RE: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,96060,00.html

I was in the military during Viet Nam. I went England. Not everybody can be on the 'front'. There were people in Viet Nam that really didn't see action. If a soldier goes to Camp Victory that's the luck of the draw.

Most of the places mentioned in the article are on South Victory, Near the MNC-I Hqtrs. There were Pogues actually lined up to get their DCU's Starched at the cleaners by the Pizza Hut. Starched uniforms in a supposed combat zone Only REMF's would do that.

I was actually not allowed into a Mess hall there one morning because Our Patrol were too sweaty having just come in from a 13 hour Patrol that morning, no chow for the Infantry. Another time I didnt even bother as I had blood on my pants and knew the FOBBIT's would go bat****, had someone bring me out something.


North Liberty(VBC) wasnt as Garrison like, but had a huge PX with a Cinnabon, BK, Starbucks? and some other assorted Mallrat facilities. A Mortar round one day shredded 3-4 Private Contractors standing in the Piazza there.

quote:

Originally posted by LineDoggie:
Most of the places mentioned in the article are on South Victory, Near the MNC-I Hqtrs. There were Pogues actually lined up to get their DCU's Starched at the cleaners by the Pizza Hut. Starched uniforms in a supposed combat zone Only REMF's would do that.

I was actually not allowed into a Mess hall there one morning because Our Patrol were too sweaty having just come in from a 13 hour Patrol that morning, no chow for the Infantry. Another time I didnt even bother as I had blood on my pants and knew the FOBBIT's would go bat****, had someone bring me out something.


North Liberty(VBC) wasnt as Garrison like, but had a huge PX with a Cinnabon, BK, Starbucks? and some other assorted Mallrat facilities. A Mortar round one day shredded 3-4 Private Contractors standing in the Piazza there.

Nothing changes LineDoggie. For the last week we held an SRP for our BCT Iraq bound. In the parking lot was a sign, "no military parking beyond this point". These guys were going to war but couldn't park near the building. Can't inconvenience the fat civilian employees by not giving them their favorite unassigned parking spot.

quote:

Originally posted by LineDoggie:
Most of the places mentioned in the article are on South Victory, Near the MNC-I Hqtrs. There were Pogues actually lined up to get their DCU's Starched at the cleaners by the Pizza Hut. Starched uniforms in a supposed combat zone Only REMF's would do that.

I was actually not allowed into a Mess hall there one morning because Our Patrol were too sweaty having just come in from a 13 hour Patrol that morning, no chow for the Infantry. Another time I didnt even bother as I had blood on my pants and knew the FOBBIT's would go bat****, had someone bring me out something.


North Liberty(VBC) wasnt as Garrison like, but had a huge PX with a Cinnabon, BK, Starbucks? and some other assorted Mallrat facilities. A Mortar round one day shredded 3-4 Private Contractors standing in the Piazza there.

Yup I was there when that happened. I heard the explosion and saw the smoke from a guard tower. They had recently put in cement tiles to cover the mud on the plaza. They took the tiles out after that.

Victory and bases like it represent the "rear" in this war. Every war has had these places, Saigon, London, or Paris.

quote:

Originally posted by LineDoggie:
Most of the places mentioned in the article are on South Victory, Near the MNC-I Hqtrs. There were Pogues actually lined up to get their DCU's Starched at the cleaners by the Pizza Hut. Starched uniforms in a supposed combat zone Only REMF's would do that.

I was actually not allowed into a Mess hall there one morning because Our Patrol were too sweaty having just come in from a 13 hour Patrol that morning, no chow for the Infantry. Another time I didnt even bother as I had blood on my pants and knew the FOBBIT's would go bat****, had someone bring me out something.


North Liberty(VBC) wasnt as Garrison like, but had a huge PX with a Cinnabon, BK, Starbucks? and some other assorted Mallrat facilities. A Mortar round one day shredded 3-4 Private Contractors standing in the Piazza there.

Good to see ya back doggie, it's been awhile.
Yeah, the thign that made me mad about BIAP, was that everything going out of ECP 4 was never patrolled. I don't know how much ****e we found/got into on Iowa/Sword, and east mobile.

I was on Victory for about a week when I first went to Iraq, then I volunteered for a MiTT tasking and went and lived with the Iraqi Army for the next year. I enjoyed doing that, but I still didn't have it hard because we were connected to another big US FOB so we had the pool, DFACs, and all that. It was really the best of both worlds since once I went back over to the Iraqi side there was nobody that cared if I walked outside in PTs without a reflective belt or if I took my ACU top off.

My last 3 months were back on Victory and I was bored out of my mind because I didn't have any real work to do. The MWR facilities are amazing but I enjoyed working 16 hour days because it made the time fly by. It wasn't all fun and games though, had a rocket strike blow up a trailer fortunatly nobody was home and we had some equipment get shredded in the motor pool but without injury.

When you're spending as much time at war as you are at home, having a Burger King is a welcome relief.

Soldiers assigned to FOB around Baghdad typically get a chance to go to Victory once a week or so.

I'm mostly worried about our continuing decline in the quality of people we hire to guard bases such as Camp Victory.

I am a father of an army sargent who just arrived at Camp Victory today. I am glad that this is where he is. I feel that he deserves where he is. This is deployment number thee for him.

This thread makes me chuckle. Nothing has changed in the Army over the past 40 years or so and isn't likely to!

I was a grunt in Vietnam. We spent as much as a month outside the wire and when we came back to the rear, it was like landing on another planet.

Out in the bush, we had what we carried on our backs or we had nothing. We might bathe in a creek once a week or so, but only if it wasn't too dangerous. I once went a month with a bath.

In the rear, though, they had showers, mess halls, PX's and, in some cases, things like swimming pools and riding stables. They often wore starched fatigues and they all had shined boots. I'm not knocking the guys who worked there because they did important jobs and did them well, but they existed in a world which we found alien and in which we often were not welcome.

For instance, a young LT once denied several of us the right to enter the Freedom Hill PX in Danang because we were dirty and stank. We'd literally come directly off the choppers which brought us back from a 2 week operation out in the Que Son Mountains. He just couldn't allow us to stink up his PX and the crowd of shined and polished REMF's passing by looked at us as if we had worms coming out of our heads. (which we may have! LOL)

How could it be THAT different?

Well, here's my answer: It was because the rear areas were where the old-time lifers were stationed. Too old and too much rank for combat, they were assigned desk jobs and were doing just what any old lifer would do: enforce discipline which, in the Army, means looking "strack." Of course, we considered it fuggin' with us, but they didn't.

I've heard of troops on the FOB's in Iraq getting Article 15's for being "out of uniform," or even for walking side by side with someone not in the same uniform, and similar horror stories, but that's just the way it is in the rear with the gear.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

(ps: When we were denied entry at the front door of the Freedom Hill PX, we went around to the back door, but that same LT met us there again. My friend "Tiny" didn't much care for his attitude and, with no warning, reached out and knocked him smooth out. We decided discretion might be the better part of valor at that moment and scurried back to our holes. )

My first tour of duty in RVN was a mess. I hated spending the night outside. I would pour DEET on me and still wake up with bites. The next day I would sweat so bad my jungle fatiques would have large white rings around them from salt loss. Everyone smelled like this. When we came back to base camp the first thing we did was hit the showers and then hit the local village. Back at base camp it was aways eat, sleep, burn S#it. At least where I was at.

quote:

Originally posted by LineDoggie:
Most of the places mentioned in the article are on South Victory, Near the MNC-I Hqtrs. There were Pogues actually lined up to get their DCU's Starched at the cleaners by the Pizza Hut. Starched uniforms in a supposed combat zone Only REMF's would do that.

I was actually not allowed into a Mess hall there one morning because Our Patrol were too sweaty having just come in from a 13 hour Patrol that morning, no chow for the Infantry. Another time I didnt even bother as I had blood on my pants and knew the FOBBIT's would go bat****, had someone bring me out something.


North Liberty(VBC) wasnt as Garrison like, but had a huge PX with a Cinnabon, BK, Starbucks? and some other assorted Mallrat facilities. A Mortar round one day shredded 3-4 Private Contractors standing in the Piazza there.

At least you got on the camp. We had to park and sleep outside the wire the last time I was there because we were told "theres no room" The next day we watched all the people swimming in the pool in the middle of that man made lake....

quote:

Originally posted by Duster6:
My first tour of duty in RVN was a mess. I hated spending the night outside. I would pour DEET on me and still wake up with bites. The next day I would sweat so bad my jungle fatiques would have large white rings around them from salt loss. Everyone smelled like this. When we came back to base camp the first thing we did was hit the showers and then hit the local village. Back at base camp it was aways eat, sleep, burn S#it. At least where I was at.

Our basecamps had "solar heated," showers, which meant 55 gallon drums on top of some little shed which were warmed by the tropical sun.

Our TOP would have them filled several hours before we arrived so they'd be as warm as possible, but the REMF's always got to them first and we had cold showers.

Still, though, after wearing the jungle for several weeks, it was refreshing.

By the way, you mentioned salt stained fatigues. During the dry season, ours became totally white with salt and stiff as cardboard when dry. Just as a goof, I decided one day to see if my shirt would stand up by itself....and it did!

Kit your right about the showers. I have an old photo of me smiling outside of the CO's private 55 gal drum shower. I used to wait until Papa San filled it and then I would sneak into it fast and get out. Never got caught and Papa San always got a pack of C-ration Cigarettes for not telling on me. Sometimes I think the CO knew it was me but since I was the Company Medic he never said anything to me.

I just spent 15 months at Victory, and it is as described in the article. Some things were nice, but other things were annoying. Too many officers who didn't have a real job. I would have done away with the numerous SUVs and only given one or two to the unit HQs (every MAJ and above does not need their own POV when the LPCs work just fine). We did get rocketed, but I never had any misconception that I was living anywhere near as tough as the folks out in the boonies. Its a give and take thing-If you live on a remote FOB, you have a little more freedom from the flagpole.

quote:

Originally posted by AKinNC:
I just spent 15 months at Victory, and it is as described in the article. Some things were nice, but other things were annoying. Too many officers who didn't have a real job. I would have done away with the numerous SUVs and only given one or two to the unit HQs (every MAJ and above does not need their own POV when the LPCs work just fine). We did get rocketed, but I never had any misconception that I was living anywhere near as tough as the folks out in the boonies. Its a give and take thing-If you live on a remote FOB, you have a little more freedom from the flagpole.

Your right about having more freedom the further away from the flag pole you are. I spent a many a night in the woods with just my indigenous folks and my Team Members but I look back on it now as the best time in my life.

My hub never described it as a vacation resort. The only time he went swimming is when they gave him a little 4day vacation pass. He may have gotten 1 day off, and talked about how he couldn't wait to get home. He will be home next week. His MOS is 13Fox,as his wife, I'm glad he was there and not somewhere else. I know i would have worried even more!

quote:

Originally posted by mrmixitup:
I'm mostly worried about our continuing decline in the quality of people we hire to guard bases such as Camp Victory.

When I was there it was Ugandan contract Soldiers, and they did a better job than any American Soldier I've ever seen doing the often boring interior security jobs. They didn't **** off on the job or take shortcuts like too many American kids seem to do.

I remember Victory well. Of course in 2003 it was not so well built up but it still had the same BS. The officers thought they owned the world on Victory. Well I was glad that my Company was no where near it. I have had some of the same experiences that are discused here. Your to dirty or you smell to bad stories. Ya we had that to, but of course when the president flew in they wanted all of us around just in case. Set on a line for hours pulling guard and then once again we were to durty. But we won that on due to the fact that some full bird stepped in on our part and told the Capt where to go. Its nice to be appreciated by the REMP's once in a while.