Reporting from Iraq

Today I said goodbye to the battalions at Camp Stryker in southwest Baghdad, the 4-14 Calvary, the 4-23 Infantry and the brigade support battalion. I flew a few minutes north, over most of the city and some rural areas dotted with date orchards along the Tigris River and arrived at Taji, a base that hosts the brigade’s 2nd Battion 1st Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion 17th infantry regiment, and 4th Battalion 11th Field Artillery Regiment. Taji is quite different than the base in southern Baghdad. At Camp Stryker, there are several other camps and bases attached to each other, forming a sprawling, secured zone for coalition forces. Many soldiers with the brigade estimate the complex covers a larger area than Fairbanks proper, and likely has more people residing there. Some soldiers refer to it appropriately as an “FOB-opolis” — FOB meaning forward operating base. Different units and groups of contractors occupy various niches. There are several dining facilities, PXs or base stores and fast food restaurants. Aside from tents and trailers and military vehicles, the base is dominated by what must be thousands of gray, concrete blast walls and bunkers in place to protect against mortar attacks.

Taji looks similar to Camp Stryker in many ways, but soldiers live differently here. The base used to be an important Iraqi Army Base and many of the structures still remain. Soldiers with 2-1 are staying in long, open warehouse-type buildings dubbed appropriately as “barns.” Each barn holds a company worth of soldiers, usually more than 100, in bunks positioned in one large open area. They, like the soldiers at Camp Stryker, use porta-potties and have running water for showers.

The barns do have electricity and air conditioning and, recently, soldiers began installing Internet connections in their quarters.

Several soldiers said they prefer the barns to tent living, although neither offers an optimum amount of privacy.

While truckloads of personal gear were returned to the brigade after the extension, many soldiers have decided not to open what they packed and prefer to keep the “living out of the suitcase” aura to make it seem like their return home is imminent. Still, many have purchased small comforts at the PX and local shops available on base. Who wouldn’t feel a little more at home with a giant Winnie the Pooh fuzzy blanket?

While Taji has a large PX and two dining facilities, along with a food court that includes Subway, Taco Bell and the sinful Cinnibon, the 2-1 soldiers have to take a 10-minute bus ride between the amenities and their living quarters. Some have even purchased bikes to make their way around base. Some say it’s an inconvenience, while others say they prefer to hunker down in their own area away from some of the other units that have been here several months.

One highlight of the base is a 25-meter swimming pool, a popular area for soldiers during the high temperatures. The Alaska-based soldiers even convinced the powers that be on base to keep the pool open through October. Normally the pool closes at the end of September as temperatures begin to cool in the autumn season. But with the afternoons still reaching into the high 90s, the soldiers made a convincing argument that they could hack the chilling waters in the unheated pool and that it should be made available for a little while longer.