More to come ...
Posted on 02/21/2003 9:10:54 PM PST by xzins
| Mideast Notebook: Desperately seeking TP European edition, Friday, February 21, 2003
It’s not news that war creates shortages, both at home and among the troops.
The folks at home may be paying a bit more for gas because of the raging uncertainty in the Middle East, but V Corps soldiers in Kuwait are desperately short of an even more critical item: toilet paper.
Hundreds of soldiers have poured into Camp Udairi in the past two weeks, and some of them forgot to bring a roll or two.
Their units are still waiting for supplies to arrive from Europe. Toilet paper disappears from the shelves of the small AAFES exchange as soon as it arrives. The preferred emergency backups, moist towelettes and facial tissue, also are hard to find.
When care packages arrive from home, soldiers may nibble at the sweets, but they lunge for the toilet paper.
Another paper shortage
Next to toilet paper, the hottest commodity in the Europe-based V Corps units is Stars and Stripes. Reporters in the field are bombarded with requests for the paper, which is slow to arrive and scarce once it gets here. Since televisions are virtually nonexistent and there is no Internet access at places like Camp Udairi, Stars and Stripes is the only source of news for most of the troops.
In the Middle East arena, the distribution is out of the paper’s hands. U.S. Central Command in Tampa purchases the papers from Stars and Stripes and decides how many each unit will get and which units will get them.
Senior Stripes managers are trying to find a printing plant in the Middle East so the paper can reach troops quicker. But Central Command still would have to distribute it because Stripes employees don’t have access to the heavily fortified bases in the theater.
All this means that any effort to get more papers to the troops will have to start on the military side of the house. European Editor Deborah Absher has agreed to collect e-mails from servicemembers (or their families, since many deployed troops don’t have e-mail access) who would like to see more papers get to the front lines. You can write her at: absherd@mail.estripes.osd.mil.
Long lines times two
The safety officer isn’t always the most popular guy in the Army. He’s the one who comes up with all those sissy rules that suck up the time of the majority of soldiers who are conscientious and safety minded.
One such rule in Kuwait requires soldiers to clear their gun barrels before entering the chow hall. That’s got plenty of GIs gritting their teeth.
First, you need to understand that morning and evening chow are unquestionably the highlights of a soldier’s day. There’s a lot of work, and not much else, to do when you’re gearing up for war at godforsaken desert outposts. So meeting up with your buddies and eating a hot meal feels like a luxury.
You also need to understand that the chow hall lines are really long.
Twenty-five minutes is the standard at Camp Udairi, and they can stretch to more than an hour at crowded posts like camps New York and Virginia.
So standing in a long second line where every soldier has to drop the magazine on his or her rifle and pistol, clear the barrel three times, and discharge the weapon into a sand-filled barrel twice seems like a terrible hassle when you’re hungry. After all, hardly any soldiers are authorized to carry loaded weapons on post — only a handful of guards on the gates and towers. The rule serves only to protect against the dumb Joes who break the rules and stick a magazine in their pistols.
Maybe that safety officer has a point after all.
How low can they go?
A second beef with safety officers was brought up this week, this time by the helicopter pilots in the 11th Aviation Regiment. It started when the regimental safety officer established a minimum altitude below which Apache pilots may not fly.
Apache pilots’ job is to rain Hellfire missiles and rockets on the enemy.
They believe they, and not some desk jockey back at HQ, ought to decide how low or high they need to fly to get the job done.
There’s been plenty of jawing back and forth on this one. The safety officer lowered the minimum altitude a bit, but the Apache pilots want the restriction dropped completely.
The thinking here is that, when all Hellfire breaks loose in Iraq, nobody is going to be standing on a tall ladder in Baghdad with a tape measure.
Saying their prayers
Troops at Camp Arifjan, Camp Virginia and other U.S. bases in Kuwait say they are happy with their chapel options.
During the 1991 Gulf War, many of the American troops deployed to Saudi Arabia complained about not being able to openly practice their religions, in deference to host nation sensibilities.
Kuwait’s brand of Islam is less strict than in Saudi Arabia, so base chapels here are up and running.
“We’ve got a full range of religious services, including a few Muslim chaplains,” said Sgt. Maj. Larry Stevens, a public affairs officer in Kuwait with the U.S. Central Command.
Practice makes perfect
Bahraini government officials practiced a response to a chemical attack in their capital city this week. It was the first drill for the new emergency center established just weeks ago.
Bahrain came under Scud attacks during the Persian Gulf War, but little was done for public preparedness. This time, 22 sirens are in place across the island nation and Patriot batteries are on standby.
The chemical reaction drill tested a decontamination center’s ability to aid victims. Bahrainis also are being advised to create a safe room in their homes, rooms that can easily be sealed off against potential contaminants and stocked with food, water and other emergency supplies, very similar to the kinds of rooms residents of Washington, D.C., and New York City were urged to create.
— Reporters Joseph Giordono, Steve Liewer and Mark Oliva contributed to this report. Contact Joseph Giordono in Kuwait at: giordonoj@pstripes.osd.mil; contact Steve Liewer in Kuwait at: liewers@mail.estripes.osd.mil ; contact Mark Oliva in Bahrain at: olivam@pstripes.osd.mil |
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I didn't read the article (could you post a link, pretty please), but every Naval aviator that I knew thought they were as useless as a knife at a gunfight.
That is, until they were named Safety Officer. Then, it's a different story.;o)
IIRC, the Safety Officer was the most junior guy in the squadron...but I could be wrong. ;o)
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Freepers if you click on our link, look for the thread we ran February 20th which has the Chaplain's address at Camp Doha, Kuwait. Also, the February 12th thread has a list of all our service members and actual deployed freepers we are in contact with, who would appreciate your support through letters or care packages.
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Thanks and please forgive my temporary insanity.
At least, I hope it's temporary...
With a shortage of TP it's not likely you'll want to pick up any old Stars and Stripes laying around.
U.S. Central Command in Tampa purchases the papers from Stars and Stripes and decides how many each unit will get and which units will get them.
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They believe they, and not some desk jockey back at HQ, ought to decide how low or high they need to fly to get the job done.
Does any of this remind anyone else of McNamara and Viet Nam?
There's absolutely no reason for any shortages for our troops.
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