"...the platform has been nicknamed 'Waterworld' by its inhabitants, after the film of the same name. Standing on board - watching the sea foaming below through the walkways - feels exactly like being a survivor at the end of the world..."
This is a pretty interesting article about a portion of our mission out here. It's about a year old and written by the Brits from when they were out here. The first section is about a specific ship that used to be out here but the 2nd section of the article paints a pretty good, and unclassified, picture of some of the challenges that we face out here.
I did some more research on google to try and find some more unclassified stuff about what we're doing out here to paint a better picture of the multi-faceted mission that we face here: protecting the terminals, training the Iraqi Navy to take over in the future, working with the training staff and infrastructure at Umm Quasr and collecting and analyzing intel about IRGCN activity north of the platforms. The platforms sit JUST south of the highly disputed line between Iraqi & Iranian territorial waters (TTW). (Glance over the pictures and sentences about the Iraqi Sunken Crane in Iranian territorial waters- that gives you a little shiver, huh?)
This is a great BBC article about what is going on out here, and pretty recent from May 2009. The only real thing that is different is 1) we no longer have US troops on KAAOT; its security it entirely Iraqi run (although we maintain the overall maritime picture of both) and 2) there are no British personnel on the platform or HMS ships in the surrounding waters, save for the occasional trip over from our British 1-star boss at NAVCENT. What is most interesting is that all the research that I've done has been entirely generated from the British media. Let's take a quick poll: show of hands- how many people before, oh say, a few months ago when I got my orders, had ANY idea that we had US troops and ships out here doing not only defense of the terminal but also training and transitioning for the Iraqis? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?.... Yeah, even I can't raise my hand on that one.
I know this isn't the end all be all of what the US military is doing but what is incredible is that NO ONE back at home knows about it, whereas when the Brits were out here, it was all over their news. Like the first article said: "Sailors and Marines doing the task of protecting the terminals are not beyond reminding their colleagues operating on land that all efforts at establishing peace and security in Iraq will count for nothing if the oil stops flowing into supertankers. Indeed, the world economy would suffer from any interruption, possibly sending petrol pump prices even higher." It is truly amazing that very few people are even aware of the situation out here. I kind of feel like I'm part of a little secret piece of society :)
The British did not renew their memorandum of understanding (MOU) this summer which allowed their troops to be part of the effort out on the actual platforms in time and thus all British personnel were pulled from the terminals about a month ago.
However, the big news of this week is that part of their government (not sure which one, because there are so many confusing pieces and parts to the British system) signed the MOU to allow British troops back here. (Remember, CTF-IM is still commanded by a British 1-star but it's only Americans out here right now). What does that mean for the fate of the Little Beavers on ABOT? Well, over the next month we should see our British friends start to trickle in and take over the watches of the "non-essential personnel" (read, people like me :) and send us back to the Nimitz to do our "normal" DESRON staff jobs like making briefs and tracking ships certifications and sending emails and sitting in mind-numbing meetings.
It's all up in the air right now and if we don't like the plan,we just wait 10 minutes and it changes. My time on ABOT is unsure right now so I'm just trying to take it day by day and think about what I need to do if I need to go to the Nimitz for the rest of deployment. I am definitely a creature of comfort and habit so having to pick up and move my living situation all around the Arabian Gulf via helos and small boats does not make me happy. Oh well, if there's one lesson I've learned well in the past 3 years it is Semper Gumby, which means "always flexible". I will let you all know as soon as I know something more definitive as my email and mailing address will change.
Anyways, not much else to say around here. The tankers have stopped venting and thus the air is breathable again, or at least for the next few days.
Hope all is well!
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