Baghdad Blues

T-walls, Trailer Parks and Desert Dust.

By Charlie

Monday, July 7, 2008

When I first arrived in Iraq on my first tour I expected something more akin to the set of “Lawrence of Arabia”, or other Hollywood movies I had seen over the years. I have yet to see areas such as that in the Iraq, the only camels I have seen have been in the southern Arab countries like Kuwait and Qatar. The most striking thing I noticed is the sand or lack thereof. Although it is a dessert, there is more vegetation than I expected and a lot of brown dirt. The “sand” is the consistency of talcum or baby power. Dust/sandstorms are a common occurrence. One of the first things you notice when arriving in Iraq is how dirty, trashy, dusty and brown everything is. Dust/sandstorms are a common occurrence. At times the breeze, if there is one, is like a hot hair dryer or heat gun blowing you entire body with talcum powdered dirt. The dust permeates everything; there is nothing to keep it out of everything you own. Extra large zip lock bags work for something’s, however they don’t stop it all the dust. Prior to this tour I purchased the most inexpensive laptop computer for use here, as I doubt that it will last much beyond this tour.

The other things that are so prevalent are the t-walls and trailer parks that are every place. What is a t-wall you may ask? T-walls are a somewhat generic term for concrete barriers. They come in many size's, however the most common one I see is about 12 -15 feet tall by 6 feet; sort of an inverted T so that the wider part sits on the ground. The walls surround the entire complex and most every building in Iraq has t-walls around them unless the buildings are hardened by design. Given the fact that this Victory Base Complex is approximately the size of Lawrence, perhaps you could understand that the entire town would be surrounded by walls. Most all of the major roads in the complex have t-walls running down one or both sides. Given a cost of $500.00 to well over $1,000.00 each depending on size and manufacturer, this may give you an idea of the expense of the walls.

The walls do serve important functions: they stop virtually all small arms fire, provide protection for mortar and rocket attacks and IED blasts. The walls direct and divert traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian. They also block lines of sight from the "Bad Guys" But in my mind not all is good with these walls. It's like not being able to see the forest for the tree. They create a vast gridlock that backs up traffic for miles. It's like being a rat in a maze. My biggest complaint about these walls is what they do to the sounds of the place; they distort the direction that sounds come from. When you live in an area where gunfire is common, I consider that complaint an important one. While sitting outside the back of our barracks shortly before I went home on leave, one of the guys in my unit asked what some of my plans were. I responded that it was going to be nice to sit in my back yard and not hear gunfire. None the less, there a convoys of t-wall which arrive daily? Companies also make them here on the spot. They remain in high demand.

But what about what goes on in and around those walls. There are still some remaining buildings remaining from Saddam's regime. In an area about the size of the main KU campus, there are about as many large building as on the main campus. Many of them do have serious structural issues due largely to our Air Force that doesn't often miss their target. The remaining usable buildings are occupied as use for offices, living quarters etc. Those few useable buildings leave an enormous need for additional space. By and large we need more for additional office, living and.

The space has been filled by trailer parks, surrounded of course by t-walls. While there are many other permanent buildings that have been constructed or repaired, they are vastly outnumbered by the trailers. On my last tour after a few months, we moved into sleeping rooms in a trailer park with two guys to a room. The trailers were about 40 feet long divided into three rooms. The bathrooms and showers were about a block away; they were trailers also. We do have lots of porta-johns for support. These trailers haven't changed much in the couple of years I was gone, except now there are now 3 -4 people in the same space.

That is a quick view of the surroundings I live in.

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Posted by smerdyakov (anonymous) on July 7, 2008 at noon (Suggest removal)

Great blog... and nice pics. Have a Flickr or Youtube site, etc?

Posted by armyguy (anonymous) on July 7, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I have a flickr account, same name as the blog

Posted by alm77 (anonymous) on July 7, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Charlie, thank you so much! This was exactly what I was asking for when you "took requests" on your last blog.

I do have another question, what is the best way and what is the best thing to send to troops in need?

Keep up the great work!!

Posted by smerdyakov (anonymous) on July 7, 2008 at 3:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thanks

So no tornadoes yonder, I hope?

Posted by armyguy (anonymous) on July 8, 2008 at 11:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The best way to send anybody anything here is USPS, parcel post. It gets here just as fast as more expensive mail. All mail goes into the Army system after being delivered in NY or CA, and get delivered at the same.

As far as what to send, everyone is different. I would suggest you ask or sign up someone at www.anysoldier.com It is a good website I know people who have used it on both ends.

Posted by OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) on July 8, 2008 at 10:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Charlie,

thanks for blogging. It's interesting to hear things from your perspective. Your comment about the things feeling like a maze is mirrored in this recent story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25414317/

do you think overall the walls are helping or hurting? there are reports of them being used to split different sects and neighborhoods and your comments about the sound distortion and slowed traffic sound dangerous, as well. are they making things worse, neutral, necessary evil?

Posted by snowmassskier (anonymous) on July 20, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Holy cow! My cousin used to complain that Aurora, Colorado is the land of "fences". I'm sending her a copy of this! Just read your e-mail today. You should be able to find a really good job in construction when you get home...I'd start in Colorado, at least the sage brush keeps the wind from blowing the dirt around.

Baghdad Blues

T-walls, Trailer Parks and Desert Dust.

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