Pictures-- Building one of the 14 "Enduring U.S. Bases" in Iraq

In honor of the 2nd anniversary of the Iraq War, here are some pictures of quarters being constructed for US soldiers, which are posted on the Central Command website, along with a CentCom article. It's great that these soldiers will no longer have to suffer in tents, but... this all is starting to look mighty permanent. What is happening to our "exit strategy"?

Is this the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning? I have the feeling that we'll be occupying Iraq for a very, very long time.



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Solid walls beats tent living

By Pfc. Abel Trevino, 28th Public Affairs Detachment

LOGISTICS SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, BALAD, Iraq – Personnel coming in and out of LSA Anaconda will have more livable conditions for their temporary stay as the tents at the Personnel Processing Center are replaced with wooden housing structures.

“The tents were in poor shape,” said Tom Horner, billeting manager at the PPC. “Many of them had large holes in them. They were raggedy. They leaked, and they didn’t provide much insulation against either the heat or the cold. “These are much more comfortable quarters. We’ve had Soldiers come through and tell us how great they were and say they’re actually better than where they were living for the past year.” Other problems with the fabric structures included wiring issues, resulting in the Department of Public Works constantly repairing the heating and air conditioning for the tents, he said.



Construction to replace the 140 tents started in mid-November by the 84th Combat Engineer Battalion and was continued in January by the 463rd Engineer Battalion. When the 463rd took over the project, there were 62 structures left to complete. The tentative completion date for the final 18 is March 15.

Each structure is built from scratch. “We take the tent off and start with the concrete pad and build the whole structure,” said Sgt. 1st Class Wayne Yoho, 463rd Engineer Battalion NCO in charge. The 16-by-38-feet plywood structures have metal roofs and take about four days to complete. “When we finish a row, within a week there are people moving into them,” Yoho said. For many of the Soldiers who travel to the post, the newer facilities are a welcome change.

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http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/03_05/20.htm

miserable world of ours.

n/t

Get your pre-construction prices now!!!

I thought the 14 bases, were permanent, both in their own right and to replace the ones we left in Saudi Arabia.

Don't forget, also, Baghdad has the largest American Embassy ever.

"We’ve had Soldiers come through and tell us how great they were and say they’re actually better than where they were living for the past year"

Nevermind how much better they are than how the Iraqi's have been living for the past two.

disgraceful

Someone is MAKING A BUNDLE HERE. WOOD???? WOOD????? In a country where wood is rare as a hen's tooth? All that wood is IMPORTED!!! Wood BURNS when hit with a mortar!!! Wood has to be put together with hammer and nail!!!!

Now, Halliburton, KBR, and all of the other assorted greedy ripoff pigs who profit from this war should be shot for their thievery, but one thing that they do, and do WELL, is create PREFAB BASES. You pour a pad, you slap what is, essentially, a TRAILER on it. The trailer is prewired, prelighted, and in some cases has built in furniture. It's how they got Camp Bondsteel up in a heartbeat. Best part: you can take them WITH YOU when you go.

Who is benefitting from this bullshit? What lumber supplier? WTF?????????

Guess when the idiot boyking said "Got WOOD?" during the debate, he knew what he was talking about....bet the "small businessman/president' profited off this move! I can imagine no other reason!

Bloggers - on your mark, get set, GOogle!!

http://www.comarkbuilding.com/govbuild.html takes you to the website of a big gov't contractor (there are many others):
We work closely with government project managers, technical reps, contracting officers and end users to develop a range of building solutions, including:

• Office and administrative space
• Barracks & dormitories
• Training centers
• Command headquarters
• Communication centers
• Checkpoints
• Detention facilities
• Research and testing facilities
• Outposts

I worked in one of these "temporary structures" for over two years. They're quite sturdy, and last forever. I also worked, years ago, in a WW2 era Quonset hut that I really liked...they finally put us in "new" buildings, but it wasn't as roomy or bright as that crappy old Quonset!

and who supervises construction who will make the killing. I suspect Halliburton. Check out how much they charged to bring propane to Iraq:

Pentagon questions Halliburton charges
Associated Press


WASHINGTON — Pentagon auditors questioned more than $108 million in costs claimed by Halliburton on its $875 million contract to provide fuel in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, according to records released Monday.
The Defense Contract Audit Agency also faulted Halliburton subsidiary KBR for failing to provide the records necessary to evaluate spending on the contract. The data KBR gave the auditors didn't match the company's internal accounting records, the agency said in a report dated Oct. 8.

The charges auditors questioned included a payment of $27.5 million to transport $82,000 worth of propane.

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said Monday the company gave the auditors all of its necessary records. She repeated the company's position that it did not overcharge for fuel delivered to Iraq.


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http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/news/ci_2608775

You know it. The whole "got wood?" thing makes sense now.

Plywood has gone up somewhere around 300% over the last 2 years, with some of the higher grade woods more than that. YOUR tax dollars paid KBR to buy up all the plywood and ship it to Iraq, and for your "patriotism" you get to buy the same thing here for your own home at 3 times the price now!!

guess where their plywood went...

Parts of Florida have yet to recover from the storms, their building supplies went to Iraq, and all Congress did this week was make Mark McGwire cry?

:wtf:

Your comment about *'s "Got wood?" statement is a good one. I said the same thing during the '03 State of the Union when he said steroids is a problem in sports, and now just look who Congress is paying attention to this week. :wow:

We think he makes some of the boneheaded statements out of the blue, but time and distance reveal the real agenda.

It will astound & enrage you.

That is REAL plywood, not the chipboard crap they build houses with in America too .. man, I am so damn sick of this administration!

The US has to have major military bases in the ME and that was in the plans going in to Iraq. I must agree that if they are going to keep American soldiers there indefinitely, they should have quarters better than a tent and open trench latrines. No matter who gets to run this country in the future, our presence in the ME will be like it is in other potential areas of unrest.

And it was in great shape--wore like a champ, everything worked, plenty of electrical outlets, well lit, the only thing I needed to do was update the carpeting. The quonset hut I worked in before that had a few issues (the roof leaked, nothing that some hot tar and a hunk of metal didn't fix) but that was quite old by the time I got there.

This seems to me to be a combination of profiteering and busy-work. After all, idle hands are the devil's playground! When our fearless troops aren't quietly struggling not to shit their pants out of sheer terror on patrol, they must be kept busy with hammer and nail, and away from the computer terminals where they'll post their "blogs" on them there infernal internets!!!

what the delivery charge is going to be for these beauties.

First shipment of LTVs arrives at ANA depot

Story by U.S. Air Force Maj. Lynnane George, Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan (OMC-A) Defense Resources Sector

KABUL, Afghanistan ¯


The Rangers arrived by way of Thailand, hidden in containers, waiting for their chance to spring free. When the prearranged time came, they exited, moving into position effortlessly. Another successful mission, but this time, the Rangers weren’t quite what you’d think.
The first shipment of Ford Ranger Light Tactical Vehicles for the Afghan National Army recently arrived at the ANA supply depot here. The delivery of 83 brand-new, 4x4 double-cab pick-up trucks, produced by RM Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, was only the start of an anticipated total of 5,160 vehicles scheduled for delivery to the ANA over the next 18 months. Shipped by U.S. Defense Transportation System carrier American President Lines, they will be distributed to the ANA to provide critical transportation for troops and cargo.

“This was a significant step in meeting the ANA’s need for tactical vehicles,” said Defense Resource Sector program manager U.S. Air Force Maj. Lynnane George of the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan. “Along with the need to rebuild the ANA came a need to provide transportation for troops, so fielding the vehicles became a top priority.” A family of light tactical vehicles was needed to perform a variety of missions -- including emergency medical transport, transportation for material and troops, and field vehicle repair capability.

<snip>

The U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive and Armament Command in Warren, Mich., awarded the first contract for 583 trucks on 30 December. The same day, a second contract for an additional 400 vehicles was awarded. These first 983 vehicles are 2.5-Turbo diesel crew-cab pick-up trucks, which will meet the ANA’s need for cargo vehicles. Delivery of the remaining 900 trucks is expected in the spring. These agile vehicles are dubbed Severe Off-Road Vehicles (SORVs) and are fitted with extra-heavy suspension systems, enabling them to better survive the harsh terrain and extreme conditions found in Afghanistan. Each truck also arrives complete with two years of spare parts and manufacturer recommended maintenance.

"OMC-A, the TACOM offices and the Ford Motor Company worked closely together to tailor the SORV Ranger for the Afghan National Army,” said Len Delunas, regional manager for RM Asia. “The next steps will see Ford's SORV Ranger platform extended to meet a wide range of specialized operational needs."

The vehicle fleet will consist of a total of five variants including cargo, emergency response, personnel/tactical and personnel/command trucks, as well as maintenance vans included in the mix. At an anticipated delivery rate of about 415 vehicles per month, the ANA’s projected fielding requirements should be met by April 2006.


http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/03_05/22.htm

That's a cool $50 million if we could get them for $10,000 a piece (not likely).

...but that is nothing really I suppose when the Pentagon loses trillions of dollars.


Olaf

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/kirkuk-airbase.htm

Kirkuk is a major Iraqi Air Force base with support facilities for at least two fighter squadrons. It is strategically located near the Kirkuk oil fields and the Kirkuk refinery and petrochemical plant.
According to the "Gulf War Air Power Survey", Kirkuk had 24 hardened aircraft shelters. At the each end of the main runway are Hardened aircraft shelters knowns as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were build by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985. Kirkuk Airbase occupies a 9 square kilometer site and is protected by 12 kilometers of security perimeter.
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...early in the fight, air traffic control and landing systems flowed onto the base. Once sited, a tactical air navigation system was the first system to be set up. In a mere matter of hours the system was up and running through alignments and tests. Following soon after, an MSN-7 mobile tower was set up, providing communications capability to air traffic controllers. Finally, a TPN-19 mobile radar system was sited and installed. This was to be the first operational use of the TPN-19 as an in-route center radar system. The mission is a big change from the typical terminal approach control normally conducted with the TPN-19. In route or air center control was performed across the entire northern part of Iraq, which required the radar and air-ground radios to perform far beyond normal requirements. Kirkuk AB matured quickly the mission grew every day as northern Iraq increasingly depended on this resupply and airpower hub. The communication requirements continually grew and expanded into mission areas not traditionally provided by expeditionary communicators.

Members of the 506th Air Expeditionary Group and the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade teamed up to educate Kirkuk residents on public health issues, safety and the well-being of the city. Members of the Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams in Kirkuk, have removed and destroyed more than one million pounds of ordnance.

Contractors worked into the evening to complete a dormitory that will house up to 1,664 airmen in 13 buildings with six to eight people to a room. Each dorm will feature its own latrine with 14 sinks, eight toilets and eight showers. The new dorms were scheduled to open 01 December 2003. The units were originally purchased by U.S. Air Forces in Europe and earmarked for construction at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, for Operation Northern Watch.

Few Americans have any idea about the 14 "Enduring Bases". Note to America: There is no Exit Strategy, and never was, because WE ARE NOT LEAVING IRAQ.

Chalmers Johnson documents our Empire of Bases (chapter 6)in the book. He warned of the installation of permenent bases in Iraq and Afganistan. We are not there just for the oil, but to be a presence There.

We've displaced tens of thousands of Iraqis, who are homeless, living in streets or camping out in refugee tents.

We obliterated Fallujah and left the majority of its residents without homes.

Now--just look at our priorities.

While the Iraqis suffer without electricity, water and safety--our soldiers will lounge in newly built, air-conditioned (see the air conditioning units in each structure?!) homes that stand inside the safety of fortified walls.

So I guess McCain knows about a 10-20 year supply in Iraq. After that those wells stop pumping fossil fuel and just pump fossils.

we're in for a good, hard slog.

But at least Iraq's oil money is paying for the war! Oh, wait a minute...

crumbling infrastructure, until I realized there's no oil in America. It's all over there with the Little Brown People(TM).

And the Village Idiot will not be visiting anytime soon. Ole' Chimp-boy has better things to do, like chop down a tree, or blow holes thru the caribou to get to that Black Gold, Texas Tea... Alaskan Oil!

There are so many civilians suffering over there. Where is their shelter? Oh yeah, I bet they get any tents left over after the military is done with them. :eyes:

local cement companies wouldn't it?

..with a bit of cement, and of course, good quality steel I-beams and a compression system at the base (to counteract earthquakes, which happen--I know, been there!!!) would do the trick--faster, safer, sturdier, and cheaper, than what they are doing with these stupid, who-the-fuck-came-up-with-this-dumb-idea wood structures.

If we really meant to leave, we'd bring in prefabs. If we really meant to stay, we'd do local MILCON (those bricks and I-beams I spoke of, and good German contractors for those super-secure facilties) to US specs. Forms, poured concrete, steel beams...and Bob is indeed yer uncle!

What this tells me is that we are dividing the baby, we have no fucking clue. Wood buildings are just STUPID. It's a stopgap measure, a WTF??? effort.

It's raining in Iraq now. Major funk. Just the thing to start some serious woodrot going on. And wait till the delightful summer, where the temp routinely exceeds 100F! They'll be wanting those halfassed tents!

Those suckers are going to hotter then hell in the summer. Even though they tend to collapse in earthquakes, the reason that brick construction is prefered is: 1.locally available materials, 2. much more suited for a climate of extremes.

I have been in old Iranian homes in the summer and they are quite plesant, sans air conditioning. In fact I have seen pictures of a quite efficent passive cooling system used in Yazd that must be hundreds of years old - simply a cooling tower to draw in cool air and exaust the warm.

I am very familiar with that nation under the Shah. You probably already know that he was responsible for the improvement in building codes throughout the region. He was the first to MANDATE the I-beam construction I spoke of, as well. His success, which greatly reduced earthquake fatalities in certified buildings, was copied by his neighbors in Iraq and elsewhere. What they would do is do a double layer of the bricks, with either rebar or I-beams (or both) to hold the structure up, so that even if it collapsed, the walls would fall away, the floors remain, and the people would survive. He was quite ADAMANT about construction--if you ever want to buy a good house in Iran, buy one that was built between 1973 - 1979. They let shit slide before or after those dates.

I lived in a few Shah-spec homes. One was poured/formed concrete with rebar, the others the famous yellow bricks with I-beams (one covered with a fancy marble veneer, no less!). The poured concrete one won hands down, but that could be because the swamp cooler servicing the place was way better than the others, AND it was dug into the side of a hill, increasing the winter heating/summer cooling potential!

Who cares, as long as we can import 100,000 air conditioners, which we can run 24/7. The rest of the country may have lengthy blackouts, and the insurgents keep bombing the generating plants and transmission lines serving the general public, but we got our own, so no problem.

the US will be missing more of our tax money and not know where to find it. Halliburton is SO good at skimming...<stealing>
I knew we would never leave Iraq when we went in, at least not until the oil and contracts dry up.

I would fly the Ho Chi Mihn trail in Laos all night and then try to sleep in this hot mother during the day. Fortunately, it was only a four week TDY during Operation Lam Son 719.