune that out. The base is transitioning from tents to trailers, so as they build more of those I might get one.
Food comes from the chow hall and seems much tastier than the stuff they served in Arizona, although the opposite could hardly be true. It's free and mostly all-you-can-eat. If you're feeling spendy, there's a Subway over by the BX and a Taco Bell that they say will almost certainly open before doomsday.
Internet is omnipresent but very slow. There are two competing civilian wireless ISPs who use different pricing systems; both seem to max out at 15-20 kbps, which is around dial-up modem speed. Military links, which I have access to all day at work, are a bit faster but are more heavily filtered and monitored. I'm not playing any online games, but I am keeping up on my webcomics and RSS feeds.
Work is...a lot of work. Our shop is manned 24/7 by two shifts, and we each get one day off per week. This leaves me with less free time than I am used to and underscores the importance of planning what to do with one's leisure in advance. The work is fun, though--I originally thought I was going to be managing paperwork my entire tour and was very happy to learn that I would be in the Network Control Center instead. It's an all-purpose troubleshooting job, and I'm doing really well at it. I'm the only one in my shop with NCC experience, which gives me a head start on everyone, and I've enjoyed training everyone on the amazing tricks you can do with an administrator account on an Air Force network. Our boss is a big bald man who never smiles and complains constantly about his superiors, but he takes very good care of us and rules fairly.
Here are a few of the more interesting things that have gone on over the last couple weeks:
More adventures will be posted here over the coming weeks!
The living conditions are pretty decent. I live in a room that's about ten feet square in a six-person tent with other Comm guys. Having a space of my own is pretty important to me. The tents are air-conditioned and have standard 110-volt electrical power. They're lit by a hanging bulb which I try not to use because people on different shifts sleep in the tent at all hours. Rooms of the tent are seperated by hospital-style privacy curtains. It's comfortable as long as your expectations aren't too high. Unfortunately, the living area is positioned between the airport on one side (jet engines and helicopter noises) and the Iraqi small arms training area on the other (constant pop-pop-pop of rifles firing), but you learn to tune that out. The base is transitioning from tents to trailers, so as they build more of those I might get one.
Food comes from the chow hall and seems much tastier than the stuff they served in Arizona, although the opposite could hardly be true. It's free and mostly all-you-can-eat. If you're feeling spendy, there's a Subway over by the BX and a Taco Bell that they say will almost certainly open before doomsday.
Internet is omnipresent but very slow. There are two competing civilian wireless ISPs who use different pricing systems; both seem to max out at 15-20 kbps, which is around dial-up modem speed. Military links, which I have access to all day at work, are a bit faster but are more heavily filtered and monitored. I'm not playing any online games, but I am keeping up on my webcomics and RSS feeds.
Work is...a lot of work. Our shop is manned 24/7 by two shifts, and we each get one day off per week. This leaves me with less free time than I am used to and underscores the importance of planning what to do with one's leisure in advance. The work is fun, though--I originally thought I was going to be managing paperwork my entire tour and was very happy to learn that I would be in the Network Control Center instead. It's an all-purpose troubleshooting job, and I'm doing really well at it. I'm the only one in my shop with NCC experience, which gives me a head start on everyone, and I've enjoyed training everyone on the amazing tricks you can do with an administrator account on an Air Force network. Our boss is a big bald man who never smiles and complains constantly about his superiors, but he takes very good care of us and rules fairly.
Here are a few of the more interesting things that have gone on over the last couple weeks:
- Our wing commander, a one-star general, came through and shook everyone's hand. Naturally, much makework was done in preparation for his visit, but his speech was reasonably inspirational and it made the officers happy.
- I got a coin and a certificate of appreciation from the Chief Master Sergeants of the base for some speedy work done on one of their servers. (I'm not really clear on which specific project I got recognized for--we make a lot of house calls. It'll look good on my Enlisted Performance Report, though!)
- I participated in a Patriot Detail. This is a special ceremony performed when a casket containing the body of a fallen soldier is transferred from one plane to another at the airport. It's just a bit of standing at attention and saluting the metal box with the American flag draped over it as it passes by, but it makes you think.
- EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE! Typically on Mondays they sound the sirens and simulate a missile attack. After hiding under our desks until Alarm Black gets called, we put on our helmets and kevlar and run around outside looking for missile fragments. Most of my coworkers think it's a pain in the neck, but I know better than to pass up an opportunity for unfettered silliness.
More adventures will be posted here over the coming weeks!