Day 5- Basra!

posted 10.21.10 at 12:00 am
Thus begins day 5 or our USO/National Cartoonists Society drawing tour of the Middle East.  To start at the beginning, click here... 

Today was a very busy one, and had lots of deviations from the schedule, for various reasons.


Got up bright and early, ate quick and headed to the deportation area for our next C-130, this time to Basrah. Located extreme south in Iraq, we're not far from the Arabian Sea (formerly known as the Persian Gulf), and a stones throw from Iran.
Once we landed we were transported to our CHUs (Containerized Housing Units.  Trailers.  Military love their acronyms) and had a little free time to get acclimated to our new surroundings.  
This time the quarters were cramped, and everybody had to fight for the few electrical outlets for camera and phone charging.  Our bathroom and shower were in the next trailer over, and in between us was our own bunker!
The threat of RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) shot into the grounds is still there around these bases, and though less frequent these days, the 'INCOMING' warning still happens up to a few times a week.  We were told what to do if we hear one (hit the deck, cover your eyes and ears and keep your mouth open!), and when to make a break for the bunkers.  Luckily we never had to do this (though there was an RPG thrown into one of the bases we stayed at, it was in another part of the camp, out of our earshot.  More on that later), as I can't imagine a group of bleary eyed, half asleep cartoonists marching orderly to anything, much less when a siren is blaring in our ears to warn of imminent danger.
From here we were driven to the 'Haji' shops. These offensively nicknamed bazaars are little makeshift stores on base run by locals. Tshirts, hookahs and lots of cheap souvenirs (most made in China) to be bargained for.
We then headed to draw in the HQ of 'the Big Red One', home of the 1st infantry, where it was finally time to draw.  (The 1st infantry is just that, the first.  It was created for WWI, and every subsequent regiment formed after this one has a corresponding sequential number attached to it.  They even made a movie about it, called 'The Big Red One', starring Mark 'Luke Skywalker' Hamill.)

We split up into two groups here and headed to two locations in the building for the next hour or so. My group drew in the 1st reg building, the other headed to the hospital. Then we all met with the General of the 1st infantry, and were awarded challenge coins from the regiment and each got a shoulder patch of their number 1.


Before we knew it it was chow time.  I never thought we'd eat so good out here.  The dining facilities (DFACs) are loaded with fresh fruit, salad bars, carving stations, grills, you name it.  Plus it seemed like we were always eating!  By 2 or 3 days in a few of us had to remind ourselves that cheeseburgers and Indian food might not be a wise choice for EVERY meal.  Personally, I had to fight off the all you can eat soft serve.  I wish I could've gotten pictures of some of this, but absolutely no cameras in the DFACs.  They don't want any layout information of the interior of these crowded areas to get into the wrong hands.  There's no bags, either.  A few years ago, an Iraqi national who worked on the base wandered into a DFAC with a backpack loaded with explosives.  He blew himself up, along with 30 some soldiers.

After dinner we headed to the USO center on base.
Again we split up, half in the theater area, half in the common area, and set up at tables each in front of our name cards and drew for the servicemen and women as they lined up.  As usual, these are the highlights of the trips (and the reason we're there!) as it's inspiring to hear everyone's stories, learn where they're from, etc, and to know we, as cartoonists can indeed make a difference, even in a place as desolate and barren as the Iraqi desert.

Once we finished we hung out here for another hour, where we were allowed to use the computers and make phone calls.  The USO has it set up so anyone here can call home free of charge and use computers to Skype around the world.  They also have video games set up, movies, American TV, and food.  If you're gonna be on base, the USO centers are where you can unwind and enjoy a little piece of home.

Then it was back to the CHUs and some free time. Some of us stayed to chill out, another group wandered off to the rec center to play pool on arguably the worst maintained pool table I've ever played on. Then, lights out, preparation for another early morning, mere hours away.

Next post: Baghdad!


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