Camp Life

I have been asked many times through email “What is life like in camp?” My answer has been primitive, with a touch of home. Let me explain. You do have a shower facility, but unless you take a shower in the middle of the day when the water supply is heated by the sun, it is a cold shower.

We have sinks with water for shaving, but you have to use bottled water to brush your teeth due to the threat of disease.

The bathroom facilities, excuse me, latrines are Porta Johns. Try using one of those in the middle of the night, adventurous.

Hand Sanitizer is a must around camp. This helps keep the threat of disease down. You can never wash your hands too much.

Meals are MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) or the military's new product the Heat & Serve (I personally like the MREs better). Each meal contains an entrée in a pouch, these pouches are heated in a baggy containing a heating element that is activated by water.

You pick these up at each meal time from the Chow Tent. You can enjoy the meals there watching the Armed Forces Network on the television or take them to your favorite meal location. For my dinner mates, we usually chose the work tent, but a few nights we chose to “Eat Out”. That consisted of grabbing your meal, water and a chair, and eating out by the runway. We would sit out there watching the sunset and all of the military aircraft coming in.

Sleeping was the fun part, OK not really, a cot with a mosquito netting over it under a large open air tent is not my idea of fun. My first night there, a heavy rain caused leaks in the tent right over my head. Some tents around camp were flooded from this rainfall.

I enjoyed the netting over my bed, because it did give me peace that the mosquitoes, ants and tarantulas would not bother me through the night. I did encounter a tarantula one night when retiring to my bunk. Both the tarantula & I decided to exit the area in quick fashion.
Tarantulas are everywhere around camp at night. Pictures have been taken of ones as big s a man's hand.

I am impressed at how much PT (Physical Training) that soldiers do everyday. The camp workout equipment is nothing like you would find at your local gym, but it gets the job done. The equipment consists of a pull up bar, an open area for push ups, a large truck tire and the road next to the runway.



We would run each night down the road to the end of the runway, crossing two aircraft taxiways along the way. It was really weird waiting for a plane to to taxi out to the runway before we crossed or two see a large cargo plane taking off only 200 yards from you.

One night we waited for a plane and two helicopters all on the same run. The chin up bar is self explanatory, but let me explain the tire. A lot of soldiers flip, others jump onto it or through it, still others use it as a sit up bench. Some soldiers brought workout bands and small dumb bells to also use.
The camp also had it's fair share of clothes lines. Make shift lines thrown between two tents.

Laundry is done by buckets. One bucket for washing and other for rinsing. I had the chance to experience that on one hot afternoon. It really does a decent job cleaning your clothes. You use the same detergent you would use at home, and the same method of agitating as your washer at home.



A LADS (Laundry And Drying System) unit was established last week. This unit is a large trailer, that is basically a commercial laundry mat on wheels. I still think a lot of soldiers choose to do it the bucket way.
I hope you enjoyed this little trip around camp. I am truly amazed at how the 3rd ESC was able to establish a home away from home. I believe this helps the soldiers cope with being away from their family so long.

Greg