My CLU

For the next year my home away from home is a Container(ized) Living Unit (CLU).  This is basically a 40ft CONEX box that is outfitted to be a berthing space.  There are two types at Camp Lemonnier, wet and dry, the difference being the wet CLU has a single stateroom at each end with a head in the middle and the dry has a double stateroom at each end with a dividing wall in the middle.  The dry CLU’s are centered around a CONEX box that is outfitted with heads and showers. 

All E-7 and above rate a wet CLU, but due to the number of people station at Camp Lemonnier, there are not enough wet or dry CLU’s.  Currently there are hundreds of enlisted folks living in large tents.  The base was designed for 2000, but the numbers have grown here to 4400.  This puts a strain on all the standard services, like water, power, waste water, facilities. 

Currently I am living solo in a dry CLU, which is highly unusual.  The next rotator is due in next week, and I will probably get a roommate at that point in time.  Luckily I am only three CLU’s from the bathroom, so it’s a short walk.  

 

I am the aft bed, which is nice that I don’t have the door next to my head and the AC isn’t blowing directly down on me since I forgot a blanket.  The bed has a nice mattress and incorporates both drawers and a large storage space beneath the mattress.  This is where I have hidden my three seabags of NARMY gear like body armor, ruck sack, tent, and sleeping bag.  I already bought a rug to make it nicer in there.

There is also a desk area and that is where my locker is.  The lockers are nice, with both vertical space to store uniforms, plus wide/deep shelves.  I bought a lot of extra cloths and still have extra room. 

 

This is the outside/door to the CLU.  Notice the Hokie pride.  I unfortunately face the sun, so it can get physically hot to touch my door handle in the afternoon.  Right now it's usually getting into the low 90’s and the AC is keeping up fine with the heat in low; so I am confident that in the summer when it's 120 the AC on high will keep it cool.  

‘CLUville’ is roughly 1/3 of a mile long and I am at the far end.  The gym is 0.5 mile away and my office in about another ¼ mile past that.  Scatter throughout the CLU’s are bunkers that we could hide in if we are attacked by mortars/bombs.

Post Ft Jackson and Arrival in Djibouti

I completed the training at Fort Jackson on the 13^th of October and left the following day on a bus back to Norfolk with 18 other Navy personnel from that training class.  The ‘rotator’ that flies to Djibouti would not be available again until the 27^th, so we were placed on liberty for that entire time.  While I was back I was able to go to SUPSHIP NN hail and farewell for the new CO, attend a neighborhood party, go to Busch Garden’s Howl-o-Scream with my mother, and most importantly spend time with my wife before I left.  

In the late afternoon of the 27^th, I boarded a charter Omni Air 767 bound for Djibouti, but with three stops in between.  The first stop was in Rota, Spain which was only supposed to be 2 hours long, but due to the rioting and strikes in France, our flight path was not approved and a new one had to be developed.  During this planning, we exceeded out max one hour inside the plane on the tarmac rule and we were all told to deplane for 10 minutes and then reboard the plane.  This grew to a 1.5 hour extra wait.  

The second stop was in Sigonella, Italy, which ended up in only about an hour and a half on the ground.  Then the plane flew to Bahrain, fortunately by this point the vast majority of people had left the plane and almost everyone had a row to themself.  After about a three hour wait there, we were again airborn for Djibouti.  This final flight was the shortest at just about 2.5 hours.  

One stunning feature of the middle east was the amount of light coming from the ground.  Our plane had maps of the area we were flying over with a GPS location overlay, allowing us to see where we were on our route and what was on the ground around us.  As we traveled over Yemen, the ground glowed bright orange with all the buildings below.  We crossed the water to Djibouti and there was nothing, no light, no towns, nothing.  I had to check the map to ensure we were over land and over towns, which we were per the map.  We then came within sight of Djibouti city proper and they were the only lights to be seen.  

Once we cleared customs, we were bused from the airport to the base and were taken into a warehouse for the initial inbrief and billeting assignments.  Our sponsors met us with trucks to use to transport our seabags to our CLUs and then take us on a tour of the base to understand where everything was.  I had been talking to my sponsor over email for the last three months, so it was good to finally put a face to the person.  

I will post more about my CLU once I can clean it up and get some pictures of it.

The first full week of training at Camp McCrady was exciting and intense.  Most morning would go from 0500 until 1800+ (as late as 2045).  The information in extremely relevant and important for those individuals going to Afghanistan and Iraq, but not as pertinent for us going to Djibouti since it is not as much of a combat zone.  This week really focused on our firearms, most days spent at the range becoming familiar with the M-9 pistol and M-16 rifle. 

One of the days we spent learning about convoy operations and the down and dirty information about the HUMVEE.

That day also included lessons about HUMVEE rollover, which is a serious and fairly frequent occurrence in country.  This rollover is made even more difficult considering the body armor you are wearing and the gear rolling around with you inside the HUMVEE.  The exit from the overturned vehicle is extremely graceful, with some people flopping out of the door like an overturned turtle.

 

Saturday morning was spent on a range where a computer is able to give you feedback on how you are shooting.  Shots include both a fellow officer going to Djibouti and me shooting on this range.

Saturday  evening was the Navy Ball.  Wenonah drove down that morning and met me after I finished on the range.  Good old NARMY scheduling gave me just over an hour to drive to the hotel, shower, change and get down for the Ball.  The night was fun, especially since the CAPT gave up permission to drink that night, and me and a group of officers upheld the fine Navy tradition.