CAMP PHOENIX: RSOI AND BEEPING GATORS |

Name: Sideways
Deploying to: Afghanistan

I’ve arrived at Camp Phoenix for the last part of my RSOI. It’s taken a week to get here but we’ve made the best of it. For the most part that’s what troopers do; they find bright spots in nearly every situation. The ability to smile or laugh can make all the difference in how your day ends.

We dragged our bags of the helicopter and found billeting. It’s a tent with plywood rooms and crude doors with hasp locks on them. We claim bunks, breaking into familiar groups and staying with those we’re most comfortable with. Weeks of living in confined spaces can test the nerves of even the most reasonable people. On our way out to chow I stop to put a lock on the door and when I jiggle it to make sure that it’s secure the wall falls down and I find myself staring back into the room where all of our bags are. I prop the plywood wall back up and kick the nails in with my boot. I chuckle a bit and we head to chow.

Later that afternoon I venture out across Camp Phoenix with a buddy and try to find the “WiFi office” so we can sign up and get online. We wander across camp and ask no less than three people for directions before finding a connex that’s been converted into an office and get our accounts set up. As we meander back across camp we cut through the motor pool where squads of soldiers are working on their MRAPs. We pass a pair of reflective-belt-clad troopers on a six-wheeled Gator who are wearing ballistic helmets in the unlikely event that they’re ejected from their low-speed vehicle. They’re oblivious to our presence, and as we walk by the Gator lurches into reverse. The passenger looks over his should to guide the vehicle back and begins to say loudly: “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP…..” just like a garbage truck.  My buddy and I laugh.  “Soldiers will be soldiers” he says. 

Camp Phoenix is no Bagram and I’m glad for that. It’s much smaller and there is a large international presence which makes for great people watching. Folks here generally seem to be busier, largely because this is not a transient hub like Bagram is. The chow is decent, the water’s hot, and while the mattress I got would most likely be rejected by any respectable homeless man for a piece of cardboard there is little to complain about. 

I haven’t been able to read much but I have been talking to a lot of folks about their time here in Afghanistan and what they think. It’s a mixed bag for the most part. Some are optimistic, others skeptical of a positive outcome and many are just keeping their heads down, doing their jobs and not really thinking about what this place will look like two years from now. That’s certainly understandable.

I’m going to pick up a Stars and Stripes tonight and see what they’re talking about. I hope to get more up on the blog in the days ahead, but until I actually start working at my job I’ll focus more general observations and some of the atmospherics here at the camp. 

Comments

[Robert Wiser]

Looking forward to hearing more from you. God Bless and keep your head in the game. Stay safe. Thank you for being there for us. Your service is not unappreciated.

Robert Wiser

[Tyrell Mayfield]

Thanks Rob! Working on the next post now.. I've arrived at ISAF HQ.
cheers.
Ty

[Ann]

Thanks for the descriptions. I want to close the distance between me over here stateside and what men and women are living through during this war, and you are helping me do that. Stay safe.

[craig baumberger]

Sounds a lot like our camps south of the DMZ, just north of the Imjin River in South Korea back in 1975. We had a big advantage because there was not a war going on. I remember the place and things that happened there. They are my souvenirs.

Thanks for sharing Afghanistan.

[Jim Halliday]

Sounds a lot like FOB Salerno, same stuff different place. I may be moving to Pheonix before Christmas. Stay safe, post when you can, see ya there...

[Tyrell Mayfield]

Ann,
Thanks for the note! Bridging the gap between servicemen and those at home is a big part of why I'm writing. Glad you enjoyed it.
vr
Ty

[Snap Frames Perth]

Nicely done! I look forward to seeing more of this topic on your blog, as this is something that really needs to be discussed. Thank you for constantly putting up quality information on your blog.

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[Amerisleep high quality memory foam mattresses]

Sounds a lot like FOB Salerno, same stuff different place. I may be moving to Pheonix before Christmas. Stay safe, post when you can, see ya there...