OEF/OIF BOARD

Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

+12
HoovieDude
aussie digger
toasty13
2ndAIF
Misanthropic_Gods
Ben
ladrang
Nkomo
mk1rceme
kilroy was here!
Mercenary25
P-E
16 posters

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:56 am

    Well, it's not Private MILITARY contractors, but it's still a sort of contractors and so I consider it's the best section to put this topic...But well, if you disagree with me, feel free to move it in the right section.

    So here's pictures of shops in Iraq bases :

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Cinnab10
    Cinnabon

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Taji_f10
    Various shops : Burger King,...

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Subway10
    Subway

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Green_10
    Green Beans Coffee

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Inside10
    Inside Green Beans Coffee

    These pictures come from : http://www.billiniraq.com/

    "Soldiers Keep Weapons Away From Pastry Counters; U.S. Military Uses Mall Food to Boost Morale

    Taji, Iraq -- Shopping mall-like food courts may be the most jarring peculiarity when you touch foot within Iraq. Subway and Burger King franchises dot numerous Forward Operating Bases throughout the country. Run out of dust-covered, mobile home-like trailers with `Atco’ stenciled in the corner and staffed by employees from emerging economies, a sign on a coffee shop glass counter may catch the mood best: `Please Keep Your Weapon Away From the Pastry Counter.’

    Of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent since 2003 on the U.S. occupation of Iraq, a fair slice can be seen in the logistics and infrastructure built to give soldiers civilian-like comforts in a warzone.More than 100 fast-food outlets exist in Iraq and other active theaters, and the military has invested in so much retail infrastructure `to help mitigate some of the difficulty of being away from home for 12 to 15 months,’ said Lt. Colonel Todd Royar, commander of 4th U.S. Army Division’s 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, located at Taji Airbase, north of Baghdad. `On the major Forward Operating Bases, the soldiers definitely like that. The contrast to that is this is still a combat situation for them.’

    The costs for fast food aren’t cheap in a war zone. A 12-inch Subway Tuna sandwich will cost $6 and a meal, which includes chips and a drink, $8, while a Burger King Whopper with fries and a drink can run $6.70, not a small expense for Private First Class making less than $25,000 a year. Yet dozens of customers can seen here each evening, passing up the free all-you-can eat chow at one of Taji’s two 800-seat dining facilities.

    ``Being out here, the stores makes a difference,’’ said Private First Class Dale Gardner, a driver with the 41st Transportation Company at Taji who is 12 months into a 15-month tour. You’re missing your family and going to Pizza Hut -- I live four block from a Pizza Hut at home’ in Oklahoma.

    Store outlets can make revenues of $100,000 a month at Taji, where about 10,000 military and civilian personnel live. Workers at the franchises can save more than $1,000 a month, big money for those who plan to return home to India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

    `In one month I can save a lot money,’ said Deepak Kishore, supervisor of Taji’s Green Beans Café, which offers gourmet coffee and wireless Internet. Green Beans is a privately-owned firm run by two brothers, Jon and Jayson Araghi, based in Larkspur, California, that has opened more than 35 cafes on Coalition military bases in Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan in the past several years.

    Green Beans pays better than the other outlets, up to $1,300 a month plus tips, which can add several hundred more a month, said Kishore, who is originally from Kerala in southern India. The Subway and Popeye Chicken franchises, owned by Kuwait-based Las Palmas can pay around $900 a month.

    The outlets pay a concessionaire fee to AAFAS, a non-combatant arm of the U.S. military, which oversees management of all commercial activity on U.S. bases, including Post Exchanges. AAFAS managers refused to comment on the stores’ operations.

    Another Kuwait-based firm, Al-Homazi Food Services operates Cinnabon, Pizza Hut and Burger King franchises within the country; Cinnabon has 12 employees at Taji from Egypt, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with counter employees making about $600 a month, plus $40 in free phone calls. The parent business, Seattle’s Best Coffee, receives about 40 percent of the profit from the outlets, said Jimmy Thomas, also from Kerala, who runs the Taji base store.

    Green Bean is open 24-hours, another benefit to troops in the field that may find themselves on base at any hour. One item needed in the middle of the night is the MOAC (Mother Of All Coffees), which costs $4.

    `They’re very customer oriented’ at Green Bean, said First Sergeant Derek Likes, one of the chiefs of maintenance for a helicopter squadron. `They already have my drink set up for me and my First Sergeant comes in.
    ’"

    Mercenary25
    Mercenary25
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 3727
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Age : 36

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Mercenary25 Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:17 am

    BAD IDEA.... I found those photos from USMC sites.

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Us-arm10
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Army-m10
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 2010-11-22-Strip_83_Too_Much_Chow_Hall_web
    (comic from http://terminallance.com/2010/11/22/terminal-lance-83-too-much-chow-hall/)
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:20 am

    hahaha, what's the bad idea ? My choice of section, or the fact there's shops in bases ? Very Happy
    Mercenary25
    Mercenary25
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 3727
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Age : 36

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Mercenary25 Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:30 am

    The fact there are fast-food shops in bases. Laughing U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrysta did the right thing to ban them. But it looks like the ban has been lifted.

    My veteran friend told me that more soldiers gain at the FOB due to fast-food there.
    Mercenary25
    Mercenary25
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 3727
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Age : 36

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Mercenary25 Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:35 am

    Not just Iraq but also Afghanistan.

    More photos.

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs FastfoodImage3
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs US-soldier-at-Burger-King-001
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs AirBaseMcDs
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 91306202
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 84719907
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 0407-OFASTFOOD-Burger-King-Afghanistan_full_600
    avatar
    kilroy was here!
    Chief Corporal
    Chief Corporal


    Posts : 140
    Join date : 2011-02-07
    Location : Gothenburg, Sweden

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by kilroy was here! Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:38 am

    Regarding Merc's earlier pics: Wow, serious f*cking health risks. Apart from the obvious risk (I wonder when we'll hear of a non-combat related death in Iraq or Afghanistan caused by obesity?), is there actually body armour in big enough sizes for those guys? Shocked

    How do those guys even pass the fitness standards required to get deployed?
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:46 am

    about body armor, yes it exists XXXX-large body armor, but they are not common to find Wink

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 12
    Mercenary25
    Mercenary25
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 3727
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Age : 36

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Mercenary25 Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:49 am

    kilroy was here! wrote:Regarding Merc's earlier pics: Wow, serious f*cking health risks. Apart from the obvious risk (I wonder when we'll hear of a non-combat related death in Iraq or Afghanistan caused by obesity?), is there actually body armour in big enough sizes for those guys? Shocked

    How do those guys even pass the fitness standards required to get deployed?

    Those guys from the photos are not combat troops but rather support guys who have desk jobs on the bases. Sitting their ass behind computer with those "delicious" fast food shops nearby. Such temptation.....

    My friend was stationed in small outpost deep in Sadr, the chaotic city, living on two MRE's a day. That's what combat troops eat.
    mk1rceme
    mk1rceme
    Corporal
    Corporal


    Posts : 60
    Join date : 2011-01-13
    Location : Canada

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by mk1rceme Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:04 pm

    Wow! I didn't know it was this bad over there...one reason I would want to be there is to get away from western society for a while. Subway and Timmies I could deal with though.
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:14 pm

    [Mk1rceme : you've right, sometime it's good to make a break ! I personaly projected to help in humanitarian helps after my studies (if I've the time and also money), maybe teach French in africa or arabia countries or help to build schools or something like that...but well, future is future and at this time, I only have to study...and collect Razz]

    But well, I admit there's some risks with this food. Too bad they serves it to soldiers. Probably something to help them to distress, as if they were in an american city I think ?
    Nkomo
    Nkomo
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 4797
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Location : USA

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Nkomo Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:29 pm

    I had wondered why I had started seeing ACU's and ACS's in such large sizes, Now I can see why. I recently found an ACU in 2XL-Long and a Massiff ACS in 2XL. I passed on the ACU, but bought the ACS.
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:33 pm

    A friend of me search an ACU in XXXX-large size...yes, he's big...so if you can find one, please tell me price. He'ld be happy, because it makes years he search one.
    Nkomo
    Nkomo
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 4797
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Location : USA

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Nkomo Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:41 pm

    Biggest one I have ever seen was a XXXL shirt and it was an ACS. Guy had too much money on it and didn't feel I needed to pay close to $100 for an ACS. I will be on the lookout for your friend one in his size. I'll only get it if it is on the cheap.
    Mercenary25
    Mercenary25
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 3727
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Age : 36

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Mercenary25 Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:45 pm

    If you plan on getting fat, you better have deep pockets. Close to $100 for XXXXL ACS.... Shocked
    Nkomo
    Nkomo
    ADMIN
    ADMIN


    Posts : 4797
    Join date : 2010-01-09
    Location : USA

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Nkomo Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:03 pm

    Yeh....this was for an unissued ACS with tags. I'm sure if it had been used, the price would have been better.

    I don't know if it is true, but I heard that many soldiers went up one size larger than they actually wore when getting an ACS. Does anyone know if that is true?
    avatar
    kilroy was here!
    Chief Corporal
    Chief Corporal


    Posts : 140
    Join date : 2011-02-07
    Location : Gothenburg, Sweden

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by kilroy was here! Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:44 pm

    Christ, XXXXL ESAPI plates. Couldn't they be used as Hillbilly armour on Hummvees? Laughing

    So considering that those larger chaps are just occupying desk jobs, the chance of them getting killed by the occasional rocket or mortar round really ought to be smaller than dying because of obesity?

    I still don't understand how the Army can tolerate those weights among it's soldiers, even if they're a very small minority...
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:59 pm

    hahaha, SAPI and ESAPI plates don't exist in this XXXX-Large size. Maximum is X-large for SAPI/ ESAPI plates.

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Dscf0510

    Some time ago, I posted this picture in another topic(I made a reference of small patches sewn on his helmet cover). Then you can see a big size body armor.

    And yes, those men don't go in combat zone I think. They are probably based inside "safe bases" and I assume army offer them a good medical monitoring. But well, for me this man shown in picture is in a combat unit, not behind a desk...who knows...

    ladrang
    ladrang
    2nd Lieutenant
    2nd Lieutenant


    Posts : 1924
    Join date : 2011-01-24
    Location : Montreal, Qc, Canada

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by ladrang Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:24 pm

    BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Oct. 22, 2004 - Opening of Burger King and Pizza Hut restaurants.

    [url=Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs 20041010]
    avatar
    kilroy was here!
    Chief Corporal
    Chief Corporal


    Posts : 140
    Join date : 2011-02-07
    Location : Gothenburg, Sweden

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by kilroy was here! Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:25 pm

    P-E wrote:Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Dscf0510

    Christ Allmighty, how can those guys perform in combat? Adrenalin only gets you that far, for some reason I doubt you work as part of a fireteam. Sure it isn't some airsoft PS job?
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:42 pm

    yes, 100% sure it isn't airsoft. I found this picture in the private album of one of those soldiers from the 278th ACR, so yes, I'm 100% these are real soldiers in Iraq.

    Here's the photos album, it's picture #455 :

    https://picasaweb.google.com/112858771817419179195/Iraq1#
    ladrang
    ladrang
    2nd Lieutenant
    2nd Lieutenant


    Posts : 1924
    Join date : 2011-01-24
    Location : Montreal, Qc, Canada

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by ladrang Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:17 pm

    Hi PE I hope he works behind a desk and not in fireteam Very Happy
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:21 pm

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur78

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur79
    Ben
    Ben
    MODERATOR
    MODERATOR


    Posts : 1236
    Join date : 2010-01-16
    Location : The other side of the big pond

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Ben Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:38 pm

    Some interesting articles regarding unhealthy soldiers... since we're talking about food and such, I figured I'd put it here. I'm not trying to pick on the German military, but their fitness while on deployment seems to be the most talked-about of all nations contributing to the GWoT.

    Thomas Coghlan of The (UK) wrote:The physical condition of the soldiers was already in question after a German armed forces report found that 40 per cent of its soldiers aged 18-29 were overweight, compared to 35 per cent of the civilian population of the same age.

    The report, published in March, concluded that the Bundeswehr lived on beer and sausages while shunning fruit and vegetables. It said that an overdeveloped bureaucracy was also contributing to a “passive lifestyle” on the part of the soldiers.

    Reinhold Robbe, the parliamentary commissioner for the German armed forces, concluded: “Plainly put, the soldiers are too fat, exercise too little and take little care of their diet.”
    Full article here.

    Madeline Chambers of Reuters wrote:Germany's young soldiers are fat, smoke too much and don't exercise enough, a report on the armed services said on Tuesday.

    Some 40 percent of soldiers between 18 and 29 are overweight compared to 35 percent among Germany's civilian population, said the report, which also found young male and female soldiers smoked too much and failed to do enough sport.
    Full article here.

    Here's an interesting one:
    Kate Connolly of The Guardian wrote:If the German defence ministry's figures are anything to go by, being a soldier in Afghanistan is clearly thirsty work.

    According to military sources, around 1m litres (1.8m pints) of beer were shipped to German troops stationed in Afghanistan last year, as well as almost 70,000 litres of wine and sekt, a German sparkling wine.
    Full article here.

    Kate Connolly of The Guardian wrote:German soldiers are fat, unfit and too fond of cigarettes and stodgy food. "It would be an enormous advantage on the battlefield if they shaped up," the defence ministry admitted yesterday.
    Full article here.
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs German276
    A German soldier of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stands guard at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: Syed Jan Sabawoon/EPA
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:41 am

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur79

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur80

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur81

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur82
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:47 am

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur83

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur84

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur85

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur86
    P-E
    P-E
    ADMIN MODERATOR
    ADMIN MODERATOR


    Posts : 2953
    Join date : 2010-04-03
    Age : 37
    Location : Belgium (Europe)

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by P-E Sat Jun 18, 2011 4:55 am

    And here's one more...the particularity of this one is that they're embroidering a cap with my family name in english and arabic Very Happy I asked to a friend of me who was deployed in Iraq if he can find me one cap with my name embroidered on it. He found me one ! It costs me some money (for cap + embroidery + international shipping), but I finaly got one ! I love you

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Dsc03210
    ladrang
    ladrang
    2nd Lieutenant
    2nd Lieutenant


    Posts : 1924
    Join date : 2011-01-24
    Location : Montreal, Qc, Canada

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by ladrang Sat Jun 18, 2011 5:11 am

    Hi PE, it will pleasant to see your embroidery cap Wink
    Misanthropic_Gods
    Misanthropic_Gods
    MODERATOR
    MODERATOR


    Posts : 663
    Join date : 2010-01-11

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Misanthropic_Gods Sat Jun 18, 2011 5:13 am

    I also had a couple of caps done the same way by someone over in Iraq
    Ben
    Ben
    MODERATOR
    MODERATOR


    Posts : 1236
    Join date : 2010-01-16
    Location : The other side of the big pond

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Ben Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:06 pm

    A buddy of mine who just rotated to Afghanistan warned against the McDonalds in Kuwait... he said everyone he knew that ate there when they stopped over got sick.

    There's just something dodgy about a Pizza Hut in the middle of the Iraqi desert. I think I'd stick to the DFAC & MREs.
    2ndAIF
    2ndAIF
    Corporal
    Corporal


    Posts : 89
    Join date : 2011-06-06
    Age : 43
    Location : Australia

    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by 2ndAIF Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:11 pm

    P-E wrote:
    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Captur86

    Harley Davidson?? Shocked

    Sponsored content


    Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs Empty Re: Shops in Iraq bases and FOBs

    Post by Sponsored content


      Current date/time is Sat Sep 07, 2024 8:09 pm