A topsy-turvy life

October 11, 2006

H6 is an interesting place.

This maze of while metal trailers, tents, sandbags and massive concrete barriers is home to the 130-ish Little Rock Air Force Base airmen stationed here at Balad Air Base.

Walkways are made out of concrete and wooden pallets to ease the trek through the deep gravel and dirt that blankets the ground. When the rain starts in a couple months, those pathways will be the only protection from the mortar-like mud.

But the scenery isn't what's so interesting.

It's the people.

The line at Dining Facility 2 was huge tonight. It's the only chow hall of the four here on base within walking distance to H6.

We went with Capt. Jen Fuller and her crew.

They had just woken up, as had most of the Little Rock Air Force Base folks. These C-130 crews work 12-hour days, most of which span the hours when others sleep. Some crews fly in the daytime, but even those fliers start work in the single-digit hours before dawn. So it’s sleep when you can.

Fuller's crew has been flying nights, starting work around 4 p.m. every day and ending around dawn. They sleep through the day and start all over again. On down days between flights, they stay up all night to stay on schedule.

This place is like a ghost town during the day. No one in the Little Rock Air Force Base neighborhood of H6 moves during the day. At dusk, however, everything changes.

The day shift crews come home and head to bed — and the night crews come alive.

You'll find Maj. Paul Wilson walking laps through H6. There’s a pilgrimage that moves toward the chow hall. Inside, crews wave at one another in the crowd. They live within 100 feet of one another, but rarely see each other because of the crazy schedules.

Afterward, crews visit as they pass each other, holding cups of coffee. Some crews don't see other crews for days on end.

They go to the swimming pool at night, or to a movie. Some just sleep. The movie theater here is not bad. It's dirty, but what here isn't dirty.

Seriously. We had what's called a brown out last night, a dirt storm. The fine dirt that covers this country infused the air, turning it a reddish brown. You could taste the dirt. It coats everything.

So it's not surprising that the red, cloth-draped walls of the theater here at one of Saddam Hussein’s old Iraqi Air Force bases are coated in dirt. It looks like an auditorium from a large high school or small college. Snacks from a Subway and Baskin Robbins are sold in the lobby.

Soldiers and airmen pile into the theater and take seats. We got there an hour early to snag coveted seats in the balcony. In front of us, soldiers stacked their rifles and machine guns against the wall.

This is life in Balad. Eat, sleep, fly. And every now and then, take a field trip to the pool or a movie.

Posted by editor at October 11, 2006 04:11 PM