JBB

ok....so it has been a few weeks since my first post.  I have thought about how I have needed to probably write another post, but never quite got around to it.  Today is the day.

Joint Base Balad is my "home" while Fugitive Troop 2/278ACR is deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2010 (OIF10).  I live in H block housing, cell G, room 36.....and what a room it is!  I have half of a 12x15 foot square.  It came furnished with a wall locker, bedside table, a small 2 drawer stand, a twin bed, and a desk lamp.  I have one window and a small air conditioning unit.  After spending 2 months in a cinder block rectangle at Camp Shelby and another 3 weeks in a 70 man tent in Kuwait this little room is my own Shang-ri-La.

Life on JBB is slowly becoming "normal" as my platoon (Zombies) settles into a routine.  I have gotten comfortable being a "daysleeper" now since our work schedule and our missions don't start until 6pm or later.  Currently we are running missions about every 4-5 days. They generally last anywhere from 8-10 hours.    No bad guy activity on any of our convoys.  We are pretty aggressive in our operations and these guntrucks are very intimidating so they don't really want to tangle with us.  The only hostile thing we have encountered so far are the roads here.  Last night's mission was to a FOB north of here and the road leading into it was almost beyond description.  First of all it was about 5 miles long which is overkill and second it was full of holes and ruts.  Even at 10 mph we were getting beat up trying to negotiate this thing.  It was craters-of-the-moon bad.  The paving company that lands an Iraqi contract will make billions and be busy for the next 50 years. 

The temperature here continues to be psychotic.  We hit 96 degrees ten days ago, but haven't been in the 90's since.  The lows are in the 50's......I saw my breath the other night.  About every 7-10 days it will rain for a day or two.  The rain does weird things to the sand/dirt here.  Instead of wet sand like you would see at the beach we get what looks like chocolate pudding.  Thick, long-lasting mud.  Awesome.  It is so bad during the rain and for a few days after that there are mud condition requirements for your shoes.  MUDCON RED and YELLOW mean that you have to bring an extra pair of shoes to the gym, MWR, USO,  etc to wear inside.  I can't understand why there aren't more resorts in this country. 
Just sayin..............

SGT SCAR