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CAMP CEDAR II, Iraq – Life has gotten way better for service men and women serving here in southern Iraq. It really began in June and has constantly improved as a dry, plain landscape has been transformed into a vibrant tent city on a mile stretch of Iraqi desert approximately six miles from Ur, the biblical birthplace of Abraham. The camp is home to, among others, the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, an active duty unit from Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., and Reserve units the 394th Quartermaster Bn. from Puerto Rico, the 362nd Quartermaster Bn. of Kinston, N.C., and the 346th Transportation Bn. out of Savannah, Ga. Since arriving in the theater on March 31, the four battalions have been instrumental in moving 66 million gallons of fuel throughout Iraq. When they moved into Iraq from Kuwait, they operated from the hastily constructed original Camp Cedar. However, the pounding high winds and fine, loose grit caused by the constant heavy truck traffic made for visibility and equipment problems at Cedar I. “At Cedar’s old location, it was a dust bowl, nothing but a dust bowl,” said Lt. Col. Myron Fronseca, commander of the 260th. “So, engineers looked for a more suitable site based on geographical and tactical considerations as a permanent camp for years to come. They found it 15 kilometers to the north, near Tallil Air Base.” The ground there is less sandy, more solid and has small vegetation to help break the winds and hold the dirt. The engineers graveled the area in June and contracted Kellog, Brown and Root to work on the camp’s infrastructures, Fronseca added. This son of Cedar I now features a dining facility, air-conditioned force provider tents, air-conditioned mobile latrines, a post exchange, a chapel and morale, welfare and recreation tents to accommodate more than 5,000 servicemembers and government civilians and contractors. “Do not let the comfortable settings fool you; the camp had a humble beginning,” said Fronseca. “All those facilities are air-conditioned. When we arrived, we had no air-conditioning units. Just a month ago, we did not even have a chapel or a PX.” “Before we got a DFAC (dining facility) in mid-July, troops had UGRA (unitized group rations – type A) field rations,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Scott Sterling of the 260th. “What you did was line up at a mobile kitchen, get your plate and move somewhere to eat it. People sometimes had to wait an hour or two. Of course, we also had MREs (meals ready to eat), and we set up microwaves so they could have hot meals without having to use MRE heat packets” Before they had air-conditioned force provider tents, soldiers lived and worked out of general-purpose tents, which had no floors and were not well suited to the dust and windy environment, according to Chaplin 1st Lt. Mark Minner of the 362nd. |
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