Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Journal Entry: The Quest for Water
Journal Entry
13 May 2003
Al Asad Air Base, Iraq
--A couple of notes, here. Nobody can flirt like an Arab woman! They learn fast to say it all with their eyes, I guess. I've only seen two adult women in western dress so far. Both near Baghdad. Most women around here are unveiled, though.
Issues: The taps are running at Al Asad, but our samples indicate E. Coli contamination, according to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's medical troop in their support battalion. It's ok to bathe in, and wash clothes, just keep it out of your mouth.
There's an outdoor swimming pool here, and the 3rd ACR has set up a water purification unit there, and is pumping water out of the swimming pool. So that's our immediate source of fresh water.
The only medical trend here so far is sand fleas. There have been no incidents of dysentary, cholera, or other similar diseases in the 3rd ACR so far. But give us time.
Trying to think through a logistics problem here: I'm trying to police up seven water trailers for upcoming operations, which is seven more than we have. Here's the situation: The troops are here, but the vehicles aren't. All our vehicles, with the exception of four gun trucks and ten 5-ton trucks attached to us from the 603rd Transportation company--essentially on loan to us from the 3rd ACR--all of our vehicles are still in Jordan, awaiting a line haul which has yet to be scheduled. Our support platoon, along with our battalion XO and maintenance section, is still in Jordan. No idea when they'll be coming forward.
Meanwhile, we've got a security mission on our plate in the Hadithah area which is going to require that we disperse all three of our line companies over a 20-30 mile area--and support them from Al Asad, which is an hour and a half away.
The most immediate supply requirement is water. And each company is going to go through 400 gallon water trailers a day, easily. More if there's a lot of dismounted operations going on, and if we begin cooking. Each line company has 120-130 soldiers. The basic planning assumption is 8 gallons per soldier per day. You can do 4 gallons/soldier/day for short periods, but that assumes no allowance for bathing, cooking, or hygiene.
What that means is Each line company is going to need two resupplies of water each day. Which in turn means that I will need two water trailers for each of the three line companies. One to sit at the companies and one for me to take back with me to refill. That's six. I'll drop off a full trailer and pick up an empty trailer twice each day. Plus I'll need an additional water trailer for the headquarters guys back here at Al Asad. So that makes seven.
When the mobile kitchen trailers get here, we'll have to disperse them among the line companies. We're too far away to cook from back here, where water supplies are more plentiful. Regulations only allow us to keep food in mermite containers for 4 hours before we have to throw it away. Between prep time, vehicle load out time, convoy briefings, and deliveries at each company's location, we could not reliably make the delivery to every company within the time allowed.
So it's MREs for now, anyway. When the MKTs do get here, and if we try to cook T rations or A rations, that will significantly increase each company's requirement for potable water.
Essentially, by coming out here without our full complement of vehicles (and the radios that go with them!) we're dumping a lot of problems on the shoulders of the 3rd ACR.
Lots of people are pretty resentful of being out here right now, with so much vital equipment back in the rear. We have zero organic medical evacuation assets, and communications are extremely poor. Companies will be so spread out that we may have no contact between them except by courier. Which is slow, and which will eat up still more vehicular assets we don't have yet.
There's nothing in a light infantry battalion's structure and equipment which designs it to operate so far apart.
I'm hearing that the line haul may arrive around the 20th-21st of May. It can't come soon enough.
13 May 2003
Al Asad Air Base, Iraq
--A couple of notes, here. Nobody can flirt like an Arab woman! They learn fast to say it all with their eyes, I guess. I've only seen two adult women in western dress so far. Both near Baghdad. Most women around here are unveiled, though.
Issues: The taps are running at Al Asad, but our samples indicate E. Coli contamination, according to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's medical troop in their support battalion. It's ok to bathe in, and wash clothes, just keep it out of your mouth.
There's an outdoor swimming pool here, and the 3rd ACR has set up a water purification unit there, and is pumping water out of the swimming pool. So that's our immediate source of fresh water.
The only medical trend here so far is sand fleas. There have been no incidents of dysentary, cholera, or other similar diseases in the 3rd ACR so far. But give us time.
Trying to think through a logistics problem here: I'm trying to police up seven water trailers for upcoming operations, which is seven more than we have. Here's the situation: The troops are here, but the vehicles aren't. All our vehicles, with the exception of four gun trucks and ten 5-ton trucks attached to us from the 603rd Transportation company--essentially on loan to us from the 3rd ACR--all of our vehicles are still in Jordan, awaiting a line haul which has yet to be scheduled. Our support platoon, along with our battalion XO and maintenance section, is still in Jordan. No idea when they'll be coming forward.
Meanwhile, we've got a security mission on our plate in the Hadithah area which is going to require that we disperse all three of our line companies over a 20-30 mile area--and support them from Al Asad, which is an hour and a half away.
The most immediate supply requirement is water. And each company is going to go through 400 gallon water trailers a day, easily. More if there's a lot of dismounted operations going on, and if we begin cooking. Each line company has 120-130 soldiers. The basic planning assumption is 8 gallons per soldier per day. You can do 4 gallons/soldier/day for short periods, but that assumes no allowance for bathing, cooking, or hygiene.
What that means is Each line company is going to need two resupplies of water each day. Which in turn means that I will need two water trailers for each of the three line companies. One to sit at the companies and one for me to take back with me to refill. That's six. I'll drop off a full trailer and pick up an empty trailer twice each day. Plus I'll need an additional water trailer for the headquarters guys back here at Al Asad. So that makes seven.
When the mobile kitchen trailers get here, we'll have to disperse them among the line companies. We're too far away to cook from back here, where water supplies are more plentiful. Regulations only allow us to keep food in mermite containers for 4 hours before we have to throw it away. Between prep time, vehicle load out time, convoy briefings, and deliveries at each company's location, we could not reliably make the delivery to every company within the time allowed.
So it's MREs for now, anyway. When the MKTs do get here, and if we try to cook T rations or A rations, that will significantly increase each company's requirement for potable water.
Essentially, by coming out here without our full complement of vehicles (and the radios that go with them!) we're dumping a lot of problems on the shoulders of the 3rd ACR.
Lots of people are pretty resentful of being out here right now, with so much vital equipment back in the rear. We have zero organic medical evacuation assets, and communications are extremely poor. Companies will be so spread out that we may have no contact between them except by courier. Which is slow, and which will eat up still more vehicular assets we don't have yet.
There's nothing in a light infantry battalion's structure and equipment which designs it to operate so far apart.
I'm hearing that the line haul may arrive around the 20th-21st of May. It can't come soon enough.
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