My New Home in the Desert

My new home is the 18' by 54' olive drab "general purpose" large tent in the middle of our desert outpost.

This enclosed "home" has to be an improvement over the living conditions of the past few weeks. Sleeping on the open port in Dammam and the hood of the HumVee while on the road have lost their very limited appeal.

Pushing the Ray-Bans on top of my head, I pull open the canvas flap and step out of the bright light into the relative darkness. The enveloping smell is a combination of musty canvas and dust.

Does dust have a smell? Maybe I just taste the dust.

The large kerosene heater sitting in the middle of the tent is a welcome sight. The heater vent runs to a hole in the ceiling. Since the daytime temperatures in Saudi Arabia range from the 80s to more than 125 degrees we almost left the heaters back in storage at Fort Sheridan.

The desert does not retain the heat of the day and when temperatures plummet at night the human body finds it difficult to acclimate. We will be thankful for hauling the additional equipment with us.

My eyes scan the rest of the dimly lit tent. There are four neat rows of five cots with large water bottles sitting on nearly every one. Duffel bags, ruck sacks and large black garbage bags are shoved under and around the cots. A few enterprising soldiers have put clothing and personal items in the brown boxes that orginally stored dehydrated Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). Anything to keep out the dust.

The big red kerosene cans sit by the back doorflap of the tent. Trash bags and a half pallet of water bottles sit in the back corners.

I turn around to find a combination of mosquito netting and large camouflage blankets hanging from the ceiling to the floor just left of the door. The netting and blankets create the "walls" of a tiny room.

Alvarez pops his head in the tent, "Like your new room, LT?" He throws my ruck sack at me from the door.

"You really know how to decorate. I love the way the green and brown color palette complete the atmosphere." I grimace and drop the ruck in my space quickly turning to catch my duffel bag which comes flying through the air next. The folded components of the cot are tied firmly to the duffel.

"We are stuck with you so might as well make the best of it by putting you in the corner." Alvarez returns my banter.

"Didn't you say that when I came to the Airborne unit?"

In just seconds the metal cot frame is locked into shape and I am pressing the X shaped legs firmly in the sand. The green nylon sheet slides through the header bar.

"No. I wasn't this nice. Have to be extra nasty to new Lieutenants. Helps toughen you up."

The action of pulling hard on the footer bar stretches the green nylon sheet taut.

Ouch! I pinch my fingers every time putting the last bar in place. I shake my fingers silently.

My sleeping bag is on the cot, zipped shut and rolled tightly to keep out the creepy crawlies. Everything else is sealed in my gear and stacked in the corner.

Smiling like the Cheshire cat, I spin my legs up on top of the rolled sleeping bag, take off my gas mask and put the green carrier case under my head like a pillow. An uncomfortable pillow but I like having the mask close.

I close my eyes remembering, "You told me I would never survive the Airborne unit. I was too small and too weak. I would get hurt parachuting and no one would carry my gear... or something like that."

Alvarez is sprawled on his cot about 20 feet from my room. "You know, I said the exact same thing to the two previous commanders. Well, just the weak comment because they were both pretty tall."

"They at least listened to me." I can hear him laughing softly, "But you just ignore me and do whatever the hell you want to do. Worse than my teenage daughter!"

"Yea, yea, yea. Three years of misery working with me."

I survey the rest of the tent from my cot. There are two familiar looking boxes by the front door flap. Did I walk past these coming into the tent?

Lieutenant Hart stored the care gifts from my mom: a miniature Christmas tree, a plastic blow up Easter Bunny and a huge pile of letters. She must have brought them over for me. Nice.

Alvarez follows my look and walks over to the boxes. "Does your mom think we are living in a hotel?" He pulls out the Easter Bunny. "Is there a teddy bear in all that stuff?"

"Do you need one?" I'm glad Alvarez is here. The banter has the familiar tone of my brother's endless teasing.

For now, this is home.