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Friday, August 12, 2005
Life is better at Camp Taji
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Taji, Iraq — The Black Hawk chopper skimmed over Baghdad, firing off flares to deter heat-seeking missiles. Below, groves of date palms along the Tigris River offered a welcome sight for eyes sore from the desert drab and dust of Camp Striker, located at the southern end of the Baghdad airport.
Bita Honarvar/AJC
Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Pitts (left) and Sgt. Scott Payton, both of Richmond Hill, stand outside their trailer at Camp Taji as they wait for their floor to dry after sweeping and mopping Friday.
Taji, about 20 miles northwest of central Baghdad, used to be an Iraqi base that housed Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard. The new Iraqi Army use a portion of the renovated base while American and other coalition forces use the rest.
The Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team has roughly 600 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment based here.
At the moment, the battalion is attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Riley, Kan.
“It’s much better here than at Striker or Liberty,” said Master Sgt. Wesley Dover, who works at the federal prison in Jesup. “Everything is more consolidated here.”
The street names at Taji are named after college football teams. One of the main drags is called Gamecock Avenue. The Georgia soldiers insisted there is a Bulldog Avenue somewhere on base.
The soldiers here live in air-conditioned, two-person trailers instead of the dusty communal tents that dot Camp Striker. They have access to flushable toilets, several gyms and recreational facilities that offer movies — there’s even movie-theater popcorn — board games, television and reading materials.
The two dining facilities are enormous and have a dizzying array of food — from hot dogs and burgers to chicken curry and flan.
The Taji PX rivals a small Wal-Mart and sells everything from mattresses and toiletries to espresso makers. A sign posted Friday at the entrance proudly announced the newest items for sale: bread, microwavable snacks, frozen burritos and, yes, meat. USDA certified beef.
At the plaza outside the PX, popular chains such as Taco Bell, Popeye’s and Burger King make a fast buck from soldiers craving their favorite fast food.
In their new green digititized uniforms, the Georgia soldiers stand out here as a minority — Taji houses several brigades and other smaller units, whose soldiers still wear the older tan camouflage Desert Combat Uniforms.
The Georgians say their life is comparatively comfortable here at Taji. That doesn’t mean their missions are any less dangerous.
The 118th soldiers regularly travel outside the camp on patrols and reconstruction missions to nearby Iraqi towns and villages. Some that hug the curves of the winding Tigris are predominantly Sunni areas that have seen hostile activity in recent months.
At the end of long, exhausting days, Georgia soldiers, who occupy a block of trailers on one side of the camp, try to relax on the front steps of their temporary homes and make the best of the situation.
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Payton and Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Pitts, both fulltime Guard members and friends from Richmond Hill share a trailer that they insist on keeping immaculately clean.
“I wouldn’t room with anyone else,” Pitts said.
Friday evening, the two whipped out a bottle of Simple Green to mop their floor and talk about going home.
“We’re going to buy a fishing boat,” Pitts said. “He’s gonna be Forrest Gump and I’m going to be Bubba.”
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