Just letting you know I’m settled in at Joint Base Balad. Got my little housing unit all squared away and have been taking care of bookkeeping stuff. I should be flying in a couple days after some briefings and training. Of note, in about a week and a half I’m being sent down to Ali Air Base near Nasiriyah, Iraq. It’s a squadron detachment and is only responsible for two aircraft. That means two launches and two landings per day. Spread across three crews and three shifts, it should be pretty low key down there. Consequently, I’ll be on shift with only my sensor operator and the civilian maintenance guys. I’ll be running the show. Kinda crazy, eh? Best part, however, is that the base is pretty much free of mortar attacks. We get a few here at Balad every couple days, but all the housing is barricaded. Anything short of a direct hit on my room will be a non-issue for me. So Ali is even safer than Balad. 
So Ali should be pretty awesome… lots of time for morale calls and such. In fact, expect to hear from me sometime in the very near future. Dad, you’re easy to call given that you’re in Vegas. Mom, I’ll be tracking down the DSN number to the base operator at Altus tonight and should be able to get patched through to you once I get that. But yeah… arrived here 23 JAN and expect to depart 23 MAY, hopefully back in the States a few days later. Given how wretched my travel here was, hopefully the return is as smooth as glass.
HISTORY
Ali Air Base (ICAO: ORTL) is a military airbase located near Nasiriyah, Iraq. It was formerly known as Tallil Air Base. At present, the base is being used by United States Armed Forces. It is called Camp Adder by the U.S. Army; the name “Ali Air Base” is used chiefly by the U.S. Air Force; the installation, however, is still commonly referred to as “Tallil”.
The base occupies 30 square kilometers and is protected by 22 kilometers of security perimeter. The ancient Babylonian city of Ur, known as the birthplace of Abraham, is located within the security perimeter for Ali Base, and its ancient ziggurat is visible from nearly every area of the base.Read More
