1D! Oh, to stretch out! Back in MY day, we lived in the 0th dimension and counted ourselves lucky. We didn't even have television. All we did was hang out at the point.
I didn't stay on any Army post or any other base in Qatar. The area I'm refering to is (I'm almost certain) called the BPC. It was right next to the Coalition Compound, where the tent exchange, Subway trailer, bar, movie theater, etc are. When you come in the main gate of the CC, you see the flagpoles by the bar straight ahead. If you were to go left about 3/4 of a mile or so, you would be on the BPC. The Ops Town and CAOC buses both go through the BPC and CC, roughly half on each side. Once in the main gate, the Ops Town bus goes clockwise, going through the CC, then the BPC, before leaving through the gate. The CAOC bus goes counter-clockwise through the BPC then through the CC before leaving through the gate. It looks like just a bunch of large brick buildings, but they are the permanent quarters, chowhall, gym, exchange, etc. They are permanent buildings like you expect back home, not flimsy trailers (I stayed in those too one time). They were originally for officers and senior enlisted only, then those staying 1 year or more, and now that capacity has expanded I beleive to anyone staying 6 months or more (space available, I'm sure). Most of the housing, in terms of numbers of personnel, is still in trailers on the CC. On the BPC side, the rooms are spacious with personal bathrooms, kitchens, common areas, etc. No, the CC side is not luxurious to me. The BPC side is.
I guess you never made it to the other side of the base. The side you are referring to is for transients. I stayed in a 40-man tent last time. The other side has a world-class gym, beautiful chow-hall, mall, luxuriant quarters, etc. I've gone through the transient side of AUAB several times and didn't even know about the other side. This last time, I was there for 2 weeks actually doing work and not just passing through and found about it through talking to permanent personnel.
The U.S. consumes about 21 million barrels of oil per day. China, about 7 million and growing. Japan is about 5 million. UK is less than 2 million. Yeah, we have a lot of competitors, but China is the only one close in so many ways and growing.
Well, it's been a while since we've had any real threat. Since the SU broke up, it's been pretty much just us. And we've never had a threat quite like China. The Pentagon gets over 1,000 cyber attacks from China every day. Their appetite for raw materials is such that manhole covers in American cities are stolen and shipped to China at a profit. Their growth in areas like nanotech, engineering, etc are set to surpass us in as few as 10 or 20 years. It won't be long before the best jobs in science will be in China, and the U.S. will experience a brain drain. I think we have every right to be on our guard. Besides, a little competition never hurt anyone. Maybe it will be what it takes for America to get its head out of its collective ass and get back to work.
Maybe they're not our enemy. But they most certainly are our competitor in several areas, like natural resources and intellectual capital. We almost certainly won't go to war with them, but that doesn't mean they're our allies either.
The barracks in Al Udeid Air Base set aside for personnel staying 9 months or more is rather luxurious by my standards, and also new so perhaps it wasn't built yet when you were there. They also built an exchange that looks like a mall, complete with a fountain, food court, Starbucks, game room, etc. Building something like that in the middle of the desert must have cost in the tens of millions. Then I have to hear these airmen bitch about how hard it is there, when airmen in Iraq come there for R&R.
I don't have any personal experience with Congress, so I don't know how bad it is. I was in the Marine Corps during the Clinton years when money was scarce, equipment was old, and we had to go without most things we needed. I've since worked in many commands, most of them Joint or Combined, where they literally had more money than they knew what to do with. Waste, Fraud, and Abuse is rampant in the larger commands, and the Air Force is the worst of the services. Its bases are nothing but manicured lawns, its offices full of leather chairs, hell their barracks in Qatar were practically 4-star hotels. Having lived in condemned WWII barracks in the states, I just find it all appalling.
Nicer accomodations for ALL servicemembers flying would be nice while we're at it. I'm a contractor in Iraq now and have flown several times in C-130s and C-17s. Saying that they suck doesn't quite cover it.
This last time, we were crammed in like sardines in a C-130, knee to knee with the opposite row with full body armor and helmet in 120 deg heat with no AC, waiting for takeoff for at lest 15 minutes. Then they said we had to make room for 5 more. After we all crammed in some more, they said false alarm. Another 20 minutes and we're finally in the air. I don't want to ever have to do that again. At least when I leave in the fall it will be cooler.
That being said, there's no reason it has to be "world class" either. We have Waste, Fraud, and Abuse laws and I hope some people go to jail over it. It wouldn't be the first time. They have no right to use counter-terror funds for this.
These people don't want to fight so much as they want to win. Driving the Americans out of Iraq will bring more converts than a losing war (in their eyes). Driving us out will prove that all you have to do is hold on and the Americans wil give up. Just keep killing a few soldiers and we'll lose our taste for war. They've said as much. I work in Iraq as an intelligence analyst and have been tracking AQI as well as JAM. They want the same thing: for the U.S. to leave so they can take over the country.
Exactly. I can't stand country music, but for whatever reason some people continue to listen to it. I don't understand why they don't consult with me first so I can tell them what music is good and what's bad.
That's a great idea. So I should define Jar Jar Binks as not being a ham and cheese sandwich on rye, an AK-47, my grandfather's toupe, the sun, Richard Nixon, the Beastie Boys, freedom, invisible left-handed monsters from the 5th dimension, my childhood, a 1955 double-die error Lincoln-head one-cent piece, Rigel 7, last night's left-over pizza, ants, Theodore Roosevelt, and your psychiatrist. Brilliant.
I guess you could look at it that way. But the USSR was caught in a lie on live TV. Adlai Stevenson showed U2 photographs in front of the world showing the USSR was lieing when it said there were no missiles in Cuba. USSR had some egg on its face after that, to say the least. And we agreed to remove the missiles in Turkey because they were aging and needed to be replaced anyway. It really wasn't much of a concession.
Bulk mail is in fact sorted separately from first class. Catalogs, magazines, etc arrive presorted in bundles according to the first three numbers in the zip code. My job at the time was to cut those bundles, stack them up, and run them through a sorter, which would read the bar code (which are ubiquitous in the US; I hope you are from another country and not just blindingly stupid), and drop them into a bin corresponding to the mail route. There was one bin for errors or unlabeled and another for the odd outgoing (mislabeled, misbundled, misdirected). The machines were old at the time and that was years ago. I hope they don't break down these days from such a simple problem, but they did in fact back then.
Slashdot Mirror
1D! Oh, to stretch out! Back in MY day, we lived in the 0th dimension and counted ourselves lucky. We didn't even have television. All we did was hang out at the point.
I didn't stay on any Army post or any other base in Qatar. The area I'm refering to is (I'm almost certain) called the BPC. It was right next to the Coalition Compound, where the tent exchange, Subway trailer, bar, movie theater, etc are. When you come in the main gate of the CC, you see the flagpoles by the bar straight ahead. If you were to go left about 3/4 of a mile or so, you would be on the BPC. The Ops Town and CAOC buses both go through the BPC and CC, roughly half on each side. Once in the main gate, the Ops Town bus goes clockwise, going through the CC, then the BPC, before leaving through the gate. The CAOC bus goes counter-clockwise through the BPC then through the CC before leaving through the gate. It looks like just a bunch of large brick buildings, but they are the permanent quarters, chowhall, gym, exchange, etc. They are permanent buildings like you expect back home, not flimsy trailers (I stayed in those too one time). They were originally for officers and senior enlisted only, then those staying 1 year or more, and now that capacity has expanded I beleive to anyone staying 6 months or more (space available, I'm sure). Most of the housing, in terms of numbers of personnel, is still in trailers on the CC. On the BPC side, the rooms are spacious with personal bathrooms, kitchens, common areas, etc. No, the CC side is not luxurious to me. The BPC side is.
I will finally be able to watch the Simpsons in all its HD 3D glory.
What about, "I'll put you in the cooler!"
Here we have an article about liquid metal as a means of cooling and no Mr. Freeze jokes!
I guess you never made it to the other side of the base. The side you are referring to is for transients. I stayed in a 40-man tent last time. The other side has a world-class gym, beautiful chow-hall, mall, luxuriant quarters, etc. I've gone through the transient side of AUAB several times and didn't even know about the other side. This last time, I was there for 2 weeks actually doing work and not just passing through and found about it through talking to permanent personnel.
You forgot Chad, Djoubiti, and Uzbekistan.
The U.S. consumes about 21 million barrels of oil per day. China, about 7 million and growing. Japan is about 5 million. UK is less than 2 million. Yeah, we have a lot of competitors, but China is the only one close in so many ways and growing.
Well, it's been a while since we've had any real threat. Since the SU broke up, it's been pretty much just us. And we've never had a threat quite like China. The Pentagon gets over 1,000 cyber attacks from China every day. Their appetite for raw materials is such that manhole covers in American cities are stolen and shipped to China at a profit. Their growth in areas like nanotech, engineering, etc are set to surpass us in as few as 10 or 20 years. It won't be long before the best jobs in science will be in China, and the U.S. will experience a brain drain. I think we have every right to be on our guard. Besides, a little competition never hurt anyone. Maybe it will be what it takes for America to get its head out of its collective ass and get back to work.
Maybe they're not our enemy. But they most certainly are our competitor in several areas, like natural resources and intellectual capital. We almost certainly won't go to war with them, but that doesn't mean they're our allies either.
The barracks in Al Udeid Air Base set aside for personnel staying 9 months or more is rather luxurious by my standards, and also new so perhaps it wasn't built yet when you were there. They also built an exchange that looks like a mall, complete with a fountain, food court, Starbucks, game room, etc. Building something like that in the middle of the desert must have cost in the tens of millions. Then I have to hear these airmen bitch about how hard it is there, when airmen in Iraq come there for R&R.
They probably could if they budgeted it in with their own funds. But instead they tried to use counter-terror funds, were told no, and did it anyway.
I don't have any personal experience with Congress, so I don't know how bad it is. I was in the Marine Corps during the Clinton years when money was scarce, equipment was old, and we had to go without most things we needed. I've since worked in many commands, most of them Joint or Combined, where they literally had more money than they knew what to do with. Waste, Fraud, and Abuse is rampant in the larger commands, and the Air Force is the worst of the services. Its bases are nothing but manicured lawns, its offices full of leather chairs, hell their barracks in Qatar were practically 4-star hotels. Having lived in condemned WWII barracks in the states, I just find it all appalling.
I agree with the GP; doesn't surpise me at all.
Nicer accomodations for ALL servicemembers flying would be nice while we're at it. I'm a contractor in Iraq now and have flown several times in C-130s and C-17s. Saying that they suck doesn't quite cover it.
This last time, we were crammed in like sardines in a C-130, knee to knee with the opposite row with full body armor and helmet in 120 deg heat with no AC, waiting for takeoff for at lest 15 minutes. Then they said we had to make room for 5 more. After we all crammed in some more, they said false alarm. Another 20 minutes and we're finally in the air. I don't want to ever have to do that again. At least when I leave in the fall it will be cooler.
That being said, there's no reason it has to be "world class" either. We have Waste, Fraud, and Abuse laws and I hope some people go to jail over it. It wouldn't be the first time. They have no right to use counter-terror funds for this.
But this wasn't travel tax-dollars being spent on travel. This was counter-terror tax dollars being spent on travel. Small difference.
All your country belongs to you. Take off every 'American'. For great justice! :D
Quite right. You know what you doing.
These people don't want to fight so much as they want to win. Driving the Americans out of Iraq will bring more converts than a losing war (in their eyes). Driving us out will prove that all you have to do is hold on and the Americans wil give up. Just keep killing a few soldiers and we'll lose our taste for war. They've said as much. I work in Iraq as an intelligence analyst and have been tracking AQI as well as JAM. They want the same thing: for the U.S. to leave so they can take over the country.
Whoops, reached my limit for "That's no moon" comments in a single day. No no, don't get up. I'll show myself out.
Exactly. I can't stand country music, but for whatever reason some people continue to listen to it. I don't understand why they don't consult with me first so I can tell them what music is good and what's bad.
What about all the robot overlord comments? Hell, I'd just like to have a dollar for all the robot overlord comments that I posted.
...wait, my bad. It's a moon.
No, mod THIS parent up. That was way more insightful.
That's a great idea. So I should define Jar Jar Binks as not being a ham and cheese sandwich on rye, an AK-47, my grandfather's toupe, the sun, Richard Nixon, the Beastie Boys, freedom, invisible left-handed monsters from the 5th dimension, my childhood, a 1955 double-die error Lincoln-head one-cent piece, Rigel 7, last night's left-over pizza, ants, Theodore Roosevelt, and your psychiatrist. Brilliant.
But if God is all good and all powerful, why would he allow Jar Jar Binks to happen?
I guess you could look at it that way. But the USSR was caught in a lie on live TV. Adlai Stevenson showed U2 photographs in front of the world showing the USSR was lieing when it said there were no missiles in Cuba. USSR had some egg on its face after that, to say the least. And we agreed to remove the missiles in Turkey because they were aging and needed to be replaced anyway. It really wasn't much of a concession.
Bulk mail is in fact sorted separately from first class. Catalogs, magazines, etc arrive presorted in bundles according to the first three numbers in the zip code. My job at the time was to cut those bundles, stack them up, and run them through a sorter, which would read the bar code (which are ubiquitous in the US; I hope you are from another country and not just blindingly stupid), and drop them into a bin corresponding to the mail route. There was one bin for errors or unlabeled and another for the odd outgoing (mislabeled, misbundled, misdirected). The machines were old at the time and that was years ago. I hope they don't break down these days from such a simple problem, but they did in fact back then.
Pirates are holy beings whose dwindling numbers has caused global warming. It's simple cause and effect.