Posted on 10/17/2003 8:32:55 AM PDT by Jewels1091
Staff Sgt. Russell Garvin has a home fit for a king, or at least a deposed dictator.
Instead of living like a king, however, Garvin, a member of the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry of the Indiana National Guard, is responsible for ensuring that Saddam Husseins former Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory stays in good repair and keeps its presidential charm.
People use the facility for special events, the conference room and for the pool, he said of the palaces new role as the unofficial Camp Victory convention center.
Military units use most of the marble-clad facility, which is just outside Baghdad International Airport. An Australian army unit has one side of the palaces ground level and U.S. Army legal officials have part of the second floor. A few soldiers also call the palace home, as is evident from the BDUs drying from a clothesline on a second-floor balcony.
Garvin plays a wide range of roles, from tour guide to project coordinator, as he walks through the hallways. He halts his explanation of some of the palaces features to speak with an Army first sergeant who approaches him for some needed electrical work in his office.
If its broken, I get it fixed, Garvin said. If its dirty, he gets it cleaned. If its damaged, as is one corner of the building, he gets it rebuilt.
This is a role that hes familiar with.
Im a maintenance supervisor for a large corporation back home, Adorn Corporation in Elkhart, Indiana, he said. There are four plants there that I run.
Walking into one of the massive bedrooms, Garvin checks in on an Iraqi cleaning crew that comes to the palace twice a week.
Its usually around 40 people, he said. It takes them a good five or six hours, sometimes longer to clean the place.
Garvin has been in charge of overseeing the palaces maintenance for just over a week and will run it for a few months. Its a temporary gig, but one that came as a surprise.
I got back from Kuwait and the next day [company leaders] said Weve got something for you to do, Garvin said. I said Wow. I didnt realize what a responsibility it was for one person.
He took over the role from his sergeant major, whos attending school for a few months.
Garvin has moved into the 62-room palace, albeit into one of the facilitys main-floor bathrooms. But thats not as bad as it might seem, since the two-room bathroom is larger than many motel rooms and has enough space for a full-sized bed and all his gear.
Its so large that Garvins office is the bathrooms waiting room.
He spends most of his days, and all of his nights, at the palace, where he has also become the de facto palace security guard.
Ill get up in the middle of the night and take a walk and make sure nobodys taking down one of the chandeliers, he said.
Visitors, whether Iraqi or American, sometimes want souvenirs from the palace.
We get a lot of visitors here, he said. I dont mind that, but some people come and want to take things. Thatll just destroy the place.
What Garvin knows, but many people dont, is that what appear to be gold-plated faucets and dozens of crystal chandeliers really arent.
It looks nice, but its plastic and tin, he said. The [current] fixtures ... [seemingly] went to the cheapest bidder.
Despite knowing the palaces secrets, Garvin is still awed by the place.
If you think about how many man-hours it took to build it, its phenomenal, he said. Why one person would need all this room is unbelievable.
So far, none of the palaces former residents have come back to explain why.
LOL. You know the privates he has working under him are a lot happier since then. Can you imagine being assigned permanently to Smadge on police detail?
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