26 Jul 2007 - Eventful day!

Being in Assamo kicks ass! Everyone is cool and we don't have to put up with the camp bullshit. We were supposed to be finished 5 days ago... HA! We wont be done until approx. 15 Aug. Money Money Money!!! Last night a team went in for re-supply. The SUV rear-ended the the support truck. They say it was totaled. Everyone is OK, but of course it brings tons of drama.

We have six Djiboutian women who wash our clothes every other day. They are very nice, but very intimidated by us. We had to run over and kill a snake yesterday that tried to strike one of them.. A "Death Adder."

Death Adder... On a stick!

Yesterday a formation of two CH-53s came in to bring us water. I had to play ATC for them. It's fairly stressful since I don't normally do that. Hell I'm not even a radio operator back home, out here you just do what they need at the time.

One of two CH-53s for re-supply.

SSG Hipp is a nice guy, he is constantly giving the locals gifts, like flip flops and soccer balls. I like to go watch the joy in their faces when they get them. I decided to partake, and give a local some flip flops. He was ecstatic, very good feeling.

Giving a local boy flip-flops. JOY!

The engineer's chain of command flew in, and I got a really nice coin from their commander, which is a pretty nice gesture since I'm not even part of their unit.



SSG Brown is the mission commander here. He is also a really good guy. He takes good care of us, and is fun to work with. Alot of short jokes and bald jokes go back and forth between the two of us. Good times.



The Joint Operations Center (JOC) here is lame. They don't monitor their radio and then their commander bitches at me because he didn't receive our SITREP. Their priorities are all fucked up. It's ridiculous, and I'm surprised anything gets done. The engineers get absolutely no support from the camp, but then the camp bitches that we take too long. It's a damn joke. The 1132nd is busting their asses out here, they deserve much better treatment.



So far we've had: 2 flat tires, blown hydraulic lines, blown pump, broken trailer hitch, roads getting washed out again, a storm blowing down the tents, a broken arm on the drilling rig, a well with no water, a totaled SUV, a man down from kidney stones, a man out for a family emergency, another pump blowing, moronic officers in the JOC, and God only knows what lies ahead... To Be Continued.