So last week the Trial Defense Attorneys from the CENTCOM region (Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan all gathered in Iraq for a conference. I know most people go to conferences in Germany, or Tampa, or New York but I went to a conference in Iraq. I must say it was interesting, the conference was good a lot of information on new developments in cases law and changes in Military Justice but it was also just interesting to see the other theater of operation. This was probably my only chance to see Iraq at least during this operation because we are pulling out and shutting down bases over there by the time I get done with this deployment and have my dwell time in we won’t be deploying over there. So for the military side of things, it was really cool to see and contrast the two places. Trust me they are very different. First of all we went to Camp Victory/Liberty (they are connected) This was Sadam’s palace compound so there was a lot more infrastructure already in place than there is in Afghanistan to work with already, indoor plumbing, and already electricity. So although there are port-a-potties around they are not the primary source of restroom facilities like they are here. Second we have been there longer so we have had more time to build things up and make things more city like. It was almost city like. They had a bowling alley and a spa that would rival a good American spa. They had stores that sold Coach (I’m sure they were fakes) and a grocery store that was clean. They also had an electronics store that for some reason sold washer and dryers, I haven’t really figured that one out because base doesn’t have hook up for that sort of thing but the store was selling them. I have seen best buys not stocked at well as this electronics store. It was different.
Some of the things that I noticed was that things were more spread out and there are benefits and detriments to that. You don’t feel like you are right on top of each other and things are so packed together that it just gets dirty and muddy and nasty, but you couldn’t really just walk everywhere you needed to get to either. For instance there were only two females myself and another girl there, so we were staying across base, and had to be picked up and dropped off every morning and night, we couldn’t just walk to our room when we needed to. (don’t feel bad for us though because we were in a two man chew (housing unit, really a conex converted into living quarters while all the guys were in one 20 man tent). It was difficult though because things were much further apart then they are here in Afghanistan. Each base here is a little different and some are much bigger than others. I feel pretty lucky because I can walk everywhere in no time, but we don’t have as much stuff, and our PX Is not very big at all. They even had a pool, and something comparable to a hotel for Soldiers to come while on pass and rest. We stayed there a couple night which was nice, it was still several man rooms, but a nice break I guess. The other thing is that it has lake front property!!
Really almost all the offices are on the lakes. This was Sadam’s Palace and he created a place that he could live in and enjoy. So he created lakes and filled them from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They really are beautiful, although I would never go swimming or wading in them, you never know what has been dumped in them. Plus, there are some crazy carp in them that will eat anything and I do mean anything that is thrown to them. The environment is just very different, the ratio of civilian contractors to military seems much more out of balance than here in Afghanistan. Here we have several civilians but still predominately military. And it is just plain bigger and easier to get to so they have more things there than Afghanistan. Sometimes people lump the two operations together, I have in my head at times lumped the operations as one, but they are very different that is for sure. Who we are fighting against what we are protecting and how we protect ourselves is completely different and that is strange and interesting to me. Each place each thing it different, I was talking to another Judge Advocate who is on his first deployment and is stationed in Iraq. I made a comment about how nice it was there and how it was a completely different environment and he responded with “it is a deployment, they are all the same”
“It is so not the same,” was all that I could respond. I have said this before and I am saying it again. My job, sometimes I don’t even feel like I am deployed, because the type of work I do is the same. When I go outside or my plywood walls of my office I obviously know I’m deployed but I don’t feel it all the time. But there you could really almost forget for a while because you look around and you are in a place and on a lake with people fishing and hitting golf balls into the water. Trust me the deployments are not the same, because they are not in the same place, just like my deployment experience is something completely different then someone in another job’s deployment. I don’t do route clearing, or convoy operations, I may travel some from Camp to Camp but I have other people who are worried about protecting the convoy we are traveling in. So no, every deployment is not the same and it is definitely not the same between Iraq and Afghanistan.
Just as a side note, I understand that I was as one of the bigger bases, and that the outlying camps and FOBs in Iraq are not as nice. So please understand that I am only comparing what I have seen I am not making a broad statement about all of Iraq. I am also not saying that Iraq is not a difficult deployment, simply that it is different and I don’t think you can compare the two because they are different operations and different strategies are being used in both places. The physical environment is different and that makes a difference.
