May 22, 2007...7:49 am
Life At Camp Virginia Kuwait
Typical of many remote military bases, Camp Virginia is a mix of tents, metal frame and prefab buildings, supply yards and maintenance sheds spread across several square miles of desert. Military and civilian vehicles of all kinds sit baking in the sun or move slowly along gravel streets named Roanoke or Richmond. The steady drone of the generators that provide all the camp’s electricity fills the air.
The permanent contingent here has soldiers from South Korea and Great Britain, members of the active duty U.S. Army, Navy and Marines and National Guard units from several states including Alaska’s Delta and Bravo companies of the 3/297th Infantry. Both companies are part of the camp’s security force. Delta soldiers run escort missions. Bravo soldiers work eight hour shifts day and night manning a camp entry point and running perimeter security patrols. The working conditions are hot and dusty. The work, although vitally important, is routine and repetitive.
As members of the permanent camp contingent, the Alaskans live in “hard” barracks instead of tents. Long rows of prefab buildings are divided into ten foot by sixteen foot rooms housing two or three soldiers each. Although small the rooms are comfortable and have sturdy beds, good mattresses, metal closets, small refrigerators and some furniture. The rooms are air conditioned, like all buildings in the camp, to provide a measure of relief from the intense heat. Toilets, showers and laundry facilities are in separate buildings nearby.
The camp’s dining hall offers a varied and plentiful menu. There’s a small library, a USO club, two well equipped gyms, a recreation building with pool tables, ping pong and satellite TV. Internet service and several telephone call centers are also available. Near the center of the camp is an area known as downtown. It’s a cluster of small shops, fast food restaurants, including Subway and McDonalds, a coffee shop and internet café. They border a small gravel covered square filled with tables shaded by an open sided pavilion. It’s a popular hang out.
One only has to look out across the endless expanse of desert surrounding the camp, however, to realize that despite all its amenities, Camp Virginia is not home. Steady winds fill the air with a fine dust that clings to everything and irritates the eyes and nose. The dry heat is intense and relentless. Temperatures, now in the low 100s F, will hit 130 F or higher later on in the summer. For the soldiers of Bravo and Delta companies Alaska seems very far away right now but as the sunset brings an end to another long, hot day in the desert, they know that it’s also bringing them one day closer to home.
20 Comments
June 14, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I was stationed at Camp Virginia from May 4, 2006 to November 2006 with the Navy Seabee contingent. I hated the desert. Especially July and August when temps. reached 140 degrees. Stay away from the Chinese place, a couple of our guys got food poisoning.
June 27, 2007 at 8:22 pm
THIS WAS GREAT TO READ. I AM DUE TO DEPLOY THERE IN 1 WEEK. I AM A SERGEANT IN THE BRITISH ARMY AND WILL BE BASED OUT THERE FOR 3 MONTHS. THE REST OF MY UNIT ARE BASED IN IRAQ
October 1, 2007 at 11:58 pm
This is a great description. My son is there now. I can almost imagine what it might be like. May God bless all of you for your service to out great country.
October 4, 2007 at 5:54 pm
My son is there now as well. It helps to have some idea of what things are really like for them. God Bless them all and prayers for all their safe returns!
October 5, 2007 at 8:37 pm
My husband is there now and this site truly helped me to understand how he’s living & what he may be going through over the next year. I look forward to updates and may God bless these men & women and keep them safe as they make their own sacrifices to keep us and our country safe.
October 7, 2007 at 6:30 pm
My son is passing through on his way home. He misses Subway!!! Thanks for your info. God bless you all. Keep your faith and safe travels to you all.
November 5, 2007 at 2:37 pm
My brother is going there in about two months. Thanks for the info. God Bless all soldiers!
November 20, 2007 at 4:54 pm
My boyfriend is there right now, thank you so much for the description and the information.
“Let’s Bring our Troops Home!”
December 11, 2007 at 6:44 pm
My son will arrive there on Friday, Dec. 14. On his way to Afghanistan for a rotation with NATO ISAF.
He gets to Kabul on Christmas Eve.
December 24, 2007 at 11:17 am
my daughter will be pending christmas day there thank you for the info my prayers are with all of ya.
February 15, 2008 at 10:25 pm
do they sell the cell phone trac phones at the camp and if so are they expensive? My husband is going there in 2 months and I am trying to get as much info to stay connected as I can
March 25, 2008 at 6:45 am
I was at Camp Virginia for 2 weeks as apart of the Australian forces working in Southern Iraq. I was there in May and yes it was hot but found it quite good as it had a good mess to eat at and also had everything needed to serve in the desert. I would also like to say a big thanks to the American troops who made us feel right at home even though we were so far away from it. I was there in may 2005 so would be interested if the place has changed much since then
April 2, 2008 at 7:15 pm
What about internet service in the barracks? Who provides it? If so, is it broadband service? I want to send my husband his laptop so we can chat privately in his quarters, if possible. Thx.
While I was there in May of 2007 embedded with the Alaska Army National Guard unit they had a wireless satellite internet connection set up for some of the barracks. Several communications guys bought the equipment from soldiers from the previous Guard unit that the Alaskans replaced. They set up the service and charged soldiers a monthly fee if they wanted to subscribe to use it in their barracks room. The connection worked well because I was able to use it while I was there. You might check with your husband to see if there is something like that still set up.
April 14, 2008 at 3:06 am
My boyfriend is at Camp Virginia right now. Thanks for the site…it does help to know that other people are curious (like me) about the ones that they love. My guy is passing thru as part of his returning home from Iraq after one year there. I think it is crappy that they (soldiers) have to pay to use the internet. Such a nice way to extort our troops..and thank them for their service to our country. Sorta makes you feel like they aren’t that appreciated.
I am very proud of my man, and all the other servicemen & women who give me the freedom that I have today.
April 16, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I will be deploying to Kuwait sometime in August/September 2008. does anyone know if you have access to make phone calls back here to the states.
May 21, 2008 at 1:55 am
I was deployed there for 5months, it’s really not that bad beside the intense heat and the fact that you have to walk everywhere. They have ATT phone center and you can purchase a calling card at the px or go to the USO sometime they hand out free card. Internet service is $5/hour or go to the library to use it for free. If you like chinese food i recommend the shrimp fry rice, it’s really good. Hope that provides some infos you guy are looking for, have fun and be safe.
June 7, 2008 at 1:32 am
I was deployed to Camp Va in 2005 and we were living in tents that housed eight people and they were awful. It is nice to know that VA is finally providing better housing for the permanent party.
June 11, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Sweet nice to know what to expect for this poor seabee. hoorah seabees
July 10, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I was stationed there from Nov 05 to Nov 06. I was in the unit that the Alaskans replaced. The internet was a private venture much like cable or telephone service is back here at home. AAFES didn’t like that we were cutting in on their market because they were making a killing on the internet cafe prices, and we paid next to nothing for great wireless service. Cell phones can be purchased on the local economy, and if you buy an international calling card from a website like http://www.uniontelecard.com (that’s where I got mine from), you spend about 20 bucks on the card, give your spouse or “other” the calling card 800# and pin, have them call you, you’ll get about 3 hours of talk time on that card. If your cell phone from the US doesn’t have an international plan, you have to get one from a local shop on post or from someone redeploying back home that wants to sell theirs. You have to call the phone carrier to put KD (Kuwaiti Dinars=buy prepaid minutes for the phone) on the phone, but this is by far the cheapest route to being able to talk to family and loved ones back home. It’s a bit of an effort to get it set up and maintained, but I assure you it’s well worth the effort. If I remember right, the Kuwaiti phone company sold air time in 5KD increments. When I left, the KD to USD conversion was about 3.5 USD to a KD. Kinda pricey, but if you use your time wisely and don’t jabber on on the phone you can make it last. Plus it is cheaper to have an incoming call from the states-hence the reason for the calling card.
Camp Virginia is in the middle of f-ing nowhere. No kidding. But if you keep yourself occupied the time will go by faster than you know. Take books, art supplies, whatever hobby stuff will keep your mind busy. Play sports (we had a softball league). Go swimming at Ali Al Salim AF base to the south if you can get a ride there (it’s the air force base 5 minutes south of Virginia).
Like anything this world throws at you, it’s how you approach it. Your state of mind affects everything, so accept what’s going on, stay busy, and you will be home before you know it. I can be contacted at koolsville_daddyo@yahoo.com if you have any questions about the place and what to expect.
The chinese place is awesome, make sure you WASH YOUR HANDS before eating ANYTHING in the desert. The workers have to constantly wash, and soldiers forget that they have to scrub down as well.
Best of luck to anyone going through the deployment experience. God speed to you, and may you have a safe return.
July 17, 2008 at 9:31 pm
i am at camp virginia now, only the mayor cell companies get hard barracks.
i am with the unit running the escort missions, we live in 4 man tents, the a/c isnt too bad until the sun comes up and then if you’re not close to it you’re gonna bake. for internet we had our civilian FSR guy get us net from the kuwaitis, its about $650 for 6 months service between 8 people..
if anyone from the hawaii unit replacing us reads this hurry up so we can leave
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