CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - The Head Hunter Squadron's easternmost base, al-Sheeb, has grown from a patch of concrete into a fortified base holding two companies worth of troops, vehicles and equipment.
It also was practically flattened by a sandstorm that leveled the regular tents that once housed the troopers that lived there at the time. But those troops from original mission didn't let a towering sandstorm hold them back.
"It was just dirt and a helipad when we got here back in August," said Spc. Michael Bartley, a cavalry scout from Fairfield, Ill., assigned to A Troop. "I have a lot of pride in helping build this place."
The Soldiers from A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, started with a large flat concrete pad and a bunch of sand. But they kept building up their home and nine months later, they have tents with plywood floors and hard foam shells, an internet and satellite phone cafAfA, a gym with weights and treadmills, a motor pool and showers.
They even have a chow hall.
"The dining facility lifted everyone's spirits," said Staff Sgt. Clint Jacobs, a squad leader in A Troop, from Marietta, Ga., who had just returned from his 18-day vacation in Germany with his daughter. "We were able to eat different food."
The Soldiers also enjoyed the Super Bowl and the two beers that were allowed to all U.S. service members during the game. Although some of them were building Joint Security Station Chilat, they were able to watch the game on live television, thanks to an Armed Forces Network satellite they had just installed at the new station.
"I had a good group of friends watching the Super Bowl with me," Bartley said. He had turned 21 earlier in the deployment and was able to drink his two beers - even as far away as JSS Chilat, which overlooks the mountains of Iran from its eastern gate. "I drank a can of Miller Genuine Draft and a Coors Light. We watched the game live on a big projection screen there."
The Soldiers also talked up their chow hall's service in base, which has now grown up and filled out a sizeable footprint.
"When we got here, we had the DSN phone network, so we could already talk with our Family members," Bartley added. "But that first steak was awesome. Thanksgiving was big; we had turkey, prime rib, stuffing and all kinds of holiday foods."
But before the Soldiers and their base could support another company-sized element, C Troop, they had to rely on another base that was created only months earlier: Forward Operating Base Garry Owen, which is owned and operated by one of the squadron's sister units, the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.
"We (originally) had nothing but three tents," Jacobs explained. "2-7 Cav. had an extra refrigerator at FOB Garry Owen. They said we could have it, but we had to fix it. We fixed it and brought it down here when it was still hot. It worked for about two months and a civilian generator mechanic figured out how to wire it to a generator and it still works."
Now that al-Sheeb has two companies, improved housing, a chow hall, gym and protective concrete T-walls, the troops there have been able to help the local Iraqi Security Forces more and even help build other smaller bases.
But getting Head Hunter Soldiers back and forth from their Environmental Morale Leave has been a logistical head-scratching affair.
"I just set a record for all the Soldiers at al-Sheeb," Jacobs said. "I was gone only 26 days from start to return. It usually takes about 30 to 45 days for the whole process. For example, there was a guy stuck at (COB Adder) for three weeks waiting on the weather to clear for his flight to Kuwait. I was there only one day, but it's good to be back."
Jacobs, like the other Head Hunter Soldiers at al-Sheeb, was ready to get back into the mix and was waiting on his squad, which was running a training mission with the ISF at JSS Chilat that day.
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