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Letter No. 16: Safe in Kuwait, watching the rain and
thinking of home
SAFE IN KUWAIT:
The sun sets on David Jenkins' stay in the Middle East.
/ Photo by David J. Jenkins
By
David J. Jenkins, USU class of '98
March 14, 2005 | Hello
Everyone. Greetings from Baghdad. . . .
Or, more accurately put, Greetings from Kuwait.
We arrived here at Camp Doha about four days ago. We
had to go through the same process that I endured when
I went home on leave -- fly from Camp Taji to Baghdad
International Airport via Chinook Helicopter; fly from
Baghdad International Airport to Ali A-Shareef Airport
in Kuwait; bus from Ali A-Shareef to Camp Doha. This
entire process took roughly a day and a half for our
group, but roughly three days to transport the entire
battalion down.
Many of our soldiers were required to transport vehicles
from Baghdad to Camp Doha, which required a two-day
convoy of nearly 60 trucks. They all made it down safely
last night, and I have not heard of any incidents along
the way, as of yet.
We arrived here at roughly 0100 on the 9th, and our
group of 12 were assigned to a 12-hour shift on the
wash rack, cleaning the vehicles that the 39th Brigade
brought down with them. They were unable to do it themselves,
because many of them were already on flights heading
home, and I suppose it is much easier to have the Oregon
unit clean up after them. We were put in the same position
at Fort Hood when the 2-162 Infantry was required to
clean up the motorpools for 39th Brigade Support Battalion.
I guess that is part of being "attached" to
another unit.
We arrived here in Kuwait to 90 degrees and slightly
overcast. However, the last four days have produced
about a foot of rain; 80 degrees and raining. The rain
has been intermittent, but consistent. An hour on, 20
minutes off, a mist at times and at others, torrents
that have not been seen since the Ark took to open waters
(so it would seem). Most of the buildings here in Camp
Doha are roofed with aluminum sheets. The rain echos
and vibrates as it bounces off, sounding like millions
of ball bearings falling from the sky.
Many of our troops here have contracted the flu and
with our current living conditions, the sickness is
making its way through the ranks quite rapidly. Our
entire battalion is being housed in a single warehouse.
Over 600 cots lined wall to wall with approximately
2 feet of space between them. As flu and colds go, it
is like living in a giant petrie dish, and we are in
high hopes that it will work itself through the ranks
prior to our leaving for the Pacific Northwest in a
few days.
We are hoping to begin departation from Kuwait in the
coming days. We are scheduled to begin de-mobilization
at Fort Lewis, Wash., around the 20th of March. We will
spend approximately a week at Fort Lewis and then migrate
south to spend a week in Salem, Ore., to complete the
process and return to civilian life. We should be back
to our "normal" lives by the first of April,
if all goes well.
I look forward to meeting many of you upon my return.
For those in the New York, Southern California, Texas
and Utah areas, this may take a little while to arrange,
but I am still working things out to make this happen.
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for Letter No. 1 and a photo of David J. Jenkins
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9
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10
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12
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14
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15
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