Home Away From Home

These are pictures from around the FOB that has been Chris's home for the past 6 months. Not surprisingly, what I've been picturing in my head and what these places/things actually look like have been very different, so it has been pretty neat to finally "see" what I've been hearing about and have only been able to imagine for so long.

 COC (Combat Operations Center)

This is a picture of the command center for all of the battalion's operations. All reporting and decisions for the batallion are made here, including any requests for fires (call-in artillery, what Chris does, and jets) and controlling who comes into their Area of Operations.

A closer picture of the entrance to the COC. You can see the "River City" sign is posted meaning they were in a communication blackout during this time.

Marler Hall

These are pictures of the conference room where all of the large staff meetings are held. It is named after a Corporal that was killed in action.

A memorial drawn and painted by one of the Marines. The pictures are of the fallen Marines of 3/1.

These are action pictures taken during the deployment.

This is a picture of Tar, one of the IED Detection Dogs that was killed in action.

Chris's "Office"

Entrance to the office.

The odd looking posters on the walls are propaganda posters that the US military has made for the local Afghan people, trying to persuade them to trust the Afghan government.

"Hesco Village"

This is the grouping of all the living areas where everyone stays. It is called Hesco Village because each living area/tent is fortified with "Hesco barriers" (the large walls you see) to protect them from any mortars or rockets that could be shot into the FOB. A Hesco barrier is basically an expandable metal frame with a liner that is filled with dirt and then placed together to forms protective walls.

An entrance to one of the living areas.

It looks very much like a maze.

A sign one group of Marines made for the entrance to their living area. Pretty funny...

Sleeping Tent/Living Quarters

These are pictures of Chris's living area.

Chris's cot/corner of the tent.

(Notice the bottle of Tabasco and other random things under his cot...boys are so messy! ;) )

Such a ham.



Chow Hall

Please excuse the ugly word on this sign, but I thought it was too funny not to share.

A hand-washing station they finally put in after 3-4 months of everyone constantly being sick because they didn't have the means to wash their hands when they ate or (even worse) served food.

"One of the hardest working individuals I've ever come across in the Marine Corps. He pretty much feeds the camp and carries the chow hall on his back....really good guy." -Chris

Their food comes in large plastic bags that are heated in boiling water and then dumped in and served out of these large green vats.

One of the condiment caddies...Chris says you have to put hot sauce on pretty much everything to make it edible.

The makeshift grill they use on the rare occasions they have steaks.

The new oven they are building to make bread and pizza....after Chris is gone. :(

Gym

The gym is named after a Sergeant that was killed in action.

The "weight room".

I like it...

Chris probably won't like that I put this picture on here, but I wanted to show what they use for a weight bench. It's actually an empty rocket canister with a board placed on top...another innovative use of what's available.

"I don't know. You take a few pictures around here for your wife and dudes want to get in and act silly..."

-Chris

This will be the last of the "Afghanistan Picture Posts"...for now anyway...hope you've enjoyed!! :)