An Inside Look At Where Oklahoma Soldiers Live and Work On The War Front

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

IRAQ -- Our SKYNEWS 6 pilot, Will Kavanagh is serving in Iraq along with other Oklahoma members of the 2nd-285th.

I recently went to Iraq and was embedded with Bravo company for a week of their year-long deployment.

"This is where B company resides, in this little area," Chief Will Kavanagh said.

Oklahoma soldiers live in 30 foot deep metal trailers, called Chu's, or containerized housing units. Each unit houses six people.

Each room is divided in two halves. In this case, Will lives on one side, his bunkmate on the other. He has a small television for watching DVD's and air conditioning.

Lori Fullbright, The News On 6: "So, where do you shower?"

Chief Will Kavanagh: "Everything is outside the T-walls."

T-walls are huge concrete pillars that fit together like legos, all over the base. They protect the Oklahoma soldiers from rocket propelled grenade attacks.

The only way we keep from getting lost is by searching for that familiar blue flag flying above the walls.

The soldiers are allowed to turn in 20 items of laundry at a time. They come back fresh and clean 72 hours later.

"That's a HAS, a hardened aviation structure, one of Saddam's," Chief Kavanagh said.

You have to take a bus everywhere because everything is so spread out. The idea is not to have people or machinery concentrated in one area, in case someone launches an attack.

One of the first things they told us when we got to the base was if there is a rocket propelled grenade attack, immediately find a concrete bunker and lay down flat to make ourselves less of a target.

We go to the I-BIZ, just off base where Iraqi businessmen sell all kinds of things to the soldiers, like shoes and rugs. Much of it is bootlegged, but, the price can be right. Some DVD's are as cheap as $2.

Back on the base, you can get a $5 hair cut, visit a photo shop, or even get a little fast food that kind of tastes like home.

The PX is an old Iraqi gymnasium and here, soldiers can buy electronics or greeting cards or non-alcoholic beer. This is a strict no alcohol country.

This is the gym on base, but as with everything here, if you want to do it, you've got to want it badly because everything is a hassle. Just trying to get to and from a work-out can be a three- hour ordeal for the Oklahomans because the buses don't exactly run on a set schedule.

Just getting to the chow takes planning. You must either catch a bus or in our case, creatively commandeer one.

The hall is clean, and the food pretty good. There's a fast food line with onion rings, fires, burgers and dogs, then they have different specials on different days. They even have a dessert bar, complete with ice cream.

So, the choices are good but it's all the choice they have, so you can imagine after three months, six months, a year, it gets a little old, but, you'll never hear these folks complaining because they know it could be a lot worse.

But, truthfully, nothing tastes like it does at home.

We go inside the office where the Oklahomans of B-company work.

Crew Chief Angela Rhea from Tahlequah is a crew chief on a Blackhawk and like most soldiers here, worries a lot about her family back home.

"I think it's probably harder on people at home," Crew Chief Rhea said. "We know where we are, what we're doing. To our families, we're just far away. It's a difficult life to try to describe."

Sand storms are one of those things that are tough to describe. You can see them moving in, so what to do while waiting on it?

"Hanging out with Freight train because that's why Chinook pilots do," Chief Kavanagh said.

Hit a few golf balls, of course and why not, the whole country is a sand trap. The storms hit nearly every day and wreak havoc on the equipment and flying schedules, not to mention they're miserable and will only get worse in the summer.

"There you go, put that on tv," Chief Kavanagh said.

These hubbubs happen when thunderstorms collapse on dry lake beds. There's hardly any agriculture and everything is dry, so strong winds pick up sand and before you know it, it blocks out the sun.

See the soldier's video messages to their families back home

Behind-The-Scenes Video: A tour of the soldier's living quarters

More from Oklahomans On The War Front

Watch Part Three of Lori Fullbright's journey in Iraq next Wednesday, May 12th, as she flies on a mission where her crew provides security for Apache crews busting smugglers near Basrah.