Oerdin's Iraq thread.

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 04:16

The purpose of this thread is for me to share notes, observations, and non sequiter during my deployment in Iraq. I entend to post periodic updates so that all of my friends out in polyland can follow along; I'm not vain enough to think that everyone is interested but I am hoping that one or two people out their might like to read a first hand account from the Iraqi war zone.

monkspider · February 13, 2004, 04:17

Awesome, great idea Oerdin. Take care!

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 04:17

Hello everybody,
I just thought I'd send a brief note to let everyone know I'm now settled into Camp Iron Horse located in the middle of Tikrit, Iraq. The whole base used to be Saddam Hussein's palace compound in his home town so the accommodations are pretty up scale. Overall the compound covers just over 300 acres (which is entirely enclosed by 20ft tall walls complete with gun towers), has two lakes on the grounds, a large resort (with an indoor swimming pool & sauna), and several palaces which were built for high ranking Baath Party officials. My Psyop Unit is housed in a guest house which is approximately one block from the Tirkit Presidential palace (which was heavily damaged by US missiles during the war and so cannot be used).

I'm some what surprised at how poorly built many of the buildings are especially since they were constructed for the richest and most powerful men in the country. I mean many of the walls aren't straight (they have an uneven wavy look) and the floors never seem to be perfectly flat but I guess I shouldn't complain to much since it's all covered in marble tile. Speaking of marble you folks should see the bathroom I get to use; there's a bath tub the size of three or four regular tubs made entirely out marble. One of these days I'm going to have to fill the tub and relax. The only problem is the house has a tiny water heater so I doubt there'd be enough hot water to fill it all the way up. Oh well. I'll talk to you later,

Oerdin

The Mad Monk · February 13, 2004, 04:20

Ah, roughing it in the army!

Meet the locals, yet?

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 04:25

Here's a link to a thread I started a few days ago which talks about a mortor attack the Iraqis did on Camp Anaconda located at the city of Balad, Iraq.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...18#post2719455

Here is the thread "Bye, everyone" which explains where I went to train before leaving Iraq and has various background information for anyone who's interested.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...hreadid=105520

From now on I entend to post all Iraq related updates in this thread so the other two should be allowed to die a natural death.

Chemical Ollie · February 13, 2004, 04:35

The Tikrit blogger. huh?

You can claim you took a dump in the same lavatory as Saddam.

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 04:38

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Ah, roughing it in the army!

Meet the locals, yet?

Nope, I haven't meet any of the locals other then the ones who have been hired by Kellog, Brown, & Root as cooks, janitors, or gardeners. Last night at about 21:00 we drove in a convoy from Camp Anaconda (in Balad) to Camp Iron Horse (in Tikrit). It was my first time taking part in a convoy opperation here in Iraq and the Army had filled our heads with dire warnings about the need for vigilence and the dangers of Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) attacks. The result was my friends and I were very jumpy. The whole convoy arrived without incident but I still got edgy everytime an Iraqi car or truck tried to pass us on the road.

self biased · February 13, 2004, 04:41

i can only imagine. glad to hear you're safe.

Flip McWho · February 13, 2004, 05:14

Cool. Keep us posted. I'll definitely read. Good luck also and don't get hurt on us would you.

Saras · February 13, 2004, 05:26

/subscribe/

Nubclear · February 13, 2004, 05:26

\subscribe\

self biased · February 13, 2004, 05:40

subscribe.

The Mad Monk · February 13, 2004, 05:42

/subscribe\

edit: GAH! STOP!!! This isn't Counterglow, SPAM BAD!

self biased · February 13, 2004, 05:49

own goal?

The Mad Monk · February 13, 2004, 05:54

Let's try to not kill Oerdin's thread, okay?

gamenaught · February 13, 2004, 06:01

Quote:

I am hoping that one or two people out their might like to read a first hand account from the Iraqi war zone.

Cool. Our very own embedded reporter!

DRoseDARs · February 13, 2004, 06:02

As long as you and the rest of the troops stay safe, that's all I ask.

Harovan · February 13, 2004, 06:05

I will lurk as always. It will be a welcome additional source of information.

East Street Trader · February 13, 2004, 06:22

The "palaces" looked a bit tawdry when they were shown in news clips.

Did the perimeter wall and towers have to be built or was the compound defended like that in Ba'ath party days?

BeBro · February 13, 2004, 10:34

Good idea for a thread. Thanks for sharing your impressions

MichaeltheGreat · February 13, 2004, 10:42

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Let's try to not kill Oerdin's thread, okay?

Nobody will kill Oerdin's thread. Just their ability to post in it..

Bereta_Eder · February 13, 2004, 11:03

Tell us about the Kurds!

Arrian · February 13, 2004, 11:41

I'll be reading, Oerdin. Be careful.

-Arrian

Lancer · February 13, 2004, 12:46

Hey Oerdin, how many troops are in the compound and what are their dispositions?

MrFun · February 13, 2004, 14:08

How about if we top this thread for a period of time?

I think that would be a nice little favor for the mods to do for Oerdin.

Pekka · February 13, 2004, 14:14

Great thread! Very interesting and good. Thanks for taking the time to report back to us, I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say this will be followed closely.

What's the food like? What about the atmosphere? How hot it usually gets in day time?

Spiffor · February 13, 2004, 14:16

Quote:

Originally posted by MrFun
How about if we top this thread for a period of time?

I think that would be a nice little favor for the mods to do for Oerdin.

I think it would be useless, since it'll only open the thread to more useless spam. When Oerdin has something to add to this thread (basically, his Iraq blog), he will search for it on page 10, I'm sure.

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 14:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
The Tikrit blogger. huh?

You can claim you took a dump in the same lavatory as Saddam.

I will be setting up a blog as soon as my unit takes over from the out going Psyop unit and I have sole control over one of the computers here. Until then I'm going to keep this thread alive and record a few observations and experiences.

It is an interesting thought that I may have **** in the same pot as Saddam but the reality is I live in a guest house a block away from his palace so I doubt he ever stopped by. A couple friends and I spent several hours rumaging through the build/ruins of Saddam's personal palace in Tikrit. The place got hit with no less then five tomahawks during the war and most of the second story is badly damaged. The structure itself is still standing and is built out of steel reinforced concrete but most of the inside has been badly, badly damaged by the explosions and in several places the cieling has collapsed.

Still, I'm going to go back with a digital camera and I will post a few choice pictures here at poly. I'm sure someone will like seeing the remains of Saddam's granduer.

The Sad thing is the place was very poorly layed out and archetually it looks very boring. I mean it's like Saddam never had an idea of how to build a palace other then just to make everything three times larger then in a normal house. I'm vaguely reminded of one of those old documentaries which explores the palaces Hitler had constructed for himself and other members of the Nazi party because it seems all dictators don't have any new ideas about what makes a good home or what is the most efficient lay out for a public building.

Cruddy · February 13, 2004, 14:27

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
... The structure itself is still standing and is built out of steel reinforced concrete but most of the inside has been badly, badly damaged by the explosions and in several places the cieling has collapsed.

I've lived in worse. Voluntarily.

Thanks for the blog - will look forward to further posting.

Oerdin · February 13, 2004, 14:32

Quote:

Originally posted by East Street Trader
The "palaces" looked a bit tawdry when they were shown in news clips.

Did the perimeter wall and towers have to be built or was the compound defended like that in Ba'ath party days?

The perimeter walls including the gun towers were constructed by the Ba'ath party to keep it's members safe from possible domestic attackers. It appears that even in his home town Saddam feared attack and so fortified his home.

The US has added several more "security measures" including barbed wire fences to keep people back from the walls, movable concrete blast walls & speed bumps to protect against suicide car bombers, internal concrete blast walls to subdivid the compound incase of attack, and several claymors and what not.