This just in from Jonathan, our local soldier serving at Al Asad
Airbase in Iraq :
”
An interesting thing came up. The new base commanding general
wants everyone to put a second flag pole up to fly the Iraqi
flag.
This just in from Jonathan, our local soldier serving at Al Asad Airbase in Iraq :
“An interesting thing came up. The new base commanding general wants everyone to put a second flag pole up to fly the Iraqi flag.
It is very high priority. Well, there are many tenant commands that are coming to the Seabees to put these things up. I can’t say we should not do it, but there are projects dealing with force protection and life support that will be held off.
Very political issue that is hard to swallow at this end. The steelworkers are now scrounging the base looking for old lamp poles to use.”
A task Jonathan and his fellow Seabees tackled with great gusto was the building of a MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) hut in honor of their fellow fallen Seabee, Charles “Chuck” Komppa, an electrician in their battalion who was killed by a roadside bomb.
The walls of the huts are typically comprised of a two-inch layer of Styrofoam within each wall and another two-inch thick layer of insulation along the sheet metal ceiling to trap in heat during the winter and keep it out during the summer (when temperatures rise to 130 degrees).
Jonathan explains, “Our last MWR facility was in an old bathroom. It is something we had wanted to build since our arrival but were unable. When we finally got the go ahead we did it in about 1 1/2 days working through the night.” Chuck’s name is proudly displayed in front of the new recreation hut.
“I am a few days from leaving Al Asad Airbase to go to Kuwait. I want to thank all of you for your gifts, cards and packages. They were well appreciated, and I would encourage you to continue to support the troops out here. “The Main Body left a couple of days ago. They were a very happy bunch indeed.
A bunch of us are left with the final turnover to NMCB 28 (Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 28).
“The guys who came back (to the base) from various projects were full of tales and generally satisfied that they had done a lot of good out there.
A lot of the Marines live a pretty harsh life. The housing can be no more than dirt filled barricades with boards and sandbags for a roof. The ones who live in real buildings can have things like two wires twisted together for a light switch, and they may or may not have running water.
“With the Troop Surge happening, support capabilities are getting stressed even more than they have been.
I feel lucky to be leaving now but feel bad for the oncoming battalion. Summer is coming and they will have a hard road ahead of them. There are a lot of other new units in town and already my counterpart is getting overwhelmed with work requests on base. This also means tasking at other locations is being ramped up.
“When I leave, I will be spending a few days in Camp Moreell ‘Kuwait for ‘Warrior Transition Training.’ That’s where they let us decompress and see if we are gonna go nuts. The first thing we get to do is turn in our weapons and get out of our uniforms for a while.”
Not only will Jonathan miss his daughter’s 18th birthday, but he says, “I am pretty sure I will miss coming back in time for Easter. I will try to get a final mssg out before I fly out.”
Even though I never agreed with the U.S. decision to invade Iraq , if there’s anything we’ve learned from the war to which this one is most often compared – Vietnam – it’s that our brothers, fathers, and sons can never again be treated the way Vietnam Veterans were treated.
No matter how we may personally feel about a war, I am still proud of Jonathan’s dedication and devotion to serving his country. The troops deserve our support and a warm welcome home.
