Surroundings

I would have hoped that I'd be able to sleep through the night after a few nights of practice. Hmmm. There are a lot of noises that I don't usually hear in suburban Minneapolis. Perhaps that's got something to do with it?

My new hooch in the "Motel 6" is located right between the hospital helipad and the military helipad. These are not helipads like what you'd see in the States, as there're a hell of a lot more traffic generated by a hell of a lot more helicopters. The flights are almost a constant from both ports - I'd guess a couple score or more of flyovers on a typical night - as aircraft head out or return from their various patrol, support, combat, or medical missions, always in twos.

Without the helos, things would be almost quiet, as most folks respect the local established quiet hours, 2000 to 0700. I'm almost used to the helicopter noises anyway, as there's no doubt which side is flying them. The booms from the incoming mortars and rockets are a different story, and I could probably learn to sleep through them as well, except that they're too often followed by an exclamation by the Big Voice (the Voice formerly known as Giant) announcing "Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown!"

At that point, rolling over is the typical response. The Motel 6 is concrete, and should offer substantially more protection than our tin homes from the last portion of the 2003-2004 trip. Likewise, the offices are concrete, as is our DFAC. The DFAC, however, is further protected by a two layered overhead protection system. Erected over an existing building and, with steel roof and legs, it looks like a monstrous open walled tractor shed.

To protect the building and occupants (primarily) underneath, the top layer is designed to detonate any incoming mortar rounds, while the secondary layer is designed to contain the blast and fragments. Not to brag, but I do have some small part in the installation and success of these systems, as I used to approve the timesheets of a structural engineer who performed the quality assurance analyses on many of these facilities.

They number in the hundreds at this point, I'd guess, over DFACs primarily, as well as other locations where groups of Coalition people gather. One more step in the hardening process.

"All clear, all clear, all clear", says the oft repeating Big Voice.

Perhaps a little more sleep.