Behind the Scenes at Camp Kalsu
September 11, 2009 by kingsconnect
Hey Kings Fans!
It’s another day here in Iraq and we’re packing our bags and heading to Camp Kalsu for a day trip. The Black Hawks arrived to pick us up for our commute, but we had to make a pit stop to refuel at Echo. We were able to grab some refreshments and take photos in the heated sunshine with our pilots and crew. This was where we all received our first Airborne patches.
We arrived at Camp Kalsu and had meet and greets, a tour of the camp and were introduced to the community game room for some fun. After scoping out the outdoor stage, Jenn made the executive decision for us to perform inside. We had a larger space to dance and we knew it would draw a larger crowd. Our show was held inside their DFAC facility which gave us the opportunity to perform for the cooks and staff as well. After our show we grabbed some food to-go and headed back to Tallil for another short night’s sleep.
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It was a 6:30 am call time for breakfast and meet and greets where we had another chance to talk with the troops. We then had to quickly pack our bags and head over to the airbase where we had to say farewell to our guides “Usher” and Waden. While waiting for our C-130 flight, we took pictures with some troops and even posed “prom style” while waiting! It was a lot of fun.
Departing Tallil, we then made our way farther North to Camp Warrior (also known as Kurkuk). This was one of the largest bases we’d seen thus far and there were many more people wandering about the camp. Our first stop was to drop our luggage off in our deluxe suites that had a joint bathroom. We weren’t used to indoor bathrooms so the girls were pretty excited upon the discovery! After powdering our noses, the Commander brought us to the DFAC for some lunch.
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With full bellies, we hopped back onto the tour bus when all of a sudden… we experienced our first desert storm of the trip. It looked like a scene straight out of “The Mummy” when the giant wall of sand is about to engulf the village. It was moving pretty quickly so we had to rearrange our plans and make it to indoor safety. Rather than being shown the MRAPS, they took us to an indoor helicopter assimilator facility where soldiers perform basic training. Before we made it into the building we had to wait for the “mud shower” to pass. Yes, not rain… mud!
During our helicopter training, Jenn experienced extreme nausea from the large moving digital screens. They encouraged her to eat crackers, but she politely declined. As for the rest of us, we all received flight patches. Becca was applauded for her success for landing her mission by flying through a hangar.
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Next on our itinerary was to visit the K9 unit to witness some incredible training techniques from the military dogs. We all got to have our arms bitten by one of the 70lbs pups in training. They had a carpet sleeve which we held onto and had the K9 tear into with his iron clad jaw. Becca decided to sit this one out after witnessing us all go ahead of her.
After refueling with dinner, it was time to get ready for our night show. Before the show’s beginning, we were briefed on a camp warning of a controlled detonation being performed near us. Sounded with a loud alarm, the sirens rang through the entire camp. That didn’t stop us from getting pumped up for what was anticipated to be one of our best shows yet!
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We met up with the Chief post show, where he awarded us with special black jack pins and medals. He had just gotten back from his mission in Afghanistan and was very appreciative of our goodwill work in Iraq.
After 1 ½ hours of sleep, we had to quickly make our way to the airbase to catch a Black Hawk to camp Woodcock and Victory. Unfortunately due to sandstorm weather our flight was postponed. Due to the delay we grabbed some breakfast and caught a flight with a Chief on his private Black Hawk on the second attempt to Camp Woodcock and Camp Victory.
We flew for roughly 45 minutes and were unsuccessful when we had to land back in Kurkuk. They gave us new orders to attend a quick meet and greet at Camp Doria so we could make up for our last cancellation. Doria was the smallest camp of all we visited. Of 97 soldiers stationed, some had been there for 27 months with no TV, no phones andno internet. Our arrival was such a surprise, and it wasn’t their minds thinking we were a mirage. For our short time allotted there, we immediately headed out to the shooting range. The soldiers equipped us with heavy artillery where we each had a lane to fire the 9mm, M4, M16 and a sniper rRifle. We saved our target silhouettes as our souvenir from our cute soldier instructors.
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We were rushed back onto the Black Hawks to ensure that we wouldn’t get trapped in the sandstorm that was on the horizon. The pilots were unsure if we were going to make it to Camp Speicher due to limited visibility from the sandstorm quickly approaching. As we headed to Speicher, Candace was highly frightened when three mortars shot up next to her window which looked like missiles. They were caused by an oil refinery we flew over.
Safe and sound, we finally arrived at Camp Speicher where we had a long wait for our transportation. Now we’re going to take a nap and get some rest for our night show.
Make sure to check back to get the latest info on our last days here in Iraq. We have had such a memorable experience so far, we’re all sad that our tour is coming to an end.
Until next time… “Hooo ahh!”
Thanks for the updates. Great work ladies.