news from the Zone

[pynchonoid]

U.S. Troops 'Living Large' in Iraq
By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer

March 12, 2004, 2:29 PM EST

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq --  Looking at row after row of
white prefabs and desert-colored military vehicles on
the northern edge of Baghdad International Airport,
one can't help but feel a sense of permanence at the
U.S. military's new home in Iraq. 

The troops who fought their way into Baghdad last year
slept in bombed out palaces, or on the streets next to
their armored vehicles. Their thousands of
replacements from the 1st Cavalry Division are moving
into air-conditioned quarters, some larger than what
they had back home. 

"We're living large," said Maj. Jeffery Collins a
newcomer from Ottumwa, Iowa, standing in the
relentless Iraqi sun outside his new headquarters
building. 

Combat rations are now eaten only on patrol. Most
soldiers eat three meals a day in huge mess halls
supplied by Dallas-based Kellogg, Brown & Root and
staffed by Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Filipino
workers. 

With hamburgers, fried chicken and onion rings
available every night, soldiers at Camp Victory
actually worry about gaining weight. [...]

...read it all:
<http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-iraq-living-large,0,6094285,print.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines>

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