Ali Al Saleem: Gateway to Iraq and Afghanistan

The major air base in Kuwait is called Ali Al Saleem. The base is composed of a large number of transient tents since the major role ofthe base is to move service members (and contractors) into Afghanistan and Iraq. The actual 'permanent party' i.e. those service members formally assigned to run the base, is relatively small. The average amount of time spent on the base is less than 3 days for most people.The Army uses the non-flattering term of Life Support Area (LSA) to describe the collection of tents, dining facility (aka DFAC), PostExchange (PX), Morale Recreation Welfare (MWR) tent, and post office. When you arrive you are assigned a tent that you may share with up to 18 other people. The room has bunk beds with bare mattresses. You are not provided with bedding. The lights remain on 24 hours and people are coming in and out at all hours due to jetlag and flight schedules. Sleep may be hard if you are worried about your gear being taken or worse, you have a weapon that you need to keep track of. Flights depart almost exclusively at night...all hours of the night. Frankly, the process of moving such large numbers of people baffles the mind, particularly since there is no predictable schedule to the flights. The base has a somewhat desperate feel to it given that most people are either just starting out their deployment or in the case of the Army, returning from their two weeks of leave back to the States around the middle of their one-year tour. I had the displeasure of spending several days in the transient section of Ali Al Saleem during my last deployment.
This deployment I was housed in the Seabee compound on the grounds of the base. Given that Seabees are builders, it wouldn't be right to beliving in tents. Over time the Seabees have constructed an impressive collection of wooden buildings on their compound. The main design ofthe buildings is the Southwest Asia (SWA) hut. The building isbasically a rectangle on stilts that is built out of plywood. In fact, plywood seems to be the Seabees' best friend. It is almost as ubiquitous as gravel in theatre. In any case the housing was substantially better than the tents. There are no windows in most buildings. That is done partly to decrease damage from explosions, partly to limit air conditioning costs, and in the case of berthing spaces probably to keep the place as conducive to sleeping as possible. There was noticeably more camaraderie in the Seabee section as opposed to "general population." Iwas initially informed that I would spend up to 5 days at the base but ultimately left after two days.
One purpose of stopping in Kuwait is to overcome jetlag so as to be effective the moment you step foot in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some sources claim that it takes 1 day per hour of time difference to truly adjust to a new time zone. That would make 7 days if you are coming from the US. However, most people as sufficiently acclimated in 3-4 days. The bright sunshine in Kuwait may accelerate the process. If it is your first time in Kuwait base life, the sand/dust, and the temperature all require their own adjustment periods.
Given that people in the base are in transit, eating meals becomes themain activity of the day. The dining hall serves four meals. The fourth is called midnight rations or midrats for short and is meant to accommodate night shift workers or in the case of Ali Al Saleem, folksawaiting flights or jet lagging. The food is standard American cafeteria fare ranging from meatloaf to lasagna. The salad bar is remarkably well stocked given the environmental challenges to preserving produce. The highlight of the week is surf n'turf night where they serve steak and either shrimp or crab legs. So much for MRE's. More on dining in a future post.