Stranded at Dublin

Normally those three little words would be a cause for celebration, but when it's Camp Dublin vs. Dublin, Ireland and not a pint of Guinness to be found then there is a HUGE difference. The sandstorm that left an inch of powder on Baghdad has disrupted the airflow and now I am just a needle in a stack of needles trying to get to Kuwait. Think the MeNSTiC-I LNO said there are roughly 160+ folks back logged @ Sather AB. Nice, very nice. So I am hanging out with the good folks @ Camp Dublin again today. And the hospitality has been awesome.

Rather than sleeping in a tent with about 30 others that are stranded, I have my own room and shower. No midnight walks to the head or cadillac for this kid. No hauling all my toiletries in the morning to the shower. No having to wear ear plugs because the guy in the next bunk is snoring like a freight train. Nope, I got nine solid hours of rack time last night. I have access to the Internet and will be able to chillax while I wait for the airflow spigot to be turned back on. And hopefully that'll be sooner rather than later.

What's that? Where is Camp Dublin you ask? Well, it is within the Victory Base Complex (VBC) which occupies the area surrounding the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Within the VBC you have about ten smaller camps with Camp Victory being the primary component. The Al-Faw Palace, which serves as the headquarters for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq (which will soon be renamed United States Forces-Iraq), is located on Camp Victory. For those of you that watch the Colbert Report, he did his show while he was in Baghdad from the Al-Faw Palace. Also within the VBC you have Sather Air Base, Camp Liberty, Camp Striker, Camp Slayer, and Camp Kloecker. Also within VBC are a few Iraqi run camps, and Camp Dublin is one of those.

The organization I work for has about a dozen folks assigned to Camp Dublin and are in charge of training Iraqi National Police and the Emergency Response Battalion (more on that later). The camp is right outside of Sather Air Base, so it is a convenient staging area for our organization when trying to get out of the country on leave or pass. All I know is that I am thankful it is here and sure do appreciate all the hospitality they have shown me.

Quas Out!