QRF

Hey Everybody. Time for an update. I’m sitting in our QRF break room and bored, so this is a good time. First of all my mission is K Crossing, which is short for Kubari Crossing. It’s the border crossing that most US forces use when crossing into Iraq as well as various other traffic. The K Crossing sector is about a mile and a half long from south gate to north gate. We work closely with the Kuwati Police. They run the show, we’re just the security force, or SECFOR. There are three main missions that we do here. We pull tower guard, QRF, and work at the gates. Today I’m on QRF, so you can hear about that.
First, QRF stands for Quick Reaction Force. Basically, if something happens, we come running. Until that happens though, we chill. We search vehicles when necessary and do whatever else needs done really. Today we’ve had to run out to the gates to search a couple vehicles. We also take turns sitting outside guarding the trucks as well. While we wait for stuff to happen we kill time. Right now we’re watching.
My first day was Saturday and I had a great day. First we had to search 56 fuel trucks when we first got here. Usually that happens on the night shift, but it depends on when the trucks show up. It was crazy hot. It was about 115 degrees out. We knocked it out though in about 2 ½ hours though. The otherworldly heat can be very motivating. Even that which royally sucked, don’t get me wrong, was kinda cool because I actually felt like I was accomplishing something, ya know? After that we came back to the break room and cooled off and ate lunch. At around three the SOG ( Sergeant of the Guard) took me and a couple others to go down to the south gate and hang out there with the Kuwaiti police for a while. Let me tell ya, those guys are cool as heck. They are hysterical! They joke and play constantly. There were two females and three males (American) that were there and the Kuwaitis were equal opportunity jokesters. We drank tea and had snacks with them for a couple hours. They dressed one of our guys up in local garb and tried to jokingly marry me off to one of the guards. He also had me and the other female talk to his wife on his cell phone. She is a teacher and speaks great English. The police speak some English, but not a lot. The guy in charge is the sergeant major and he speaks the best and is hysterical.
We were down there for a while then came back up to the break room to hang out and for shift change. We generally switch posts half way through the shift, but so far I’ve been on QRF the whole day I’ve worked both days. So we ate dinner and watched Superbad. I did my best to ignore it. Not exactly cinema at it’s finest. Anyway, at about eight the SOG grabbed me again to go down and have dinner with the Kuwaitis and a few other Americans. There were a couple MP’s and our leuitenant down there as well. We had tea and coffee and relaxed and talked until dinner. We had an interpreter there this time. Arabic coffee is different that the American variety. They don’t roast their beans, but grind them green and add something called cadmium to it. It is a clear liquid with a slight green tint to it. I wouldn’t say it’s good, but it’s not too bad and tastes nothing like what you would call coffee, which I hate! Arabic coffee I can drink. Now chai, the Arabic word for tea, I like. There are a few varieties that I’ve been served so far and I’ve liked them all. They serve tea and coffee in little cups the size of a shot glass or shooter. The Kuwaitis have a manservant who works for them down there who serves everything. The crazies even caught a sidewinder in a juice bottle on Saturday night. The food at dinner was good. The have the dishes in the canter family style and you eat with pita bread by just grabbing what you want with the bread or you can scoop it onto a plate if you like. The food was pretty good. A lot of chicken and veggies. There was also hummus and a variety of soft cheeses. It was a good time all around.
Anyway, this is getting long for today, but suffice it to say, it was a good day. Right now we’re at our mid shift switch and dinner time. We’ve got wings, onion rings, steak, rice, mojo potatoes, and salad to choose from. They bring out chow from the base. It’s really not bad, but I’m also not really choosy. It’s not an MRE, so I’m pretty cool. Anyway, I’m gonna sign off for now!