Alaska to Iraq : FOB Kalsu

Alaska to Iraq

Daily News reporter Rich Mauer is on special assignment for six weeks to the McClatchy Newspapers Baghdad bureau. For Mauer, who has reported on politics, the oil industry, military and other topics in his 23 years at the Daily News, it is a return to a region he covered as a much younger free-lancer in 1981-2, including the civil war in Lebanon. In this blog, he'll provide snapshots from his reporting.

About me

Joshua Ferguson

I joined the Army in 1996 and my position is as a forward observer. My dad was in the Air Force and I'm the oldest of four with one brother and two sisters. My wife is Danielle, and we have three young children, J.J., 5 in June, Corinne, 3 in July, and little Madeline, 1 this month. My goal is to complete a full 20 years in the military, and then retire to become a teacher at the elementary or high school levels.

FEATURE STORY

New life & limbs

Read reporter George Bryson's account of how Ferguson ended up on his way back to Walter Reed.

FOB Kalsu

Posted by mauer

Posted: February 6, 2007 - 6:30 am

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Feb 6 — The theme is brown.

The hard clay underfoot is light brown when it’s dry and dark brown when it’s mud. The camo draped over the buildings and emplacements is a patternless brown. The chunky gravel spread over the mud is brown.

Forward Operating Base Kalsu was named after NFL player Lt. Bob Kalsu, who died in Vietnam.

And there’s gray. The 12-foot concrete blast walls surrounding every building are gray. It’s a gray maze by day. At night, it’s black. The walls hold in the light. They keep out blast waves and shrapnel. The mortars and rockets don’t land often, though — I’m told it’s been more than a week since the last one.

When it’s dark, until you’ve memorized your walking route, there are few guideposts for orientation: antennas and dishes against the sky, idling helicopters at the airfield, an orange glow from the dining complex, the palms that alert you that you’re approaching the perimeter. The rumble of diesel generators comes from everywhere, day and night.

Since October, Kalsu has been the home base for the 3,500 Fort Richardson soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. They’re here for a year, but no one would be surprised to find it extended.

I arrived by helicopter Monday afternoon from Baghdad, about 35 miles north. The nearest town is Iskandariyah, about 5 miles to the northeast.

Kalsu was once farmland. Now its fortress walls encircle about 750 acres and 4,500 people, including other military units, Iraqi police trainees, and the multinational, multiracial force of contract employees.

My plan is to spend several days with headquarters staff, getting an overview of operations, then go out on some operations. The soldiers of the 4-25 are trained paratroopers, but there are no airborne missions here. They patrol in humvees and on foot.

A little more than half the Fort Rich brigade is in Kalsu. The rest are scattered at bases mainly in the Shiite areas south of Baghdad. An isolated battalion is in Fallujah, in the Sunni triangle, where a nasty civil war involving al-Qaida forces is being waged.

Trainer contingents of the 4-25 are also embedded with Iraqi forces, which is how 17 Fort Rich soldiers found themselves in the middle of the fight to the death near Najaf on Jan. 29 of the doomsday Soldiers of Heaven cult. Another group is in Karbala, site of the brazen attack Jan. 20 in which militants in U.S. uniforms got into provincial headquarters and left with four Fort Rich soldiers as their hostages, whom they later killed.

For troops out deep in the provinces, they’ve already had a big share of the spotlight.

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1 February 9, 2007 - 9:21am | dillydal

A Reverent Thank You

To You, Our Soldiers:
I, like you, remember September 11 clearly. For me, my sister on the East Coast called and said, "Turn on the news." She was gravely serious. Then, my father, called "Are you watching this?" Then, he said something I have never heard my father say before: "I am scared." He is long-retired from the Airforce, formerly stationed at Elmendorf, a former body guard to one of our generals. He was the one who had traveled the state and would always say, "Alaska is strong, and is in good hands. Never worry." But I was worried that day and the following months. I withdrew my children from school, home schooled them a year, and waited. The only thing that moved me out of complete, immobilizing fear was when I saw our military, our Alaskan force, gearing up and moving forward. As a mother, I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that I can take my children to school each day without fear that some insane terrorist is going to do something horrible. One thing is absolutely certain: your efforts in a land far from home have crushed the enemy's efforts in our country. It is a direct cause and effect. I feel safe. My children feel safe. And I thank you, with all my heart and tears, for ensuring that my children can have a childhood free of fear of the enemy.

God bless you. Our fervent prayers are with you daily.

Mrs. Andersen

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