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Messy camp costs troops calls to home (kuwait)
gomemphis.com ^ | 20 APR 03 | By Cox News Service

Posted on 04/21/2003 4:25:31 AM PDT by KineticKitty

Messy camp costs troops calls to home

By Cox News Service

April 20, 2003

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait - On the eve of Easter, Fort Hood's sons and daughters couldn't call home from this miserable desert outpost because the place has been declared too messy.

The perhaps aptly named "Mayor" Bosse closed the phone tent "until further notice" and created an uproar among thousands of 4th Infantry Division troops waiting here for convoys into Iraq.

Dubbed the mayor because he is in charge of administering the camp, Mayor Bosse is actually Lt. Col. Peter Bosse, a reserve officer from Minneapolis, Minn.

It's not as though this is a scenic site. There is no vegetation - only sand and rocks and tents and tanks and Humvees and soldiers. There are also very few trash cans. Litter consists mostly of empty plastic water bottles.

The trash piles are possible breeding grounds for rodents and fire hazards, Bosse said.

The phone tent opened only a couple of days ago. Lines for a call home are hours long but soldiers willingly wait to hear the voices of loved ones.

Bosse said when the camp is clean, the phone tent will "absolutely" re-open immediately.

"I suspect that will happen soon," said Bosse.


TOPICS: Announcements; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 4id; army; campudairi; embeddedreport; forthood; iraqifreedom; ironhorse; kuwait; udairi
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Comment #61 Removed by Moderator

To: Eagle Eye
Depends upon the branch, but I am sure you didn't know that.
62 posted on 04/21/2003 6:10:49 AM PDT by flyer182
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To: Eagle Eye
And you base your knowledge of the situation on a limited time phone call made by a ticked off member of the unit who stated that lots of officers think the camp wasn't "that dirty"?

Well, I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend...

Are there really that many freepers who think that M*A*S*H was an accurate representation of the military?

63 posted on 04/21/2003 6:11:40 AM PDT by 70times7
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To: KineticKitty
Are CO's now going to have to write home their mom's for permission to put them on restriction for having a trashy unit.

(Doesn't matter what kind of trash....it's like a "thermometer" of training. If they can't keep the place clean, then the rest of their training probably isn't sticking either)

64 posted on 04/21/2003 6:11:57 AM PDT by capt. norm
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To: cajun-jack
"...it said he was a "reserve" officer.....probably an al bundy shoe salesman back home..hey bosse.....can you say "frag"? i knew you could..."
- -
Are you drunk this early in the morning?
That is the only excuse I can think of for making such a statement.
65 posted on 04/21/2003 6:13:20 AM PDT by Hanging Chad (tag appied for)
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To: CWOJackson
The only thing blowing in around here is your knowledge of the military

LOL. Guess again.

If you knew how some of these camps are constructed, you'd know that 90% of is common area. But you are there, I am here. I KNOW what the police call situation is like, not is Kuwait, but in a similar situation.

I think that you may be out of touch with the reality of the theater.

66 posted on 04/21/2003 6:14:03 AM PDT by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excessive legislation.)
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To: Eagle Eye
Stick to knitting, your knowledge of military matters is nil.

Those "reserve" officers are serving on active duty.

67 posted on 04/21/2003 6:14:12 AM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: Eagle Eye
Reserve personnel are not suppposed to be in command of RA.

Can you cite the relevant law or regulation? I'm fairly certain that a silver oak leaf is a silver oak leaf and a silver eagle is a silver eagle. And I don't think the armed forces are required to address a superior officer with "Are you in the reserves?" before complying with an order.

68 posted on 04/21/2003 6:15:18 AM PDT by AndrewC
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Comment #69 Removed by Moderator

To: flyer182
Depends upon the branch, but I am sure you didn't know that.

I could have sworn we were talking about the Army.

70 posted on 04/21/2003 6:16:19 AM PDT by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excessive legislation.)
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To: cajun-jack
How did you know! Tell your mom thanks!
71 posted on 04/21/2003 6:16:26 AM PDT by flyer182
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To: Eagle Eye
Stick to knitting and leave soldering to the professionals.
72 posted on 04/21/2003 6:16:38 AM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: Hanging Chad
nope..have to work today....although the sun is shining and going fishing and having a coupla beers doesn't sound too bad....
73 posted on 04/21/2003 6:17:19 AM PDT by cajun-jack
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To: cajun-jack
"you don't have to kill him, but it is easy enough to scare him into rightful thinking....it worked in nam....just put a claymore, grenade and strip of 60 bullets in front of his door with a note that says "you're next".....things will change drastically for the better.....immediately!! "

You strike me as the kind of individual that would have a huge need for a "Smart Weapon", cause I can't see how the regular kind could work for you.

74 posted on 04/21/2003 6:17:31 AM PDT by capt. norm
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To: flyer182
she's always willing to help the "under privileged"
75 posted on 04/21/2003 6:18:01 AM PDT by cajun-jack
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To: capt. norm
And you base your knowledge of the situation on a limited time phone call made by a ticked off member of the unit who stated that lots of officers think the camp wasn't "that dirty"?

No. I'm zulu +3 hrs. I can actually see what the conditions of a similar camp are like.

Can you?

76 posted on 04/21/2003 6:18:02 AM PDT by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excessive legislation.)
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To: capt. norm
the old timey kind worked quite well for me thank you very much.
77 posted on 04/21/2003 6:19:02 AM PDT by cajun-jack
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To: cajun-jack
You must have taken up lots of her time then.
78 posted on 04/21/2003 6:19:56 AM PDT by flyer182
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To: cajun-jack
You might be surprised at how a frag threat would go over in today's military. You would very quickly become intimate with a cell mate.
79 posted on 04/21/2003 6:20:56 AM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: CWOJackson
That so called pissant is serving in country and doing his job...and you're sitting on your arse somewhere over here calling him a jackass?

You're right. At this moment, I'm sitting on my ass, but I have been in ASTONISHINGLY SIMILAR circumstances to our troops in the region right now. By your screenname, I'd assume you can say the same thing.

I'd say that gives me some right to voice my opinion, even if it disagrees with yours. And if you read my posts, I don't believe I've ever cast aspersions on your thoughts or beliefs regarding this matter.

Picture this from the viewpoint of the grunts. It's a religious holiday. They know the family back home are gathered together, maybe hoping for a phonecall their husband/son has promised to try to make.

He's in line, waiting for an hour, and then the phonetents are shut down. Not for operational necessity. Not for technical problems. Because the Mayor has decided that there's just too many plastic water bottles lying around.

What a frigging morale booster.

I caveated a previous post by saying that the article was less than comprehensive, and, as such, we couldn't know everything. But based on the information provided, this was not the way to handle this.

Calling him a pissant and a jackass was probably too strong. You're right. He is in area serving his country right now. So are the troops he just kicked in the nuts in this display of authority.

80 posted on 04/21/2003 6:20:57 AM PDT by TontoKowalski
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