fontman
07-31-06, 03:51 PM
Columnist finds less and more in war zone
The OC Register
July 31, 2006
Register columnist Gordon Dillow has returned from a monthlong leave during which he made his third trip to Iraq as an embedded reporter with U.S. Marines. Local News Editor David Whiting talked to him about his experiences. Dillow will answer reader questions starting Friday.
Q: Why did you go to Iraq again?
A: It had been two years since I was there last, and since I often write columns about the war and Americans in uniform, I wanted to get a new and fresh perspective. Besides, I like hanging out with Marines.
Q: What were the living conditions like?
A: Much better than during the initial ground war in 2003, when Marines - and embedded reporters - slept on the ground, ate MREs and went more than a month without showers. At the larger bases, such as Al-Asad or Camp Fallujah, Marines and soldiers eat in large, civilian contractor-operated chow halls with ice cream bars, pastry counters and a wide selection of good food. There are showers and even honest-to-God flush toilets, and the Marines sleep in air-conditioned metal boxes known as "cans."
Further out, at the "forward operating bases" or "FOBs," conditions are more primitive. Marines get "tray rats" - that is, trucked-in hot food rations on cardboard trays - once or twice a day, and showers are limited. They sleep in tents or plywood huts or in old Iraqi buildings, most of which are equipped with window-unit air-conditioners - and sometimes the A/Cs actually work. Bathroom facilities are either porta-johns or open-air plywood and sandbag structures. Often the Marines have to use "WAG-bags," which stands for "waste alleviation and gelling bags." I'll spare you the details.
Q: How hot was it?
A: Actually not too much hotter than it's been in parts of Orange County recently - 110 degrees was considered a cool day; often it got over 120. But remember, while on patrol the Marines have to carry at least 60 or 70 pounds of equipment - 35-pound flak vests, helmets, ammo, grenades, water and so on - and wear boots, long pants, long-sleeved shirts and even gloves as protection against burns from bomb blasts. It wasn't uncommon for Marines to drink two to four gallons of water a day to avoid dehydration.
Q: How was the Marines' morale?
A: Despite the frustrating nature of a counter-insurgency war and increasing doubts back home, the morale was astonishingly high. A recent survey by the Stars and Stripes newspaper found that 76 percent of the U.S. troops in Iraq felt it is "very worthwhile" or "somewhat worthwhile" for the U.S. to be fighting the war, and I would submit that that number would skew even higher among the Marines I met.
Interestingly, the closer to the action the Marines were, the more time they spent "outside the wire" looking for the enemy and interacting with the Iraqi people, the better they thought of themselves and their mission. That may sound strange - the more danger they're in, the higher the morale - but it's true.
Q: How did you get around over there?
A: Moving from base to base I would travel by helicopter - Blackhawks or CH-46s or CH-53s. On vehicle patrols with the Marines I would ride in seven-ton armored "gun trucks" or Humvees. All of the Humvees used outside the large bases are now heavily armored, and most are air-conditioned.
CONTACT US: Do you have a question for Gordon Dillow about Iraq? Contact him at 714-796-7953 or GLDillow@aol.com. His answers will appear Friday in this space.
The OC Register
July 31, 2006
Register columnist Gordon Dillow has returned from a monthlong leave during which he made his third trip to Iraq as an embedded reporter with U.S. Marines. Local News Editor David Whiting talked to him about his experiences. Dillow will answer reader questions starting Friday.
Q: Why did you go to Iraq again?
A: It had been two years since I was there last, and since I often write columns about the war and Americans in uniform, I wanted to get a new and fresh perspective. Besides, I like hanging out with Marines.
Q: What were the living conditions like?
A: Much better than during the initial ground war in 2003, when Marines - and embedded reporters - slept on the ground, ate MREs and went more than a month without showers. At the larger bases, such as Al-Asad or Camp Fallujah, Marines and soldiers eat in large, civilian contractor-operated chow halls with ice cream bars, pastry counters and a wide selection of good food. There are showers and even honest-to-God flush toilets, and the Marines sleep in air-conditioned metal boxes known as "cans."
Further out, at the "forward operating bases" or "FOBs," conditions are more primitive. Marines get "tray rats" - that is, trucked-in hot food rations on cardboard trays - once or twice a day, and showers are limited. They sleep in tents or plywood huts or in old Iraqi buildings, most of which are equipped with window-unit air-conditioners - and sometimes the A/Cs actually work. Bathroom facilities are either porta-johns or open-air plywood and sandbag structures. Often the Marines have to use "WAG-bags," which stands for "waste alleviation and gelling bags." I'll spare you the details.
Q: How hot was it?
A: Actually not too much hotter than it's been in parts of Orange County recently - 110 degrees was considered a cool day; often it got over 120. But remember, while on patrol the Marines have to carry at least 60 or 70 pounds of equipment - 35-pound flak vests, helmets, ammo, grenades, water and so on - and wear boots, long pants, long-sleeved shirts and even gloves as protection against burns from bomb blasts. It wasn't uncommon for Marines to drink two to four gallons of water a day to avoid dehydration.
Q: How was the Marines' morale?
A: Despite the frustrating nature of a counter-insurgency war and increasing doubts back home, the morale was astonishingly high. A recent survey by the Stars and Stripes newspaper found that 76 percent of the U.S. troops in Iraq felt it is "very worthwhile" or "somewhat worthwhile" for the U.S. to be fighting the war, and I would submit that that number would skew even higher among the Marines I met.
Interestingly, the closer to the action the Marines were, the more time they spent "outside the wire" looking for the enemy and interacting with the Iraqi people, the better they thought of themselves and their mission. That may sound strange - the more danger they're in, the higher the morale - but it's true.
Q: How did you get around over there?
A: Moving from base to base I would travel by helicopter - Blackhawks or CH-46s or CH-53s. On vehicle patrols with the Marines I would ride in seven-ton armored "gun trucks" or Humvees. All of the Humvees used outside the large bases are now heavily armored, and most are air-conditioned.
CONTACT US: Do you have a question for Gordon Dillow about Iraq? Contact him at 714-796-7953 or GLDillow@aol.com. His answers will appear Friday in this space.