Really . . .

Earlier this week, we flew a mission where we had to land at a different airfield (Balad) to wait until a dust storm cleared at Speicher. We needed to refuel, and Balad being run by the Air Force, an Air Force fuel tanker pulls up to the airplane. Now, we are already used to the fact that the fuelers don't actually put fuel in the aircraft -- they just run the controls at the truck. But what blew our minds is that the first words out of the fueler's mouth were essentially "I need to get your fuel credit card first." Damned if the Air Force isn't gonna make sure they will get paid for that JP-8! I had to agree with the pilot, who said something to the effect of, "I thought we were at war here."

Along the same lines, much of the leadership here at Speicher is obsessed with motor vehicle speed limits. The fastest you can go here is 30 mph (on the small but growing number of paved roads). On most unpaved roads, the limit is 15 or 20 mph. That's fine, but there are two things that make this speed limit fixation seem extreme. First, there are speed bumps in all sorts of places. Big speed bumps. Bumps that require a near-stoppage of the vehicle. This just contributes to the agony of getting anywhere on this post. Second, and more in line with the "I thought we were at war" theme, is that the on-post Security Forces have multiple patrol vehicles with radar detectors. Really -- they even set up speed traps sometimes. On more thing to make me wonder -- where are our priorities, really?

Not that we are immune to the mindset. Our day-to-day work gets intermingled with concerns like dropping off/picking up laundry at one of the laundry points (it all gets washed, dried, and folded by third-country nationals subcontracted to KBR), getting to the PX for some item (as often as not, a comfort/luxury item -- relatively speaking), making sure we get to the chow hall (another KBR subcontractor), or trying to get to a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) site (some of which are run by KBR) to use the phones or computers or weight room.

I guess this mirrors the greater situation. A small proportion of the servicemembers here are out doing the hard work and living in rough conditions, while the rest of us have time to worry about the next workout, the speed limit, or making sure that fuel is paid for by the right unit.